March 2, 2026
One of the better deer hunters I knew wrote on his bow: “Pick a spot; hit it!” Before every time I roll the ball in bowling I say to myself “1-2-3 Pendulum Pose watch the Ball cross the Spot.” A pastor in southwestern Wisconsin had a sign in the pulpit where only he could see it, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus” -John 12.
These are mantras. These are things we say to steady our nerves and help us focus in a relaxed and productive way. Mantras are meant to center us and shut out any of the noise and nerves that would keep us from succeeding. There is no doubt that we live in a world with tons of pressures and myriads of distractions. What might a good Christian mantra be? I find Let Go and Let God be an excuse to do nothing. I find that God helps those who help themselves to be an invitation to selfishness. In the Pyrenees in southern France an old limestone church had chiseled in the mantle of the door Love One Another and that village did amazingly good things while under Nazi occupation.
What we tell ourselves matters. My personal mantra, in case you couldn’t guess it, is: Be Someone’s Good News.
Let Us Pray: Father in Heaven, for Jesus’ sake break through the cacophony of this world with simple words of love and focus. Help our faith to be easy to find. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.