Bending Angel

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Prayer to Know What Love Is – August 22, 2021

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Click here to listen to Jack’s song, “What Is Love?”

You and I have spent a lifetime learning what love is. It is in you and me. It magnificently shines like tonight’s full moon from the lips, and hugs and the little things children do.

God is love but so are we if we treat others as God commands us to do.

God’s love has given you and me many gifts. These gifts must be given away in order to keep them.

As many of you know in high school I played the keyboard for two popular area bands, The Minutemen, and Beau Geste. Years ago some of you heard the bands at dances you attended, private parties, The Carousel Skating Rink on Old Katy Road, and the Music Hall.

Since the age of seventeen I have been writing songs but never published any of them on social media. In my sleep and in prayer I heard what I believe were the lips of God to create the tune and write the words to my song, What Is Love, recently copyrighted for me by my dear friend and entertainment lawyer, Yocel Alonso.

God has placed in my path two talented artists to be a part of this and other songs to come. One is Stephanie Jones who has the voice of an angel and guitarist, Brian Carrion, to arrange, to play the strings and vocal accompaniment to capture the beauty and meaning of the song. My deepest praise and thanks to Stephanie and Brian.

God has spoken to us in Scripture about receiving and sharing gifts He has given us.
1 Peter 4:10
As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Dear God, in prayer may we discover the gifts You have have given us.

God, may we be thankful for receiving them.

God, please help each of us to use, develop and share those gifts with others to Your glory.

God, as we share our gifts, like Jack’s song, What Is Love, please give them the wings of angels to touch the hearts of others with Your love.  Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur, and Inspirational Speaker.  For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Prayer to See Holy Coincidence – August 8, 2021

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In the midst of the Pandemic last year our family lost one of its treasured members, our beloved Penny. Penny was a Catahoula, the breed which is the State dog of Louisiana. Penny lived a good life and added so much comfort and joy for all of us.

During the Pandemic Penny developed a persistent nose bleed. The Vet gave us the razor sharp news that Penny had inoperable cancer. Medicine stopped the nose bleeds for a time. Then, it came time to let Penny go. To not suffer any more. Out of love we made arrangements for the Vet to come to our house. The grandkids, Ellora, Ellisa, and Tristan, placed Penny outside in the yard in her soft bed. We said our goodbyes and gave Penny our fond farewell hugs. Then, the Vet did what is mercifully done to end a pet’s life when mercy is the only thing left to do.

Last Saturday we were told that there was a five-month-old puppy at the SPCA who needed to be adopted. It was a female like Penny. It was a mixed-breed Catahoula dog like Penny. To top it off, the SPCA had named the puppy Penny. As you can guess we took that puppy home. We miss our first Penny. But, our second Penny has already started filling the void left in our hearts last year. What were the odds that these qualities in our new puppy were pure coincidence?

How many of you have experienced things which happen which are more than random coincidence? Things which seem connected by a Holy thread. Inexplicable happenings which become the fabric of your faith that God’s hand is present in your life? How many times have you felt that God has left you alone and adrift? Then, you are faced with something more than coincidence. You are shaken by something extraordinary on an ordinary day. Awakened that underneath the life you are living there is the Holy. That God has plans for you. For me. And for pets too.

God has spoken to us in Scripture about Holy coincidence.

Romans 8:28
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Proverbs 19:21
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

Let us pray together.

Dear God, in prayer please help us to look more closely at the events of each day and to see that Your hand touches us with Your purpose and love.

God, in prayer we thank You for all Holy coincidences which reinforce our faith in You.

God, we are truly grateful that You are always present, whether seen or unseen.

God, in the often mundane, ordinary, or dark times in our lives, it is no coincidence that Your light and love shine on us. Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur, and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Prayer to Unite and Inform the Vaccinated and Unvaccinated in America – August 2, 2021

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In eighth grade at Dean Junior High in English class our teacher had us read an essay on America being a “melting pot”. America’s greatness was defined and determined by the diversity among its people from all over the world. At homeroom every day we said the Pledge of Allegiance to reaffirm that we were One Nation Under God. Yet, beneath those truths then and now how much were we, and are we truly being great in our diversity? How much are we truly united as One Under God?

Every day we see others open up their pocketbooks and their hearts to take care of their brothers and sisters who need food, clothing, and shelter. Many who have been orphaned from hope in America like my muscles were after polio when they were no longer connected to nerves which died with the virus.

We have social media to entertain us and bring us closer to one another. Or, the same technology which isolates us from others. Or, drive us apart with misinformation and falsehoods.

We have Covid-19 and now Delta. Just as we began to see Covid in our rearview mirrors, we face the prospect of Delta wave after wave. We hope masking and social distancing will be enough to prevent crowded ICUs, suffering, and death.

We have Covid vaccines to prevent suffering as I experienced with polio in 1954. I was one of 300,000 polio victims in that year. My parents had no vaccine to spare me of my fate. I can say with absolute certainty, because of the vaccine and the work of Jonas Salk, that hundreds of millions of children around the world will never know the suffering they missed. What I cannot forget and have to live with every day. Thankfully, with Rotary International’s work to eradicate polio, there is only a hand full of cases in the entire world each year.

In 1955 it was everyone’s public duty to get the polio vaccine. To protect themselves and others from harm. All children were inoculated at schools without being faced with strong opposition by doubters. Now, many believe that the Covid vaccines will cause more harm than Covid or Delta.

We are faced with a choice. What is best for America’s public health and the individual’s private right to choose not to get vaccinated? That right includes the parental choice to not have their children vaccinated.

A simple Google search shows a range of opinions from the Moderna’s vaccine being a miracle from God or to being an agent of the Devil. Science and the CDC say that the benefits of the vaccines outweigh the risks. Private posts claim that the vaccines alter human DNA, have a mind-control chip planted in them, or cause sterility in women. The line between truth and fiction is blurred. In all of this how many of us think about how God wants us to deal with getting vaccinated?

So, where is this prayer going? Am I just rambling? Well, God gives each of us the right to choose. To believe or disbelieve. To listen in prayer to God and carefully consider God’s will in making choices.

Many of my dearest friends and family have chosen to get vaccinated just like me. Many of those I love and who love me have chosen not to get vaccinated. Whether vaccinated or not I choose not to judge them. I choose to love. I choose to respect the rights of others to make choices. I choose to believe that we can be more of that One America. To be great in the diversity of our people. To respect the opinions of others which form our present and shape our future. I choose to pray to God and to listen to find calm wisdom. To be informed by God to do the right thing for me, for others, and for you. I believe that if we all listen to God we will do what is best for our Country, our brothers and sisters.

God has spoken in Scripture about finding hope, healing, and direction in such messy times as ours today.

Psalm 32:8
The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.

Jeremiah 3:15
And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will guide you with knowledge and understanding.

Let us pray together.

God, in prayer please show us the way to be one and to be great in our diversity as Your people.

God, please help us not judge others for their right to decide whether to be vaccinated from Covid 19.

God, in prayer please inform us of Your will as we decide whether or not to get vaccinated.

Last, whether or not we are vaccinated, please shine Your light on each of us to protect us from infection and harm from Covid-19, the Delta, or any other mutation which comes our way. Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon. 

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur, and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to www.BendingAngel.com website.

Prayer, the Escape Ladder on the Wall of Worry – July 18, 2021

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Photo credit: soundofheart.org

I believe in a perfect, always listening and ever-present God.  Yet, God created us as His perfectly imperfect children.  One of my imperfections and probably yours too is worry.

What good does worry accomplish for me?  For you?  What are the benefits of worrying?

The most annoying aspect of worry is that it happens at the most inappropriate and inconvenient times.  Like when I am trying to enjoy family time, or watching a movie or when I should be enjoying the moment. When I should be fully present in the now; but I am hijacked to a far off location.  A place where my mind thinks way too much but nothing is ever accomplished. The rocking chair rocks faster and faster but goes nowhere.

Even worse is when that worry begins at night.  I just lie in bed.  Then, a little worry begins and it grows and grows until I am consumed by it.  Sleep is no longer possible.  The frustrating thing about worry is that in the middle of the night I am completely unable to do anything about what bothers me.  I am robbed of sleep.  That allows worry to take greater hold of me the next time.

Attorneys like me have a common suffering.  It is the night before a trial. Even if one is fully prepared, as sleep should begin the questions pop up. “Am I really ready?  What will the judge think of my advocacy?  Will the jury care about me, my client or the case?  Will my client appreciate how I try the case?  Even though I am a collaborative divorce attorney I worry about those I serve and what personal struggles there are navigating.  The crescendo of anxiety causes me to climb an insurmountable wall of worry. Boy do I need an escape ladder to get me safely down from that wall.

That escape ladder for me is prayer.  Relief from prayer is free and immediate.  We may not be able to do something about what we are obsessing on at the time.  But God is always listening and God can handle what we cannot.  In the light of day.  In the darkness at 2:00 am.  That escape ladder is not acquired on QVC.  It is our lifeline given to us from God.  That is why I pray to God every time every day when worry gets the best of me.  Prayer is always the answer for me to find the still, quiet place to be with God and others.

What if each of us could just surrender our worries to God?  What if our first action to all our worries was to pray to God?  What if our worries were surrendered to and borne by God alone?   What would that escape ladder mean to you?  To me?  The result would be that you and I would surely receive the peace from God that passeth all understanding.

God has spoken to us in Scripture about finding God’s peace.

Philippians 4:6-7, 9

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus…….. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you.

Let us pray together.

Dear God, in prayer please help us to surrender to You all our worries and the anxieties which cause us distress.

God, please empower us to let go of the things we worry about and let us trust in You to bear what we cannot.

God, thanks for hearing our prayers and granting us thereby Your heavenly peace on Earth so that we can be fully present in our service to You and to our brothers and sisters in Your name, now and forever.  Amen

Prayer for Gratitude to Overcome Grief – July 11, 2021

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Whether you are young, middle-aged, or old we all experience grief. We lose something or someone we love. Our loved ones depart. We bury our beloved pets. We are left behind. In that vacuum of loss, we suffer. We grieve. We cry.

Later in life, we see a life-long dream will not happen no matter how hard we work. The once possible becomes impossible. Financial security will not be attained. Physical health will not be restored. Some items on our bucket lists will die before we do.

Expectations of children being financially independent, or taking trips to Europe and far-off lands, or that career goal or big investment paying off become false hopes. That retirement with your spouse which you’ve looked forward to for many years ends with a divorce petition being served on you.

For me when I grieve for what I lost with polio and paralysis, I am sad that I cannot and will not ever run, jump, play golf, dance with Dorothy, play tennis, ride a bike or take a hike. Even now I cannot do what I did in my 30’s like walk a half-mile or ride a stationary bike for three miles.

Yet, what I can do to overcome my grief is to reflect and be grateful for cherished memories and times I have spent with those I love. For example, this iconic photograph of Dorothy and me in 1978 as we stood together smiling on Nob Hill with the San Francisco Bay behind us. On that magical day, I was able to walk the streets of San Francisco and Ghirardelli Square without the assistance of a motorized wheelchair.

At that moment all I needed was my walking cane, Dorothy, and her love for me.

Six years later I was one of 100 000 polio survivors who suffered post-polio syndrome (PPS). With it came the sudden and unexpected weakness in the muscles I had regained after years of rehabilitation from polio. After feeling twice cursed and in deep emotional pain, my thoughts turned to gratitude. Gratefulness for being able to function so well for nearly four decades after polio. That gratitude overcame and overshadowed my grief. With gratefulness, I remained strong, courageous, positive, and happy.

Later, that gratitude enabled me to spend nights in an Iron Lung for five years with PPS and still ably serve as President of both the Gulf Coast Family Law Specialists and the Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists-Houston Chapter. At that time, because of that strength and support from God, I never felt the need to share this journey with my colleagues or the judges I appeared before in court for hearings and trials. All because of gratitude, the Glory, and the Grace of God.

God has spoken to us in Scripture about gratefulness.

Psalm 103:2-5
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.

Let us pray together.

Dear God, in prayer, may we be forever grateful for the blessings You have bestowed on us.

God, please open our eyes and hearts to see the experiences and the people who reside in the deep well of gratitude within us.

God, in time, may our gratitude overcome and overshadow our grieving for what once was and the hardships of life and love.

Last, may our gratitude be shared with You in prayers of thanksgiving; for with You in Heaven, ultimately, all our dreams will be fulfilled. Amen.

If you like this prayer, please share.

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon. 

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur, and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the BendingAngel.com website.

Prayer to Weed Our Garden in Relationships with Others – July 4, 2021

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I watch garden shows on HGTV and YouTube channels featuring programs on decluttering. I am often struck by how much of what is learned there applies to my life and yours too.

If one does not remove from home the clutter, what is important and needed cannot be found or seen. If one does not put away in an organized way the important papers, so much time and frustration is spent on locating them. I know at times I have had to go to the store and buy an item I knew I had but could not find.

What a waste of time and financial resources. Do you remember how you felt when you stayed in a nicely decorated and uncluttered hotel room?

If one does not weed the garden, the weeds take over. They hide or kill the plants that produce the herbs we eat and the fruit and vegetables we consume at the table. The beauty in the garden is lost, stifled, or dies.

Have you ever thought about how the lessons in weeding the garden or decluttering a home apply to your relationships with others? Your spouse? Your kids? Your parents and siblings? Your neighbors?

Dub Brooks, a dear friend, and minister said once, “God gives us a garden. But, we have to weed it ourselves.”

God wants us to declutter our relationships. To weed our relationships of the weeds. Like ongoing resentments. Like not forgiving others for past transgressions. Like bringing up over and over again old wounds to blame those we love. Forgiveness is like a pre-emergent non-toxic herbicide to end once and for all such things.

Weeding our relationships of other things too is important. Like not listening to others with our hearts. Like not overlaying one’s will over the wife or husband we love. Giving up on never losing an argument. Not being judgmental.

When we lead with love the weeds never have a chance to grow in the garden of our love for one another.

I recall a man who hired me to represent him in a collaborative divorce. His wife left him for another man. He said he was caught totally by surprise. On questioning, I learned quickly that he had stopped leading with love in his relationship with his wife of 25 years. I asked, “When have you last told your wife you loved her?” His reply, “I don’t need to do that. She knows I love her.” “When you have given her flowers,” I asked. His reply, “When her mother died ten years ago.” “When have you taken her on a vacation alone?” He said, “Never. We’ve only gone with the kids.” “When have you been intimate with each other in bed?” He replied, “Not in years.”

I am not saying this man was solely the cause of the beauty, the joy, and wonder of the marriage being lost. But, it was clear to me he had not decluttered, weeded, or cultivated the blessing of his marriage. He was a very good, church-attending man. He just had not been a very good gardener in his marital relationship. The weeds finally overtook what little was left in the marriage relationship.

God has spoken in Scripture about helping us to weed the gardens He has given us.

Isaiah 58:11
The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

Let us pray together.

Dear God, in prayer, please help us to lead with love in our actions with others, others who are gifts to us from You.

Please help us to recognize the clutter and the weeds in our relationships especially in marriage and family. In that recognition, please strengthen us to weed and remove the things which separate us from each other or worse kill the happiness, joy, and growth within ourselves and others.

God, we thank You for the garden in our hearts and in our lives. With Your help may we harvest the best in life and love for us and those You have sent our way. Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur, and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

God’s Love Is Our Cross to Bear – June 27, 2021

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Photo credit: lordsguidance.com

As Christians each of us was taught the story of Jesus carrying the Cross to Calvary.  It was a burden.  It was difficult.  It was agonizing.  It preceded horrific suffering and death for Him.

In that context, if you are like me, we think about carrying our own crosses.  For me, it was and is polio.  Paralysis.  Grieving over the things I could not do after polio.  Carry my kids and grandkids on my shoulders.  Play golf, tennis, football or basketball.  In my calling as a Collaborative Attorney, I witness husbands and wives and their kids carrying the cross of divorce.  

There were three crosses at Calvary.  For humankind the number of crosses we each bear are limitless.  Cancer.  Covid-19.  The death of loved ones.  Getting our hearts broken as we watch our kids and grandkids suffer loss, get into trouble, or make messes for themselves and others.  Finally, having to give up on life-long dreams, just to name a few.

In a different context what Jesus carried was not just the cross.  What He carried from the beginning until the very end of His life was His Father’s Love for Him and for us and our salvation.

God’s Love is our cross to bear too.  To think about others more than ourselves.  To sacrifice our own needs and comfort in compassion and service to others.  To forgive others as we were and are forgiven by God.  Because God’s Love was Christ’s Cross to bear as well as ours.

God has spoken in Scripture as to what carrying the Cross means to us.

Luke 9:23-25
Then He said to them all:  “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?

Let us pray together.

God, in prayer may we recognize that Your Love is our cross to bear.

May we each be strengthened to carry the burden of doing, saying, acting, living and loving others as You have loved us.

May we each know by faith that we will be rewarded in Your time in the manner we bear the cross of Your love for us.  That we will be raised up on our last day on Earth just as Your Son, Jesus Christ, was lifted up into Your arms forever and ever in His sacrifice for all humankind.  Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker.  For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Prayer for Fathers Who Are Fishers of Men and the Women They Love – June 20, 2021

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Don’t we all have iconic photographs which have etched in our hearts the way we remember our fathers?  The pictures capture not only the way our fathers looked on the outside to us.  They also reflect through the prism of a moment frozen in time the true essence of the children God made who became men and fathers of us.

My father died in 2015.  The best part of him dwells in the father I am.  I will never wade fish in the Laguna Madre or Topolobampo, Mexico like him.  Yet, I can be that same exemplary rock of faith, hope, love and care for my children and grandchildren as he was.

So, today I share with you this image of my dad, the fisherman who loved fishing more than anything else except me and my brothers and sister and, of course, my mother.

I learned more from Dad than just how to fish.  Dad showed me something that all great dads do for their children.  He showed me how to love Dorothy as my wife and mother of our children.  How to reel in, capture, love, caress and care for the woman who day in and day out is responsible for the kids when I am not with them.

God has spoken in Scripture of our fathers.

Psalm 32:7-7
You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.

Proverbs 4:11-12
I will guide you in the way of wisdom and I will lead you in upright paths.  When you walk, your steps will not be hampered, and when you run, you will not stumble.

Dear God, the Father of all creation,

Your Son was a fisher of men.

On this Father’s Day

I am proud to say

My father was a fisherman too.

He lived a life in service to You.

5,000 could have been fed

From the rod he cast over his head.

Yet, his greatest catch was his faith in You

And of Your love and what it can do.

God, please tell my dad I miss him so

And all the fishing trips we used to go.

Every son needs a father as him

Who wore sunglasses and a hat with a brim.

Thanks for my dad never being lost at sea

For sending him to Earth and a son like me.  Amen.

If you like this prayer, please share. 

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon. 

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker.  For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Prayer for Simplicity in Our Complex World – June 13, 2021

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When I was a young student in middle school I and my classmates read Walden by Henry David Thoreau, the great American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher.  Like most young souls I did not have any idea about the complexities of adulthood.  After all, my parents took care of everything.  What could’ve been simpler than that?

At the University of Houston, my wonderful Sociology Professor, Sheila Sheinberg, caused me to revisit Thoreau.  Sheila warned her students about how our gadgets and possessions would soon pose significant barriers to experiencing nature.  To live the simple life.  Further, as we owned more of them, we would have to work ever harder to pay for them.  All the hours and days spent working to pay for them would represent time away from the beauty of the Earth God created for us to enjoy.  That Sociology class was long before the Internet of Things, Facebook, Google, personal computers, the iPhone, and other electronic devices.

With age and technology I find myself, like you, a human cyborg of sorts navigating a more and more increasingly complex and overly stimulated existence.  My wheelchair has become my legs.  My ear pods have become my ears.  My iPhone and Google have become my augmented brain.  I have to work hard to be fully in the present and to strive for the simple living in natural surroundings which Thoreau set as an example for all of us.

I do not know if Professor Sheinberg is alive anymore or where she lives.  But, her love of teaching the good and simple life remains in my heart and mind so many years later.

God has spoken to us in Scripture about simplicity and contentment.

1 Timothy 6:6-8
But godliness with contentment is great gain.   For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.  But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

Proverbs 11:28
Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.

Dear God, when I awaken tomorrow, may my heart be ever grateful for Your gift to me of another day on Earth.

God, with prayer every day please help me to look forward to seeing, hearing, feeling, and touching the beauty around me.  

To hold a young child.  

To embrace one I love.  

To hear a bird’s song or the notes of a beautiful symphony.   

To listen in the silence of prayer for the beat of angel wings around me.

To plan at least one simple, small thing to look forward to or accomplish this day. 

God, in being more mindful and present each and every day may I see a glimpse of the joy, pleasure and peace that await me in Heaven with You.  Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker.  For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

 

 

Prayer to Feed the Best Wolf within Us – June 6, 2021

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My wife, Dorothy, loves to watch murder mysteries on television. One of her favorites is Death in Paradise. After she watched Episode 6 of Season 6, Dorothy said to me, “You have to watch the scene in this show.”

While on a stakeout, in passing the time, Jack said to Humphrey “My grandfather told me a story once. About these two wolves fighting inside all of us. One of them was anger, envy, self-pity, regret. And the other one is love, truth, faith, hope. That sort of thing. I asked him which one of the wolves would win? You know what he said? He said, ‘Whichever one you feed’.”

The tale of the two wolves existed long before the screenplay was written for Death in Paradise. To me, the wolves represent the heavenly voice in each of us. And the earthly voice which speaks to all of us in our walks of faith. One part of us is self-centered. Focusing on the self. I am the most important. My needs come first. I have every right to express my anger. To blame others for what happens to me. To hold a grudge. I am never part of a problem I face. I know the solution to everything. I have the right, in all honesty, to share my opinion and judgment with and overlay my will on others.

Which wolf inside of you and me will win the race? Which voice will prevail? The one which reflects God’s love? Which speaks His truth? The one that brings us closer to God and one another? Or the one which takes us the wrong direction. The path of indifference, intolerance, and even hate. The self-righteous and judgmental which is really closer to Hell on Earth for us? The one in you who will win is the one you feed. The good and Godly one who receives from you food for the soul. Nourishment of the spirit.

What can you do to feed the good and Godly part of you? Go to church. Read scripture. Take a Bible class. Pray daily. Do acts of kindness for others. Volunteer at a food bank or soup kitchen. Listen to or sing hymns. Seek your own way to nourish the best part of you who God created.

As to the heavenly voice in me, I use prayer and scripture every day to hear it. To deafen my ears from hearing the earthly, spiritless and dark voices which separate me from others and most importantly, God.

With Facebook, social media, NBC, CNN, FOX News, podcasts galore, being left, middle, right, liberal, conservative, Democratic, Republican or Independent we hear so much. With God’s help are you able to protect yourself from words or acts of hatred that feed the lesser, the bad wolf in you? In listening to certain dialogue or viewing certain online videos are you feeding the best wolf in you? Are you feeding the part of you which is love, gives love, and lives life closer to God and your neighbor?

God has spoken in scripture as to the importance of feeding the spirit in You and me.

Matthew 4:4
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Dear God, as Your children we have the need to hear Your word.
God, in prayer please help us to hear Your word. If we are not feeding our soul, we are feeding something else.

God, please help us to be ever mindful to feed the good and sacred part in us. For that is necessary for our spirits to grow and to magnify Your love on Earth. For our service to You to be acts of love, truth, faith, hope.

God, in the story the better wolf which is fed by us will live. In Your story of the birth, death, and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ, our spirits which are fed by You will live and love forever. Amen
If you like this prayer, please share.

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur, and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to www.BendingAngel.com website.

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