Five Minute Friday….
….when you set your timer for 5 minutes, and WRITE, without judgment or overthinking. Today’s word is “listen.”
Once a week, I fill up my ipod with my favorite podcasts, grab my super-duper ear protective headgear and crack up my lawnmower. It takes me 2+ hours to mow with our 72 inch deck which goes FAST. If it isn’t too hot, this can be one of the most enjoyable parts of my week.
I’m outside, I’m accomplishing something that will stay done for a few days, and I’m listening to something intellectually stimulating.
This week, I caught up on a couple of podcasts of This American Life on NPR.
I’m not a fan of the editorial opinions of the station, but some of the shows I do enjoy, and This American Life is one of them.
The show was all about Harper High school in Chicago. According to the commentators, this school is in one of the most violent sections of Chicago, a city which has been riddled with violence for the last couple of years. Which makes me so sad, because we love to visit the city.
They interviewed students and staff of the school, and people, it was enough to make you sit down and bawl your eyes out. Some of the kids have witnessed multiple shootings and deaths, and they all have different methods of trying to stay out of the line of gunfire.
My word.
The trauma. The ruined lives. The sadness.
I can’t imagine it.
I feel so sorry for those kids and the teachers and counselors trying to educate them.
The whole time the show was being aired, I was getting more and more aggravated. The “cool, smarty-pants people” with all their worldly “wisdom” are the ones that ruined the family structure.
Our country has an enormous mess on its hands trying to solve the problems created by the breakdown in the family. We have so many kids-boys especially-who are ANGRY. Their basic emotional needs have never been met.
Now, the “cool, smarty-pants” people are trying to tell the rest of us how to fix the problem that THEY created.
This is one of the enemies most dangerous schemes. I believe that our earthly fathers are supposed to be just a taste of who our Heavenly father is.
Many kids do not have a good impression of “dad”. That opens a huge can of worms.
Ok. Now I have that out of my system.
I’m going to return to Philippians 4:8 thinking:
Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.
Linking up to…..
I love this verse and remind myself of it often…
I have the Phil 4:8 verse written on a chalkboard in my kitchen. A daily reminder where my mind and heart should dwell.
blessings to you.
Being born and raised outside of Chicago…and my dad being from the west side I know all too well what has been taking place in our beloved city. I have friends that are cops in the city and they refer to it as a war zone. I pray and I pray some more that there is a way to bring peace to the lives of these children. You are so right…so much needs to be done and it is a mess…
Susan, With father's day being tomorrow. I have been thinking of my dad. Even with fathers in the homes, they weren't always good parents. But it makes you walk the line and stay out of trouble, a little more I think. God help us all…I say that as a prayer.xoxo,Susie
Amen and amen Susan…you stated things perfectly. What a broken people we are. Perhaps it's time that we stop listening to the smarty pants people who haven't an ounce of common sense.
I share in your frustration, anger and profound sadness at the state our families, children and culture are in.
I too need to Philippians 4:8 my mind.
Lord Bless…Susan
It is a good thing to get informed about our world, even when it's so sad. How fortunate we are to have had such good Fathers in our lives.
I think my prayer today will be that many more get that opportunity.
Happy Father's Day!
Peace in Christ,
Ceil
You worded it very well, Susan, and it is sad to see the state in which are families are going. Philippians 4:8 is a wonderful verse to remember and hold close to the heart.
Have a blessed week, dear friend! Hugs!
Bless those broken people.
I love Chicago, too…but have not been in the "war zones".
Awesome!!!
I could not agree
with you more. In
fact, I think if we
were to sit down
for tea and a chat,
there would be A LOT
we would agree on.
Great word prompt : )
Happy Weekend,
xo Suzanne
I'm a Luddite…don't listen, a lot, to the radio or t.v. but, usually, throughout the day it's God's music…cattle, sheep, horses, dogs, cats, birds, wind in the trees. If we fill out minds with trash, we'll end up trashy…no rocket science there.
Hey, Sometimes we just have to have a soapbox to get these burdens off our hearts. I like to journal then as I do I can pray theses things out and off.
I watched a documentary about Detroit last week and I felt the same way you did. I spent my summers in Detroit with my grandparent. So sad to see and feel the effects of our broken homes.
Blessings, Roxy