The purpose of World Homeless Day (on 10/10 each year) is to draw attention to homeless persons’ needs locally and provide opportunities for the community to get involved in responding to homelessness. It is a vehicle for connecting resources and communities. Over 100 million families may be homeless world-wide today.
Wes Magruder posted a thoughtful piece on Ramadan and fasting. He starts out:
“One thing I’ve learned about Ramadan is that it’s not just about abstaining from food and drink. That is only the tip of the iceberg.When I sat down with Yaseen before Ramadan started, he explained to me that it is also a fast of the eyes, mouth, and ears.
What does this mean?
One thing I’ve learned about Ramadan is that it’s not just about abstaining from food and drink. That is only the tip of the iceberg.
When I sat down with Yaseen before Ramadan started, he explained to me that it is also a fast of the eyes, mouth, and ears.
What does this mean?
It means that one takes special care not to see, say, or hear things that are not pleasing to God.
I am reminded of the Sunday School song that I learned as a child: “Be careful little eyes what you see, be careful little eyes what you see, for the Lord above is looking down in love, be careful little eyes what you see.” Subsequent verses include “Be careful little ears what you hear,” “Be careful little hands what you do,” and “Be careful little feet where you go.” I never cared for the song…
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In this Community, Forgetting
There may come a day, when I, too, will
Forget the places I have been this day, and where now Igo.
May I recall deep in me the place of my eternity.
Some days I may forget where I am and how I came here,
and I may forget when sons were here today.
May I recall deep within me the blessed Christ-body.
When cold darkness falls in my yard,
and frost meanders across my kitchen pane,
and cardinals are hidden from my evening meal time,
I may wrestle with decisions to eat, or did eat,
and I may wrestle with smiles or grimaces.
Let God bless me with joy and hope.
I am simple.
Today, as I walk through this day only, old friends are
gone already. Ones who once were mine are gone.
Gentle God, strong Christ-body, bless these folk too.
Show us again joy and hope;
Fill this day with brightest stories of days lived
in this community.
(c) Tom Bolton, July 27, 2012, Kenosha, WI
In Our Community
What structure is it that we build and inhabit
In this Beloved Community?
We are here, joined in the Holy Spirit,
Still in some tension,
For we are from diverse homes.
We love, and we form this body of Christ,
But as the tension between a muscle pair,
so We strengthen our parts when we
Exercise in disciplined forms.
We speak and we listen.
We focus on our movements,
Less on the brick-built Structure,
and fiercely on our faith.
In unity, we are never uniform.
Many evenings, greased in BenGay, we allow
Our aches to heal in harmony.
We ask blessings on this Beloved Community.
(c) Tom Bolton, July 27, 2012, Kenosha, WI
I cancelled (or postponed) my Sunday School Class on Steven W. Manskar’s wonderful book, Accountable Discipleship: Living in God’s Household, this past Sunday, because we 
did nor have enough participants–it was me and one other! But I will still push forward to lead this class in the next year, because I am convinced that the book is important, and the class is going to be great. There is also an excellent journal with the book, that I have adapted to use in the 6 week class.
I also have read several blogs the past month that relate very much to the topic of classes and covenant groups.
I particularly appreciated Teddy Ray’s blogs about early Methodist class meetings, starting this past week: Teddy Ray: How Is It With Your Soul?
Ray introduces the 4 questions in this entry and continues the discussion on the 27th.
He says:
Something the early Methodists were most known for was their “class meetings.” Some people call these the original church “small groups.” Many believe that they were the key to the early Methodist movement’s success and spread.
I think you can gain a lot by being a part of a group like this today. It has been the most important part of my own growth in the past five years.
He goes on to note, “In early Methodist class meetings, the leader asked everyone, him/herself included, about the condition of their souls. The groups I have led or participated in have used these 4 questions:
1 – How is it with your soul?
2 – Have you done all the good you could and avoided all the evil you could this week?
3 – How have you availed yourself of the means of grace?
4 – How can we as a group best pray for and support you?”
I have sought to develop a group, and hope to do so this Fall. The closest I have come is with some of my colleagues from Faith Alive. I have struggled to find enough men to include.
Manskar had a course at Garrett this year that sounds excellent: Planning for Renewal. He includes in the description, “Church renewal in the 21st century will come when the church realizes it does not exist for the personal benefit and blessing of its individual members. The church exists to equip Christians to participate with Christ in God’s mission (missio Dei) of restoring shalom to the world and its people.”
I would have loved to have taken that class too!
I enjoy being a member of Optimist International. When I was a teenager in 1970 and into 
1972, several men in the Janesville Noontime Optimists invited me to meetings, watched out for me when I needed some guidance, and encouraged me through the stages of the Oratorical Contest. They influenced me in ways that have affected me all my life.
Now I am a member of the Milwaukee Metro Optimist Club, and I am pleased to support some great activities that build up youth in my community. It is a great group.
I just came from our Chapter Meeting.
I love sharing the Optimist Creed with my cohorts.
Promise Yourself (The Optimist Creed)
Promise Yourself….
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all of your friends feel that there is something in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.To give so much to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Optimist’s Creed contains affirmations that may often get you motivated and give you the inspiration you need to remain focused and live a successful and abundant life.
The Optimist Creed was authored in 1912 by Chistian D. Larson, appearing in his book Your Forces and How to Use Them. It was adopted as Optimist International’s creed in 1922. Many have found inspiration in The Optimist Creed. In hospitals, the creed has been used to help patients recover from illness.
Our Mission:
By providing hope and positive vision, Optimists bring out the best in kids.
Our Vision:
Optimist International will be recognized worldwide as the premier volunteer organization that values all children and helps them develop to their full potential.
Purposes:
To develop optimism as a philosophy of life utilizing the tenets of the Optimist Creed; to promote an active interest in good government and civic affairs; to inspire respect for the law; to promote patriotism and work for international accord and friendship among all people; to aid and encourage the development of youth, in the belief that the giving of one’s self in service to others will advance the well-being of humankind, community life and the world.
I wrote this poem early Monday morning in reflection on the Parable about the Lost Son.
Angry and Outside the House
I too was angry and outside the house,
Toiling on days I would have wanted to just hang out,
and hearing my boss when I wanted to be home,
and hearing some clients who would not hear me.
I heard the ways of this world,
and not looking ahead,
I could not rejoice.
My parties were there, but somehow fake.
My hugs were there but clasped weakly.
My smiles smiled, and were they bright?
Poor me, poor me, I can’t quite say it,
But it is with me still, and
He sees it and she sees it;
I am all about me,
and the anger rises.
Angry at family? Angry at colleagues?
Angry at work? Angry at this World?
Angry at me.
And then in the quiet,
in the back of the room,
He invites me in.
“You are always with me.
Everything I have is yours.”
Let us celebrate my brother.
He was dead and now he is vibrant and pure.
In this community, he
Lives.
And I am alive, anger lost.
(c) Tom Bolton, Milwaukee, July 23, 2012
Hopeful 