God Enough - March 20

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 89:1-18; PM Psalm 89:19-52; Jer. 16:10-21; Rom. 7:1-12; John 6:1-15

God creates.  And while the first action of God might have been to create out of nothingness, every action thereupon action ever since has been taking what is already there and turning it into something beautiful.  God uses water to create living creatures (Gen 1:24).  When God creates humanity, God takes the red clay (Adamah), shapes it, and breathes life into it, and we have humanity (Adam).  God takes what is there and makes it beautiful, meaningful, and useful. 

How often do we turn to the outside to look for help?   The hiring of a consultant?  A self-help book for outside answers to problems that we know better than anyone else?  Or if we can just go away to meet some experts we can come back changed or transformed?  Or maybe more in line with today’s Gospel, we don’t realize our own capacity for God to use what is already there in our life to breathe hope and life into this world.

Maybe even more challenging is the feeling of “not enough” that seems to define the protestant work ethic.  We don’t have enough yet, or not until that next big promotion.  Or our church isn’t quite large enough, or our home isn’t quite big enough, or we didn’t put enough hours in at work?  Or we didn’t get into the best school or college.  Will it really be enough?

Today’s Gospel is the feeding of the five thousand.  Jesus takes five loaves and two fish and the disciples are able to feed more people than could possibly imagine.  Maybe Jesus multiplied the fish and bread.  Maybe people trusted in being generous and that they had more than enough to share and go around. In a world of scarcity, both stories would be miracles.  And in both cases, the disciples (through Christ) have more than they realize, and more than they need.

When I think of this story in the context of our Lenten journey, maybe the stripping down of the excesses in our life is to expose that what is underneath is good enough.  It is good enough because it comes from God and God has given us more than we need.  God takes what is there and makes it beautiful, meaningful, and useful.  God takes you and me.

John+

Questions for Self-Reflection:  Where does the feeling of “not enough” intersect with your life?

Daily Challenge:  See what you can eliminate from your life that leads to the feeling of inadequacy.   Consider how Lent can help with this.

‘My spirit was stirred up’ - March 17

Today’s Readings: Feast of Saint Patrick of Ireland Psalm 96; 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8; Matthew 28:16-20 

Today’s Reflection: 

“Because God is God, there are purposes in which we belong which are larger than our purposes.”

Walter Brueggemann, a Biblical scholar, wrote these words, which sum up well the common thread between today’s readings from Genesis and Luke. Loving our enemies is all about setting aside our own preferences and purposes in favor of something bigger, of something beyond ourselves. 

About 400 years after the birth of Jesus, a 16-year-old in what we know today as Scotland was kidnapped by raiders who took him to Ireland where he lived as a slave for six years, forced to work herding swine. Before being forced into slavery, he had grown up in religious family, the son of a deacon and grandson of a priest, but he had not been particularly religious himself. But under these changed, more harsh life circumstances, the young man turned his life more toward God, and became a person of prayer amidst his life as a slave. Later he wrote that, “My love and fear of God increased greatly, and my faith grew, and my spirit was stirred up” (Patrick’s Confessions, quoted in Mystics & Miracles, p. 155). It was through prayer that the young man heard God telling him to flee to a boat some 200 miles away—so he escaped the pastures and made his way to the port he had heard the voice directing him toward. 

After being reunited with his family, the young man discerned a call to the priesthood and a call to return to Ireland. After training and working as a priest in France for over 20 years, the man eventually made his way back to Ireland, just as he had been called to do. He returned as the Bishop of Ireland and is well known to us today as Ireland’s patron, Saint Patrick. Discerning a call to return to the land where he had been forced to live as a slave, called to lead the entire island to faith in the love of Christ, Patrick was faithful to the teaching of Jesus: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” 

As we reflect on our lives today, let us pray that God will direct our hearts to love not just those who it’s easy for us to love, but especially that God will direct our hearts to love those whom it is most difficult for us to love. 

Picture for a moment in your mind a particular person, maybe even a group of people, who feels like an enemy to you on some level—someone who frustrates or annoys you, someone who has wronged you, someone who is working against you, or someone who is working against all that is most important to you. Carry this person or these people with you into prayer this day, and throughout this coming week. Pray that God will help you to love them as Jesus commands. 

Becky+ 

Daily Challenge 

You may read more about the life and faith of Saint Patrick here. 

A Prayer for Saint Patrick’s Day 

Almighty God, in your providence you chose your servant Patrick to be the apostle to the Irish people, to bring those who were wandering in darkness and error to the true light and knowledge of you: Grant us so to walk in that way that we may come at last to the light of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever. Amen. 

A heart-broken God – March 15

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 119:97-120; PM Psalm 81, 82
Jer. 8:18-9:6; Rom. 5:1-11; John 8:12-20

Today’s Reflection

In conversations, sometimes I hear people say things like, “God is calling me to a new role,” or “I just don’t know what God wants for me.” This is one of the ways we live into our Christian faith – by listening to where God is calling us to go and be and do.

I wonder…what are God’s dreams for you? And for me? That space of curiosity feels hopeful. And then, when we wake up and behold what is in front of us, there are distractions, impediments, and choices that take us down different paths. Those winding paths do not remove God from us…and we might change our focus to things of this world that take our eyes from the light of our Lord.

In the message from the prophet Jeremiah this morning, we meet a heart-broken God. The Lord says, “My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick.” (8:18) These words make me quake with sadness and regret. The people of Israel are doubting God, or God’s faithfulness. They fear they are abandoned. They cry out, “Is the LORD not in Zion?...The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” (v. 19b, 20)

God is not angry here. God is sad. “For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt, I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me.” (v. 21) It is unmistakable that the Israelites are suffering, and it is painful to behold. The dream of faithfulness and closeness feels so far away. And God is grieving.

Jeremiah shares a perspective of God that is visceral and proximate. God says, “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored? O that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night for the slain of my poor people!” (8:22 – 9:1)

Gilead was the region in the north of Israel’s territory, known for its copious medicinal herbs. People would get healing plants from there or would receive treatment using those leaves. God wonders why the illness and affliction are persisting. And then, God weeps. So much so that springs of water pour out like a fountain of tears. Have you ever wept that much for a deep loss? Did it feel like it was beyond recovery? What a painful place God is in during these verses in Jeremiah…and God meets us here when we find ourselves in a similar place of solitude and disappointment.

In Ecclesiastes, the preacher often writes that there is nothing new under the sun. God is present in the hopes and the hurts. This excerpt from the prophet Jeremiah reminds us that God weeps with us. God’s dreams for us sometimes shatter and fall to the floor. And yet, God still wants to know us and draw us near. That is what the abiding love of the Divine looks like.

Katherine+

Questions for Self-Reflection:

Our choices can lead us away from God. Take time today to revisit the Litany of Penitence on page 267 of the Book of Common Prayer. Pray that this time of prayer will draw you nearer to the God who loves, redeems, and receives us because of the love of Jesus.

Lament - March 13, 2023

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 80; PM Psalm 77, [79]; Jer. 7:1-15; Rom. 4:1-12; John 7:14-36 

I sat down with a friend last week who is conducting a research project at Samford University on the use of lament in worship.  We were checking in as Saint Stephen’s is one of the churches that is participating in his project.  Most of the nondenominational or other denomination churches in the project did not have an active use of lament in worship.  However, I shared how we read the Psalter and for those who engage in morning prayer or the daily reading of scripture, we read all of the Psalms every seven weeks!  We lament in worship by not glossing over the challenging texts, by praying, and by offering the Great Litany on the first Sunday in Lent.  My friend asked me a challenging question that followed my response, “John, did the use of lament give you tools that have helped you grieve and find hope through the last year?” 

I’m struck by his words and the challenge of his question.  I’m not sure I want to answer it, but I do turn to Psalm 80 which will be read this morning.  The Psalm begins by asking for God’s help and laments the challenges of the world.  The people cry out, “O Lord God of hosts, how long will you be angered despite the prayers of your people… You have made us the derision of our neighbors, and our enemies laugh us to scorn.”  Later in the Psalm, we hear “Why have you broken down its wall so that all who pass by pluck off its grapes?  The wild boar of the forest has ravaged it, and the beasts of the field have grazed upon it.”  We gain the impression that God’s faithful people have experienced exceptional hardship and their answer is to acknowledge it, it is to cry out to God, and then ask “Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.” 

When we see lament in scripture, it almost always turns hopeful, but it doesn’t shy away from the hard truth that sometimes life is difficult. If you don’t resonate with the Psalmist today, then thanks be to God.  And I offer, that maybe there is wisdom in reading these words over and over, because life will have its ups and downs, and the challenge for all of us is to know to turn to God not only when life is easy and smooth but in the valleys, too.  “Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.”

John+

Questions for Self-Reflection:  Have you considered the use of the lament Psalms in your own faith development?  How often do you turn to give thanks to God when you go through a tough time. 

Daily Challenge:  Read all of the Psalms appointed for today.  Consider making this practice alone part of your daily practice.

March 13, 2023

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"Everything I had ever Done" - March 6, 2023

‘The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down’ - March 10

Today’s Readings: Psalm 146; Judges 9:50-55; Luke 11:5-10  

Today’s Reflection

Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help! whose hope is in the Lord their God; Who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them; who keeps his promise for ever; Who gives justice to those who are oppressed, and food to those who hunger. The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; The Lord loves the righteous; the Lord cares for the stranger; he sustains the orphan and widow, but frustrates the way of the wicked. Psalm 146: 4-8

Today is the feast day of Harriet Tubman, who escaped slavery to find freedom in Canada, but ended up returning to the United States where she helped hundreds of others escape to freedom in her role as one of the key conductors of the Underground Railroad. While it’s always appropriate to remember and honor the work of Tubman and others like her who have put their lives on the line to offer the hope of freedom to others, it’s especially timely this week as the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church have been meeting at our own Camp McDowell.

Yesterday, 150 bishops went on pilgrimage to Montgomery, where they spent time reflecting on the legacy of slavery, segregation, and systemic racism in the United States. As they toured the sacred spaces of the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice, and spent time with EJI founder and civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson, bishops from around the Episcopal Church had the opportunity not simply to engage with our nation’s history but also to engage spiritually with the responsibility we all have as Christ followers to take up the cause of “lifting up those who are bowed down,” as we read in Psalm 146 (the Psalm appointed for the Feast Day of Harriet Tubman).

In my February 5 sermon on “Repairing the Breach,” I reflected with you on stories of how people around the Episcopal Church, including at Virginia Theological Seminary and at Sewanee, the University of the South, have been prayerfully discerning and then acting to do what they can to “repair the breach” and “lift up those who are bowed down” by the enduring legacy of slavery, segregation, and systemic racism in our country. At the close of that sermon, I shared these reflections:

Needless to say, talk of making reparations, removing icons, renaming streets and buildings, and any number of other actions meant to promote racial justice, healing, and reconciliation, can prove controversial for the people who make up a school, a church, a Diocese, or a community. Talk of such things may bring up, for some, feelings of guilt or defensiveness. We may wonder what we can do to atone for the sins of our ancestors, or to repair relationships and institutions broken by previous generations. Here is where turning again to the prophet Isaiah can help us begin to discern what God is calling us to do, as people in 2023 who are living both with the consequences and the advantages set into motion by those who enslaved and segregated and even lynched people solely because of the color of their skin.

And yet, as uncomfortable as this may make us feel, as Christians we are called, as the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians, to be ministers of reconciliation; or as Isaiah proclaimed, we are called to rebuild the ancient ruins, to raise up foundations for the generations, to repair the breach, and to restore the streets to live in. So, it may help us to think of the different ways repairing the breach may play out. Sometimes, we are the ones who have created the breach, or divide, through what we have said or left unsaid, through things we have done or left undone. Other times, we are the ones who see the hurt someone else has done, and when we notice it, we then have a responsibility to do what we can to begin to make things right. And still other times, we may inherit a breach or hurt that someone else set into motion, long, long ago, as with those of us who have ancestors who enslaved others, or upheld segregating traditions, or chose to look the other way when someone in their town was lynched. I imagine that each one of us here today, myself included, can identify with at least one of these three scenarios: we have created a breach, we have observed a breach, or we have inherited a breach.

Ultimately, we are called to be repairers of the breach because we are called to live like Jesus, who through his incarnation—living and dying as one of us—brought God and humanity together for all time. Jesus repaired the breach; we are called to follow him and do the same. The work of repairing the breach was difficult, even for God. And so it is for us. This work we are called to do, as repairers of the breach, as ministers of reconciliation, requires the courage to confront great suffering and to consider great sacrifice. This work we are called to do will require our effort, our energy, our commitment, and our time. Slavery was a wound it took 400 years to inflict. We cannot be surprised if it takes 400 years to heal. We cannot wait another day.

Becky+

P.S. If you are interested in joining with others from Saint Stephen’s to make a one-day pilgrimage to Montgomery later this spring, please email me at becky@ssechurch.org and I will add you to the list of those who have expressed interest in experiencing this pilgrimage together.

Moment for Reflection

O God, whose Spirit guides us into all truth and makes us free: Strengthen and sustain us as you did your servant Harriet Ross Tubman. Give us vision and courage to stand against oppression and injustice and all that works against the glorious liberty to which you call all your children; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Prophets - March 8, 2023

Today’s readings: AM Psalm 72; PM Psalm 119:73-96; Jer. 3:6-18; Rom. 1:28-2:11; John 5:1-18

Prophets really fascinate me. As a kid, I watched fantasy flick "The Neverending Story". I loved that film. While reading a book, the boy is compelled on an amazing adventure in search and fulfillment of a prophesy to bring hope to the world by giving the princess a new name. There are oracles, amusing characters, and perilous challenges.

Today we read from the prophet Jeremiah. It is another of our appointed passages perfectly suited for Lent. Jeremiah speaks the truth of the day to the people of God, who continue to go astray from God. Here is the part I am most drawn toward:  

Return, O faithless children,

says the Lord,

   for I am your master;

I will take you, one from a city and two from a family,

   and I will bring you to Zion.

I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. (3:14, 15)

Jeremiah's words speak of how God will move faithful people from place to place at times, and yet they will be cared for and nourished. These poetic verses are beautiful as I sit with them on a Wednesday morning, preparing to head out of town for a conference in Jacksonville, Florida, with the leadership of our parish.

May you and I know and feel the compassionate care of God today, as we repent of the ways we have been astray. As we have been stubborn and self-focused. God waits for us to return to fix our hearts on the Divine. There is hope and healing in store for us on this adventure.

Katherine+

Challenge and Self-Reflection: In the season of Lent, when we talk about repentance and returning to God, what characteristics of God do you imagine? What do you feel when you think about God?

"Everything I had ever Done" - March 6, 2023

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 56, 57, [58]; PM Psalm 64, 65; Jer. 1:11-19; Rom. 1:1-15; John 4:27-42

Have you ever tried to keep something from God?  I know this sounds silly, and we know that all things are known to God, but I would wager that all of us have things only known to ourselves and God, things done and left done in the past that we have kept buried deep down.  The idea of sharing everything we have ever done with a person, every selfish thought, every judgmental word or consideration.  And yet this is preciously what happens to the woman who encounters Jesus in the fourth chapter of John.  She doesn’t leave feeling guilty or compelled by shame. Instead, she wonders if he is the Messiah, and her testimony drives others on a quest. 

I shared a few weeks ago that Confession is an act that Episcopalians can use as a tool to help deepen their spiritual lives.  When a person confesses to God, it is not that they are sharing with God what God doesn’t know.  Voicing that confession to God by offering it in front of a priest, is allowing what has been done to no longer live hidden in the closet of someone’s ego, slowly wearing someone down with guilt or shame.  Confession helps someone to know that God’s love is even larger, and salvation has no limits or boundaries. 

The Samaritans are deeply moved that this woman is testifying that Jesus has told her everything that she has done.  And the Samaritan people don’t run and hide, they actively seek out Jesus and invite him into their lives. 

Lent is a season where we are called to self-exploration, intentional reflection on our own limitations, where we have not done our best, where we have left things undone, and where we have done wrong.  The reminder of Jesus’s encounter with the woman at the well is that this is Good news.  Self-reflection leads to fully knowing God’s love and grace, no matter how long that list is.  And she said, “He told me everything that I had ever done!”  And she found life and salvation and so did many in her community.   Thanks be to God.

John+

Questions for Self-Reflection:  Are there things that you are too difficult or painful to look back on?  Consider if these memories have kept you from the fullness of life.

Daily Challenge:  It’s not too late to make an appointment with a clergyperson to hear your confession.  This is where the bind of confidentiality between clergy and parishioner exists (unless someone is confessing future harm).

A Very Lenty Moses - March 1, 2023

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 119:49-72; PM Psalm 49, [53]
Deut. 9:13-21; Heb. 3:12-19; John 2:23-3:15 

How very Lenten that our Old Testament readings this week take us through a portion of Deuteronomy. Moses has the floor. He preaches a long sermon of truth. He admonishes the Israelites for their sinfulness and implores them to remain faithful to God – to follow the commandments. He reminds them to stay humble and grateful to the Lord, even when life is going well, for it is God who brought them through Egypt and out of slavery.

Moses issues warnings that if the Israelites forget the Lord as their God, following other gods and idols, perishing and punishment will ensue. He reminds them of the times when they have angered God, provoking holy wrath. Each time, Moses goes to bat on behalf of these stubborn, stiff-necked people. He lays prostrate before God, denying himself bread, water, and earthly pleasures – to pray, protect, and defend them to the Lord God. Moses reminds the people that God was so angry at them for making an idol – the calf – while Moses was upon the mountain getting the two stone tablets of the covenant.

Each time, Moses lays on the ground, face down, not moving before the Lord. He lowers himself and prays. This bearer of the Law tells the people what his prayer is: “Lord God, do not destroy the people who are your very own possession, whom you redeemed in your greatness, whom you brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; pay no attention to the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin, otherwise the land from which you have brought us might say, ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land that he promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to let them die in the wilderness.’ For they are the people of your very own possession, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.” (Deut. 9:26-29)

Moses is one bold man. He speaks truth. He stays grounded. He stands tall with the commandments of the Lord. And he is willing to humble himself before God, representing the people of Israel in a more faithful manner than they deserve. Moses shows the Israelites what faithfulness can truly look like, when grounded in the one and only Lord.

Katherine+

Questions for Self-Reflection:

Read chapters 8 and 9 of Deuteronomy. Take in the scope of Moses' words to the Israelites. Listen for the questions that arise in you. Where do you respect Moses? Where do you wish to interject? What prayer do you have for yourself and others after sitting with this holy scripture?

A Work in Progress - February 27

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 41, 52; PM Psalm 44; Deut. 8:11-20; Heb. 2:11-18; John 2:1-12

Many years ago, when I was a youth minister, we used to have a large fundraiser every year to help our young people go on pilgrimage.  The fundraiser was a fancy dinner cooked by our youth and included a wonderful silent and live auction.  One of the families involved would always donate an extremely large bottle of wine, which if my memory serves me correctly was nine liters, the equivalent of an entire case of wine.  I’d never seen anything quite like it before, an enormous offering and certainly only appropriate for a party.

I think of those large bottles of wine when I read the wedding miracle at Cana, our Gospel reading for this Monday. In this reading, Jesus takes six large stone jars, each that would hold twenty to thirty gallons of water, and turns the water into wine. For comparison’s sake, these jars were probably three to four times the size of one of the large bottles of wine from the youth fundraiser. I am betting it was one lively celebration. 

Six is an interesting number in the Christian faith.  It is one just shy of completion.  Seven is a number that symbolizes completion and perfection. God creates the heavens and the earth in seven days.  Yes, the day of rest is necessary for the creation process.  In Luke, Jesus offers seven statements from the cross as he completes his earthly life, and in the Gospel of John, there are seven signs that point to the miracle of Jesus, and seven “I am” statements so that we come to know the meaning of Jesus for each of us. But in the wedding narrative, there are only six stone jars. 

One reading of this text could be that the story is yet to be finished, or the party is yet to be complete.  That is a wonderful reminder of our own lives too in the season of Lent.  We have a chance to reflect on our mortality, to reflect on ways we can grow and be more faithful, all because the story of God’s work in our lives is not quite complete.  God still has work to do, and we still have others to invite into the story to make it more complete. 

Our Christian faith is a journey.  And while God’s love is made fully manifest in each of our lives, our life lived out in faith is a work in progress.  In a penitential season, this is remarkably good news, because it means the work that we confess is left undone, is not the last bit of work.  And the banquet that God has invited us to is still waiting for us to arrive.  And there is more wine to be had, the gift of God being made fully manifest.

Faithfully,

John+

Questions for Self-Reflection:  What parts of your own faith story do you see in progress?  How do you anticipate growing in your faith?
Daily Challenge:  There are many ways of growing in your faith at Saint Stephen’s.  You can read the program guide here, talk to a clergyperson, or sign up for a class. If you don’t live near Saint Stephen’s consider doing one of our online classes or a class at your local church.

'What are you looking for?' February 24

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 95 & 31; PM Psalm 35; Deut. 7:12-16; Titus 2:1-15; John 1:35-42 

Today’s Reflection

In today’s Gospel passage, John comes to a new orientation when he gains divine clarity about who Jesus is and what he had come to do. What is John’s response to taking on this new orientation? He wants others also to know that Jesus is the Lamb of God. The next day, when John is out with Andrew and another disciple, he cannot help but proclaim excitedly, when he sees Jesus passing by, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”

John proclaims to his friends that Jesus is the Lamb of God. And how do they respond? They go off to follow Jesus as he keeps walking down the road. Jesus notices them following him and asks them, “What are you looking for?,” but knowing of course that they were looking for him. The two disciples ask, “Rabbi, where are you staying?”

Jesus over-accepts and says, “Come and see.” Come be with me. Come spend time with me. Come see for yourself and listen and wonder anything you want.

So, when I say Jesus over-accepts, what does that mean? In the world of improvisational theatre and comedy, there’s a concept called over-accepting. In improvisation, one improviser makes an offer the next. In order the keep the improvisation going, the person to whom the offer will say “Yes, and…” In a first-year seminary class, we read a book about how all this helps us make sense of the Christian faith and how we are to live that out: “When someone makes us an offer, or gives us a gift, it leads us to wonder: How can this gift be understood or used in a good and faithful way? What does the way we accept this gift say about the kind of people we are and want to be? What can or has this gift become in the kingdom of God? Where is it perceived to fit into the story of the way God deals with his people and how that fitting in takes place?” (Wells, Improvisation, 2015).

To me, how Jesus’ offer to “Come and see” is a truly clarifying moment in Jesus’ incarnation. Jesus came to be with us. Jesus was open. Instead of feeling bothered by these two men following him up the street and wanting to know where he was staying, Jesus was ready for them. He didn’t just tell them where he was staying or half-heartedly suggest they stop by tomorrow. Instead, he says, “Come and see.” As in right this very minute. Even though it was four o’clock, maybe a great time to finally get back to the house to take a nap or do something relaxing at the end of a long day. But Jesus says, come on over. Let’s talk. Come find what it is you are looking for with me.

Becky+

Moment for Reflection

When has someone responded to something you have shared or something you have done with over-acceptance? I wonder how that choice to over-accept influenced or deepened your sense of connection and friendship.

Today’s reflection is an excerpt from my January 15 sermon, which you can listen to here.

Turning Around - February 22, 2023

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 95* & 32, 143; PM Psalm 102, 130 ; Jonah 3:1-4:11; Heb. 12:1-14; Luke 18:9-14

Today’s Reflection

When I was five or six, my dad's parents gave me a three-wheeled vehicle called a Green Machine. Similar to the super-trendy Big Wheel, the Green Machine had a big front tire and two smaller rear tires, all made of durable plastic. The Green Machine, however, had no handlebars at the apex of the front tire. Rather, to adjust direction, there were two stick-shift style handles that turned the rear wheels. This meant I could gather speed while pedaling down the driveway and then spin out before I reached the sidewalk. It was the delight of many days, hearing the crackling of the rolling tires upon the cement pavers. Neighbors wanted to take part in the rear-wheel action, too. Spinning out was the cherry on top for going fast - and there was something about holding the steering handles that felt powerful. In control. Older. (Maybe that's why I still like a standard-shift transmission!)

As Lent begins today, Ash Wednesday provides that avenue for a quick turnaround. We can take the handles of our lives and change direction. We can turn our backs to the ways we have been unloving. We can choose to listen to God's call to serve. We can confess our many ways of being unfaithful and self-indulgent. We can readjust our course of faithful living, not wallowing in regret, but honestly addressing the areas we can rely more on God, following the example of Christ. This is not easy, and it is also hopeful work.

Jonah agonized as God asked him to go to Nineveh and proclaim repentance to the sinful people. He went the other way to avoid doing so, and that is what led to the story of Jonah being swallowed and then spit out by the large fish (Jonah chapters 1 and 2). He did not think that his own voice was needed - surely God would not destroy a city! This God who is "gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing" (Jonah 4:2).

Where we read today in chapters 3 and 4, Jonah proclaims "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" The people take this message seriously. We read that they believed God, began fasting, and all people put on sackcloth, even the king. He makes a royal announcement to his people, as he sits in ashes rather than upon the throne: "All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish." (v. 8b-9). God sees what they do, and how they work to turn away from the temptations around them. The destruction that had been promised does not come. God has a change of heart and mind (Jonah 3:10).

Oddly, this change of course irritates Jonah. He gets mad at God, saying "I knew it! I didn't need to leave my house for these people to change! I knew you were a merciful God from the first! Just leave me alone!" God wants Jonah to also have a moment of repentance, to grow in his faithfulness to God - and to understand that God is deeply connected to the growth and life of each human being and animal and tree...God labors over each of us and loves each of us. God wants the best for us.

Turning around is not easy. And yet, it is hopeful work, for God wants the best for us. May you enter this season of Lent open-hearted, knowing that you can return to God.

Katherine+

Questions for Self-Reflection:

Pray and review the Litany of Penitence on page 267 of the Book of Common Prayer. What pieces of this prayer feel like you need help from God to address? Which of these are painful? Which are you already working on?

Through Lent, revisit this litany. Listen prayerfully where God, who is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, is with us, no matter what.

Remembering what God has Done - February 20

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 25; PM Psalm 9, 15; Deut. 6:10-15; Heb 1:1-14; John 1:1-18 

One of the key principles of the Judeo-Christian faith is the call to remember what God has done for us for each of us and the world.  One place this can be found is in the repetition that takes place in the Eucharist which is so important because it reminds us weekly of all that God has done for humanity. Every single week, we hear the creation story, we hear about our own broken relationship with God, and then we hear what God has done for us in Jesus Christ through the Eucharist.  Remembering changes how we see the world and our own relationship to the world.

This same principle if found throughout the Old Testament.  Jewish people are commanded to recite the prayer that begins “Hear, O Israel” every morning and evening, which includes the commandment to love God with all one’s heart and mind and soul, and to love one’s neighbors as themselves.  By requiring faithful people to say this prayer over and over, at the opening and closing of a day, it places the principle of love for God and others at the core of one’s faith. 

In today’s Old Testament lesson is another reminder of what God expects from you and me.  The author reminds the Israelites that it was God who gave them cities, cities that they didn’t build, and vineyards they didn’t plant.  They are commanded to remember so they do not forget that it was God who brought them out of slavery as foreigners into a new land.  The implication of the text is that the people might think that all that is theirs is because of their own hard work.  It’s not, but by the grace of God.  And failure to remember God’s work will change how the Israelites live in relationship to others.

This is one of the reasons that it is so important for us to be committed to remembering all that God has done in our lives because it changes how we relate to the world and each other.  Often in the Old Testament remembering was directly tied to how one would care for others.  The Israelites needed to remember they were foreigners so that they always treat the stranger as a sacred guest.  By remembering where they have come from, they can care for the poor and marginalized.  Remembering who we are in relationship to God helps us to care for others.

 As I look around our community, it is quite apparent that God has profoundly shaped our lives and we have much to be grateful for.  May we never forget that it is God working through us and not us on our own accord so that we can see the sacred responsibility to continue God’s work of love and care for all.

John+

Questions for Self-Reflection: What events and growth in your life do you specifically attribute to God?

Daily Challenge:  Think of something you could offer someone else related to what God has done for you.  See yourself as God’s answer to someone else’s suffering or needs.

Trinitarian love - February 17

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 102; PM Psalm 107:1-32; Isa. 65:17-25; 1 Tim. 5:17-22(23-25); Mark 12:28-34

Today’s Reflection

One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The second is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’  Mark 12: 28-31

Our God is a God whose very character as a Trinity is relational, and that sense of relationship is to be mirrored in the way we, as believers in and lovers of this Trinity, relate both to God (in all the Godhead’s three persons) and to our neighbor. When we think of God’s love as grounded in this sense of a relationship, then love is not a feeling but rather a choice we make to give or share something with another—the spiritual virtue we call charity. Community is what comes when the different persons of the Trinity share love amongst each other. Likewise, community is what comes when the different persons of humanity share love amongst each other. This unity via gift-love is only possible when a multiplicity of persons exists—whether divine persons or human persons. As much as some might talk about self-love, when it comes to charity, or gift-sharing love, more than one party is required.

Just as Christ emptied himself for our good, so too are we to set aside self-centered motives for other-centered ones. As former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams reflects, “As we look to the Christ who is … both the voice of humanity and the voice of wisdom, we begin to see how we ourselves may grow … into the wisdom we need in order to see and live with God.” Christ is the medium that allows humankind to see God and live with God. Jesus taking human form allows humankind to see God in the flesh—in or in our own, human terms. Humankind can be understood as analogous to God, but we are more than that; we are created in God’s image, which is more than mere analogy. Connecting back to the Godhead’s “unity in diversity,” this Trinitarian interrelatedness could even be said to be embedded into our DNA. God is three in one; God is at once diverse and unified. If humans are created like God, then it is possible for us—individually and collectively—to be at once diverse and unified.

When we come to realize “who and what we are,” Williams observes, “we also recognize each other in a different way; we perceive the image of God in each other and we acknowledge that there is one good for all human beings, one standard of justice. Our conversion has immediate interpersonal repercussions.” What allows us to perceive God in others? Prayer, for one, is a spiritual practice that enables us to see others through the eyes and heart of God, allowing us to see that while we are many and diverse, we are one, and as such this will drive our values and practices individually and societally. As Williams concludes, “the most significant aspect of [Augustine’s] treatment of the central theological mysteries of Christianity is his clear realization that to believe in the Incarnation or the Trinity is a skill of holy living as well as holy thinking; it is inseparable from a revolution in your image of yourself and from learning a loving openness to the infinite love of God.”

 We are drawn into and called to a more holy life as we live more fully into our belief in a Father, Son, and Spirit who share in relationship amongst themselves—and who, together, call us into a relationship with them and with one another.

Becky+

Moment for Reflection

Reflect on a time when, sharing time or conversation with others, you felt deeply connected with God. How do you understand your relationships with other people as giving you deeper insight into your relationship with God, and with the Trinity’s relationships with one another?

Omitted texts - February 15, 2023

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 101, 109:1-4(5-19)20-30; PM Psalm 119:121-144
Isa 63:15-64:9; 1 Tim. 3:1-16; Mark 11:27-12:12

Looking at the assigned Daily Office readings during a week, you might notice that sometimes there are verses skipped, or that we jump around in a book or letter of Holy Scripture. That happens for us this week as we read the first letter to Timothy. There are portions omitted: 1 Timothy 2:9-15; 5:1-17; and 6:1-5. These excerpts reference hierarchical dynamics of women and slaves in the life of society and church.

While the second chapter of this Pauline letter says men ought to pray lifting up holy hands without anger or argument (v. 8), women should dress modestly and in suitable clothing, without finery like gold, pearls, or braided hair (v. 9). Rather than Paul’s characteristic writings about being justified by faith in God, here there is an emphasis on good works – described as learning in silence with full submission, and with no ability to teach or have authority over her husband, if she is to show proper reverence for God (v. 10-12). The writer gives this reasoning: “For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.” (v. 13-14) And the saving grace? It is through childbearing, so long as these women continue faithful living, with love, devotion, and modesty. (v. 15)

I am taken aback rereading verse 12: “I permit no woman to teach or have authority over a man; she is to keep silent.” There were women holding leadership and teaching positions in the early church. We know of some of these brave ones: Priscilla, Lydia, Phoebe, and others are mentioned. What happened to create this hard-lined letter? Who wore flashy earrings and contradicted the preacher last week!? It feels like an overcorrection, and the reasoning for the reform is flawed. According to the writer of this letter, salvation is to come from birthing children, rather than from faith in Jesus who lived, died, and rose again. Bible commentary contributor Margaret M. Mitchell writes that the scriptural backing for this assertion is a “strong reading of Genesis 2-3, assigning all the blame to the woman,” in direct contrast to the way Paul presents Genesis and the sinfulness of humankind in his letter to the Romans (5:12-21).

This omission of scripture in our Daily Office lectionary is much more compelling to me today than what is actually appointed for today. It challenges me to sit with uncomfortable scripture, listening for and wondering into the truth that God is calling each of us to hear today. I pray for those who read Holy Scripture to justify diminishing some voices around us. In doing so, the mystery of our religion is devalued. I believe that the power of the Holy Spirit can flow through each of us, deepening our faith and inspiring us to proclaim the Good News of Jesus.

Katherine+

Questions for Self-Reflection:

What are the written and unwritten rules of being in a faith community? What backs them up? What purposes do they serve? If you could, which would you throw out and which would you keep?

Revealing Our True Selves - February 13

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 89:1-18; PM Psalm 89:19-52; Isa. 63:1-6; 1 Tim. 1:1-17; Mark 11:1-11

Last week, my son’s school sent us a proof of his class picture.  We knew the day that he would take his class picture.  Jack wore a clean sweatshirt to school, one of his favorites. Sometime before pictures were taken, Jack had taken off the sweatshirt and tied it around his waist.  Instead of putting the covering back on, the teacher asked him to remove his sweatshirt for the class picture. So there Jack is standing, on the end of the class rows in his bright orange University of Tennessee basketball jersey and a very stoic grin.  It’s not how either Anne or I would have sent him to school for pictures, but if I am honest, it certainly captures Jack and his playfulness.

Today’s Gospel is the familiar story read on Palm Sunday from Mark.  Jesus takes a colt, and he rides into Jerusalem.  The text reads, “Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields.”  When churches gather to reenact this in several weeks, people will stand outside naves with palm branches and shout “Hosanna in the Highest.”  I seriously doubt those same people will take off their coats and jackets and outwear, at least that is not a practice I’ve ever seen.

But it begs the question, would people have seen what they didn’t expect to see?  Would they have learned something about others gathered there, or caught a glimpse of who someone is that otherwise would have been covered up?  Is part of following Jesus the exposure of our authentic self, the revealing of the uniqueness of the identity as the people that God has created. 

This isn’t that new of a theme. In the Book of Esther, Queen Esther has to reveal her true identity, that as a Jewish woman, in order to save the very lives of her people.  Part of the Baptismal Covenant is to ‘respect the dignity of every human being’ and I wonder how much has to do with seeing people for who they are, trying to understand how their own experiences and histories have shaped them to be the people they are, and why it is important to listen and learn before reacting as an initial response.  At the very least, and ethic of seeking understanding, would go a long way in helping all Christians (and people in general) move toward beloved community. 

You and I are each made in the image of God, quirks and all.

John+

Questions for Daily Reflection:  Are there things about you that you think are important and yet you cover up from others?  Is the image that you work to present to the world your true self or something different? 

Daily Challenge: Share with a coworker, family member, or friend, something that brings you joy that you don’t often share with others.

From chains to freedom – February 8

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 119:97-120; PM Psalm 81, 82
Isa. 59:15b-21; 2 Tim. 1:15-2:13; Mark 10:1-16

In Paul’s letter to Timothy appointed for today, he writes with urgency. “Be strong in the grace that is Christ Jesus,” he states to his friend who is helping spread the message of gospel hope across the Mediterranean region (2 Timothy 2). Paul encourages, “Share in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” And then he gives advice of this nature: stay out of the weeds of daily life, focus on pleasing your commander Jesus, and follow the rules (v. 4-5). It is the one who works hard who reaps the reward in the field (v. 6). Paul’s message to rise above the minutiae reminds me of my mom’s wisdom to mind my own little red wagon. It isn’t easy. Perhaps that is why the apostle encourages his friend to mull over the words he says, so that God will help cultivate understanding over time.

Paul can give this advice because he is willing to walk the walk of faithfulness. He knows hardship and imprisonment. He does not lose sight of the salvific hope of resurrection in Jesus, even though his own future is unclear. He is an impressive example of faith in God. Paul inspires me, for I have not know the hardships he did. His witness is a compelling one.

Today in the Episcopal church, we can also remember a more recent saint: Josephine Margaret Bakhita, a monastic who died in 1947. She was born in Darfur (western Sudan) and was abducted by Arab slave traders in the 1870s. Sold into slavery and passed from owner to owner, she ended up in Italy in the care of a monastic community called the Canossian Sisters. It was here that she found home, Christ, and renewed purpose. She chose to be baptized as Josephine Margaret; the trauma of her early years caused her to forget her birth name. In her new life as a Christian, she chose to enter religious service, serving Jesus. Though she had been enslaved, she is remembered for being gentle, calm, and wearing a smile all the time. In the description of her life, it is said that her legacy is that transformation is possible through suffering. As a modern African saint, her history creates a story for hope to those also living lives of suffering. She is the patron saint of Sudan and for survivors of human trafficking. Like the apostle Paul, Josephine Bakhita is inspirational. I can almost hear her reading the closing words of our letter from Paul today, speaking of spreading the good news of Jesus: “If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful – for he cannot deny himself.”

Katherine+

Questions for Self-Reflection:

What hardships have shaped your faith?

What suffering has created a chasm in your relationship with Jesus?

Just like the Disciples - February 6

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 80; PM Psalm 77, [79]; Isa. 58:1-12; Gal. 6:11-18; Mark 9:30-41

“But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.”  I feel like the disciples today.  Or at least I relate to them a little more.  I am celebrating my tenth year of ordination and almost 20 years of working for the Episcopal Church as a professional, sharing my faith as someone who is paid to do so. I should know what I am talking about.

Last week, I traveled to Oklahoma City to give a talk at the Episcopal Camps and Conference Centers annual meeting.  I was tasked with speaking about leadership through tragedy and what we have learned.  It was the first time for me to really step back and spend a considerable amount of time in reflection and to begin to project how my vision for my own understanding of vocation and my faith is different.

As I spoke to the group, I shared that I see my faith with new clarity.  I pointed to the words of Eucharistic Prayer A: “Holy and gracious Father: In your infinite love you made us for yourself, and, when we had fallen into sin and become subject to evil and death, you, in your mercy, sent Jesus Christ, your only and eternal Son, to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us, to reconcile us to you, the God and Father of all. He stretched out his arms upon the cross, and offered himself, in obedience to your will, a perfect sacrifice for the whole world.” Every Sunday, we affirm that God gave his life so that we might have life.  I just didn’t get it, or at least not the way I see it now.  

Maybe I have a little more sympathy for the disciples.  Jesus tells them over and over what he must endure, and they can’t quite grasp it.  I’ve been in the same boat almost all of my life. 

There is a good chance you are reading this because your life has been impacted by June 16 as well.  Maybe you found our community or our daily reflections because of what happened.  (Our email list grew by 400 overnight).  My hope is that you too have found renewal and a deepening of your own faith.  And today’s reading is a reminder to be more generous to those who haven’t quite figured it out.  The disciples didn’t understand either and they were told several times.  

John+

Questions for Self-Reflection: How has your faith changed over the past seven months?  What do you attribute to this? 

Daily Challenge: If you have never done a spiritual autobiography, that can be a wonderful practice.  Take some time to draw a river that reflects your spiritual life over the course of your whole life.  Reflect where the river widens and when it narrows, when the water runs fast or slow.  This can be a helpful practice. 

'Sinking in deep mire' - February 3

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 69:1-23(24-30)31-38; PM Psalm 73; Isa. 56:1-8; Gal. 5:16-24; Mark 9:2-13

Today’s Reflection

The psalms appointed for this morning shows us a vivid and familiar picture of what it is to feel completely overwhelmed by our life. As we read at the beginning of Psalm 69:

Save me, O God. for the waters have risen up to my neck.

I am sinking in deep mire, and there is no firm ground for my feet.

I have come into deep waters, and the torrent washes over me.

I have grown weary with my crying; my throat is inflamed; my eyes have failed from looking for my God (Ps. 69: 1-4).

This psalm reminds me of a song called “Down in the Lowlands” by Charlie Peacock, who took Psalm 69 and made it his own. Whenever I hear this psalm, I hear Peacock and his collaborator Vince Ebo as they give voice to this lament:

Down in the lowlands, where the water is deep,
Hear my cry, hear my shout,
Save me, save me,
Down in the lowlands, where the water is deep,
Hear my cry, hear my shout,
Save me, save me.

Could this be it?
Could I be drowning?
Have I failed to be heard by the only one who can save me?
Show me some mercy, and touch me again,
Please lift me up above where I am.

Whether in the original words of the psalmist, or in Peacock’s reimagining of it, Psalm 69 gives voice to that feeling of being overwhelmed by our life, whether as a nation or as a family or as an individual. As noted Psalms scholar Robert Alter confirms, “In this psalm, the familiar image of drowning as a metaphorical representation of near death is elaborated with arresting physiological concreteness: The rising waters come up to the neck; the speaker feels his feet slipping from underneath him in the water as he sinks into the mire; then the current sweeps him away.”

But fear not! Psalm 69 begins to take a hopeful turn. Beginning in verse 14, the psalmist says,

As for me, this is my prayer to you… ‘In your great mercy, O God, answer me with your unfailing help. Save me from the mire, do not let me sink… Answer me, O Lord, for your love is kind; in your great compassion, turn to me (Ps. 69: 14-18).

And then later in the psalm, we hear this:

The afflicted shall see and be glad; you who seek God, your heart shall live. For the Lord listens to the needy and his prisoners he does not despise (Ps. 69: 34-35).

When we are feeling most overwhelmed by the deep waters of troubling times, when it seems like there is no escaping whatever situation we find ourselves stuck in, it is good to know that we have a God who will hear our cry and will answer us. We have a God who will turn toward us and show us compassion.

But how does God hear us and show us this compassion? In my experience, God shows that he sees us and hears us when we show up for one another. When we turn toward a fellow human being who is crying out for help—whether they are asking with a loud shout or in a desperate whisper—we are showing God’s saving help and compassion to that person. Who is God asking you to turn toward today, to extend a hand to help free them from whatever deep mire they are stuck in right now?

Becky+

Questions for Self-Reflection

Recall a time when you felt absolutely overwhelmed by life—or maybe that time for you is right now. Did someone come alongside you in a way that helped you keep believing in a God of love and compassion? What did that person say or do that helped you to feel seen, loved, and supported?

Daily Challenge

Ask God to show you someone in your circle of influence who may feel like they are drowning in deep waters or stuck in deep mire at this moment in their life. Listen for how God may be nudging you to be the person who gives them the support they need to get their feet back on dry land again.

Signs - February 1, 2023

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 72; PM Psalm 119:73-96
Isa. 54:1-10(11-17); Gal. 4:21-31; Mark 8:11-26

We went on a weeklong family road trip when I was about nine years old. My parents loaded up our station wagon with blue plush interior and woodgrain siding. They picked me up from a session of summer camp and we headed toward Virginia. We stopped off at a Tudor-style hotel in South Carolina for the night and swam in a swanky indoor pool that felt like a dream – but heavy on the chlorine. Continuing our journey the next day, we drove on to Virginia Beach, where some friends of my parents’ lived. We played on the sandy beach with their kids and relaxed for a day or two.

We spent a day at Colonial Williamsburg, taking a step back into history and living through the eyes of lifestyle in the 1700s. We donned three-cornered hats, watched candles being made, and observed a form of punishment in that time – the public stocks in the middle of the street. On another day, we wandered around the campus of the University of Virginia and visited Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. The memories of that trip are fond, warm ones for me.

Here's another point that stands out about our journey: my dad was struck by how beautiful Virginia was. Specifically, he noticed that there were no billboards along roadways. The views of landscape and towns were not littered by signs. When we got home, he was so impressed that he wrote a letter to some person of influence or civic policy – that part is foggy, as it was decades ago – applauding the aesthetic, uncluttered feel of the communities we visited. I am reminded of the 1970 song “Signs” by Five Man Electrical Band – remade in 1990 by the rock band Tesla.

The refrain goes,
“Sign, sign
Everywhere a sign
Blockin' out the scenery
Breakin' my mind
Do this, don't do that
Can't you read the sign?”

Today’s gospel from Mark tells of Jesus, on the tails of feeding four thousand people. He has compassion for them and does not want to send them away hungry. When the meal is over and there are seven baskets of leftovers, Jesus gets into a boat with his friends and heads to another community. The Pharisees track him down and seek to start fights with him. They demand a sign from heaven to test him, we are told. Their questions for Jesus are not for understanding or even for belief. The Pharisees argue to poke holes in the fabric of who Jesus says he is. And it is exhausting. Jesus groans deeply in his spirit…he exhales in exasperation. He asks, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.”

Perhaps Jesus would identify with the song “Signs”…Signs, signs, everywhere and everyone demanding signs! Jesus’ point is that signs clutter up belief, if signs are all that we are looking for. How beautiful can our lives be if we live into believing in God, rather than being distracted by what signs we see that might be indicators of hope and truth and salvation and light.

Katherine+

Questions for Self-Reflection:

What signs and symbols are helpful reminders of God’s love? What signs are distracting? What other ways are you drawn into believing in the message of Jesus?

We still have more to learn - January 30

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 56, 57, [58]; PM Psalm 64, 65; Isa. 51:17-23; Gal. 4:1-11; Mark 7:24-37

There is a rather famous sentiment that is often attributed to Mark Twain.  Whether he said it or not, it’s a really brilliant idea.  “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”  I think every parent gets the sentiment.  I was certainly that boy, although it took me a lot longer than seven years to realize how foolish I had been.  Elders are filled with wisdom that often our immaturity and arrogance keep us from seeing. 

In Paul’s letter to Galatians, Paul uses this idea of childhood as a metaphor for the life of faith.  “While we were minors, we were enslaved to the elemental spirits of the world.”  It is not just that we have to be set for by Christ, we don’t even know what we need.  But now that Christ has redeemed our lives, we can learn to see the world.  

Paul continues, “Now, however, that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits?”  He is making the claim Jesus has caused us to grow and our life is different because of that growth. 

When I was a teenager, I thought I knew everything.  I wonder how much I think I know about God and the love that Christ calls us into, and still how much I have yet to learn.  Maybe, I’m the 21-year-old, astonished at how much my old man has learned in seven years, still clueless to the way my father really works, loves, and calls us into life.  Might mean there is still a lot of growing up to do.

John+

Questions for Self-Reflection: When have you learned that you don’t know what you needed to know?  What are some humbling moments of self-growth?  How frequently do you experience that kind of learning?

Daily Challenge: Think of a time when you learned that one of your parents knew a lot more than you realized.