I recently finished reading a novel about a woman who had been brutally attacked and woke up each day following with no memory of her past.  This went on for fifteen years. I also watched a movie about a weatherman, who was assigned to cover the annual predictions of Punxsutawney Phil.  Forced to stay overnight, due to his own botched weather prediction, the main character woke up each day, repeating the events of Groundhog Day.

While neither of these scenarios is particularly appealing to me, it allows me to realize what a blessing each new day is.  Our brains are continually processing a wealth of information that has been received through our senses.  No one knows what the brain’s capacity really is, but scientists believe that the billions of neurons in the cerebral cortex alone are able to receive a lot more information than we could possibly have time to store in our lifetime.

I thank God for each new day, because it opens the door for God to start afresh with me.

A new day to greet the sun or shoulder the storm.

A new day to set things right for things gone wrong (or attempt to).

A new day to show God’s love to everyone, especially those who seem to be unlovable.

A new day to build on the things that I learned yesterday, or the days before.

A new day to start over on that diet, that attitude, that determination to get off of drugs, stop smoking, stop getting drunk, stop biting my nails, pay more attention to my kids and really love my neighbor.

A new day to talk with God and obey his commands, those messages that his Holy Spirit constantly whispers in my ear.

A new day to receive God’s discipline and to grow in Christ.

A new day to observe more, explore more and share more — even if it’s only a few feet away.

A new day to encourage others rather than judging them, to address their pain rather than dwelling on mine.

A new day to recognize the fact that there are many more days after I take my last breath, and each day counts.

A new day to forget, forgive and free myself from those things that bring me down.

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When anyone is in Christ, it is a whole new world.  The old things are gone; suddenly, everything is new!       II Corinthians 5:17 (ERV)

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Welcome to the new day!

I keep dreaming the same dream, that I am back working in the medical office.  As Dickens would say, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”  I can certainly say that I have no desire to go back to work.  I love retirement.  I fill my days with doing volunteer work, walking the dogs, tutoring my grandson, tackling small chores and enjoying being with my wife.  So, why do I keep dreaming about work?

My dreams are not as grandiose as those of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  His dreams were filled with the hope of racial equality.  While I’m sure that his dream was for freedom for all races, he most certainly had black people in mind. He grew up in a country where race discrimination was played out every day.

But discrimination wasn’t something new.  In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was not unusual to witness hatred or prejudice against Italians, Jews, Chinese, Irish and others, scrambling to climb into the giant melting pot called America.

I have vivid memories from my childhood of people (including my own family) looking down on the blacks who worked for us or sat in the back of our buses.  I remember feeling, not hatred toward, but fear of the Negros that I encountered because it was drilled into me that they were “not like us” and couldn’t be trusted.

Living in the South, I had no firsthand experience of spending time with a black person.  It has taken many years for me to understand their plight and to admire their strong faith and determination.  I also have observed that, just like whites, all races have their undesirables, those who remain or become angry, obnoxious or rude in their behavior to their brothers and sisters of a different color.

As much as I would like to say that racial issues are behind us, I am inclined to think that they will never be completely behind us, based on what I still encounter even here in the Bible Belt (go figure).  While I don’t agree with all of Dr. King’s views, and I don’t know the real truth about rumors of his lifestyle, I wholeheartedly agree with his message of God’s love and our reconciliation.

The love of God can only be real in our lives if others can see his love in us.  That means that we are to look upon others as our equals.  The Apostle Paul said that we should consider others above ourselves (Philippians 2:3).  Having come from a religious group, the Pharisees, he knew all too well what it was like to look down on others.

Paul followed the one who gave him a new heart, a heart of flesh, not of stone.  He learned from Jesus, the son of God.  Jesus told many stories that obliterated race boundaries.  His message was that of love, reconciliation and peace.

Give peace a chance.

The latest Christian craze is centered on the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos, Tim Tebow. The son of baptist missionaries, Tebow brought his faith to light in the public sports arena by kneeling in prayer (caught on camera) and sporting decorative eye black (the black stuff rubbed under the player’s eyes) that displayed Christian messages or Bible verse numbers.

It’s not unusual for Christian athletes (or athletes who are Christian) to thank God for their touchdown, soccer goal, prize fight knockout or basketball win. But this thing is really taking hold.  Maybe it’s because the Broncos, who hadn’t been doing so well, turned their games around after Tebow started playing regularly.  He was their talisman.  God was on their side?

As for Tim, I saw a televised interview, in which he came across as a humble young man who just wanted to express his faith, not necessarily drawing attention to himself.  But that’s just what he got. Attention.  So much so that his Tebow-isms became fodder for sports writers, late-night comedy, Twitter and Facebook.

So what do you think?  Is it okay, even encouraging, that you pray in public and wear Jesus on your sleeve?  Didn’t Jesus teach us to pray in private (Matthew 6:6)?  For the record, Jesus prayed a lot in private, but occasionally uttered a public prayer.  He gave thanks for food (Luke 9:16) and even made a point of wanting the people to hear him talk to his Father when he raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:42).

I know that we’re not supposed to be ashamed of our Christian faith (Romans 1:16), but is it really necessary to pray out loud for your food in a restaurant? I’ve done so and have been approached, at times, by others at nearby tables who want to compliment our family/group on the boldness of our faith. But, seriously, doesn’t that just boost my ego?  ”Oh, don’t thank me; God gets all the credit.”

And what about kneeling in the end zone?  ”Thank you, Lord, for giving me this touchdown?”  ”Thank you, Lord, that I didn’t get mangled?”  What about the other Christians on both teams?  Did they not win because their faith wasn’t strong enough?  I don’t have the answer.  I’m just asking.

Jesus gave us two commands:  Love God.  Love your neighbor.  We can say that we love.  We can pray for love.  We can teach about love.  But until we DO love, until we SHOW love, then no amount of Christian advertising is going to make a difference.