RELIGION the religion corner WITH LYNDIA GRANT
The Difficulties of Life Should Make Us Better!
During this worldwide pandemic, my message today is simple: Look for the good in every bad situation. See the glass halffull, not half-empty. When you focus on the negatives in life, you will attract more negatives. As we watch our death toll numbers rise each day — now approaching 100,000 in the U.S. — it is truly shocking! Some of those lost are your family, friends, coworkers or neighbors. Each and every person who had died is someone special to someone. But there is a message in this huge mess. When we were born, each of us was assigned a death date. Yes, we are saddened, but always remember that God does not make mistakes. We cannot shut our lives down and stop living. This is the time to regroup, to change how we use all of the energy we were previously utilizing, driving from here to there, doing this and that! Sit down and THINK, find use of this valuable time that none of us can get back. Grow your spir-
itual life. Though we cannot go to our church houses right now, I personally look forward to participating in my Wednesday night Bible study and hearing my pastor preach or teach the Sunday message. We need our spiritual lives to be strengthened even more during this historic time. While many states are still under stay-at-home orders, we’re still allowed to take a walk and look at the flowers. You’ve heard the saying, “Smell the roses!” It is now spring, get out and enjoy the leaves on the trees, enjoy the clouds in the sky. When it rains, enjoy the feeling of the falling rain on your face, then thank God that He spared our country a drought. When the snow comes, the good news is that it’s preparing the earth for spring. The minerals that come down in the snow are supplied by God — snow slowly waters the earth, and it creates what appears to be miracle flowers! The title of this column gives us something to ponder when awful things like this happens. Look for the message in this mess! There is a message, you know. Only those of us who look for the answers will benefit. Ecclesiastes 3:3 says, “To everything there is a season, and a time
Mt. Zion Baptist Church
to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die.” As the tragedies pile up, remember that our Scripture tells us that there IS a time for each of us die! A few years ago, pre-pandemic, I had the opportunity to visit with a friend, and his wife was taking weekly acupuncture due to some severe family matters that occurred more than 25 years ago. Her sister had been murdered by her husband, and despite the fact that so many years had passed, they caught the killer. Then there had to be a trial, but my friend just couldn’t take the strain of the trial and the recollection of the death of her sister, so she became severely depressed. She couldn’t get her sister back! She could have been delighted that they had finally caught the killer, and that her family would get justice! As I looked around her magnificent home, all I could see was the $3 million residence she lived in, and I saw how wonderful her husband was. My heart went out to her, but I thought, “You are very blessed.” These situations should make us stronger, if we keep our minds positive, not negative. The difficulties of life should make us better. WI
John F. Johnson Reverend Dr.
5101 14th Street, NW / Washington, DC 20011 Phone: 202-726-2220 Fax: 202-726-9089
1306 Vermont Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20005
“A Church with a past to remember – and a future to mold” www.mtzbcdc.org
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Mount Olivet Lutheran Church
Reverend John W. Davis Pastor
Service and Times Sunday Worship Service - 8:00 a.m. & 11:00 a.m. Children’s Church - 11:00 a.m. (1st & 3rd Sundays) Communion - 10 a.m. 4th Sunday Sunday School - 9:15 a.m. (4th Sunday 8:15 a.m.) Prayer Meeting & Bible Study - Wednesday 7:00 p.m.
(301) 864-6070
Service and Times Divine Worship, Sunday 10:00 a.m. Communion 1st and 3rd Sunday “Friendliest Church in the City” Website: mountolivetdc.org Email: mtolivedc@gmail.com
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MAY 21 - 27, 2020 27
