21 results for tag: Stuart Segall

Dealing With Grief – Stuart Segall

We hear about the certainty of “death and taxes,” but grief has to be right up there with those two. You might be resigned to the others but how do you navigate grief? For most of my adult life, I’ve done a lot of work as a chaplain. I’ve sat with the dying; many I did not know until I met them at their end. It was painful for me as I wear my heart on my sleeve. I often journey back in my mind to where my mom would take me as a boy to nursing homes to teach me the art of comforting those who are alone even at a time when they might be surrounded by humans that love them. It would have been easy to avoid such uncomfortable scenes by ...

May 2023

CLICK HERE to read now (PDF Format) Articles: Stretch Marks of a Mother's Love – pg. 1 One Day in May – pg. 2 The Kingdom in a Person – pg. 5 Grieving Nels – pg. 6 Prodigal Sons – pg. 7 Quotes & Connections – pg. 8

Grieving Nels by Stuart Segall

Some of my earliest memories as a child of being fearful of death.  All my mother could do was giggle a little to have such a young 4-year-old so afraid. She tried to comfort me, as she knew how, as a young Jewish mother who had no real spiritual life or belief. When I was about 6, my parents were having our small home in Miami professionally painted. An old gentleman with silver hair and circle wire rim glasses pulled up to the house. He was the painter and his name was Nels.   Nels took out his tools and painter’s cloth and prepped the home. He asked me to be his assistant and I was thrilled.  After a few days of ...

Swing Low – Stuart Segall

"Swing low, sweet chariotComing for to carry me home,Swing low, sweet chariot,Coming for to carry me home. I looked over Jordan, and what did I seeComing for to carry me home?A band of angels coming after me,Coming for to carry me home.” Sometimes I'm up, and sometimes I'm down,(Coming for to carry me home)But still my soul feels heavenly bound.(Coming for to carry me home) (unknown and I don't know) The brightest day that I can sayComing for to carry me homeWhen Jesus washed my sins awayComing for to carry me home”“Sweet Chariot” was sung to let slaves know that they would be escaping soon. This was Harriet Tubman's favorite ...

Samson – Stuart Segall

As many of us could attest, my life, all the way into my 60’s, has been a struggle. In times of trouble and despair it is always comforting to find David in the Psalms. Somehow, when we read of his despair and struggles, many of us can relate to those kinds of feelings. How gracious of God to put illustrations of David and his story in the two books of Samuel, the Kings, and the substantial book and writings that David contributed in the Psalms. David, like me, showed a roller coaster of emotions­­--highs and lows. Yet, in the end his is a story of the depth of God’s grace toward us. There are people like me, who considered themselves ...

Strange Magic – Stuart Segall

I wanted to share with you some “strange magic” so very recently experienced.  To introduce the magic, I would first like to ask you a question. What are your feelings about the words in 2nd Corinthians 1 where Paul shares thoughts about God’s comfort and consolation? 2nd Corinthians 1:3,4 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort.”  Do you see yourself in that statement? Today I am saying goodbye to some clients. I am moving on. These are clients that I have had for 10 years and have spent a fair amount of time with over this period. I have not ...

Sock Puppets and Servants – Stuart Segall

When I was young, in the early 60’s, I played with a simple sock. When my hand was in the sock, that sock could be anybody I imagined. When I was done, the great personage it was, simply became a sock again, once my hand was removed. People of God, servants and shepherds are like that. We humans can be deeply moved when Jesus puts His hand inside a human and uses that person in a wonderful way. We often see the person, but it is the hand inside that is really working the magic. The followers of Jesus never thought Jesus would die as a young man. At least He should be middle aged, let alone at a full and ripe old age. Again, what is ...

Grace and Friendship – by Stuart Segall

Grace and friendship walk hand-in-hand most of the time. As you may know, I speak and write about friendship and so it is good to ponder this similarity when you realize that grace is like friendship. You only know you have either one when you really need it. If you don’t get that, well I pledge to you that you don’t get grace. For some, grace will be their own definition of things like “unmerited pardon,” but for me the richness of grace is about what “amazing grace” is. It is about the father in the prodigal son story. My past experiences, which are rich and many, show and tell me that many don’t even get what that father did ...

Grief is a Unique Journey – Stuart Segall

I know many are familiar with the steps and stages of grief called the Kubler Ross Method, but in reality, our understanding is that while those steps are valid, people experience a very different order than the way they are laid out in the way Kubler Ross proposes. That is why it is so important when someone is hurting and in grief that we remind ourselves not to view them through our own loss, and most of the time not to share our loss to somehow convince them we understand. They are already depressed about their heartbreak and even if they understand yours, they are twice as depressed now, after hearing your experience with grief. It ...

Lost – by Stuart Segall

Recently, standing in my front yard along the calm, quiet street that I live on, there he came trotting down the road trying to project a sense of purpose like he knew where he was going. The look shouted… “where am I, but I don’t dare let on that I don’t’ know.” However, being the higher intelligent form of life, I knew he was only kidding himself and that he was lost. You see, he had four legs and I had two. He was a young mix of Rottweiler and Lab with a nice collar on and plenty of ID tags dangling. If I could only reach him! First, I pursued on foot hoping to lead him to safety. I coaxed with all the charm I could muster ...

Standing With the Great or Sitting With the Broken – Stuart Segall

When I was a young man, I craved (for my own ego and self-acceptance) to stand or sit among the "great." Oh my, whether it was church, college, where I worked - I just hoped my lottery ticket would come through and I could sit, dine, have a beer or walk with (you name it). I just wanted to be in that sphere and hope for osmosis. You see, I was hoping I would be transformed into that greatness. Is this just me? Or is there anything in you that resonates with these statements? I realize some people are shy and would never see themselves this way. If so, no problem, but be reassured there are a lot of us out there from coast to coast, and ...

Man the Conqueror by Stuart Segall

It is said “God without man is God. Man without God is…nothing”  That is true, but for me, man without God is a world history of problems. Aaah, man! Yes, the natural, ungoverned man loves his power.  In the business world he shoots for the top, and then……goes after it. Man, the hunter often loves the thrill of the conquest. Then there is government.  The guy who wants to be the Mayor, Governor, congressman, senator, all the way up to the president of the United States. Man on his own wants to dominate and lead.  His intentions are sometimes good in these pursuits, but do you think they last long once the ...

Fabric of Our Life – Stuart Segall

Isn’t this amazing…. I was captivated when I saw this. It was like a sunset, a landscape, a wondrous seascape. Yet, when I imagine what this dress is made of and the work that went into it, I understand the heart, soul, and emotions involved in the final touch of the artist/tailor/seamstress that finished it. When you weave different fabrics together like silk or satin you get an amazing fabric. They are not durable and must be handled with care, but when that is done, you get a look of beauty and richness that is second to none. It is all about what the weaver and the tailor choose to create. As a boy, I worked in a tailor’s shop ...

Reflections on Mother’s Day – By Stuart Segall

I have a Mother’s Day story that I would like to share with you. I was at my office at the end of the day on Saturday, May 7th, 2022. I usually come by at that time to feed the squirrels and birds around my office. My clients enjoy spending a few minutes watching all the activity. I was getting ready to leave while there was still light outside. As I got to my car, I looked behind the gated area where the dumpster is for the office and could see someone moving around behind the fence. I like to gather flowers during the week from several florists who support my little service of bringing flowers to widows and shut-ins at retirement and ...

Say What? – Stuart Segall

“Say what? What does that mean?” is what I said to myself when I first read these words many years ago. Paul expressed that "now we see in a mirror dimly" (1 Corinthians 13:12). Paul describes this partial knowledge of God as seeing a reflection in a dim mirror. Some scholars suggest that he had in mind Corinth's famous bronze mirrors. Though the brass mirror of its time provided a reflection, it was not a sharp, clear reflection like modern mirrors provide. If the brass was not freshly polished, the reflection in the mirror became dimmer. Now that you understand the history of this passage, what does it mean to see in a mirror ...