Verse of the day
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
– Hebrews 13:2
Voice of the day
We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers.
– Bayard Rustin
Prayer of the day
God, help us to be a group of angelic troublemakers, and to show hospitality to all our kin.
“Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It is a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.”—Pema Chodron
Verse of the day
They have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace.
– Jeremiah 6:14
Voice of the day
Abuse is never divinely sanctioned.
– Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons
Prayer of the day
Strengthen the faithful, arouse the careless, and restore the penitent.
– The Book of Common Prayer
There are times in life when one wonders if God is present or absent. I have experienced that with patients during my time as a hospital chaplain in the Air Force and have experienced that with people with whom I have had a counseling relationship in the Air Force and in ministry outside of the Air Force.
I know from personal experience that the darkness and absence are both real and overwhelming. As a chaplain and pastor, it has been my sacred honor to offer signs of light and hope to people struggling with the darkness. I have also been blessed with people who came along side of me during my own periods of darkness.
Thomas Merton had the following to say about God’s presence and absence in one’s life: God, Who is everywhere, never leaves us. Yet He seems sometimes to be present, sometimes to be absent. If we do not know Him well, we do not realize that He may be more present to us when He is absent than when He is present. ― No Man Is an Island (p. 250)
As I carefully read and re-read the words above, I came to the realization that the absence of God is more about my own perception of God’s absence than God’s literal absence. There is so much suffering in the world today and as a pastor, I often find myself in the middle of it professionally and personally. It is when I am able to sit with the darkness without being paralyzed by it that I can begin to see the light shining, even if it is only shining dimly, and realize that God is not absent.
In the midst of those times of darkness, may we come to realize that God, Who is everywhere, never leaves us. And may we be that instrument of light and hope to others in their times of need.
“What must a person do who wishes to work effectively within the framework of Christian ethics? In the first place I must see to it that what I condemn in society, I do not permit to grow and flower in me. The will to discriminate against others must be rooted out of the springs of my own action.”—Howard Thurman
Jesus fed a large crowd with five barley loaves and two fish (John 6:1-21). Paul challenged the church in Ephesus to grow in faith and be be rooted and grounded in love (Ephesians 3:14-21). These words remind me to be rooted in something other than self-centeredness. They also challenge the notion of scarcity that permeates the church at large. In all four gospels the story is told about the miracle of feeding a multitude with five loaves and two fish. In the gospel of Matthew all who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. The gospel of Mark states that those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men. The disciples saw scarcity when they looked at what they had versus the size of the crowd. Jesus saw the abundance of God’s grace and love in the five loaves and two fish.
Thomas Merton had this to say about love which I believe ties into God’s abundance. The beginning of this love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them. – No Man Is an Island, p. 168
Pardon the pun, but I believe that there is a lot of good food for thought in these words of Scripture and Thomas Merton as we look at how we as individuals and as a church move from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset as we seek to be the hands and feet of Christ.
“And it is not true that the recognition of the freedom of others limits my own freedom: to be free is not to have the power to do anything you like; it is to be able to surpass the given toward an open future; the existence of others as a freedom defines my situation and is even the condition of my own freedom.”—Simone de Beauvoir
The sun has long ago set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
It has been a busy day for us
Denise has been busy putting the final touches on our training event for Sunday
We also managed to put together a TV stand for our new smart TV
In the midst of the busyness of the evening I was able to enjoy Sister Moon’s glorious showing
It reminded me of the words of Thomas Merton from his book, Waters of Siloe —
Forest and field, sun and wind and sky, earth and water, all speak the same silent language, reminding the monk that he is here to develop like the things that grow all around him… (p. 274)
Thankful for Merton’s reminder, I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
“It’s a subtle thing, freedom. It takes effort; it takes attention and focus to not act something like an automaton. Although we do have freedom, we exercise it only when we strive for awareness, when we are conscious not just of the content of the mind but also of the mind itself as a process.”—Gabor Maté
| Verse of the day Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. – Romans 12:12 |
| Voice of the day Boarding schools — along with the entire structure of our churches, government, policing, and military — combine to create a particular world. White Christians are safe in that world. – Patty Krawec |
| Prayer of the day May our history convict us to fight for a just future. |
