Thursday November 20, 2025

Luke 19:41-44

As Jesus drew near Jerusalem and came in sight of the city he shed tears over it and said, ‘If you in your turn had only understood on this day the message of peace!

You know, I often look at my life and sigh with gratitude at how blessed I have been. Indeed God has been incredibly kind and generous to me. I have to say though that there have been moments, even periods when I did not see these blessings. I don’t think I appreciated as much as I should that I was born in a land where wild animals still roamed about. Yes we saw tourists visit Livingston, Zambia and take pictures of the giraffes. At that time we thought it was a waste of film. They took pictures of a big hole in the river called the Victoria Falls and we thought they were strange people. Those tourists saw the beauty of Africa that we the natives were blind to.

Even today I sometimes do not see the beauty of Kentucky. People travel to this beautiful part of America to see our horses and enjoy the change of seasons.

I feel called to be awakened to the presence of God wherever we are. Yes sometimes it is hard to behold the beauty, the peace, the presence of the divine. But maybe we can make it a conscious decision to see the beauty of our times. We are surrounded with so much chaos and it is getting louder by the day. Maybe seeing peace and experiencing it will have to be a conscious decision. Today, give thanks for your family!!!