Articles by Joseph Mazella at Heartlight

Ripples of Kindness

joecool@wirefire.com (Joseph Mazella) — Sun, 23 Oct 2005 00:00:00 -0500

Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. (Colossians 3:12 NLT)

I can remember a wonderful November morning several years ago at my son's elementary school. I had just taken him into the special education room where he started each morning. The teacher and aides were talking about how much my son and the other students had enjoyed some chocolate donuts that they had been given for a snack the week before. I chatted with them for a few minutes and then left. As I walked through the parking lot, however, a wonderful, kind thought came into my mind. I always try to follow such thoughts, too, because I learned long ago that any thought full of love and kindness usually comes right from God.

Wrapping my winter coat around me, I then headed straight for the local grocery store and bought two boxes of donuts -- one for my son and his friends and the other for the teacher and aides that always took care of them with so much love, kindness, and compassion. Hurrying back, I was able to deliver my simple gift before the start of school. The smiles on the faces I saw paid me back a hundred times over and I walked out of the classroom smiling to myself with a warmer heart and a lighter soul. I had paid little in the way of time or money, but that act of kindness had purchased more joy, goodness, and delight than I could have ever dreamed possible.

A little act of kindness goes a long way towards making this world a better place. Each kind thing we do connects us to the hearts, souls, and lives of those around us. Each kind word we say and kind thought we think brings us closer to love, closer to each other, and most importantly, closer to God. Kindness always ripples out as well and travels from person to person until it returns home to the heart that first shared it.

May you always fill your life with kindness then. May all your days be full of loving thoughts, joyous feelings, and kind acts. May you always make the world a kinder place just by being in it. And, "May the LORD reward you well for the kindness you have shown ...." (1 Samuel 24:19)

Joseph is a member of the Just a Minute writing team.

Website: Just a Minute

Ageless and Timeless

joecool@wirefire.com (Joseph Mazella) — Tue, 11 Oct 2005 00:00:00 -0500

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are quite small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever! So we don't look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NLT)

I just celebrated another birthday recently. My birth certificate says I turned 39 years old, but I really don't feel that age. In fact, I am not sure what age I feel. At times I feel like a small child full of energy, vitality, mischief, and joy. At times I feel like an adolescent going through so many changes that I can't even begin to understand. At times I feel like a young adult excited about my life and looking forward to the new opportunities that each day holds. At times I feel like a mature adult dealing well with all the problems that life throws at me but knowing that even more are on the way. At times I feel like an old sage with a hundred years of wisdom in me that I want to share with the whole world.

I know, however, that whatever age I might be feeling like on the inside or looking like on the outside, I am, in truth, ageless. We are all eternal souls just spending a brief time in these bodies that we are given here. In truth, we never really grow old and we never really die. We just learn and love our way through this life and on to the next.

Life is glorious and life is forever. We should all live our lives to the fullest no matter what age our birth certificates say we are. We should all live our lives with goodness, peace, happiness, and delight no matter how old or weak our bodies get. We should all live with love in our hearts, with joy in our lives, and with God in our souls no matter if we are 8 days old or 108 years old.

The only things you take with you into the next life are the love you share, the joy you give, the oneness you have with Jesus as Lord and the unity with others you share in Jesus as you live this life. Anything else is a waste of time. May we all live then with a love and joy that are ageless and with a oneness with God that is eternal.

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God's right hand in the place of honor and power. Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth. For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your real life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. (Colossians 3:1-4 NLT)

Joseph is a member of the Just a Minute writing team.

Website: Just a Minute

Make Every Day Like Christmas

joecool@wirefire.com (Joseph Mazella) — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 00:00:00 -0600

And may the Lord make your love grow and overflow to each other and to everyone else, just as our love overflows toward you. (1 Thessalonians 3:12 NLT)

We received the first snow of the season today. It wasn't even an inch of snowfall, yet it turned the mountains into a beautiful, crystal-white paradise. I enjoyed being outside and feeling the cold, brisk air blowing the flakes around. Our Saint Bernard, Buddy, was a delight to watch as he literally jumped for joy in the snow as my daughter walked him. My heart warmed as I thought of the Christmas season to come with all of its gifts of peace, goodwill, kindness, laughter, joy, and love. I wished that every day could be Christmas Day. Then I remembered that each day can be like Christmas Day if we choose to make it so.

After all, God's love for us isn't just limited to one day a year. God's love is with us everyday. It never wavers. It never fades. His love for us is joyous and eternal just as the life He promises us is joyous and eternal. Why should our love be any different? Why should our greatest gifts of goodness, kindness, and joy just be limited to one day a year?

Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol calls Christmas, "A good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely."

I hope that one day as everyone in this world learns to better choose and share love and joy that these feelings will not be limited to one time of the year. As everyone in this world learns to grow in oneness with God, I pray that the Christmas Spirit will last all throughout the year. As everyone in this world learns to live as God intended for us to live, each day can become more like Christmas Day.

May all of you have a Merry Christmas. May your hearts be full of love and good cheer. May your souls sing with joy and oneness with God. And may you always, with every choice you make, do your best to make every day more like Christmas Day.

Indeed, your love is already strong toward all the Christians in all of Macedonia. Even so, dear brothers and sisters, we beg you to love them more and more. (1 Thessalonians 4:10)

Joseph is a member of the Just a Minute writing team.

Website: Just a Minute

My Old Watch

joecool@wirefire.com (Joseph Mazella) — Sat, 04 Dec 2004 00:00:00 -0600

These are evil times, so make every minute count. (Ephesians 5:16)

I have had the same watch for twenty-four years. It was a gift from an uncle. He gave it to me when I was just fourteen. It was one of the first digital watches ever made, and it weighs about two pounds. I have gone through about five watchbands wearing it over the years. In addition, some of the numbers on the display are getting hard to read. Still, I keep buying new batteries for it and refuse to get a new one as long as this one works. My wrist feels strange without my old watch's familiar weight on it and my heart still feels a touch of warmth from my late uncle's love when I look at it.

A part of me is reassured when I look down at this old timepiece and still see it working away after all these years. It gives me hope for myself in the years ahead of me. This body of mine recently just turned thirty-eight years old. This means that if I live an average life span on this world, then half my life is already over. Since a large part of the first half of my life was spent figuring out what life is all about, this only leaves me the last half to really live my life the way it was meant to be lived -- choosing and sharing love, joy, and oneness with God. I take hope seeing my old watch still working away after most watches are thrown away. It reminds me that I can keep working away, too, and bring a little Heaven to Earth, no matter how old I get.

Whether you are a new clock, an old watch, or an ancient timepiece, remember that you still have time to make a wonderful difference in this world. You still have time to warm some hearts with your love, touch some souls with your joy, and heal a few lives with your light. You still have the time to live like you were meant to live, to love like you were born to love, and to be one with God like you were designed to be. You still have the time to bring a little Heaven down to Earth and to ready your soul to fly from Earth back to the Father.

[Jesus said] "You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it useful again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the light of the world -- like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see. Don't hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father." (Matthew 5:13-16 NLT)

Joseph is a member of the Just a Minute writing team.

Website: Just a Minute

ChemoAngels

joecool@wirefire.com (Joseph Mazella) — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 00:00:00 -0500

Special Note: Heartlight exists to offer resources for positive Christian living in today's world. Here is a story about "ChemoAngels" and the work they do. Any person who brings God's message of grace and serves others is an angel -- an angel is a messenger of God. The link to the ChemoAngels web site is listed below and a Google search will help you find out how you can be this kind of encouragement and help other Jesus-followers serve others in this very tough time in their lives.

[The apostle Paul told the Elders of Ephesus] "You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" (Acts 20:35)

Over the past few years I have been a part of a wonderful organization called the ChemoAngels. This group of very special people was formed to help others who are going through one of the most difficult struggles anyone can face in life: Cancer. This group of volunteers helps those facing cancer and going through chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation treatments.

Each ChemoAngel is given a patient to contact and help in any way they can. ChemoAngels send cards, gifts, and letters. They give love, support, prayers, and encouragement. They offer their help with kind minds, compassionate hearts, and caring souls. They look for and they find anything they can to help cancer patients heal their bodies and uplift their spirits. They are there to cheer with each patient who is declared cancer free and they are there to grieve with every family who loses a member to this terrible disease. They are there to make a difference, to share love, and to give joy and they never fail to do so.

When a friend who was a breast cancer survivor told me of this fantastic organization I knew that I had to join. After losing my Mom to cancer when I was still a young man, I felt this was the perfect way to honor her memory and celebrate her life. My Mom was always one to help anyone in need. Even as she faced cancer herself she continued to give her love, laughter, and joy to everyone around her. This is something that I have found to be true about many patients facing cancer as well. They often give more to us than we do to them. They are the true angels.

God bless the ChemoAngels and the patients that they serve. They have shown me once again that it is in giving that we receive, that it is in helping that we are helped, and that it is in loving that we obtain even greater love.

May we all be angels -- God's servant messengers -- to each other in this life.

Don't get tired of doing what is good. Don't get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time. 10Whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone, especially to our Christian brothers and sisters. (Galatians 6:9-10)

Joseph is a member of the Just a Minute writing team.

Website: Just a Minute

Thank You God!

joecool@wirefire.com (Joseph Mazella) — Sat, 22 May 2004 00:00:00 -0500

I love hearing the words "Thank you." There is something so delightful, magical, and joyful in those words. They carry with them the wonderful power to uplift a heart, brighten a day, and fill a soul with bliss. They connect us one to another with their beauty and strengthen the bonds between us always.

I am still so happy to hear my sixteen year old son and my thirteen year old daughter tell me "Thank you" when I do something for them. I am still so delighted to hear my wife say those sweet words as well. I am still so glad whenever I hear the beautiful music of those blessed words. Those words remind me always that I am still helping others and making the world a better and more loving place with the thousand little things I do everyday.

I try to say "Thank you" myself whenever I can. I want those around me and all the people I meet to know that I am grateful for the good things they do, the kindness they share, and the help they give. I want those people to know that they are appreciated and that they are of so much value to this world and everyone in it. Every one of us, after all, is a wonderful soul who is capable of sharing so much love and joy in our lives. We all deserve a "thank you" now and then.

I think, however, that most of all we should say "Thank you" to God. It is God who gives us this life that we live. It is God who gives us the goodness, love, and joy that we share. It is God who showers us with blessings and gives us endless opportunities to grow in love all of our days here. God truly deserves our thanks.

May all of us then start each day with a heartfelt: "Thank you God for my life." May all of us fill ourselves with His wonderful love and endless joy.
May all of us share His goodness and light with the world.
May all of us live a life full of love, joy, and "Thank you's."

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Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. (Colossians 4:2)
Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he [the Lord] has done. (Colossians 2:7 NLT)

Joseph is a member of the Just a Minute writing team.

Website: Just a Minute

Our Heritage

joecool@wirefire.com (Joseph Mazella) — Sat, 01 May 2004 00:00:00 -0500

Wake up, my soul! ... I will waken the dawn with my song. (Psalm 57:8)

The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and care for it. (Genesis 2:16)

It seems as if Spring has finally arrived here in the mountains of my home. Today my heart and soul were filled full to overflowing with the countless blessings that come along with springtime here. There was the glorious singing of the birds this morning that greeted both the new day and my soul with its joy. There was the beautifully enchanting song of the frogs this evening as I walked with my boys around the lake near our home. There was the spectacular sparkling of the sun off the lake water that seemed like a thousand angels dancing in delight. There was the tranquil peace of seeing a family of ducks making their home on the water.

The two most special blessings of this day, however, were the sight of smiling volunteers cleaning up the trash along the highway and the sight of the first flowers of spring blooming along the walkway around the lake. What made these blessings so special was that they came not only from God, but from human hearts as well. Those flowers had been planted years ago by a loving soul to greet the people who came to the lake, and today's caring volunteers had made a special effort to remove some ugliness and bring some beauty back to the road that ran by its side. It was so glorious seeing these wonderful souls doing so much to help God bring a little more light and joy to this world. They touched my own soul with their work and their love.

Thomas Kinkade, the painter of light, once said that "Human souls are the only things in this life that continue forever. And therefore my true heritage must be my loving contribution to other human souls."

May we always live by our true heritage. May we always contribute our love, joy, and help to other human souls. May we always help God to make this world a better, more beautiful, and more loving place for all the beautiful souls in it.

Joseph is a member of the Just a Minute writing team.

Website: Just a Minute