To give some context, I admit that my first cat Lucy was not a fan of the belly rub. Or touching of the belly in any way. There could be scratching and biting if I so much as went near her belly floof.

Peanut loves her some belly rubs. She rolls over and practically begs for them. She closes her eyes in a kind of ecstatic trance and seems to be in feline heaven.

I don’t know how many cats are belly rub fans. I’m sure it’s not in the majority. You have to win a cat’s trust and he or she has to feel secure enough in your presence to show her vulnerable side (both figuratively and literally).

So when your belly rub request is accepted, it’s a big deal.

Peanut also likes head rubs. As do I, from time to time.

“Repentance:  To repent is to come to your senses. It is not so much something you do as something that happens. True repentance spends less time looking at the past and saying, ‘I’m sorry,’ than to the future and saying, ‘Wow!'” (Frederick Buechner)

I think that’s as good a definition of the word repentance as I’ve ever seen.

I also like repentance being a change of mind that leads to a change of heart that leads to a change of behavior.

Through the many varied sermons and lectures and talks that I’ve heard, I’ve come to understand that to repent is more than to feel sorry for what you did. You can do that and keep repeating the same old sin.

It’s more than to stop doing something bad and harmful and wrong. You can do that and replace one bad habit or addiction with another bad habit or addiction.

It’s about going in one direction, doing a 180, then going in the complete opposite direction. You cease doing wrong and replace it by cultivating a healthy and good habit instead.

I’m sure there’s a lot more to the word. Probably someone who’s more educated in biblical languages and ancient culture could probably find lots more nuances and shades of meaning in the word.

Here’s another good definition: “Repentance means you change your mind so deeply that it changes you” (Bruce Wilkinson).

Lord, help me “to have the power of patience and the wisdom of calm.”

That goes against everything that this culture applauds. We celebrate being in a hurry and being busy. As I read somewhere, we need to stop the glorification of busyness.

Being busy doesn’t always equate being more productive. Being in a hurry doesn’t always mean being more efficient.

Sometimes, it’s good to slow down, to learn what it means to wait expectantly on God, and to learn the wisdom of calm.

Jesus took time every day to be alone with God, in spite of overwhelming crowds that hounded His every footstep. He made solitude and quiet a priority.

Who are we then to surrender to the tyranny of the urgent and never make time for what matters most or to ever give ourselves margins in which to breathe, to be still before God, to find calm, and to learn how to wait well?

May we come to learn the power of patience and the wisdom of calm as we learn to lean on and wait on the Lord.

I heard something interesting today about Eugene Peterson, the author and theologian who passed away a few months back. Basically, you can summarize every single one of his sermons into one tidy little sermon:

God loves you.

He’s on your side.

He’s coming after you.

He’s relentless.

God does love you. Not in a generic kind of “I love everybody, and you are a part of everybody, so I must love you” way, but in a real personal “I love you for you exactly as you are where you are” kind of love.

He’s on your side. Truly, God isn’t wanting anyone to perish apart from His love but to come to salvation. God doesn’t delight in anyone going to hell but in people coming to the truth as revealed in Jesus.

He’s coming after you, not like a cosmic policeman waiting to catch you in a lie or a fault but in the way the father runs after his prodigal son, pursuing his wayward child before the child even knows he’s being pursued.

He’s relentless. God never gives up on the ones He loves. He never stops seeking after His lost sheep to bring them back into the fold. And we need a Good Shepherd like that, prone as we are to wander and to get lost.

“There are moments when all anxiety and stated toil are becalmed in the infinite leisure and repose of nature” (Henry David Thoreau).

Of all the choices and decisions I’ve made of late, precious few were any better than returning to Radnor Lake for a hike.

It’s been way too long since I last had a good long hike into nature and away from the things of man. I relish the quiet calm of nature, listening to my own thoughts, but more often listening to the still small voices of nature.

It almost seems like to speak would be to profane the sacred silence around me, so I often keep quiet and try to pay attention. Those two qualities work well not just on a hike but in any suitable occasion.

I counted 11 deer, plus countless squirrels, some turkeys, a swimming muskrat, and a busy little woodpecker. On the whole, the hike lived up to my expectations.

I often wonder if this current culture isn’t allergic to silence. You never hear dead air in any media format. People will fill any kind of silence with inane talk and chatter. It’s like we’re (me included) addicted to noise.

But there’s something curative and refreshing about peace, silence, quiet, and nature. I’m sure Thoreau was onto something with Walden Pond.

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive (Howard Thurman).”

You may feel as insignificant and unimportant as that one drop in the ocean, but you never know how far-reaching the effects of the ripple caused by just one drop can be. You may never know how many lives might be impacted by your small acts of obedience for Jesus done with great love. You may never know how many people will be in heaven because of the smallest act of obedience in your being faithful to share your gospel story with one person.

“It’s a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the Universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people . . . . At the centre of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you; an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth . . . . It’s clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. I’m absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that ‘As you reap, so will you sow’ stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff. That’s between me and God. But I’d be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. I’d be in deep shit. It doesn’t excuse my mistakes, but I’m holding out for Grace. I’m holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross because I know who I am, and I hope I don’t have to depend on my own religiosity” (Bono).

“God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there.” (CS Lewis).

I’m more and more convinced that in the life of every believer, God will bring him or her through a season where there’s absolutely nowhere to turn and absolutely nothing to lean on but God.

God will kick out all the props and idols out from under you in such a way that you fall on your knees before Him.

The purpose of all this isn’t to humiliate or demean the Christian but to remind us that we are at every moment, waking or sleeping, completely dependent on God. Whether sunshine or rain, good or bad days, we need God for all of it.

We were designed to need God, to be always dependent on His mercy and grace and power. Apart from that, we can’t sustain our existence. Or as Jesus put it, “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.”

For most, criticism comes easier than gratitude. When the week gets long, it’s more natural to complain and grumble than to give thanks.

Sometimes, familiarity breeds contempt. Sometimes, it just breeds complacency and taking for granted those family and friend who are in your life.

What I’ve learned is that you can never wasted time in gratitude for your life and the people in it. You and I should tell people what they mean to us while they’re still around to hear it.

Remember, if you lose your job, you can get another one, but if you lose your health, it’s much more difficult to get back. You can spend all your time making a living, but you’re better off investing in people and leaving a legacy. In your last days, you won’t ask to see your paycheck stubs or your work awards. You’ll never lie on your deathbed and wish you could have spent more time at the office or worked more overtime.

Spend time now with what matters. Or with who matters. The memories that will matter most are always the ones with people, not things.

“The great paradox of life is that those who lose their lives will gain them. This paradox becomes visible in very ordinary situations. If we cling to our friends, we may lose them, but when we are nonpossessive in our relationships, we will make many friends. When fame is what we seek and desire, it often vanishes as soon as we acquire it, but when we have no need to be known, we might be remembered long after our deaths. When we want to be in the center, we easily end up on the margins, but when we are free enough to be wherever we must be, we find ourselves often in the center.

Giving away our lives for others is the greatest of all human arts. This will gain us our lives” (Henri Nouwen).

Those are some wise words by a wise man.

Life isn’t a possession to be guarded with tightly clenched fists but a gift to be held with open hands. A wise woman once said that God gives the very best to those who leave the choice with Him.

In an age where we’re praised for how much we can achieve, possess, and hoard, Jesus said that those who strive to be the least will be first, and those who seek to give their lives away for the sake of the Kingdom of God will be the ones who truly find their best and truest lives.