Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Mama On: Friendship

"Be the friend you want to have."

I think I've already said that I am an only child.  So was my mother, and that leads me to wonder if being an only child is an intrinsic factor contributing to my onset of Mamaknology...

Anyway...

I am so glad that I was taught to select my friends carefully.  I am happy to say that I have friends that I have known and loved for most of my life and am still in touch with.  I am even more happy that I have friends who treat me the way that they want to be treated.  My friends, both male and female, over the years have become my siblings.  They have become my family, and with the loss of my parents, I treasure them greatly.

The Mamaknologist in me knows that my mother was right, we need friends who will stand with us for more than the next big sale at Macy's.  We need friends who will do more than hang out with us at the club -- in fact, we need friends who will tell us to stay the heck OUT of the clubs sometimes.  We need friends who are smarter than we are about ourselves sometimes -- whether we want to admit it or not.  We need friends who are too smart to not love us when we forget that we are worthy of love.  We simply need the kind of friends who want to be our friends.

And if we are lucky enough to have those kinds of friends, don't they deserve more than our raggedy and thoughtless baggage? 

My vote is that they do.  So... how about a random act of love for those friends.  This may be the day to send flowers, bake some cookies, make a phone call, or even fall on your knees and offer a sincere and heartfelt prayer for that exceptional friend of yours.  How about making this the day that you are the friend you'd like to have?

I'm just saying...
     

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Mama On: Disaster And Faith

"Sometimes you just have to pray."

The news has played the disaster over and over, and it is beyond anything any of us can imagine.  People are wondering how and why God would let anything happen like the earthquake and tsunami that swept Japan.  There have even been the terrifying recordings of the earth rumbling before the horrific events, and it is awesomely frightening -- a reminder of how small and insignificant we are in God's Grand Scheme. 

The amazing thing, after the earth stopped moving and the water receeded, has been the grace and efficiency the Japanese people have shown in their recovery efforts.  There has been a request for international support and the nuclear implications are more than scary, but the survivors are carrying on.  The weather is cold and thousands have been found dead, but there is something else.  Something that is incredibly atypical of events like this. 

We are not hearing about looting, fighting for food and water, price gouging, or other social abuses.

We are hearing requests for prayer for the people and the nation.  We are hearing about the daily prayer and the groups who come together to pray.  We are hearing more and more about the school children who gather to offer prayer for the souls of those lost to the disaster.  We are even hearing that members of the rescue groups are wearing traditional prayers in and on their uniforms as they face the rescue attempts.

Somehow, I don't think that this is an acident or coincidental.  I think that this might be called faith, and the true Mamaknologist understands and appreciates the biblical definition of faith:  Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) 

The true Mamaknologist understands that faith is not faith until it is all you have.  Moreover, the true Mamaknologist understands that the only way to go forward after disaster is with the assurance and confidence that God hears and answers our prayers.  This is one of those times when we all just need to pray.  My prayers are with the people of Japan for recovery, for health, and for the determination to continue to hold fast to their prayers and their faith.

Amen.