Verse of the day
Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”
– Matthew 26:52
Voice of the day
When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?
– Eleanor Roosevelt
Prayer of the day
Creator, soften our hearts, so we may seek to nurture and not avenge.
Our lives are destined to become like the life of Jesus. The whole purpose of Jesus’ ministry is to bring us to the house of his Father. Not only did Jesus come to free us from the bonds of sin and death; he also came to lead us into the intimacy of his divine life. It is difficult for us to imagine what this means. We tend to emphasize the distance between Jesus and ourselves. We see Jesus as the all-knowing and all-powerful Son of God who is unreachable for us sinful, broken human beings. But in thinking this way, we forget that Jesus came to give us his own life. He came to lift us up into loving community with the Father. Only when we recognize the radical purpose of Jesus’ ministry will we be able to understand the meaning of the spiritual life. Everything that belongs to Jesus is given for us to receive. All that Jesus does we may also do.
Every time you make free time for God, you clear up a bit of the descending path, and you see where you can plant your feet on the way to love. Nothing spectacular or sensational. It may be simply a matter of what you say, what you read, to whom you speak, where you go on a free afternoon, or how you regard yourself and other people. What’s fascinating is that the first step invariably makes the second one easier. You begin to discover that love begets love, and step-by-step you move further forward on the way to God. Gradually, you shed your misgivings about the way of love; you see that “in love there is no room for fear,” and you feel yourself drawn to descend deeper and deeper on the way that Jesus walked before you.
Verse of the day
Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who walk softly and in a humble manner. The earth, land, and sky will welcome them and always be their home.
– Matthew 5:5 (First Nations Version)
Voice of the day
If we are to heal our ecological wounds, we need to shift from settler views of individual land ownership to Indigenous views of communal land stewardship.
– Liuan Huska, “Rethinking Property Rights“
Prayer of the day
Let our wounds be healed with softness and humility. May the earth welcome us home.
“One of the easiest human acts is also the most healing. Listening to someone. Simply listening. Not advising or coaching, but silently and fully listening… If we can speak our story, and know that others hear it, we are healed by that.”—Margaret J. Wheatley
“Love ripples out through space and time. In a moment of positivity resonance, studies show, your awareness automatically expands, allowing you to appreciate more than you typically do. Also, quite automatically, your body leans in toward and affirms the other person, and begins a subtle synchronized dance that further enforces your connection. Over time, these powerful moments change who you are. They help expand your network of relationships and grow your resilience, wisdom, and physical health.”—Barbara L. Frederickson, PhD.
“Martin Luther King said, ‘I know somehow that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.’ The women and men (of nonviolence) have been willing to see light in darkness. Their lives show us that in both hard and good times, love is the only power that matters. Their words are clarion calls telling us that it is time for us to shine—now more than ever.”—Catherine Ingram
Verse of the day
His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.”
– John 9:2-3
Voice of the day
[W]e ought to embrace disabled bodies as a gift from God that both reveals divine action in the world and expands the fullness of image-bearing creation.
– Amar Peterman, “My Disabled Body Proclaims the Gospel“
Prayer of the day
May we embrace as gifts the bodies of all members of your creation.
Verse of the day
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
– 2 Corinthians 5:17
Voice of the day
The Holy Spirit empowers us to reject the status quo.
– Montague Williams
Prayer of the day
Turning from the unjust status quo, may we create new rhythms, just as we are new through you.
These past few days I have been helping Denise in her continuing journey sorting through papers, possessions, and personal items that belonged to her parents. Her mom died in March, 2018 and her dad died in September, 2021. It has been a long journey through many Valleys of the Shadows. This week we hit a milestone of sorts as we finished loading the 26 foot UHaul truck with furnishings to be delivered to Central Presbyterian (Denise’s church in Mobile, AL) Church’s homeless transitional outreach. As homeless clients begin the transition from the shelters and streets to a home of their own, hopefully they will benefit from the gift/legacy of her parents.
Is this work exhausting? At times it is… especially when I am reminded that my 61 year old self isn’t quite as physically flexible as that young Padre was so many years ago in the military! However, this opportunity has given me an opportunity to reflect on what is important in life versus what I think is important.
One of the duties of a younger monk at the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Kentucky was to keep watch at night while the other monks slept. As the name implies, the monk on duty made his rounds to ensure that all was safe and well within the Abbey itself and the surrounding area. On the particular night when he wrote the piece “The Fire Watch” he was in a reflective mood in much the same way as I have found myself contemplating these last few days/weeks/months.
The things I thought were so important—because of the effort I put into them—have turned out to be of small value. And the things I never thought about, the things I was never able either to measure or to expect, were the things that mattered. (July 4, 1952 – “The Fire Watch” in the epilogue of his book, The Sign of Jonas)
There is much to ponder in each of our lives dear reader. My prayer is that we recognize the opportunities to simply be still, watch, and listen to what the Spirit is saying to us.
Pastor Michael Moore's Blog 