There is a 'Peanuts' cartoon in which Lucy is telling her brother Linus to "get on the ball... get with it... get involved."  As Linus stands, sucking his thumb and hanging on for dear life to his security blanket, Lucy says, "You can't drift along forever.  You have to direct your thinking.  For instance, Linus, you have to decide whether you are going to be a liberal or a conservative.  You have to take some sort of stand.  You have to associate yourself with some sort of cause."  Whereupon, Linus pulls his thumb out of his mouth, puts down his security blanket, and asks Lucy, "Are there any openings in the Lunatic Fringe?"!

Friend of Dial Hope, this is why the Gospel is never boring, never ho-hum... it is always TA-DA!  For God's grace often is a shocker!  As the apostle Paul writes, "For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength."  (I Cor. 1:25).  Listen to the foolishness of God when Jesus says, "Love your enemies... do good to those who hate you... bless those who curse you... pray for those who treat you badly... be compassionate as your Father is compassionate... do not judge... do not condemn... grant pardon."  (Luke 6:27-29, 36, 37).  Linus was right about the Lunatic Fringe... "For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom."  Count me in... I want to be a part of that!  Now remember, today and every day of 2010, you are blessed to you may be a blessing to others.

Prayer:  Loving God, save us from holding back, from sitting on the fence.  Help us to walk with faith instead of fear.  May we dare to strive always for 'the more excellent way'.  May the word 'yes' replace 'not yet'; the affirmation, 'all things are possible with God' dislodge our clinging to the familiar, the safe, the well-worn, our rationalizations.  O God, who makes all things new, transform our hesitation into the smiling confidence of people who live not for ourselves but for your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose name we pray.  Amen.