St. Luke's Blogs

Over the past 16 years, I have become somewhat of an expert on children’s shows. My daughters have taken over our TV and most of the shows we watch are cartoons. One of those shows that we have seen, many, many, many, times is “Horton Hears a Who!” This classic by Dr. Seuss features the voices of Jim Carrey, Steve Carell and Carol Burnett. It is an imaginative story about an Elephant (Horton) who hears the voices of tiny people who live on a speck found on a small flower.  After hearing the voices and contacting a person on the speck, Horton determines that it is his job is to protect the people, the Who, living on that flower.

What would be your priority if your small business had just been devastated by a Covid-19 shutdown?  If you ask Roopa and Venkata Mosuganti, the answer is obvious. Help others. Their Jai Ho Royale Indian Cuisine restaurant in Tampa, Florida, was like many others in 2020 – on the verge of collapsing because of the coronavirus.  After 10 years in business, they were forced to furlough staff and drain their savings to keep the restaurant afloat.

Dwayne Johnson is one of the biggest movie stars in the world. His life’s career achievements are nothing short of amazing. Sadly, Dwayne’s life did not start out that well. At an early age, Dwayne’s family fell on hard times; he and his mother were evicted from their home in Hawaii. He was sent to live with his dad in Tennessee, but that fell through. When Bruno Lauer heard that a teenage boy was going to be homeless, he took Dwayne into his small apartment. He gave him a home and stability. It allowed Dwayne to see his potential on the football field. Later, after his brief football career was over, Dwayne was looking to start a new career. With only seven dollars to his name, Dwayne turned back to Bruno Lauer, who once again offered him a home.

Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away.

“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

I received a nice hand-written card the other day that simply said, “thank you” for a ministry event in which I had participated. It was nice to feel appreciated. Not only did the card make me feel valued, but it reminded me of my need to express my gratitude to the people in my life.

In the world today, we see people craving justice.  It has me asking, “What does the bible say about justice?”  Can justice and love exist together? The answer is, ABSOLUTELY! We were all created in God’s image and deserve the same love.  Easier said than done, I do believe.

Today, the United States of America will inaugurate the 46th president of our union. It has been a difficult election, to say the least. The country is divided with hundreds of millions of votes divided between the two major candidates. It was a tight race with over 81,000,000 votes going for Joe Biden while over 74,000,000 went to Donald Trump. Just over 4% of votes separated the two candidates.

John Fallon lives in Beverly Farms, Massachusetts.  He saw a unique opportunity in the middle of his community.  In fact, John saw this opportunity in the middle of the street.  It was an opportunity to respond to a problem that is present in almost every community.  The problem of hunger is significant in our country and in our world.

On this Martin Luther King Day in which we remember the great civil rights leader, I thought about some of the great words he shared during his short lifetime.  I could not help but think how we could lift ourselves up and place ourselves on a better path if we remembered and acted on more of his words.