Scatter the flowers

  "Does someone need a hug?" ~Elf, to a raccoon Have you hugged today or been hugged?  Hugging is or should be a vital part of our existence.  Science says it produces "cuddle" hormones that relieve stress and endorphins that are more powerful than morphine. Apparently there is a 4/8/12 rule according to  Virginia Satir (author & psychotherapist):  We need 4 hugs a day for survival, 8 hugs a day for maintenance, and 12 hugs a day for growth. Sounds like hugging has a lot of benefits.   Don't you wish you could just send or receive hugs to people with more impact than an emoji?  Somehow the impact of 🙏 doesn't seem to convey the emotional support we need in times of distress and anguish.   At times, though well-meaning, the phrase "praying for you" can sometimes seem rote and convenient, when we may want to love on them or be loved by them more fully. How can we support and encourage friends and family when they are reaching out in ...

  "Good Friday is a day of hope disguised as sorrow." ~unknown Good Friday always seemed like an erroneous word to me when I first became a Christian.  It seemed like a day filled with whippings, wrongful accusations, hatred, torture, abuse, and crucifixion for our sinless Savior should never be labeled as good.  But then, as Peter was scolded in Matt 16:23 , I see that I was not setting my mind on things of God, but rather looking at things the way Satan would have them.    Christ Carrying the Cross, Luis de Morales 1565, Getty Museum In order for you and I today (as well as countless others in the past, here now, and in the future) to be able to be reconciled to God, Jesus had to fulfill these prophecies and die.  He had to sacrifice His sinless Self for our sin, deny His own comfort and power to overcome their evil, so we could be reconciled back with God and spend eternity in heaven. "So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal lif...