Early this morning I dropped Denise off at the Pensacola airport so she could fly to Minnesota to help my dad with his mobile phone which wasn’t working and his landline which was broken. When I say early, I really mean early! We stayed the night in Pensacola and the alarm went off at 3:45am! 😳 For those of you who truly know me, I am not a morning person in general and definitely not a middle of the night wake up to go to the airport sort of person.
Once I dropped her off I headed back to Orange Beach to get ready for our 8am and 10am worship services at Swift Presbyterian Church where I am the interim/transitional pastor. A little bit of caffeine and a breakfast energy bar helped immensely! It was a wonderful service as we explored Luke 17:11-19 and the story of the ten lepers and the Samaritan who came back to thank Jesus for healing him.
Our church is in a time of discernment as we stand on the threshold and listen for what God is calling us to be and to do. Both services were in the historic chapel where it all began over 100 years ago. It seems appropriate as we continue to come out of the COVID nightmare to go back to our roots with a sense of anticipation and hope. Just as the Samaritan returned to where his life was transformed, we are being invited to return to our roots as we explore who we are and who God has called us to be as the sweet church in the Piney Woods.
At both services I shared with the congregation the following quote from Thomas Merton: You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope. (Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, p. 206)
Even though we may not have that exact roadmap in front of us, we do have the promise that God offers us the ability and opportunity to embrace life with courage, faith, and hope. For that gift, I am truly thankful!
Sections of the Berlin Wall at Ramstein AB in Germany… it was a powerful experience to stand before this display and consider what the Wall had seen and how it came down!
33 years ago today the world saw a revolution without a war. The fall of the Berlin wall began with a prayer service at a Lutheran Church in Leipzig...
— Read on bishopmike.com/2022/10/08/the-peaceful-revolution-october-9-1989/
As I consider the story of the ten lepers who were healed by Jesus in Luke 17:11-19 and the Samaritan who returned to give thanks to Jesus for his healing, there is a lesson for me about gratitude for Christ’s guidance along the pathway of life.
These words of Thomas Merton speak to me about being thankful and grateful.
To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us – and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him.
Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful man knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference. (Thoughts in Solitude, p. 33)
The movement from power through strength to power through powerlessness is our call. As fearful, anxious, insecure, and wounded people we are tempted constantly to grab a little bit of power that the world around us offers, left and right, here and there, now and then. These bits of power make us little puppets jerked up and down on strings until we are dead. But insofar as we dare to be baptized in powerlessness, always moving toward the poor who do not have such power, we are plunged right into the heart of God’s endless mercy. We are free to reenter our world with the same divine power with which Jesus came, and we are able to walk in the valley of darkness and tears, unceasingly in communion with God, with our heads erect, confidently standing under the cross of our life.
It is this power that engenders leaders for our communities, women and men who dare to take risks and take new initiatives. It is this power that enables us to be not only gentle as doves, but also as clever as serpents in our dealings with governments and church agencies. It is this power that enables us to talk straight and without hesitation about sharing money with those who have financial resources, to call men and women to radical service, to challenge people to make long-term commitments in the world of human services, and to keep announcing the good news everywhere at all times. It is this divine power that makes us saints—fearless—who can make all things new.
“People try nonviolence for a week, and when it ‘doesn’t work,’ they go back to violence, which hasn’t worked for centuries.”—Theodore Roszak
Verse of the day
let them turn away from evil and do good; let them seek peace and pursue it.
– 1 Peter 3:11
Voice of the day
The kids all say grown-ups are strange, and aren’t they? / They teach their kids not to do as I do, but as I say / They cry for peace and then make war
– Loretta Lynn, “Ain’t It Funny”
Prayer of the day
God may we not just turn away from war but actively embody peace.
“The point of nonviolence is to build a floor, a strong new floor, beneath which we can no longer sink. A platform which stands a few feet above napalm, torture, exploitation, poison gas, A and H bombs, the works. Give man a decent place to stand.”—Joan Baez
Verse of the day
And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.”
– Genesis 1:20
Voice of the day
If you have [people] who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have [people] who will deal likewise with their fellow men [and women].
– Attributed to St. Francis of Assisi
Prayer of the day
Creator of all living beings great and small, teach us to cherish your creation with your divine tenderness and depth.
“One is called to live nonviolently, even if the change one works for seems impossible. It may or may not be possible to turn the US around through nonviolent revolution. But one thing favors such an attempt: the total inability of violence to change anything for the better.”—Daniel Berrigan
“Violence produces only something resembling justice, but it distances people from the possibility of living justly, without violence.”—Leo Tolstoy
Pastor Michael Moore's Blog 