Jesus: The Foundation of our Faith - April 21

Today’s Readings:  AM Psalms 5, 6; PM Psalms 10, 11; Exodus 15:1-21; 1 Pet. 1:13-25; John 14:18-31

The hymn “The Church’s One Foundation” (#525) has been running through my head. In case you don’t have the 1982 Hymnal handy, the lyrics proclaim that Jesus is the foundation of the Church, created by water and the Word. The verses also speak to human events in the Church that have shaped her since the early days of Christianity; though conflicts and stresses press upon the Church, the saints keep watch over us. They cry out, “How long?” And, then follows the reassurance: “Soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song.”

I cling to those words. I know that soon the night of weeping and separation will end, and we will gather in person to celebrate the Risen Son. Before the dawn breaks forth, while sitting in the confines of my house, I do ask, “How much longer?” In this space of prayer and waiting, I feel concern for those who are lonely and struggling; those who cannot visit their loved ones in healthcare facilities; those putting themselves at risk by working in unsafe or contaminated environments; those who are losing their jobs; those who are susceptible to COVID-19; and, those charged with making decisions for the public’s health and safety. I hear God calling for patience and compassion.

What if we leave the saints to linger in the time-delimited question “How long?”, and we lean upon the foundation of our faith, Jesus Christ? Our readings today provide some great grist for us. John’s gospel speaks to the legacy of mutuality and love that Jesus leaves for us. Peter’s letter calls us to prepare our minds for what actions are ahead. Above all, we are not alone in our waiting: we have the Holy Spirit who teaches and reminds us of what Jesus said. It is through the Risen Son’s unbounded love for us that we can put one foot in front of the other in times like this. Let us heed Jesus’ words: “Rise, let us be on our way!”

-- Katherine+

Questions for Reflection

• What hymns or songs are on your mind?

• What do you need to do to respond to God’s love in your life? Sing? Sit? Share?

Daily Challenge

• There is some cognitive dissonance in living into Jesus’ command to his friends, “Rise, let us be on our way!” in a time when we are supposed to stay at home as much as possible. Find ways to live into this resurrection call to Christian action today.

Feeling troubled? Turn to God. - April 20

Today’s Readings:  AM Psalms 1, 2, 3; PM Psalms 4, 7; Exod. 14:21-31; 1 Pet. 1:1-12; John 14:1-17

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.” Jesus offered this counsel to his friends after he’d told them that he would not be with them much longer, yet they kept asking questions: “But, where are you going? How do we get there? Could you just show us the Father?” While the disciples had seen Jesus perform miracles of feeding and healing, they struggled to believe all they had experienced. They needed reassurance. It was hard for them to trust. Jesus called his friends to go deeper. By moving outside of themselves in love, Jesus told the disciples they would receive the Spirit of truth.

Belief doesn’t always come easily, especially in stress and chaos. How often in these times are we prone to try to get things “under control”? We can become drawn within ourselves, dissociating from connection to others. Preoccupied in a posture of self-protection, we miss the little graces which remind us that God is in the midst of us. Hearing the Good News today, we are challenged to do as the disciples: love God and one another.

What if we go to God in prayer when we feel troubled? When we do, Jesus promises that we will not be left alone. Our eyes and ears will be opened to God’s gift of the Holy Spirit, which has been sent to us.

God abides with us and in us. Alleluia!

- Katherine+

Questions for Reflection

• The Egyptians did not believe in God. Pursuing the Israelites, the wheels of their chariots got bogged down in the Red Sea. What hardships bog you down?

• At the heart of John’s gospel is relationship. What enhances your relationship with God?

Daily Challenge

• Name a situation that troubles your heart. Ponder where doubt and fear linger in this matter? Pray to God for resolution and peace.

Wilderness or War? - April 18

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 145; PM Psalm 104; Exod. 13:17–14:4; 2 Cor. 4:16–5:10; Mark 12:18–27

When the Israelites have left Egypt, there is a concern that if they face too many challenges, they will want to return to their previous life under Pharaoh’s rule. The most important story in all of the Hebrew Scriptures, the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt and Pharaoh, could be turned around because life is just too challenging! In our reading today from Exodus, God plans to lead the Israelites through the wilderness instead of through the land of the Philistines (of war and conflict) which would cause them to desire their previous situation in bondage. In this story, there are two paths that provide options: insurmountable conflict or the wilderness.

There have been some reoccurring themes in our writings recently. The Old Testament texts have been following the story of the Israelites bondage and trying to break free and return to the lives the Israelites believe they are promised. All of us are trying to make sense of the life we have now found ourselves living. Many of us are lost. Others are finding themselves in predicaments that seem insurmountable to pass. It is interesting to me that this text of pushing us into the wilderness is proclaimed during the Easter Season. At the root of the story, it is about the life that we all want to live or that we think we deserve and are promised.

Maybe there is some comfort in knowing that the spiritual journey of our faith has two options, and both are challenging. Oddly, when we gravitate to faith during challenging periods in our life, faith does not promise an easy answer. Instead, it promises a wilderness. I would even wager, sometimes it promises a war within our own conscience. Much of what we find comforting comes not from answers, but from the commitment to support each other in wandering. The Israelites wandered, but they did not do it alone. And in today’s text, there was a cloud that they understood to be the Lord, leading them and guiding them in the way forward. Maybe we can trust that God is leading us in our wilderness, a journey that is moving us forward too.

- John+

Questions for Reflection

• How does your life feel like a wilderness? Where do you have control and where have you lost control? Where is God in the midst of this wilderness?

Daily Challenge

• If you have named something that is out of our control, pray to God to handle that concern. At the end of the day, ask yourself, has this helped me in my faith.

You won’t die, but you will be changed! - April 17

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 136; PM Psalm 118; Exod. 13:1–2,11–16; 1 Cor. 15:51–58; Luke 24:1–12

“Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed” says Paul in this passage from the first letter to the Corinthians. I simultaneously love and am terrified of this passage. We are Easter people which means we are people of the resurrection. What God has done on the cross has changed our lives. When we recognize this truth, our lives are fundamentally different. But how does this actually play out?

I feel like I have worked hard to be the person that I am. Life has shaped me through my experiences, trials and tribulations, failures, and successes. I am probably more comfortable with who I have become in the last few years than ever before in my life. That might just be a factor of the stage of my life that I am in, but to be fair I should claim it. So if someone was going to say, “I am going to offer you the greatest gift ever imaginable, but you will be different because of it,” I am not sure how I would respond. I want the gift, but I don’t want to change or to be changed.

Do you ever feel like you are right and all those other people are wrong! If we just had more people that thought like me, the world would be a better place! I hope you can hear the sarcasm, although, I think it is probably easier to take this position than we want to admit. It is possible that we even default here if we are not paying attention.

But Paul says that we will be changed in the resurrection. If we think that God is finished with us, then maybe you are already the person that God wants you to be. But if the Resurrection is something that is always working in our lives, a reality that is always at play, then the change is not yet complete. Who is God inviting us to be? What is God inviting us to do, be, or change?

- John+

Questions for Reflection

• What are the nonreligious and religious beliefs of yours that you are absolutely certain about? What are you less certain about? Do these beliefs improve your ability to relate and love other people or do they create friction?

Daily Challenge

• Listen for a moment when someone says something or writes something that really bothers you. Instead of picking apart their argument, spend some time reflecting on why they believe what they believe. Could mutual understanding be a goal instead of persuasion?

I don’t want to thank you for tempestuous wind and other weird stuff too. - April 16

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 146, 147; PM Psalm 148, 149; Exod. 13:3–10; 1 Cor. 15:41–50; Matt. 28:16–20

In the psalm that we hear in the afternoon, it is a song of praise that gives thanks for much of creation. There is a thanksgiving of waters, and praising of sea-monsters (yes, you read that correctly), thanksgiving for fire and hail and snow and tempestuous wind. There is thanksgiving and praise for mountains and trees and wild beasts, and winged birds, and of course people both young and old.

Earlier this week, there were some wild winds that ravaged northern Alabama and Tennessee. I remember feeling on Monday morning a smidgeon of gratitude that the tempestuous winds seemed to bypass Birmingham on Easter. I then saw on social media that some of my colleagues in Chattanooga were not so lucky. How can the psalmist give thanks for something so destructive, or fire, or hail or sea-monsters? Well, hail did help the church a few years ago, or our insurance policy did (depends on your perspective).

Some of the social science around being able to healthily navigate adversity suggests that our ability to reframe situations and a posture of gratitude helps us to thrive and be well. I am not sure that I am grateful for tempestuous winds (or other weird stuff too), or the other things that we experience that seem to cause such destruction in our lives, but there is something about having just proclaimed those words and offering them in prayer. I wonder if it makes us more grateful to be able to praise in word what we are not yet able to in our lives?

There is a pattern in the psalms that is important to digest and maybe this is why it is so important to read them day after day in a structured way. I don’t want to suggest that we should feel grateful or thankful for everything we experience, but when the psalms invite us to go somewhere uncomfortable, I do believe it is possible that it can help mold us in a way that helps us rest more deeply in the love of God.

- John+

Questions for reflections

• What are the naturally occurring things of the world that you have trouble praising or giving thanks for?

• Are there other people who are grateful for those same things?

Daily Challenge

• If you have yet to try the rhythm of all of the Daily Scripture readings, make a plan this week to read one psalm a day. I suggest the first psalm listed in the daily readings each day.

What, God kept Vigil? - April 15

Today’s Readings:AM Psalm 97, 99; PM Psalm 115; Exod. 12:40–51; 1 Cor. 15:(29)30–41; Matt. 28:1–16

In the Old Testament reading for today, the Israelites are finally able to leave Egypt. The book of Exodus tells us they were there for four hundred and thirty years. That is a long time to be away from home. I don’t think I have noticed this before but the night that the Israelites are delivered, the author of Exodus refers to this as a night of vigil held by God. God was holding vigil! And therefore, the instructions for the Israelites are to keep vigil on that same night throughout their generations. They are to act in the same way as the Lord. The Lord’s vigil leads to the people’s deliverance (better known as the ability to thrive and grow and be free). This newfound freedom and life only requires the Israelites to remember that moment by doing what the Lord has done.

We are in the season of Easter, where we claim hope and resurrection and life. We sing Alleluia! I think people have this idea that the season is supposed to be filled with bright pastel colors and joyful songs and overflowing happiness and bliss. My wardrobe certainly follows this general rule. And we are told that the Israelites are required each year to hold vigil, to remember their pain and suffering in Egypt and the journey that God has led them on. If you have participated in a Jewish Passover Seder meal, you might recall bitter herbs being eaten to remember the challenges and bitterness of the time in Egypt.

We are in the Easter Season where God has promised hope and life. And yet we are still in our homes, frustrated with the reality of our earthly existence and the limitations and restraints on how we exist with each other during the COVID-19 pandemic. If we are exceptionally mindful of what God has done in our lives, it is almost as if we are keeping vigil. I don’t want to suggest that what God requires in Exodus is exactly the same thing, but I do think there is something hopeful about embracing the trials and tribulations we have experienced, of being mindful and aware of where we have come from so that we might continue to grow from it.

Our mortal lives are filled with pain and suffering, disappointments and failures. And it is easy to fall into the trap that to gain joy, peace, or life, we have to leave our past behind. But God asks us to remember over and over what we have done, and what God has done. Maybe it is the key to finding life, hope, and resurrection. Instead, we rise up like a plant that is germinated in the soil of our pain and past experiences. It is in those experiences and how we grow from them that we find life and hope.

- John+

Questions for Reflection

• What are some of your past mistakes or trials that have shaped you in a positive way to be the person you are today? Have you named those mistakes before?

Daily Challenge

• Find a time to pray today, and when you pray, give thanks to God for the mistakes you have made. Try naming the mistakes out loud and think of the ones that have had some cost to you as well.

…and they would not believe it - April 14

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 103; PM Psalm 111, 114; Exod. 12:28–39; 1 Cor. 15:12–28; Mark 16:9–20

The first person that Jesus encounters in Mark’s Gospel is Mary Magdalene. And she goes and shares with others that he is alive and has been seen by her. We probably shouldn’t be surprised that they don’t believe her. We don’t have the best track record. At the end of the Gospel is this interesting little passage, “those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing it will not hurt them;”. What?!? Is that what this faith thing is about?

As much I loved reading Daniel Covington’s Salvation on Sand Mountain (a book about snake handling, cyanide drinking faith communities in Alabama), I am not ready to claim the crux of the Gospel lies on that little passage. But I do think that what we are asked to believe is remarkable, as bold as any truth we have ever learned, and like the disciples, we far too easily dismiss the words of someone coming to proclaim hope: the sinner is forgiven and new life is being resurrected. We far too easily dismiss the person who has hurt us, or lied, or stolen cheated, or fallen off the wagon again. We far too often carry around in our own lives a weight or millstone that we can’t seem to shake. We far too often deny the Resurrection. Or we don’t listen to the voice we should trust.

The mystery of the empty tomb is pretty unbelievable. Maybe that’s why all those we encounter that first learned this truth were astonished, even afraid. Who should we be listening to and how does it change our life, when we believe too?

- John+

Questions for Reflection:

• What are the things in your life that weigh you down or keep you from experiencing life eternal?

• What would it take or what would it look for you to be free from these concerns?

Daily Challenge

• Work to recall or remember a time when you dismissed the hope of another person. Consider how it would have changed the situation if you had believed.

Wait, they fell asleep? - April 13

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 93, 98; PM Psalm 66; Exod. 12:14–27; 1 Cor. 15:1–11; Mark 16:1–8

I love the stories of Easter, probably because the people who meet the resurrected Christ are usually surprised, shocked, or do not realize quite the importance of what they are seeing with their own eyes. In Mark’s Gospel, the Marys encounter a young man dressed in a white robe. In John’s Gospel, it is a gardener who they then realize is their friend who has just died. In Luke’s Gospel, they run into Jesus on a road to Emmaus and they spend what seems like hours with him before the realize the importance of the conversation. In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians that we hear from today, Paul talks about Cephas and then the twelve meeting Jesus, and then five hundred at one time. Paul says, “most of who are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.” Can you imagine how extraordinary those accounts would be? Wait, they fell asleep?

We are not only people of the Resurrection, but we are people of the Incarnation. This means that when we gather in person, when we reach out to our fellow human beings, we come to realize that our ordinary relationships are much more. It might take as long or longer than those disciples on the road to Emmaus, but eventually, we see the divine spark in the rest of humanity. It can really unsettle how we understand people. And then sometimes we fall asleep. Even if we had previously come to know the extraordinary truth of God Incarnate. I am glad Paul goes easy on those people in the group of 500 who have fallen asleep. It doesn’t sound like he is even surprised.

It is interesting to watch what seems like an astonishing renewal of faith as our society shifts, the economy falters, and what was normal two months ago becomes an impossible way to live right now. People are finding church and becoming engaged like never before. I suspect others who were regular volunteers and nearly every Sunday attenders are taking a break from church. Our daily rhythms and the practice of our faith have changed for everyone. Maybe like Paul, there is an invitation for grace, but we should also remember the power of those odd encounters of what seem like ordinary people. Maybe the phone call, the text message, the handwritten card, the smile at the grocery store worker, taking the time to check on an isolated neighbor, or the car parade at a birthday are much more important than we realize. Because Jesus has risen, and we don’t know where he might appear next. Alleluia, alleluia!

- John+

Questions for Reflection

• Who is someone who you have encountered that has surprised you or caused you to change your understanding of that person?

• What is your Emmaus or resurrection story?

Challenge

• Practice this week suspending judgment when someone gets under your skin. What would it look like to imagine that person could reflect the image of God?

Be gentle - April 11

Today’s Readings:  AM Psalms 95, 88; PM Psalm 27; Lam. 3:37-58; Heb. 4:1-16; Rom. 8:1-11

The reading from Hebrews mentions Sabbath for the living and eternal rest for those who have died. There is a level of emotional exhaustion that sets in each year during Holy Week around this time. And friends, this year has been more taxing than most. Fatigue is sinking into our bones. We are concerned for loved ones, for all those who struggle, and for our own well-being.

On this Holy Saturday, we are invited into a space of rest. I am reminded of waves in the ocean, a sequence of crests followed by troughs…and in the calmer, lower time of troughs, waves gather the energy needed before another peak escalates. Most muscles in our body function like that, too, in a cycle of flex and release. Scripture – especially lyrical compositions like the psalms – also have this texture of an emotional crescendo in tension with God or relationships with others, and then comes rest, or resolution, or peacefulness.

While the full cycle of our Holy Week is not yet complete, today is a day to be gentle upon yourself. Jesus has been through the range of emotions of Holy Week, and can empathize with all exhaustion you may feel. Receive God’s mercy and create a little space for emotional recovery, so that you can joyfully welcome our celebration of the risen Christ tomorrow morning.

— Katherine+

Questions for Reflection

• When have you felt lost and despondent?

• In what ways do you integrate Sabbath into your life?

  Daily Challenge

• Sabbath means rest. Find a space of time today to practice Sabbath. If you share your home with others, invite them to participate in this holy rest, too. Pray that the different use of time will bring you a deeper level of refreshment.

In spite of ourselves - April 10

Today’s Readings:  AM Psalms 95, 22; PM Psalms 40, 54 Lam. 3:1-9, 19-33; 1 Pet. 1:10-20; John 13:36-38

As I read about Simon Peter today, a tune keeps going through my mind. John Prine and Iris Dement recorded a song called “In Spite of Ourselves”. It’s an off-beat, somewhat irreverent love song, and the line I keep hearing is, “In spite of ourselves we'll end up a-sittin' on a rainbow; Against all odds, honey we're the big door-prize…”

While Peter offers words of wisdom to early Christians to “be holy yourselves in all your conduct,” even he wrestled with being disciplined all the time. Leading up to our Lord’s crucifixion, Peter was distraught. He pleaded with Jesus, “Tell me where you are going…I want to go along with you now. I will sacrifice my life alongside you.” Jesus knew that Peter had higher aspirations than he was able to fulfill at that time. He would deny Jesus three times.

In spite of himself and against all odds, Peter grew into the role of the rock for the movement we know now as the Church. With God’s help and a good deal of experience, perhaps Peter wrote those words of guidance years later because he needed that reminder, too.

It’s hard to be consistently benevolent amid stresses and changes in our lives. I confess I have not been holy in all my conduct since my family and I have been sharing the same square footage all day, every day, over the last four weeks. On this holy Friday, we are called to be still, in spite of our own concerns and preoccupations. I invite you to sit alone in silence with God, if even for a moment. Contemplate the gift and loss wrapped up in the observance of Jesus’ death.

-- Katherine+

Questions for Reflection

• What is keeping me from being still in the presence of God?

• What does Jesus’ death stir in me?

Daily Challenge

• Put aside thoughts that afflict you, and focus upon the hope that is in the Lord. Sit alone in silence with God. Be attentive to God’s steadfast love. Afterward, write down a word or feeling that lingers with you from the exercise.

At the Rock Bottom - April 9

Today’s Readings:  AM Psalm 102; PM Psalms 142, 143; Lam. 2:10-18; 1 Cor. 10:14-17, 11:27-32; Mark 14:12-25

Right now is an emotionally raw time for many. Images of our “rock bottom” are hard to endure. Vulnerable and scared, our inadequacies are laid out in front of us. Our readings on this Maundy Thursday help us honestly face our brokenness.

“I know the truth,” Jesus intimates. One of the twelve will betray him. What amount of indigestion and discomfort the disciples feel around the table in that upper room, gathering for a Passover meal with Jesus! I imagine their faces grow hot with concern, wondering if he knows, too, of the muttering and doubts they have whispered.

Jesus speaks about the hard, whole truth of brokenness and sin. While betrayal leads to the extinguishing of his human life, it doesn’t break the love Jesus has for his friends. They still gather together at the common table, sharing bread and wine. God’s love for us is unbreakable like that.

Remembering God’s mercy, today we are invited into a posture of honest self-examination. Rather than ask the disciples’ question of denial, “Surely, not I?”, perhaps we can ask, “Jesus, will you help me name my brokenness? Holy Spirit, will you embolden and heal me? God, will you forgive me, so that I can sit at your table?”

-- Katherine+

Questions for Reflection

• When have I felt most unworthy?

• Where in my body do I experience dread and regret?

Daily Challenge

• Commit five minutes to self-examination: write honestly about sin or brokenness in your own life. Ask God to direct you into a space of healing and forgiveness. Write down insights and any next steps.

Not yet the steward God calls me to be - April 8

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 55; PM Psalm 74; Lam. 2:1-9; 2 Cor. 1:23-2:11; Mark 12:1-11

The imagery of Jesus’ parable hits me hard today: a substantial investment in the vineyard yielded continued loss and disappointment in those who were the stewards. The landowner did more than simply hand over a raw plot of land to the tenants. He planted the young vines, fortified it with a wall, dug deep into the rocky ground to create the space to make wine, and built a tower for the tenants to observe the work and the fruits of their labors.

The landowner provided everything the tenants would need to succeed. And succeed, they did…but they were unwilling to share the proceeds. They did not hold up their end of the bargain as stewards. They repelled each attempt to collect the landowner’s share of the profits, and it all ended in abuse and murder. They were blind to the limitless source of gifts, and instead felt threatened that there was not enough.  

As we revisit the path Jesus took from glory to humility, we see our own frailty in the destructive choices we make. We act out of fear and insecurity when under duress. With God’s help, the Holy Week readings guide us away from actions of greed and avarice, so that we may understand our role as stewards in the fullness of God’s vineyard.

— Katherine+

Questions for Reflection

• What barriers is God tearing down in you? Where are you being fortified for God’s glory?

• The vineyard owner gives his wayward tenants many chances. Where is your limit?

Daily Challenge

• Paul’s letter to the Corinthians talks about the contagious nature of God’s grace and love, and that forgiveness spreads. Find a way to “spread” forgiveness today.

“By what authority are you doing these things?” - April 7

Today’s Readings:  AM Psalms 6, 12; PM Psalm 94, Lam. 1:17-22; 2 Cor. 1:8-22; Mark 11:27-33 

“By what authority are you doing these things?” That is the question posed by the chief priests, scribes, and elders to Jesus in Mark’s gospel reading today. Jesus doesn’t give them the satisfaction of a direct answer, for their motivation was to trap and convict the rabbi who threatened the hierarchy in the Temple.

Perhaps you are feeling like one of those elders, struggling with your faith today. Maybe you are doubting God’s care for you in this time of upheaval. Know this - God is big enough for all our questions. Jesus’ death and resurrection redeemed all people, even those on the fence, or feeling threatened by the revolutionary message of love and healing for everyone.

As such, what would it be like to reframe the question of the skeptics in Jerusalem? Perhaps it could look like this: “Are you doing this action because it is pleasing to God? How will this choice bear witness to God’s love moving through your life?” May God’s grace encourage us each day for the pursuit of greater understanding, rather than leveraging power.

— Katherine+

Questions for Reflection

• How do the words of Lamentations strike you today, expressing sadness beyond the point of consolation?

• How will the choices you make today bear witness to God’s love moving through your life?

Daily Challenge

Psalm 6 is a call for help from God through sickness and conflict. Find a verse of that psalm that resonates with you, and recite those words in prayer to God.

Lament for the Emptiness - April 6

Today’s Readings:  AM Psalm 51:1-18(19-20); PM Psalm 69:1-23, Lam. 1:1-2,6-12; 2 Cor. 1:1-7; Mark 11:12-25

Our Old Testament reading today comes from Lamentations. We hear of a lonely city that sits empty, once filled with people. There is weeping and no source of comfort. Those who once were trusted companions are now kept distant and are not to be trusted. Material wealth is meaningless. There is lament and longing for what came before the devastation and isolation. This ancient poem paints a very dark picture, as it hearkens back to the destruction of Jerusalem by foreign enemies.

I sit in a very different posture today, in modern-day America, when comparing my existence to those of the ancient Near East. This lament reminds me of the importance of mourning. It is healthy to put into words, images, or other expressions of what brings pain or sorrow. For me, yesterday was a beautiful Palm Sunday; the sermon was honest and spot-on; and, the music was stirring. As I heard the song “Give Me Jesus”, I was aware how much I miss Eucharist and the physical presence of YOU, the people of Saint Stephen’s. I felt sad to be away, so I played some mournful tunes on the drive home.

Lamentations provides an opportunity to hold up the people we long for, the things we miss, and the places that lay empty that we long to fill. Though this exercise is not easy, it can be a helpful process in emptying ourselves during Holy Week. By expressing the pain, we dump out some of the vestiges of our sin and regret, so that when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on Sunday, we will feel the joy of the risen Christ more deeply.

-- Katherine+

Questions for Reflection

• What is it that you lament?

• Psalm 51 calls us to confess and be vulnerable. What about this is hard for you?

Daily Challenge

The apostle Paul calls us to go to God for consolation in the midst of suffering. Pray that God will bring you consolation today, and then reach out to someone who is struggling to offer consolation to them.

A darkness to be felt - April 4

Today’s Readings: Exod. 10:21–11:8; 2 Cor. 4:13–18; Mark 10:46–52

So Moses stretches out his hand and darkness over the land of Egypt falls. The author of Exodus says, “a darkness to be felt.” And then we hear that for three days people did not see one another nor did any rise from their place. I am probably drawn to these words because it seems to be the same experience that we are now living only much longer than three days! I suspect, we are all yearning to see in the flesh other human beings, and we are eager to rise from our place and leave our homes. I am struck that what we are experiencing, really isn’t new. It might be the same reason or experience, but there is something reassuring in knowing that life has cycles and patterns, even what we are experiencing today is a part of that.

When we read Exodus in dialogue with Paul’s writing to the Corinthians in this chapter, we find remarkable hope. “So. We do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” Is Paul writing to us this very moment!

If you are reading this, you are doing some small part to nurture your faith and soul. Maybe you have been drawn to participate in Morning Prayer daily on Facebook, or spending more time with your children or step-children, or parents, or talking to old friends on Skype or Zoom. If we have faith and nurture that faith, then our inner nature is being renewed! What a hopeful image in this cycle of isolation and darkness. May the darkness be necessary for our growth.

- John+

Questions for Reflection

• In what way am I being renewed in the midst of the chaos of our present day?

• How does my faith play a part in this renewal?

Challenge

• Find an activity that helps in your renewal and let go of something that is distracting.

Jesus’s $2.2 trillion relief package - April 3

Today’s Readings: Exod. 9:13–35; 2 Cor. 4:1–12; Mark 10:32–45

In today’s Gospel, the disciples are on the road, going up to Jerusalem and Jesus predicts his death. It’s not a very pretty depiction. And the disciples are arguing about who is going to sit at his right hand and who at his left. As I read this reading and write a reflection (the day before you are reading this) I have just signed a loan application for payroll assistance for our church community and preschool as a part of the $2.2 trillion relief package passed by our government of which $387 billion is aimed at small businesses which include nonprofits.

And while I am confident that this is a good and faithful gesture on our part, I am also aware of the little voice in my head, how will this bill benefit me, or my community. I think this is a natural and honest answer, but there seems to be a dangerous and fine line that we ought to pay attention to whenever we are seeking anything. The disciples are wondering how their relationship with Jesus is going to benefit them. And we hear the crux of Mark’s Gospel “For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

I hope our answer deep down will always be, how do the gifts that we receive enable us to serve God. And maybe I needed to hear this passage as much as anyone and be reminded of what is ultimately asked of all of us.

- John+

Questions for Reflection

• What benefits do I receive from following Jesus?

• What have I received lately that enables me to more fully serve God?

Challenge

• Explore the line within your own life of when you seek what benefits you vs. what enables you to serve God.

The rich man is still in quarantine - April 2

Today’s Readings: Exod. 7:25–8:19; 2 Cor. 3:7–18; Mark 10:17–31

In today’s Gospel passage, a rich man has been following the laws of God exceptionally well. He asks Jesus what he needs to inherit eternal life. After walking through the litany of rules this man has followed, Jesus says, “you lack, one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” I keep wondering if all the things that the man had were keeping him from following Jesus. It sounds like he has stored up quite a bit of treasure.

One of the interesting aspects of COVID-19 and the impact on our culture and society is the lack of discrimination. It does not matter who you are or what you own; to make our society safer, we all have to isolate ourselves. There is no purchasing a cure or even a pass to be able to gather in the public arena. Where I have found the most comfort in quarantine, it has been through my practicing of praying for others, and my time in worship on Facebook and the daily digging into Scriptures. It makes me wonder, what really is necessary for a fulfilled life and maybe even life eternal?

Regardless of where we find ourselves in the accumulation of wealth (or the loss in the market) what is helping you be grounded and well in the midst of this time? How much of that is tied to what you own or have accumulated? And how could that be a key to understanding this idea of life eternal?

- John+

Questions for Reflection

• What things have improved your life in quarantine that have surprised you?

• What did you think would improve your life but hasn’t?

Challenge

• Make a prayer list of people that are on your mind and say those names daily while you are isolated from others.

God’s Love smells better than Axe Body Shots - April 1

Today’s Readings: Exod. 7:8–24; 2 Cor. 2:14–3:6; Mark 10:1–16

I love this little passage, “thanks be to God, who in Christ…and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ!” Fifteen years later, I still can’t get the smell out of my mind of working a week at Kanuga Conference Center with middle school youth. It was the year that the body spray company, Axe, came out with those provocative videos which suggested that women everywhere were drawn to the smell of Axe. The videos were very suggestive and thirteen-year-old boys' minds where especially susceptible to advertising. And to top it off, the camp store just so happened to be selling “Axe Body Shots!” It was a sure revenue producer during Youth Week at Kanuga. Thirteen-year-old boys that had yet to learn the proper benefits of hygiene spent all of their summer money using Axe to cover up body odor and woo their newest friends. It is a summer that will live in my olfactory memory forever!

Smell has a way of bringing up memories and helping us to relive an experience. Think of the perfume of a loved one that is here no longer or the smell of someone special’s old home. I wonder what happens when we live out our lives in Christ? This image of conjuring up the sense of smell by Paul might suggest that God through us, through the way that we love each other, is not only a vessel for sharing God’s love, but actually helps people remember, relive, and be reawakened to that love that God has marked their life with.

It is a subtle difference, but as all of us look for ways to reach out in love during this time, it might be important to reflect that we are not only sharing God’s love but helping people awaken once again to the love that has transformed their lives. And as we yearn for connection, we all desire to know that same love as well. Let us go and share the Aroma of Christ so that our hearts may be at ease during such a stressful time?

- John+

Questions for Self-Reflection

• What are some memories of yours that are attached to a certain smell?

• In what ways can the love of God linger in the lives of others through the love that you share?

Daily Challenge

• Find one way of reaching out in love to someone in need. If you need a suggestion, try this.

A Forced Sabbath - March 31

Today’s Readings: Exod. 5:1–6:1; 1 Cor. 14:20–33a,39–40; Mark 9:42–50

In today’s Old Testament lesson, Moses and Aaron go to see Pharaoh to ask for permission for the Israelites to go into the wilderness for three days for a feast. Pharaoh not only refuses their request but then adds to their daily burden the task of gathering straw in order to make bricks. The Israelites were already responsible for making bricks, and because they have complained, they must have idle time which can be replaced with the task of gathering straw. From Pharaoh’s perspective, if the day can be completely filled with work, there will be no time to worry, no time to complain, no time to imagine anything else. I wonder if Pharaoh thought that if all time could be used for production, people would be satisfied with their lives?

Walter Brueggemann, the prolific Old Testament theologian, argues that Sabbath’s main focus is to break this cycle of production that tricks our egos into believing that we are capable of producing value and worth in our lives, and everything that we want, we should be able to produce immediately. Which then leads us to work harder and harder, and longer hours, and we put our own self-worth into what we can produce. Sabbath then becomes a way of resisting this culture.

Many of us have either had our model for work drastically challenged, altered, or we have altogether lost our jobs. In many ways it is frightening. Maybe in some ways, it is a forced Sabbath. One consideration would be to ask ourselves, have we worked too hard to cover up the imperfections in our lives, or to drown out our worry or concerns in life? What could a practice look like of breaking that cycle so that we can see our dependence more on God than our own agency for our worldview and our faith? What I am suggesting is not easy, but potentially could be a faithful approach to what many of us are experiencing.

- John+

Questions for Consideration

• What have you used to cover up your worry or concern?

• How does work impact your mental health?

Challenge

• Create a Sabbath practice that helps you intentionally set time for God once a week.

Could New Leadership be Required? - March 30

Today’s Scripture: Exod. 4:10–20(21–26)27–31; 1 Cor. 14:1–19; Mark 9:30–41

Moses says, ‘O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.’ Moses is suspect of God that he probably shouldn’t be leading God’s people. What he doesn’t yet realize is that life for his people is about to change. They will go from living under the rule of Pharaoh, to standing up to Pharaoh, to wandering in the desert in a whole new way of life. It is a fundamental paradox change and they will have to live differently for 40 years before they can resettle in the Promise Land.

I am struck that one consideration might be that Moses is suspect because he doesn’t understand yet how his own capabilities might be assets in this new way of life. Maybe, what his people required in the form of leadership has been different up unto this point. And Moses doesn’t yet see how he might be used by God in this moment.

Today, I am wondering, how the voices of leadership might change, or be changing, in this current paradoxical shift. Maybe it the voice of young children teaching parents and grandparents about technology, or the voice of a teenager leading the charge on Twitter, or people who are shy finding ways of claiming their public voice online. Maybe God is calling you to lead in following the Way of Love with passions and gifts you have yet to realize in a new way! What could God be up to at this moment and speaking to all us through the story of Moses?

- John+

Questions for Reflection

• What are the parts of you that you have considered hindrances in leadership?

• Is it possible in our own cultural shift, that you might be able to offer your gifts in a new way?

Daily Challenge

• Write something reflective to share on social media or through a blogpost as a way of claiming your voice.