This morning’s reading:
…prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
“Peace, peace,” they say,
when there is no peace.
Things were bad in Jeremiah’s Israel. The harvest failed, war was imminent, there’s no way back… but priests and politicians deceive the people, saying there is peace.
Bad things denied.
Yesterday’s news… GB athlete Rose Harvey started the Paris Olympic marathon with tightness in her hip. Within a couple of miles, it was ‘incredibly painful’. Rose completed the race, and was later diagnosed with a stress fracture in her femur. She’s now on crutches
‘There were so many moments when I thought I couldn’t take another step… I couldn’t give up. I kept telling myself to smile… and just put one foot in front of the other.’
Bad things worked through, conquered.
This morning learning… Today many Christians remember Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Franciscan priest. Arrested in February 1941 for aiding Jews and the Polish underground he was sent to Auschwitz,
In July a prisoner escaped. In retaliation ten men were picked to be starved to death… Kolbe volunteered to die in the place of one man who was particularly distressed. After two weeks without food and water Kolbe was executed on 14th August with a lethal injection.
Bad things volunteered for, accepted.
Yesterday visiting Chatsworth… apparently in Victorian times they brewed their own beer, and pumped the beer from the brewery to Chatsworth House through lead pipes. In recent years they decided to dig up the valuable, then obsolete pipes.
They discovered an additional pipe went from the main supplying pipe to the gardeners’ sheds. The gardeners had been without beer (a very bad thing!) but had organised their own private supply.
Bad things diverted!
Bad things have happened, do happen, will happen… I pray for the courage to acknowledge and accept them, and for the wisdom to know which should be worked through, which volunteered for, and which diverted.
malcolmsmusings.org 
Worked through, volunteered, and diverted. Malcolm, your muses always give me pause to ponder amazing moments. I applaud those that endure and have sacrificed.
Very ingenious thinking on the pipe supply for the gardeners. God bless you!
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Thanks, Karla. It’s amazing how many stories of human kindness, courage and compassion have come out of the sufferings and evils of Auschwitz.
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You’re welcome. I was on a tangent of watching documentary after documentary. It happens because of my love for history. I can’t fathom the evil. And the evil that still exists. But I can learn from it and those who have used it to make mankind better. Thank you for highlighting all the parts of life and how we can use our Christ walks, wisdom, common sense, and so much more to make a difference.
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Praise God for his promises to supply wisdom (James 1:5) and Spirit-inspired courage (Isaiah 41:10)! With you, Malcolm, I pray we may diligently seek both in these precarious times.
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Thanks, Nancy. We all need God’s wisdom and courage… as the old hymn says, ‘strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow’.
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