I Can Do Anything

In 1946 Irving Berlin wrote a song for the Broadway musical Annie Get Your Gun. The song is a duet with one male singer and one female singer attempting to outdo each other in increasingly complex tasks.

In the musical, the song sets the scene for a sharpshooting contest between Annie Oakley and Frank Butler. Its most memorable lines are, “Anything you can do, I can do better; I can do anything better than you.” The song was performed by Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton.

Another song that suggests miraculous powers is The Candy Man Can” from the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The song asks and answers the question:

“Who can take tomorrow and dip it in a dream

Separate the sorrow and collect up all the cream

The Candyman, The Candyman

The Candyman can ’cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good

And the world tastes good ’cause the Candyman thinks it should

There are fictional superheroes like Superman who is “faster than speeding bullets and can leap tall buildings in a single bound.” Or superheroine Wonder Woman, one of the founding members of the Justice League, who possess abilities beyond those of ordinary people.

In the Bible we learn of Samson who had superhuman strength that helped him to perform amazing feats that included slaying a lion with his bare hands and massacring an entire army of Philistines using only the jawbone of a donkey. The Apostle Paul proclaimed, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

We are told that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” History has proven that the abilities of human beings are seemingly limitless. A visit to Egypt and other parts of the world causes one to marvel at the ingenuity and ability of ancient peoples. In modern times human beings have walked on the moon. Previously deadly diseases have been neutralized by modern medicine. Communication is possible now that would have seemed impossible just decades ago.

The truth is, each of us is gifted in one way or another. Most of us are capable of doing more with the abilities and opportunities we are given. But we are not all gifted with the same talents and abilities.

God help each of us to maximize the talents we have for the good of all people.

Jamie Jenkins

Make Me A Channel of Your Peace

OK, I know this is not Thursday. When you are retired it is hard to keep your days straight. So, accept this as thoughts for Friday.

This morning on my walk I heard a gifted choir sing the musical version of the Prayer of St. Francis. I am making it my prayer for today and perhaps you will too.

Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there is hatred let me bring your Love.
Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord
And where there’s doubt, true faith in You.

Oh, Master grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love with all my soul.

Make me a channel of your peace
Where there’s despair in life, let me bring Hope
Where there is darkness, only light
And where there’s sadness, ever joy.

Make me a channel of your peace
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
In giving to all men that we receive
And in dying that we’re born to eternal Life.

Jamie Jenkins

ALBERT EINSTEIN-THE MOST POWERFUL FORCE

”When I proposed the theory of relativity, very few understood me, and what I will reveal now to transmit to mankind will also collide with the misunderstanding and prejudice in the world.

In the late 1980s, Lieserl, the daughter of the famous genius, donated 1,400 letters, written by Einstein, to the Hebrew University, with orders not to publish their contents until two decades after his death. This is one of them, for Lieserl Einstein.

I ask you to guard the letters as long as necessary, years, decades, until society is advanced enough to accept what I will explain below.

There is an extremely powerful force that, so far, science has not found a formal explanation to. It is a force that includes and governs all others, and is even behind any phenomenon operating in the universe and has not yet been identified by us.

This universal force is LOVE.

When scientists looked for a unified theory of the universe they forgot the most powerful unseen force.

Love is Light, that enlightens those who give and receive it.

Love is gravity, because it makes some people feel attracted to others.

Love is power, because it multiplies the best we have, and allows humanity not to be extinguished in their blind selfishness. Love unfolds and reveals.

For love we live and die.

Love is God and God is Love.

This force explains everything and gives meaning to life. This is the variable that we have ignored for too long, maybe because we are afraid of love because it is the only energy in the universe that man has not learned to drive at will.

To give visibility to love, I made a simple substitution in my most famous equation.

If instead of E = mc2, we accept that the energy to heal the world can be obtained through love multiplied by the speed of light squared, we arrive at the conclusion that love is the most powerful force there is, because it has no limits.

After the failure of humanity in the use and control of the other forces of the universe that have turned against us, it is urgent that we nourish ourselves with another kind of energy…

If we want our species to survive, if we are to find meaning in life, if we want to save the world and every sentient being that inhabits it, love is the one and only answer.

Perhaps we are not yet ready to make a bomb of love, a device powerful enough to entirely destroy the hate, selfishness and greed that devastate the planet.

However, each individual carries within them a small but powerful generator of love whose energy is waiting to be released.

When we learn to give and receive this universal energy, dear Lieserl, we will have affirmed that love conquers all, is able to transcend everything and anything, because love is the quintessence of life.

I deeply regret not having been able to express what is in my heart, which has quietly beaten for you all my life. Maybe it’s too late to apologize, but as time is relative, I need to tell you that I love you and thanks to you I have reached the ultimate answer! “.

Your father Albert Einstein

PRAYER FOR TODAY

God of all Creation, with our lips and from our hearts we praise You.  We are humbled and honored to be made in Your image to reflect Your nature. We confess that we do not always demonstrate the character of our Creator. We do not love the way our Savior loved. We succumb to the temptation to love only those who like us or are like us. We do not always see others who are different from our neighbors whom we are called to love but view them with suspicion and disdain. Empower us, O Lord, to love and not hate. Enable us to live generously and graciously toward others – all others. To treat everyone like we want to be treated – with respect and dignity. Even when others disrespect us and work against us, help us to respond with love and grace just like You do. It is not easy to love everybody all the time regardless of who they are, how they think, and what they do. But that is the way You love us. You give Your best – “the sun to warm and the rain to nourish – to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and “nasty.” You place no qualifications or limitations on Your love.    Dear Lord, help us today to pray for and act on behalf of all those whom You have created. To make no distinction between those whom we claim as friends, family, neighbors, and those whom we view as our enemies. By the power of Your Holy Spirit enable us today to love as You love without reservation. In the powerful and loving name of Jesus, we pray. Amen!

I BELIEVE

On a recent Sunday morning a dozen alumni of the Doxology Choir at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church sang beautifully. Their voices exceeded what one would normally expect from a group of a dozen teens and the origin of the text of the song the words added meaning.

There are multiple versions of the lyric’s origin but all of them are dated about the time of World War II and the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany. One version has the words of the three-line poem scratched on the wall of a cave, next to the body of a Jewish girl who had escaped the Warsaw ghetto. Another source says the poem was found scratched into a stone wall in Cologne, Germany, in a damp and dark cellar that once hid Jews trying to escape the holocaust. Another account reports that these three lines were scratched into the wall of a German concentration camp during World War II.

Regardless of the accuracy of any of these reports , it is clear that In the midst of the horror of the Holocaust, someone declared their faith in the God that did not answer the way they thought God would. Some anonymous person, almost certainly a Jew, maintained faith in God and in love, despite all the harm done to them by the Nazis.

The horrors of Afghanistan. Earthquakes in Haiti, Flooding in Tennessee. Wildfires in the west. Murders in our cities and neighborhoods. Upsurge of COVID.

The words of this poem have been preserved and set to music serve as an inspiration to “keep the faith” regardless of the circumstances.

I believe in the sun, even when it is not shining.
I believe in love, even when feeling it not.
I believe in God, even when he is silent.

The following link will allow you to hear Doxology’s rendition of the song.

https://fb.watch/7EC2ZxcqRT/

Jamie Jenkins

Diversity

“There is a richness in diversity.”

“God made us different on purpose”

“We are teammates on the journey.”

“Diversity is a gift, not a curse.”

Quotes from Rev. Josh Miles’ sermon yesterday (text I Corinthians 3:1-9) at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church in Atlanta, GA. You watch the sermon and the worship service at http://www.prumc.org.

Jamie Jenkins

GOOD FRIDAY

King ever glorious! The dews of death are gathering round Thee,

Upon the cross thy foes have found Thee.

Thy Majesty, robed in Heaven’s supreme splendour,

But in weakness and surrender.

Thou hangest there. Who can be like Thee?

Pilate high in Zion dwelling?

Rome with arms the world compelling?

Proud though they be! Thou art sublime;

Far more awful in Thy weakness,

More than kingly in Thy meekness, Thou Son of God.

Glory and honour: Let the world divide and take them,

Crown its monarchs and unmake them;

But Thou wilt reign.

Here in abasement, crownless, poor, disrobed and bleeding;

There, in glory interceding,

Thou art the King!

King Ever Glorious! The Crucifixion – John Stainer (1840-1901)

Hail to the King! Hallelujah!

Jamie Jenkins

HOLY THURSDAY

We are in the middle of Holy Week of the Christian calendar. These last days of the Lenten Season will lead us to Easter Sunday when we celebrate the world changing even of the Resurrection of Jesus. Today is Holy Thursday reminding us of the last meal that Jesus had with his disciples after which He went into the Garden of Gethsemane where He was arrested by Roman soldiers and was taken to the House of Caiphas the High Priest. The next day He suffered a horrible death by crucifixion.

One of his own closest followers, Judas Iscariot, betrayed Jesus for a small sum of money. It was he who identified Jesus for the soldiers when they came to arrest Jesus just hours after He and his disciples had had dinner together.

The following describes that that Last Supper in the Upper Room of Jerusalem. I do not know the origin of this writing but it is profound.

Think about this for a second. Jesus knew.

He goes into that room with His disciples. He knows He is going to be betrayed. He knows it is Judas who will turn against him. He knows that He has been sold out for a handful of silver. Stabbed in the back by one He has poured His life into.

Yet, in that room, hours before the death of Jesus, Judas ate too. Jesus fed Judas too. Jesus prayed for Judas too. Jesus washed Judas’ feet too. I struggle to fathom that kind of love. A love that would feed the mouth that deceived you. A love that would wash the treasonous feet of the traitor. A love that could forgive even the vilest of betrayals.

I honestly struggle to comprehend it. And then, suddenly, I realize that I’m Judas. And in that moment, I’m so thankful & altogether overwhelmed that Judas ate too.

Jamie Jenkins

HABITS

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten Season in the Christian Church. This is a period of 40 days, not counting Sundays, before Easter. Historically it is a time of self-examination and a focus on practicing spiritual disciplines.

Many people “give up” something during Lent as a means of sacrifice in order to be more spiritually focused. For the most part these “sacrifices” are trivial. No chocolate or morning coffee. (I know, that does not seem trivial 😊). Limit time on social media. Reduce alcohol intake.

Other folks “add on” something that has spiritual, physical, or mental value. Spend more time at the gym. Read through the Book of Acts. Practice mediation. Engage in service projects to help others.

Recently I have been thinking about the habits that I have developed and practiced in my lifetime. I am aware of some of them and others are so well disguised that they are intrinsic to who I am. Some are simply daily routines that I follow. Others are attitudes that determine how I respond or react to situations.

During the Lenten Season I am going to be more intentional about my everyday habits. Intentionally encountering habits can be amusing and sometimes revealing.

My parents were both uneducated blue-collar workers. I suppose they would be classified as among the working poor. There were few luxuries and we were very frugal. For example, the towels we used for baths and showers were so threadbare that you could see through them but they were still usable. Since they had little absorbency, I learned to wipe excess water from my body with my hands and then use the towel. Decades later I find myself still doing that although the towels in my bathroom are very plush and absorbent.

Another habit was learned as a teenager when I worked stocking shelves in a grocery store. When you placed an item on the shelf the label was always facing the front. This enabled the customer to clearly see the name brand and the contents. Yesterday morning after eating left over pancakes from Fat Tuesday, I was careful to be sure that the maple syrup was easily identified when I returned it to the pantry shelf.

Other habits/practices are deeply ingrained in my psyche and influence the way I conduct myself and my relationship with others. Granted, we have come to recognize that attitudes of racism, sexism, lifestyle, and many others that were common during my formative years were less than they should have been. But, in truth, that is probably true of every age including our current society.

My mother taught me to respect others. I was taught to say please and thank you. Yes, Ma’am. No one was “stupid,” or a “moron,” or “crazy.” Those habits of how to speak and think of others carries over today. Although I regularly encounter behavior and attitudes with which I strongly disagree, from deep inside me the “habit” of treating every human being with dignity and respect continues to guide me and guard me in my responses.

During these 40 days of Lent, I am praying that God will help me to be aware of habits that I need to continue to follow and to give me strength to abandon those that are harmful.

Jamie Jenkins

THE CANDY MAN CAN

My wife says I am weird. She may be right.

I have this thing where songs just pop into my head without invitation or warning. Sometimes it is prompted by a word or phrase. On occasion the words and music are accompanied by a memory. At other times it is simply random.

These musical interruptions often offer guidance and encouragement. The hymns of the Christian Church are common visitors. But at other times the music is silly, comical, and make no sense.

This phenomenon may occur at any time. First thing in the morning as I am waking up. In the middle of the day. At bedtime. I often wake up briefly during the night and a song will be here before I go right back to sleep.

Just a few nights ago I awoke at 3:30 AM and “The Candy Man Can.”*The song originally appeared in the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. 3:30 AM!

Who can take a sunrise
Sprinkle it with dew
Cover it in chocolate and a miracle or two
The Candy Man
The Candy Man can
The Candy Man can ’cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good

Who can take a rainbow
Wrap it in a sigh
Soak it in the sun and make strawberry-lemon pie
The Candy Man
The Candy Man can
The Candy Man can ’cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good

Who can take tomorrow
Dip it in a dream
Separate the sorrow and collect up all the cream
The Candy Man
The Candy Man can
The Candy Man can ’cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good

Whimsical? Yes. Silly? Maybe. But it is a reminder that good things happen when we “mix it with love.” And that “makes the world taste good.” If each of us accepts the role of “The Candy Man,” the world will be a better place.

Jamie Jenkins

*written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley