Jude: Why We Need It, and How Mr. Rogers fits into it

Jude may strike some as a strange little book. First, it is little; 25 verses. It's tucked away behind the "Johns" and seems like a drumroll before the apocalypticism of Revelation  And it cites two (somewhat odd) noncanonical incidents; it's very Jewish and Old Testament focused; Jude isn't talked about anywhere else in the New Testament, but appears to be Jesus' half or stepbrother; and he seems to love the word "ungodly" (four times in one verse). 

But we need him. 

He reminds us of grace and the upholding, protective hand of God "who is able to keep us from stumbling." He reminds us to be eternally careful; there are many out there actively wanting, for some reason I don't understand fully, to destroy our commitment to Christ. He reminds us only God is going to get us to the end and stop trying so hard to do something you can't do anyway: "...who is able to ...present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy."  (I'm quoting from verse 24 here.) 

He reminds us short and pointed is as needful as a theological deep dive. He reminds us that the overlooked is not the unimportant. He reminds us of the everyday before the catastrophic and dramatic. 

My Franklin Covey Planner quote for the day: The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest. (by Thomas Moore, whom Wikipedia tells me is a monk and psychotherapist.)

Last night I watched the Tom Hanks movie about Mr. Rogers. He looked and embodied and spoke like Fred Rogers, but...I heard glimpses of Forrest Gump (Fred Rogers was hardly Southern) and I don't think Hanks, who seems like a nice enough guy, could really understand the soul of a Fred Rogers. So occasionally he came across intrusive and creepy. But I enjoyed the film any way because it enthroned kindness and calmness. I embrace the first but fail at the latter, often. 

My point is that Christians of all people should practice their own form of mindfulness. Although the term has become popular in the last 30 years due to books on it, I believe it's misunderstood. Mainly, it was a Biblical concept long before the 1990s. Living in the moment, considering, meditating, thinking on these things, and of course prayer, were all around since Jesus and before. Not living two hours from now but now, being fully conscious of what we are doing in this second, which is all we have, is a profound fundamental.