RESURRECTION 2016 - TIME TO LIVE AGAIN - Not to Denigrate Any but to Serve Many

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Christians, the followers of the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, live out the privilege to be servants of humanity through Jesus' Model. Three primary texts from the Gospel and one from the Hebrew Bible provide direction for Christian behavior and activity when it is TIME TO LIVE AGAIN.

All over the world, people tend to see Jesus in the context of their culture. To some, this is a challenging point of view. History promoted through the eyes and pens of European Christians made Jesus of Nazareth, a white man. Non - White Christians hold to view more consistent with culture and context of the 1st Century. The Apocalyptic Revelation presented the likeness of a dark skinned man with wooly hair.

Africans, Asians, Latinos and Indigenous Peoples see Jesus in their likeness. All who see Jesus in their likeness do so to honor the magnanimity and genius of GOD lived out in the life of Jesus. This level of love and generosity in forgiveness of insult and injury, paved the way for the coming of the commentary of the Apostle Paul from 2nd Corinthians 5 vs 21, "For GOD hath made him (JESUS) to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of GOD in him (JESUS)."

Gospel Text Number One Matthew 22 vss 36 - 40

Because Christian Behavior has not been the most exemplary of the life of Jesus, especially in the late 20th and early 21st Century, there is no better TIME TO LIVE AGAIN than now. Living again must by moral imperative require revisiting the first order of business to be Christian.

The text says, "36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

Living out these directives is indicative of TIME TO LIVE AGAIN with imperative priorities on moral foundation. The moral foundation is love.

Gospel Text Number Two Matthew 28 vss 18 - 20

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Jesus' recorded words influence genuine Christian activity. It is from this text, the first spiritual marketing program emerged.

¹⁸ And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. ¹⁹ Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: ²⁰ Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

The primary objective of all christian behavior is is the influencing of the development of Christian community. This is not to denigrate any but to serve many.

Gospel Text Number Three Luke 4 vss 17 - 20

Christian demonstrate love for God, self, and each other by engaging the activity presented in this text. This activity provides others opportunity for resurrection, TIME TO LIVE AGAIN.

¹⁷And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, ¹⁸ The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, ¹⁹ To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. ²⁰ And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

Wherever suffering is witnessed, the Christian task is to serve those who are suffering and work to minimize their suffering. The hungry for motivation, nutrition, or information struggle to be filled. The blind by ignorance or the inability to see struggle to find their way. It is is the Christian privilege to help.

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The Hebrew Bible Text Ezekiel 37 vs 10

When God calls the dead back to life, it is TIME TO LIVE AGAIN. In this text, a dead black army lay on a desert valley floor. Their bones were dried and disconnected. These are not social and morally dysfunctional as many are today. They are dead.

God charges the prophet Ezekiel to answer the question, "Can these bones live again?" There is only one logical available answer, "God only you know." 

After charging Ezekiel to speak to the bones, this followed as presented in the text. ¹⁰ So I prophesied, reports Ezekiel, as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

Might all of us who bear the mark of Christian by our lifestyle and activity assert ourselves to be available to God to raise the dead. They are those who are alive but living out dead conditions back to life. May we all hear the voice of God call us to live and love at our best all times. Amen

What time is it the Resurrection Season? It is TIME TO LIVE AGAIN.

Are God's World Issues Revealing Ours as Opportunities

          Are God’s world issues revealing ours as opportunities for service? The question must receive examination from what the scriptures of the Hebrew Bible and the Gospels have to say. Is it possible for humans to assume responsibility for God level world issues?

This is the whole story: Honor God with your living. Follow the direction and directives God leads: This is the task of the whole human family on Earth.

Ecclesiastes 12 vs 13

(Paraphrased)

I recently asked spiritual friends this question. Are God's Issues Our Issues? Incidentally, we are all Christians and ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I believe the Number One issue that God has with the world is people not accepting him as their Lord and Savior. So, our mission is to be a vessel to aide in planting seeds so the Holy Spirit can draw (others to relationship with Christ). His “issue” is people not having reverence for Him. So we are the tools to fix his root issue.

~Derrick Shawn Farris

My answer is simple, kind of. God’s issues are always our issues, ours just may not be God’s……

~William JC Wallace

On some level, yes. We struggle to grasp what God’s issues are. In or limited understanding, some try to address them, but I think when we get to the other side we will be shocked what He had a problem with.

~Keenan Actkins

Thematically consistent with the responses of my spiritual friends, these texts emerge for consideration.

          In the beginning, God created all things that we observe, all we cannot observe, and said it was good. ~The opening lines of the Hebrew Bible Genesis Scroll, known as the Book of Beginnings.

Genesis 1 vs 1

          The Creator God from within the Godself, family, community, and nation of the US (God) responding to an inner prompt divested self into the creation of the Cosmos and the human focal point, the Earth. Living directives follow in Hebrew Language as living commandments, imperatives, must do’s.

1.     Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

2.     Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I theLord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

3.      Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lordwill not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

4.     Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

5.      Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

6.      Thou shalt not kill.

7.      Thou shalt not commit adultery.

8.     Thou shalt not steal.

9.      Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

   10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy                  

        neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox,    

        nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

Exodus 20

Beyond the Hebrew Bible, words from the Gospel of John Chapter 3 vs 16 says For God so loved all God created, God elected to become human to model for humans God’s model for living.

The pinnacle texts of Mark 12:28-31 (KJV) encompassing the whole of God’s issues also ours reveal themselves in the commandment superseding all commandments.

28. And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?

29. And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:

30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 

31. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

The capstone of the dramatic presence of God on Earth as a human being in the person of Jesus of Nazareth is the marketing message given to all he influenced in the 1st Century through the present 21^st Century. In the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 28 vss 18b – 20, Jesus says,

18. “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.  

19. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. 

Are God’s world issues revealing ours as opportunities for service? Yes, they are according to the record of the biblical texts.

Is it possible for humans to assume responsibility for God level world issues? Yes, they are according to the record of the biblical texts.

Clearly, from the perspective of the Hebrew Bible and the Gospels, all who follow the model of Jesus, God’s issues are our issues. Living out the directives of the Great Commandment and the Great Commission are imperatives for human service. They are not optional. None is exempt.

          

YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ACTUALLY GET UP AND WALK

You see what happens when you actually get up and walk. I did today.

John 5 vs 8 tells the story of one wanting someone to do something miraculous for them. A man unable to walk wanted to walk but no one ever helped him. His disability not only affected his body but also his mind. He made excuses for not being able to help himself. Jesus simply said, "GET UP AND WALK." In response to the spoken word of Jesus, he immediately got up and walked.

This morning after my prayer time, I heard the prompt, “Get up and walk.” I did not want to go walk that early in the dark and cold. The next thing I heard was, “You have a five minute window to get going.” 

After explaining to Bonnie what was happening; I got up, dressed, and took off. I even went the opposite direction of my usual path.

After walking a half-mile, I stopped to pray and meditate at a fountain flowing red. I made a video of it. Next stop was a half-mile later to make a note to myself. I am enjoying being out. I love to walk.

Today, I walked with expectation of an experience. I do not know whether in the sky, on the ground or in myself.

You see what happens when you actually get up and walk. A quarter mile later, I feel a bit frustrated. I speak out loud saying, “OK, I am out here.”

The next thing I see is what I believe is a slow walking elderly woman that I will need to pass. I announce I am coming by on her left.

She said, “I know. I have been listening to your footsteps.”

I told her, “I did not want to risk scaring you.”

She said, “I am not scared. Recently, a 19-year-old boy attempted to sexually assault me. Police arrested for protecting myself as the young man wished he had left me alone. Police quickly released me with no charges after they got the complete story.”

My mind is a buzz. This woman is why I am out here. I shared with her my work of creating film that deals with the sexual assault men have committed on women and children for the past 100,000 years.

Next, I asked if I could walk with her for a couple of minutes to talk.  She said yes because she did not really like walking alone in the dark.

“Are you ready to tell you story on video?” I asked.

“If it will help other women, I will be pleased to tell my story,” she said.

I now learn my new friend is a survivor of pastoral sexual abuse as a child when 9 years old and sexual assault as a teen resulting in the birth of her first child. My heart never ceases to break when hearing the record of these kinds of events.

It wound up she was walking to the neighborhood where I live to meet a friend to go to work. We made a plan to see each other after she gets off work this afternoon to talk further.

This is the takeaway. Listen to the still voice that speaks to you. I cannot make that logical. I am acutely aware of what I would have missed if I had not followed its inspiring direction.

I got my first couple of miles walk in for the day. I met a woman soul I needed to meet with a story to tell. I cannot tell you who was there for whom. Whether I was there for her or she was there for me is not nearly as relevant as the fact we met because I got up off my comfortable warm bed with my wife and walked.

When the still voice prompts you to get up and walk, by all means, get up and walk. We met again after she got off work. We talked and made an agreement to work together.

What made this moment even more interesting, I have been searching for an indigenous woman for Project I'm Alive. The search is over, A Cherokee Woman has come because I got up and walked. You see what happens when you actually get up and walk.

Why MEDITATION Remarkable Creating Valuable Clarity of Heart

Why meditation remarkable creating valuable clarity of heart rests in the care of the soul. Part Five of the series, Six Primary Components of Christian Spirituality, establishes the practice of meditation as the way of the soul to maintain perspective, passion, and purpose in Christian Living. 

Christian meditation is a form of prayer in which a structured attempt is made to become aware of and reflect upon the revelations of God. The word meditation comes from the Latin word (meditārī), which has a range of meanings including to reflect on the presence of the divine.

I deepen my experience of God through prayer, meditation, and forgiveness.

~Marianne Williamson

The Psalmist David in Psalms 1 vss 1 -2 reveals the dependence the Psalmist places on his meditation. 1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

People across the world from developing nations to first world nations experience concerns of security like no other time in human history. Actual terrorist activity and the threat of terrorism haunts the thoughts of many across the global community.

Add to this the threat of global warming, poverty and all its spin off negatives of sickness, disease, illiteracy, homelessness, malnutrition, et. al.  Dr. Leonard Sweet, Former Professor and President of the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio reports the era we live in reveals the terra is no longer firma. Terra Firma  is Latin for solid earth or solid ground is not secure and longer solid. Earthquakes are the quintessential validation the terra is longer firma. 

Meditation accepts that Christians can be in the world but not of the world. None of us are from Planet Earth but we have this activity that does not try to keep up with the Joneses, dress in latest fashions or represent oneself in a showy way of the ego.

Meditation is the most secure form of trust in the universe. It is an action representing by literally doing nothing but positioning oneself to leave all things physical and the perception of them behind.

Meditation happens by intention to sit in conscious rest. Perspectives require intentionally being alone to quiet the body and quiet the mind. Following the breath controls body rhythms. It slows the heart rate and the racing of the mind.

The objective is to surrender thought to become calm quiet and still sitting in a humble quietness. Quieting the noise of the mind, experience of energy begins and health conditions are positively affected. Blood pressure lowers as calm increases. Internal listening begins. 

Moments of enlightened intuition can follow. The abundance of calm experience affords a clarity of heart and purpose. 

It is for this reason, the Psalmist can comfortably say in Psalm 19:14, "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer."

To be clear, one must step away from external activity of life from time to time to maintain personal objectivity and order for living. Meditation provides the pathway.

To begin, do these things. 1. Find a quiet time and a space where you can be alone to center in the energy of your own thoughts. 2. Instruct your mind and your body to become calm quiet and still. 3. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth slowly.  4. Experience the slowing down of your racing mind and physical sensations. 5. Listen to the calm of your inner person, the real you, your soul. 6. Sit in the experience until you must re - engage the outside world. 7. Re - engage the outside world with a better you, not as a detached person but  fully conscious fully engaged one.

Christians living and following Jesus' life as our model, must like Jesus find ourselves up early to meditate and to pray to achieve the perspective of the Psalmist, our delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law do we meditate day and night. This is the why meditation is  remarkable in creating valuable clarity of heart. Herein lies the care of the soul.

How to Trust Church Leaders When You Do Not Trust Church Leaders

The trust of the innocent is the liar's most useful tool. ~Stephen King

The intention of this work on church leaders and trust reveals the heart felt and disappointing perception of many served and led by church leaders whose behavior and leadership has not been exemplary. To the contrary, it has been immoral and often illegal. It will also assert to establish pathways to trust development between church leaders and the people they serve holding each other accountable for the roles they serve in the mutual interest of their church family and community.

What is Trust?

Trust is the safe and secure place in relationship that results from the engagement of one individual and at least one other individual who share acknowledged and affirmed mutual interests. The same enter into agreement for how they will behaviorally manage their shared image, accomplish their shared goals, share rewards or losses, and mete out consequences for activity violating their agreement. 

Trust is the baseline and epicenter of operations for productive relationship development. It is the same for organizations, groups, and institutions sharing acknowledged and affirmed mutual interests. Relationships suffer where there exists lack of character in one or more parties preoccupied with self and not the relationship and people to be served.

Trust is the belief that individuals, groups, and institutions of good character, reliable and honest are effectively able to maintain and be accountable to relationship agreements entered into and deals made premised upon mutual interests. Trust is important among clergy because their leadership and direction is premised upon the ultimate human values of love, respect, and service.

Trust is believing people committed
to you will help keep you from falling.

Why Church Leaders Trusted Less

The Pew Research Center reported July 11, 2013 that of the top professions determined to contribute 'a lot' to society's well - being, church leaders come in at number 6 on the top ten with a favorability rating of 37%. This represented a trend downward by 3% from four years earlier in 2009.

Clergy are trusted with the confidences of those they lead, counsel, and serve. They are instruments of empowerment to spiritual formation, plus personal and communal relationship development. The Gallup Poll established this favorability rating negligibly different from that of United States Congress during the same period.

The Aquila Report  recalls that traditionally church leaders are observed figures of authority. Church leaders receive the benefit of the doubt at the beginning of their service tenures until such time as trustworthiness challenges emerge. New pastors following pastors whose actions cost them the trust and respect of their congregations can prove to be difficult having to live out the former pastor's behavioral record.

Thom S. Rainer asks why pastors are no longer held in high esteem. He offers these and other reasons in 11 Reasons Pastors Are Trusted Less Today.  They include:

1. The moral failures of a minority of pastors receive widespread media coverage. This happens especially when pastors serve congregations numbering in the thousands.
2. Social Media encourages criticism from a distance.
3. A few pastors have poor work ethics.
4. There is a failure of some pastors in two key areas; leadership and emotional intelligence.
5. Some church members have a strong entitlement mentality.
6. Churches are dying in America.

Rainer is more than polite. As this caption captures clearly from Wolves in Shepherd's Clothing from Tejado Hanchell. Too many pastors are exploiting their privilege and apparently fleecing their own sheep through general immature leadership behavior, sexually acting out, being violent with their families, lying, stealing and sometimes worse.

Theological Training and Trust

How do the Methodist Theological School in Ohio, the Pontifical College Josephinum, the Trinity Lutheran Seminary, and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary educate and train church leaders on trust? Registrars for each institution were directly asked whether or not specific courses in their curricula educated and trained specifically for trust.

NO was the response. All made effort to share that while trust did not merit a stand alone course in curricula, it is addressed among courses educating and training for pastoral services and spiritual formation. Only the registrar at Trinity Lutheran Seminary expressed that trust is sufficiently important to church leadership and quality of service that church leaders would be better served as would their congregations if more specific attention was directed to its education, training, and development.

Parishioner Perceptions on Trust

The 21st Century has proven to produce skeptical observation of leadership whether secular or sacred. As a result, members of churches are decided that more training is desirable among church leaders in the area of trust. 

Members of churches want to be in position to hold pastors accountable and are no longer willing to just surrender blind trust to the church leader currently serving. Clergy discover trust is not longer simply given, it must be earned.

Church leaders do not share parishioner perceptions. Many consider that this only adds to an already overfilled plate. 

Re - Development and Re - Deployment of Trust

If church leaders are to resurrect positive regard for their office of servant leadership and influence, these things must happen.

1. Education and training institutions serving as conduits of preparation for service must engage congregations to work together on addressing trust concerns and design education and training tools in curriculum to proactively train for it.
2. Church leaders and congregations must be in agreement with respect to service description and expectation. Both must work in harmony to develop tools for regular inspection and evaluation of church leader performance by measurable and observable standards.  President Ronald Reagan may have stated it most succinctly, "Trust but verify." Early on, frequency may be weekly, bi - weekly or monthly. After the first quarter, evaluate every two months or quarters. Each time performance review is determined within acceptable parameters, the trust meter will go up. The relationship will be enhanced and should be celebrated.
3. Church leaders must be competent to serve by character and preparation. Anything less is maladministration from the beginning. A productive relationship between church leaders and their congregations can become the place many will discover trust and secure enough to desire the relationship of spiritual union. 

Conclusions on Church Leaders and Trust

Church leaders’ favorability is low for the office formerly held in high esteem. Honorable church leaders must serve in the shadows of the corrupt, the irresponsible, and the immoral that generate scandal after scandal. Honorable church leaders assert that some remain to hold up the blood stained banner and that the influence of Jesus is yet alive. 

Theological schools might consider re - examining their approaches to pastoral education and training to include the elephant in the room, the issue of trust for church leaders. A collaboration of church educators, church leaders, and parishioners would best serve the church in this area desperate for positive development.

Conditions precipitate the need for this approach. Support determined necessary comes by conclusion reached in Angie Ward's work in Christianity Today in August 2006 entitled, Leader's Insight: Can I Trust You? Strengthening the Three Legs of Trust; Character, Competence, and Communication. 

She writes, "The unavoidable conclusion makes clear trust is critical to a church’s health and ultimately, to its ministry effectiveness. When people in a church do not trust each other or their leaders, the church becomes a diseased organism that will poison those who come into contact with it, or shrivel up and stop producing fruit – oftentimes both."  

By God's Grace, might theological schools, Bible colleges, church leaders and the people of congregations work together to become a more wholesome community than church behavior can too often demonstrate.

Community Living in Covenant Community- Six Primary Components of Christian Spirituality - Part Four

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, The Gospel of John 3 vs 16 a

Part Four of the series, Six Primary Components of Christian Spirituality, establishes community living in covenant communion established by the Messiah, Jesus become the Christ after shedding his blood and giving his life to compensate for all who humanity could not behaviorally achieve. 

A covenant is a spoken or written agreement or promise usually under seal between two or more parties especially for the performance of some action. Serious consequences follow breach of the agreement. A community is a group of unified individuals bound together by interests, culture, religion, race, politics, etc. A communion is a more intense form of intentional community. It demonstrates a close relationship between people or groups with enhanced meaning.  In Christian context, communion is a ceremony in which bread is eaten and wine is drunk as a way of remembering and showing devotion to Jesus Christ.

Following the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus; the Apostles record in the Book of Acts the development of a community living in covenant communion. Families of men and women now model the lives after the life of Jesus. This is the moment for which the God human, Jesus given evidence to the words, “For God so loved the world that he gave.”

And the giving does not stop after Jesus ascends from the Earth to heaven to return to God, his Father. As God has so loved the world that he gave his only son for all of humanity, so those who remain behind began to live a spirit of giving.

In Acts Chapter 2 vss 42 - 47, the followers of Jesus were noted to sell their belongings to share with the whole of the new community living in covenant communion. The followers of Jesus not only pledged their allegiance and loyalty to Jesus and the Apostles but also to each other and others.

² And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. ⁴³ And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. ⁴⁴ And all that believed were together, and had all things common; ⁴⁵ And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. ⁴⁶ And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, ⁴⁷ Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

The legacy of the people of the God, the ekklesia, the whole Christian Community that began in Jerusalem, is the spirit and service of a loving woman devoted to her chosen by God Husband. The Messiah, Jesus, the Christ is the husband of the ekklesia, the Church, the community followers of Jesus’s model for living.

Jesus made clear in Luke Chapter 4 vs 18 – 19 he had been sent to Earth to fulfill God’s intention of loving the world so much that he gave Jesus to the world . ¹⁸ The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, ¹⁹ To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

If you are to honor the six primary components of Christian Spirituality, it is directed that we share community living in covenant communion. God honors his promise to all of us living in this order of relationship through the words of Jesus in Matthew 28 vs 20b, “I am with you always.”

Next time, we shall take on intentional individual meditation. There we listen for God’s direction from the Word of God to our thoughts reminding us that we have been created by God (Genesis 1 and 2), loved us (John 3 vs 16a), given himself for us to redeemed us (2^nd Corinthians 5 vs 21), and is always with us (Matthew 28 vs 20b).

Until then, May God bless you and keep you, care for you during your sleeping and your waking, in your going outs and your coming ins, in your labour and your leisure; May God make his face to always shine upon you and give you peace. Amen!