Philippians 4:8 – In conclusion, my friends, fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable. (GNT)

Here I am, on a bright, sunny morning, sitting on the backyard deck overlooking a treed grassy park. During the night, someone has cut one of the support ropes on my hammock and left it fallen on the ground. I think, who cut that rope? Why did they cut it? No answers, no reasons; it's done, a part of life. Acceptance? Irritation? Resignation? What can be done about it? It's just a little irritation. It can be repaired.

Then I think: What if that hammock were the representation of a person's life — my life? One of the support ropes is my relationship with God and the other support rope is my relationship with the world. When anything happens to break either of those relationships, then my life falls down. And then, the relationships need to be repaired.

God repairs broken relationships by showing me the choices that I need to make in order to mend whatever is broken or missing in my life. God does this by strengthening my faith, by entering my consciousness through the power of the Spirit, and by showing me examples of good spiritual relations through other people's actions. When we put into action what God shows us to do, then we are able to assist in building positive relationships in the world.

Prayer: Great and good God, we thank You that You can repair all relationships. Amen.