Monday, March 18, 2024

Lent Photo-a-day Week 5

Days


 
Coming

New




House


Write

Teach


Celebrate

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Friday, March 15, 2024

Self-denial

I read this the other day in Walter Brueggemann's book, A Way other than our Own:
To deny self means that I cannot be a self-starter, cannot be self-sufficient, cannot be self-made or self-securing, and that to try to do so will end in isolation and fear and greed and brutality and finally in violence.
What do you think of that quote? I posted it on Facebook and had a couple of comments that surprised me.  It could be that my thoughts were different from theirs because I had the benefit of context.

I think it means that when we try to center our lives on ourselves, then we place priority on (and get our identity from) what we earn, what we have, what others see us as.  None of those are very good at defining who we are or why we are here.  Concentrating on ourselves, therefore, can lead to fear and isolation, greed and brutality, and eventually violence.

Alternatively, when we center our lives on God, we do get a sense of who we are, who we are meant to be, and what our purpose is. We know we are loved, and our self-worth can stem from that instead of what we own or what power we have.

I never thought of that as self-denial, but I can see it.

 

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Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Covenant

One of the lectionary readings during Lent is Jeremiah 31:31-34.  I don't usually include a whole scripture passage in a post, but this one is beautiful, so take a moment to read it:

The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.  It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt--a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD.  But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:31-34, NRSV)
As I read this, and think about covenant, a list of what is promised and described in the scripture formed in my mind:
  • "The days are surely coming" - This covenant, while it is a hope for the future, isn't a wish.  It is surely coming.
  • It is a new covenant - not an old one, not something remade - something new is spring forth.
  • It is a different covenant - we're leaving the old behind.
  • This covenant isn't something external - it is placed in our hearts by God.
  • God will be our God, and we will be God's people. 
  • When this covenant is fulfilled, we will ALL know God.  We won't have to tell each other about God, because all of us will be part of this covenant.
  • Part of this covenant is that God will forgive our sins - and will remember them no more.

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Monday, March 11, 2024

Lent Photo-a-Day Week 4

Thanks

Endures

Gathered

Healed

Delivered


Wonderful

Celebrate

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Friday, March 08, 2024

A Flood of Fidelity

After the floods came
and Noah's family stepped into the world,
God started a new flood,
a flood of fidelity.

Great is God's faithfulness.

When we see a cold, hungry person
asleep on the street,
and we turn the other way,
we have a second chance.
A flood of fidelity.

Neighborliness.
Generosity.
Empathy.

When we want to strike out
at the person who disagrees with us.
When the world's divisions
overcome us,
we have a second chance.
A flood of fidelity.

Forgiveness.
Curiosity.
Grace.

When we find ourselves
in the center of our own sin,
and we see no way out.
When darkness is all around us,
we have a second chance.
A flood of fidelity.

Repentance.
Restart.
Rebuilding.

Great is God's faithfulness.
Great can be our faithfulness.
For we float on a sea -
a flood -
of fidelity.
It is our second chance.
It is our way back.
It is our grace from God.

Hope.
Peace.
Love.

A flood of fidelity.

Inspired by a devotion in the book A Way Other than our Own by Walter Brueggermann.

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Wednesday, March 06, 2024

In the World a New Way

From Brueggermann's book, A Way Other than our Own:  "Jesus affirmed that it is possible to be in the world in a new way, to be present to the people and problems around us with some newness and freshness."  He is comparing this to our tendency to live life with an attitude of anxiety and worry. 

He also writes:
"Get your mind off yourself long enough to care; to be so concerned about the well-being of the human community that you don't have to worry about your place, your church your class, your values, your vested interests."

Understand, he isn't talking about anxiety in a medical sense.  He's talking about the anxiety and worry we feel because we are so focused on what we own, what we believe defines us, or even our values.  What is it that we value?  Our stuff? Our money? Our clothes?

What if we were to live life a different way, focusing on the well-being of the person in front of us instead of ourselves?  Or if we took the time to care about someone else instead of just ourselves?

It would be living life in a whole new way.

 

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Monday, March 04, 2024

Lent Photo-a-Day Week 3

 This week's Lent Photo-a-Day images:

Spoke


Words


Steadfast


Labor


Rested


Honor


Celebrate

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Friday, March 01, 2024

Traveling Mercies

I'm reading the book A Way Other than our Own by Walter Brueggemann during Lent.  The prayer at the end of today's reading says, "Self-giving God, call us to walk the road of newness - a new self, a new society, a new world, one neighbor at a time.  May we have traveling mercies this Lenten season. Amen"

If we consider the time of Lent as a journey, and we pray for traveling mercies, what are we asking for? Traveling mercies in a prayer usually means protection from that which might bring us harm - a car accident, an unexpected acute illness, or a plane crash - anything like that that will hurt us or even end our lives, right? So what would traveling mercies on a Lenten journey look like?
  • Protection from our own selfishness so that we can be generous and not self-centered as we interact with others.
  • Mercy from laziness, maybe, so that we can uphold any commitments we have made to spiritual disciplines during Lent. 
  • A graceful nudge of correction when we stumble off the path God has set for us during Lent so that our paths are  made straight.
  • Healing from the blindness of not noticing that God is near and traveling with us.
  • A loving hug when we forget to love our neighbors as ourselves.

What Lenten traveling mercy would you ask of God?

 

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Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Wespath Prayer


A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to pray at the Wespath Investment Forum. It was grace for our lunch together. I didn't write out a prayer - just notes - so this represents my notes more than the actual prayer.

Creating, Loving, sustaining God....
We are grateful for all of the goodness around us. As we look outside the windows, we are grateful for the beauty of nature - the water and the sun - that you surround us with. We are grateful for the beauty around us inside this room - the people who share their expertise with us - the fellowship of each other. We are grateful for the ability to serve others - churches, donors, institutions and ministries - and we are grateful for the good they do.

Help us to be generous enough to give all it away.

Thank you for the farmers who grew and tended the food we will eat today - for those who gathered it, who transported it, who prepared it, and for those who will serve it today. May the food we share together make us strong to serve you.

In your son's name, amen.

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Monday, February 26, 2024

Lent Photo-a-Day Week 2

Walk
 

Name


Everlasting


Call


Bless

Rise


Celebrate







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Friday, February 23, 2024

Doors

Zion National Park

I think it is interesting how different people see and approach things differently.  I was looking at something - either on Youtube or Instagram the other day.  The picture was of a lovely door in a garden - the door was closed.  The poster said that it symbolized the future - how through the door was what was next.

You might see it that way.  Or you might see a closed door.  A door that blocks the way - an obstacle - or a barrier to inclusiveness.

I think we need to keep in mind that how we see something is not how everyone would see it. A door communicates something to everyone. It might be an invitation to what is beyond or a locked door.  I think we would all see it differently.  What is in our churches that we, who are the insiders, see one way, and those who are outside see another way. 

And it really doesn't matter what we intend. Other people's perceptions are their reality. It's useless of us to blame them for "misinterpreting."

I think it is helpful to visit other churches and look around. See what you see. Is there anything you see that gives you ideas about what your church is "saying" to those who visit?

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Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Inner Authority

In Richard Rohr’s book, Preparing for Christmas: Daily Meditations for Advent (Fourth Sunday of Advent), he writes about the Blind Faith of Mary and Joseph.  He wonders why Mary and Joseph so seemingly easily followed the plan of God in the nativity story.  Who would trust such a situation?  Roar writes:

So why do we love and admire people like Mary and Joseph and then into imitate their faith journey, their courage, their non-reassurance by the religious system? These were two laypeople who totally trusted their inner experience of God and who followed it to Bethlehem and beyond.
He asks, “In what ways do you trust your own inner authority?”

Do we trust our inner authority? Do we follow God because our innermost self tells us it is the right thing to do? Or do we, sometimes, ignore the voice within to trust something else?

And when is it right to trust that voice? Don’t we sometimes get it wrong?

I think this is the challenge of discernment.  God is with us; the Holy Spirit speaks in us, directing us, helping us, right? But also in our minds is our own voice, not yet completely perfected, that leads us to something less unselfish, less God-led.  How do we come to the point of trusting our inner authority, of understanding that it is from God?

Doesn’t the question become - I trust God, but do I trust myself to discern God’s will?

That said, I can also say that there have been times when I did trust that inner authority - when I followed my inner voice.  Most often it took lots of convincing from God - whether that was a sleepless night or several months of arguing with myself.  I did get there, and the result has been wonderful.


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Monday, February 19, 2024

Lent Photo-a-Day Challenge Week 1

I'm participating in the Lent Photo-a-Day challenge.  I'm going to post my previous week's images here on Mondays.  That will mean a juggle to my normal posting schedule.  My normal Perspectives Post on Fridays will disappear during Lent.  I'll post the two regular weekly posts on Wednesday and Friday.

Covenant

 
Living


Sign


Remember



Celebrate


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Friday, February 16, 2024

Perspectives: Black Box


 Sometimes life is like this - confusing with a black box in the middle.

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