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The Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (PTHA) works hard to protect and provide for the Parx Racing horsemen through the guarantee of live racing, horsemen’s rights, health care and pension for horsemen, benevolence programs, and more.

 

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  /  Backstretch Buzz   /  Chaplain’s Corner

Chaplain’s Corner

By Rev. Dr. Rick Bunker, Chaplain


5  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 
 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.  – Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV)


            It’s just one thing after another, or should I say one video after another, or one pop up after another – confusing, confounding distractions.  Too much information?  Yeah, and a lot of it is on purpose misinformation.  And then there is the other stuff that we should have been told that was purposefully withheld, lied about, and turned into total baloney (I apologize to baloney, but I didn’t want to say something else).  

            Verse 6 above says, “acknowledge him,” and he will make straight your paths. The Hebrew word translated “acknowledge” in this verse is the Hebrew yada.  It is used a lot in the Old Testament, almost 1000 times.  It is usually translated know.  It is a powerful, intimate, interacting awareness.  We need this with God in these days to keep our head, heart, and life straight.

            Thankfully, God wants this for us as well.  God wants to help us have good things and good people in our lives.  God wants to be friends with us.  God loves you, and God also likes you.  He may not like some of the things we do, but God likes you.  

            I know that verse 6 comes after verse 5, but I must tell you that knowing God will create a “trust in the LORD.”  God is trustworthy and good.  Once you know God, you can trust that God will do good.  And, God wouldn’t want it any other way.  God doesn’t ask us to just believe blindly.  God gave us a brain and it is fine with God for us to use it – to use it well.  

            Using your freedom and your power well will require learning and developed skills.  We can learn a lot from others and save making the same mistakes that they made.  We can also learn from them and have similar successes.  This goes for individuals, groups, even nations.  Stanley Crouch the African American musician and writer says that, “democracy is like improvisation, you have to be a master before you can improvise.”

            Having paths today that are straight, will require knowing God and God’s tried and trustworthy truths.  Ignoring the lessons that made us great will be detrimental.   Knowing the Bible, lessons from history, and the sages is essential to maintaining and improving.  

            God help us to be good stewards of the blessings we have received and pass them on to the next generation – Amen!

12  There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.  – Proverbs 14:12 (ESV)