It's A Sunshine Day

Anybody who knows where my blog title came from today is undeniably a Brady Bunch fan. I was glued to the set when I was young. All I ever wanted was to be like Marcia . . . Marcia, Marcia, Marcia! One of the songs the "Bradys" sang was called "It's a sunshine day." This song has very special meaning to my daughters and me. Shopping with teenage girls was always a covert operation. To be seen with their mother at the mall was reputation destroying . . . oh boy did they discover what I would stoop to when they acted embarrassed of me. Oh the memories of riding down an escalator in the mall singing this song (my youngest Taylor would do it with me to her sisters until she was old enough to be "embarrassed!") The real Brady Bunch kids were good . . . but the The Brady Bunch Movie does it best! This is for you, girls!  Click on the link below for a little cheer:

It's a Sunshine Day

Believe it or not, eventually my daughters all came to love this song . . . I even put it on a CD I made of favorite songs for each of them a few Christmas's ago.  I have no doubt my grandchildren will suffer the same fate some day. The only difference is their grammie will be singing right along. Some things never change! 

Todays first reading (Hebrews 13:1-8) comforts in the fact Jesus was, is, and always will be Lord of all:

Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels. Be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment, and of the ill treated as of yourselves, for you also are in the body. Let marriage be honored among all and the marriage bed be kept undefiled, for God will judge the immoral and adulterers. Let your life be free from love of money but be content with what you have, for he has said, I will never forsake you or abandon you. Thus we may say with confidence:

The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?

Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

In Anne a lay apostle's book Serving in Clarity, her analogy of having faith in Christ is spot on: 

"Truly, God is good. Serving God brings joy and peace, comfort and confidence. Serving God brings hope and trust, and a calm purpose. Of course, there are those who mock people who pray. People laugh at them. Dear friends, Christians have always been mocked. Identifying oneself as a Christian insures that we are targets, just as Christ was and is a target. Those who do not follow God, who are suffering from the pain of isolation from God, tend to strike out at followers. When we call ourselves Christians, we will be held to a higher level. There is an expectation that we will be kinder and more Christ-like. When we fail, others scoff and ridicule. But Jesus Himself fell. Jesus does not ridicule us. He offers us a hand and pulls us back to our feet. I see it this way. If an apostle were going sailing, he would prepare his boat. Perhaps someone approaches him as he prepares his boat and says, “You cannot sail that boat. There is no such thing as wind.” The apostle would say, “I believe in wind.” “That’s  childish, foolish. Where is this wind? Produce it. I cannot see it and neither can you.” The reply? “I have seen the effect of the wind. I have felt the wind. The wind has helped me and others sail in the past and I believe that if I am patient, the wind will eventually fill my sails and take me further along the course I have set for my boat.” The scoffer remarks, “You fool. You will be sitting in that harbor all day. We are having a party and you are missing it.” This is rather obvious because we all know that the wind will blow and the boat will sail. But maybe it will not be exactly according to the goals of the apostle. Maybe the apostle has to rely on the timing of the wind as opposed to the wind relying on the timing of the apostle. Sometimes apostles end up in places where they did not think they were going or where they did not want to go.  And sometimes apostles get stuck in a place and they simply have to wait. But wind is real. And so is God."

Lay apostles, when others speak negatively about Christ or His Church, are you embarrassed and silent? I heard Anne a lay apostle speak last month of a lay apostle who came under attack for her Catholic faith. Something negative was said about our Pope. The lay apostle came back with how much she loved our Pope. For every negative comment, she  responded with all the love she feels for her Church. I love this! Why acknowledge negativity? Time to step up, lay apostles, and make it a sunshine day!

Thank you, Lord, for all the sunshine days you have given me, and for Your constant, unchanging love. The closer I get to You, the further away the cloudy days.

God bless,
Bonnie