THERE IS A PLACE ...                                      

"Believe in God, believe also in me.  There are many dwelling places in my Father's ouse.  And now I tell that I go to prepare a place for you.  And though I now go to prepare that place, I will return to you so that I may take you with me to that promied place, so that where I am you may be also." - John 14:1-3

THERE IS A PLACE ... somewhere in the time, to which my journey of faith does take me.  That destiny is both the Promised Land and the Path that leads to that Promised Land.   My feet have not yet touched the soil of who I am fully meant to be, but they have touched the soil of the road that leads me there.

The Promised Land is, I believe, something different for each and every soul, a distinctive dream.  Yet the Promised Land is, I believe, something we hold in common.  You might consider it like that Father's house - one house, one roof, one dinner table ... yet each bedroom an expression of the one who finds his or her shelter there.  Thus we journey there together ... to the place of fulfillment which is the common dream of all, but also to the place of fulfillment which is uniquely yours, uniquely mine.

The Path is, I believe, akin to the Promised Land to which it leads.  Like all paths, the Path covers the miles of time, one mile, one moment, one memory made, one step at a time.  Like all paths, the Path will have its twists and turns, its ascents and descents, even the straightest route is made of such a course.  Yet, strangely enough as if travelling through some mysterious enchantment, the Path will lead us through a scenic route somehow specific to each of us.  We behold the passing scenery with our own eyes, with our own ears, with our own appreciations of what is beautiful and meaningful along the way.

To behold in one's imagination the vision of one's Promised Land is to strengthen and enliven one's daily steps.  This Path I follow DOES lead to somewhere more beautiful than I have ever known before.  Without a Promised Land, I fear that path I take is but an ambling to nowhere or, at most, a somewhere I will never know.

Make the hours of this day, miles to that Promised Land ...  and you will make this day's journey, a stroll down a holy path to a holy place.

PRAYER REFLECTION:  Lord, to where shall we journey today together ...

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

THE RISING WHISPERS OF THE PRAYERFUL QUIET                                          

"And when you pray, do not go on and on with empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for for they think that God will hear their prayers because of their many words.  No, do not pray as they do, because God knows what you need before you even ask." -- Matthew 6:7,8

I cherish the life and writings of Thomas Merton, a humble monastic soul who spent his years writing, praying, working in the quiet of his holy orders.   In his classic work, No Man is an Island, Merton speaks of the maturing of prayer.  He teaches that as we mature in Christ and as we mature in the ways of the Spirit, our prayers must rely less and less upon words and more and more attentive listening. 

We need to remember that God already knows what we need... for in a bit of spiritual irony,  it is we who pray who seldom know what we truly need.

During my bout with cancer, I was blessed to have as my physician a profoundly spiritual man.  As we were nearing the time for the long-planned surgery, I went in for my final MRI.  As he and his medical team studied the pictures, I watched as they quietly brought into their understanding all the details of what they saw.  An occasional pointing to this or that - an occasional whisper back and forth.  Then he sat silent for the longest of time, then turned to me with good news - their plans for surgery were changed.  What they thought should and would have to be done, no longer needed to be done.  They had changed their minds, or more accurately I suppose, their minds were changed by what had been just recently revealed to them-- in the slow and quiet lingering as they studied what was going on within me.

What a lesson for we who believe in prayer!  We probably are too quick to believe that we know what God needs to do.  We have our opinions, we have our desires, we have yearnings, we have our easy answers and steadfast plans - and then we go begging of God to do our will.  We are so quick to assume that we know what we need, when Jesus teaches us that it is God (and possibly God alone) who already knows what we need.  

Jesus taught this of prayer, "Seek and you shall find, ask and it will be given to you, knock and the door will be opened."  I believe now -far more than ever- that Jesus is speaking of the counsel of God that enables us to begin to understand what we really need.

We live in a very noisy world- a world flooded with more words than we ever truly hear.  But I sense that the words that we truly need are found in the rising whispers of the prayerful quiet.

PRAYER REFLECTION:  Lord, teach me how to stroll ever deeper into that listening place of the holy conversation ...

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

SEARCHING FOR PEACE RIVER                                          

"I have said these things to you while I am still with you.  But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives to you.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid." -- John 14:25-27

I suppose it is the verse that best describes my sense of spirituality, John 7:38.  "Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water."  For ten years of my e-mail devotional RiverTalk,  this verse graced the title page - all 2,339 devotionals.  That flowing river I imagined to be inspired creativity or even Spirit-guided understanding and insight.  But of late, during this time of medical leave, I have come to appreciate a new possibility- that flowing river of living water might go by the name of Peace.

There is a quiet place nearby, a secret place to which I retreat from time to time, but I am now realizing not nearly often enough - a slow, lazy turn in the Peace River, beneath the overhanging water oaks, a shoreline outfitted with mossy covered table rocks- a God created study for a well-worn, maybe somewhat frayed and faded preacher.  I returned to that holy place to pray the other day - I went searching for guidance as to what to do and instead I found a peace as to who to be..

My Peace River truly is a river of peace - a flow of something holy from a place just beyond my most inward place, a powerful river, a gentle stream, a cool, clear water washing through my soul, pouring into the Creation of my own soul.  Sometimes it felt like tears, not aching tears, but joyfilled tears, at worst a bit sentimental, but always saturated with love.

In these days we find ourselves in this turning of the years, I am believing more and more it is Peace that we need, desperately need.  It is not success.  It is not excitement.  It is not fame or fotune, not even ease and comfort.  It is peace, the peace that the world does not know how to give - a peace that was created by an Understanding far greater than our human understanding.  Yes, it is peace for which our souls do yearn, I stand convinced.  Maybe-just maybe - that this explains why of all the gifts Jesus could have given to his disciples, it was Peace that he chose to give.  It was Peace.

My friends - from the gentle, quiet waters of the Peace River - I give you Peace.  I give you gentle, quiet Peace.

PRAYER REFLECTION:  Lord, teach me how to relax into Your grace that I might hear once more the rippling of the living water ...

Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Welcoming the Christ Within the Child

Jesus placed a child in the midst of the twelve disciples, hugged the child and said, "Whoever receives a child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me." - Mark 9:36

When we embrace Christ, we embrace the God within Christ; when we embrace the child, we embrace the Christ within the child.

I believe it was Mother Teresa who said that she gazed upon the poor of India, she not only gazed upon them but also gazed upon the Christ within them.  And if I remember, someone questioned, "But what of those who are Hindu?  They do not believe in Christ.  How can Christ possibly be in them?"  She countered, "Ah, but was Christ within that little child that Jesus placed in the midst of the disciples?"

An wise, experienced pastor once shared with me this understanding of ministry.  "Pastoral ministry is about spiritually embracing souls.  If Christ's Spirit is within you, then Christ's Spirit is far larger than your own soul can contain.  So when you graciously embrace another person's soul, their soul is enveloped by the Spirit of Christ that radiates from within you into the world about you."

If Christ is within us, there IS more Christ than our own soul can ever contain, for Christ is far greater than any one of us could ever claim to be.

Embrace another soul with the Spirit of Christ and you have placed that soul in the midst of the radiance of Christ.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, may your warmth and light extend beyond the boundaries of my own concerns ...

Friday, May 25, 2007
Always on My Mind

Paul writes to the people of the Philippian Church, "Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.  I always pray for you, and I make my requests with a heart full of joy because you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until no.  And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finished on that day when Christ comes back again." It is right that I should feel as I do do about you, for you have a very special place in my heart." - Philippians 1:3-7a NLT

every time I read this passage, I think of that romantic ballad that has the line "You are always on mind, you are always on my mind." The song reflects over the years of love with worries, maybe regrets, that the love was not fully or perfectly expressed.  There may have been that embrace not given, or that listening moment not offered, or those intimate words of love not whispered -- but through all the possible inadequacy of love's expression, the loved one was always on his mind, was always in his thoughts.

I suppose there is always a shadow of regret in the life of any love.  Looking back, there always can be found those lacking moments.  But if the love is deep within, the love will somehow endure.  And maybe that is a defining quality of love - the enduring presence of the loved in our daily thoughts. 

I am so thankful for a God who keeps worrying about me, who always has me on His mind.  And ... I am thankful that in these mellow years, I find that God is always on my mind ... too.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, I am so thankful for those who love me so much that I am always on their mind ... and that I have those who are always on mind ...

Monday, May 21, 2007
Answered Prayer in an E-mail World

"Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." -- Matthew 21:21-22

In the days of colonial America, a correspondence took months to sail across the sea and back.  In the days of the Pony Express, with lightning speed the correspondence traveled back and forth in but a couple of weeks or so.  In my childhood, you could on a letter taking three or four days with the return correspondence possibly arriving in a week.  Now most of my correspondence zips through the Internet on the miracle of e-mail ... and I expect an answer to my letter almost before my letter  is ever sent.  No wonder we have grown impatient with the process of prayer ...

Prayer moves mountains, or so Jesus seems to indicate.  Want to move a mountain from here to there?  Well with faith-filled prayers, the mountain will be moved.  When you first hear Jesus' teaching about the faith required in the mountain-moving process you tend to think of doubt as that which dilutes the pure and powerful faith required of such a mighty work.  But as you live with Jesus' words for awhile, you begin to sense that doubt is not so much a dilution of the strength of faith but instead doubt is about the dissipation of the endurance of faith over time.  It is the notion that great faith is not measured in size and intensity, but rather measured in duration and consistency.  Faith over enough time moves mountains.

Now concerning prayer ... a subtle but significant aspect of prayer is the impact of sustained prayer upon the soul who lifts that prayer daily.  Instanteous answers to prayer change the things about us; long-awaited answers to prayer tend to change the things within us.

So today we pray for matters we consider worthy of prayer ... if we are not praying these matters in days to come, then we must ask ourselves, "How worthy were those matters in the first place?"  Necessary prayers are prayed until the answers finally come.  And in the days of praying, we have probably become an answered prayer for others.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, I keep praying but some mountains are reluctant to move ... have you noticed that, Lord?

Wednesday, May 16,2007
A Frolic of Labrador Puppies

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.  You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing.  As they rejoice before you at the harvest, as people rejoice when they share in the abundance." -- Isaiah 9:1-2

They slept in an over-sized cardboard box I had requisitioned from the local A&P, six Labrador Retriever puppies cuddled all around their ever so patient mom.  They were about five weeks old, that magical but fleeting age when Labrador puppies are built perfectly for rolling and romping.  You cherish those couple of weeks when Labrador puppies become incarnations of divine joy.  Allow them to scramble out of their whelping box and six chubby Labrador puppies become a frolic of life, a frolic of carefree, without-a-care-in-the world, playfulness.  In a frolic of puppies there is no self-consciousness of how a well-mannered dog ought to act, no worries about tomorrow, no regrets about yesterday, no pressures in the demands of today, only the mission of being fully alive in the midst of the litter and in the midst of the newness of life.

A healthy life especially for the Christian needs to have its moments when the soul feels like a frolic of Labrador puppies.  The gift of divine joy, the gift of rejoicing when all that matters, for at least a sacred moment or two,is the mission of being fully alive in the midst of the litter and in the midst of the newness of life.

If you have ever truly experienced the merciful grace of God, you surely must know what it feels like to be a puppy outside of the over-sized cardboard box from the A&P.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, help me to remember the joy that tumbles down from heaven and into my soul ...

Thursday, May 10. 2007
The River Rock

"God split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them abundant drink like the ocean depths. God brought forth streams also from the rock and caused waters to run down like rivers." -- Psalm 78:15-16

It was my Uncle Percy who taught me about the rivers that are hidden in the earth.  Uncle Percy was called upon to find water for the local farmers.  With his forked branch tensely held between his hands, he would walk a farmer's land until the wooden branch would twist in his hands until the tip of the divining rod pointed down to the spot on the land where the well ought to be dug.  Uncle Percy would put on quite a show.  It wasn't until the end of his days that he confessed that it was his knowledge of the geology of that region and his knowing where every spring of water broke the earth and where every well had been drilled over the years that gave him the gift of knowing where the water was.  You see -- there are rivers that flow beneath our feet.  Usually the rivers are down a bit requiring many lengths of drill pipe to reach that water, but in some places, the underground stream hides just beneath the surface of the earth.  Sometimes you can do little more than move a half-buried boulder and a river of water will bubble forth.

Out in the desert wilderness, Moses struck the rock and a river came forth.  And the people were saved from their thirst.   But when they got to river Jordan, they quenched their thirst there.

Life can be thirsty - very thirsty.  There are times when look around and you can only dust and desert.  You look for a river, but it seems the rivers have all gone dry.  So what do you do?  You pray, you find a big, old rock and kneel down and pray.  And sometimes when you pray on a rock, a river pours forth.

Now when we are living by the Jordan River, the water comes easy and the thirst doesn't all that long.  But sometimes the Jordan River is a long way off.  Thank the Lord that there are unseen rivers flowing beneath our feet, at times hiding just beneath that occasional river rock.

A Pastor's life has more than its share of feeling like a river rock.  Folks come in and take crack at that rock ... sometimes the Preacher chooses to be satisfied in being a rock, but sometimes the Preacher chooses to let the river of grace flow forth.  It's more satisfying to be the river than the rock, I've found.  Yep, it's more satisfying to be the river than the rock.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, keep me near the cool, clear water of the Jordan ...

Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Fireflies

Jesus said, "The light is with you for a little longer.  Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you.  If you walk in darkness, you do not know where you are going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light." - John 12:35,36

I felt as though I had walked into a world of magic, the first time I came upon the wonder of fireflies.  With the crickets and frogs singing in the background, I gazed amazed at these little bits of light flashing on and off in a swirl of occasional stars.  "How do they do that!" I asked myself back then in the innocence of my childhood; and now, many times the chemistry of fireflies has been explained to me, I still ask the same question out of sheer wonder.  "How do they do that!"
But more to the point, "Why?"

I have only noticed fireflies in the nighttime.  If I have ever seen a firefly in the light of day, I would never have known if I did.  I only know fireflies by the light they flash in the midst of the darkness.  As far as I know, fireflies live their lives in silence.  I don't recall the fireflies buzzing as mosquitoes or singing as crickets - no, fireflies shine forth, that is how they make themselves to souls like me.

Jesus speaks of the Light.  At first, the Light appears to be the radiance of His life.  He advises us to walk with him as if he were a nighttime guide journeying with lantern in hand.  Keep up or the darkness will surround you.  Without the lantern's light, how will you find your way? 

But then, Jesus continues ... ... while you have the light ... begin believing in the light ... so that you may then become ... children of the light or to extend the thought ... so that then you may become inheritors of the light.

I could preach a sermon on the notion that we inherit the lantern from the hand of Christ. 

And I could preach a sermon on the notion that we become fireflies ... when somehow the chemistry of God's Spirit of Holy Love mixes with the chemistry of our Holy Willingness ... enabling us to flash every now and then with the glow of a Holy Light.  Why? 

Well, why do fireflies do what they do?

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, let me be willing to become an heir of Your Holy Light ...

Monday, May 7, 2007
The Former Things Best Ought Forgotten

"Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. -- Isaiah

The grace of God goes about its business of making all things new.  From the mouth Isaiah to the pen of the Revelation, the Scripture reminds us again and again that God is creating eternity out of one new, fresh start after another.

I do believe - I really do -- in the beautiful grace that life comes at us one sunrise after another.  Each morning is a brand new day; each dawn, a fresh opportunity.  I believe in new days; I believe in fresh starts; I believe in the grace that lets us start from where we are, all over again.  Yes, I have no trouble with the grace of sunrises - it is the grace in the sunsets that eludes me every now and then.

Listen to the words of God carried in the voice of Isaiah ... "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. (wait -- listen further -) the former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind!"  There they are ... the grace that is found in the sunsets!

Ah, if you are the least like me ... it is amazing how much of yesterday that ought to be forgotten leaks into this new day.  The failures, the frustrations, the frets of yesterday linger on past the sunset, tossing and turning with me through the fitful night's sleep, sitting on my chest as I wake into the fresh, new day.  Ah, yes, I wrap my arms around the gracious sunrises of the new day, but too often I fail to let the gracious sunsets relieve me of the former things that ought best to be forgotten.

What to do?  I believe mama had it right ... each night at the end of the worn out day, kneel beside your bed and confess away the things best ought forgotten, give thanks for the day's goodness and tuck those moments away in the good memories of life, then lay yourself down to sleep in the bed of God's Providence until the grace of the coming day comes again your way.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, thanks for the sunsets that set the stage for each brand new dawn ...

Thursday, April 26, 2007
The Resurgence of the Spirit

"Bricks have fallen, but we shall rebuild with cut stone; sycamore trees are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars." - Isaiah 9:9

What a magnificent declaration of the spirit of resurgence -- yes, bricks have fallen, but we rebuild in even more glorious ways; the sycamores have been felled by axes, but we respond by planting majestic cedars.

I read biographies of men and women who have accomplished great things and I have noticed that almost of all of them had to "rebuild" at some point in their lives.  This occurrence is so consistent among the lives of these great contributors that I am beginning to believe that failure is a necessary component of success.  For almost every soul I know, some bricks will crumble and some sycamores will fall, sometime in their life.  Some will spend the rest of their lives either standing in the rubble of the fallen bricks or sitting on the stumps of the fallen - these are those who suffer in the disappointment in life, in what life has brought them, and even in the disappointment in what they have done with the life they have been given.  But others - those who have tapped into Life's power of resurgence - will clear the bricks and begin carving the marble stone, will remove the stumps and begin planting the mighty cedars.  And they will do so - because they sense that it is in the essence of Life to rebuild and to replant.  They learn from their experience, they will learn from their mistakes, they will learn from the questions, and they will learn that there is far more to their soul than what they first believed.

God moves forward.  Behold the ways of nature - the generations of plants and animals, they all quest toward the more perfect way.  God moves forward.  For God understands that the good is made better by the moving forward, to build upon the past struggles of life so that the future gains strength from all that has been.

So if you find yourself stubbing your toes on the bricks in the rubble, start rebuilding with that first cut stone.  If you find yourself sitting on the tree stump wondering what went wrong, start planting some seedlings of that one-day forest of cedars.

PRAYRE FOCUS:  Lord, lets try again only this a little better ...

Monday, April 23, 2007
The Autumn Wine

"While attending a wedding in Cana of Galilee, Jesus was asked by his mother to take care of an embarrassing problem.  Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no wine."  ... Jesus saw six stone water jars that were used for religious purification rites.  Jesus had the servants fill them with water.  When the servants drew some water from the jars and gave it to the headwaiter, the water had turned to wine.  The headwaiter then turned to the bridegroom and said, "Everybody else serves the good wine first, and the inferior wine later on.  But you have kept the best wine until now." - John 2:1-10 paraphrased

In John's Gospel, this is Jesus' first miracle.  I find it strange that the glory of Jesus begins with such an everyday, commonplace, rather trivial miracle.  Outside of some social embarrassment, there is no great need met by this miraculous display.  So why the miracle?  To prove Jesus' divinity?  Maybe.  To display Jesus' sensitivity to doing the right thing in the right way?  Possibly.
I think most likely, it had symbolic purpose.   Through this little miracle we have introduced the metaphor of the bridegroom - a metaphor often used by Jesus to describe how Go and humanity now come together as one - and we have the headwaiter uttering those very significant words ... "You have kept the best wine for now."

I call it the autumn wine.   The measure of a life well lived is the taste of the autumn wine.

Some would hold that the best wine is the wine that comes in springtime - those youthful, energetic, young romance days when we feel like frisky calves kicking up their heels or exuberant colts that race into the wind.  Many an autumn soul has looked back with fondness of those days in springtime when the wine was best.

Some would hold that it is the summer wine that is the richest and most glorious.  Days of young family or career success, when life is going full throttle that are the days cherished and savored in the autumn time.

But the life best lived is the life that leads you to such a place where the autumn wine, the wine that is poured late, is the best of the all the wines.  Those who enjoy the autumn vintage are those whose life has been spent in a school of life experience, learning from each day the lessons that day had o offer.  It is the wine of fond remembrance of regrets forgiven and grace received, but even that fond remembrance is but a trace in an even greater glory, the awareness that all of life has led you to the doorstep of this present day.  There is no greater satisfaction in knowing that the best is yet to come.  It is at the heart of the Christian Way -- that no matter how wonderful life has been, in Christ the best is yet to come. 

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, thank you for the autumn wine ...

Friday, April 20, 2007
Jesus and the Tormented Souls Among Us

"When Jesus landed in the region of the Gerasenes he was met by a man possessed by demons.  For years, this tormented man had lived naked among the tombs.  When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and cried out, "What have you to do with me, Jesus.  I beg you, do not torment me!"  They had tried restraining him with chains and shackles but he would eventually break free and run wild into the deserted places.  Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?  The tormented man answered, "My name is Legion because I am filled with demons."  The demons within him cried out, "Do not send us into the abyss."  The demons were then cast into a herd of pigs... The man then left that place and told the whole town what Jesus had done for him. -- Luke 8:26-33, 39b

It all sounds like a scene from a Stephen King thriller, but in these days in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech tragedy, it rings with an eerie possibility.  There are some souls, some tormented souls, who seem driven by a legion of demons.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not much for seeing demons everywhere.  I sense that in Jesus' day, demons seemed to be a reasonable explanation for evil driven by obsession.  But the torment in the shooter's voice, the vacant stare in his eyes, the self-hate turned outward, is something so filled with dark side of our humanity that is almost seems inhuman.

If we could ever learn how to cast this darkness out of our human spirit, what a wondrous heaven we would have.  This tormented young man at Virginia Tech, the inner darkness had brewed into an evil storm that had taken his soul and then lashed out in evil horror.  For most of us, the inner darkness is but a faint shadow, an inner worry that passes through our thoughts in a moment's rage or fret.  But when we see it acted out before our eyes in such savage hate, it scares us so - could that ever be me or that person down the street? 

Jesus met the tormented man face to face, soul to soul.  The townspeople tried to shackle him in chains - it didn't work.  So what was it that worked when Jesus deal with this man.  Jesus somehow convinced him that the demons that were driving his life to desperate tragedy did not have to be.  There was a soul beyond the demons - there was a soul that could re-gain control of the anger in his soul.  There was a soul that could be healed.

And so what is it that I bring to this tragedy?  Loved ones, there are tormented souls that dwell among us and they among the tombs.  We cannot undo the horrors that come upon us, but we can be meeting the tormented souls, face to face, soul to soul, and with courageous faith declaring, "The Legion within you, does not have to destroy you - those tormenting voices can be cast into the abyss forever."

In all these tragedies, you hear in the aftermath again and again, the recollection, "I sensed that they were troubled souls."  We tend to chain and shackle these troubled souls in the places outside our lives rather than to hear their screams of torment.  And I understand why we do and I understand why these horrific tragedies will once again return.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, I sit and pray for those who weep for lost loved ones, asking, "What can I do?" ...

Wednesday, April 18, 2007
How Near is Near and How Far is Far

"Indeed, those who are far from you will perish; you put an end to those who are false to you.  But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord my refuge..." - Psalm 73:27-28

The green marker on the road reads, Gainesville 62 miles.  But then you travel 10 miles further and the next sign reads, Gainesville 75 miles.  It seems to defy the laws of the universe - but on that road, ten miles closer leaves you thirteen miles further away!

I find God sometimes feels like the road to Gainesville.  When you try to get closer to God, you sometimes end up feeling even further away.  And besides -- how near is God when you are near to God and far is God when God feels far away.

We were sitting quietly at home one evening - my wife and I and our two sons.  Possibly too quiet, a silence had set upon us, no one speaking or feeling the need to speak, no one listening or sensing the need to listen - except the silence among us and the hidden thoughts within each of us.  My wife was probably perturbed with me - she is often perturbed with me and usually with good reason.  I was probably fighting back with tight-lipped stubbornness.  The boys - well, they may have been pouting, but more likely, deciding that silence was the better part of valor in that silent warfare.  The phone rang - it was grandma!  My wife spoke first, then the phone was passed to son number one and then son number two, ... and mostly out of familial courtesy to her favorite son-in-law.  The phone conversations were lively and animated, questions asked, answers given, news reported and promises made.  With a one final unified shout, we wished Grandma, "Bye-bye, Grandma!"  A grandma a thousand miles away was nearer to us all than we were to each other but a few feet away.

How near is God when God is near?  How far away is God when God seems far away?

Elijah the prophet, when he felt abandoned by God, journeyed to a high mountain so that he could close to God.  Finally, when he went to pray he heard God come near.  And when God came near, God asked, "Elijah, what are doing HERE?" (I Kings 19)

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, I really need someone to talk things over with ... do you have a moment or two ...

Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Down by the River to Pray

On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us. -- Acts 16

        Every now and then, it all seems to work and all the lifelong endeavors find their reason for being.  If Paul had nothing else, Paul had one moment by the river when the grace of the Gospel worked pure and sweet. 
        Paul traveled thousands of miles and spoke to thousands of people, but there was one moment by the river when the grace of the Gospel worked pure and sweet.
        Paul struggled with conflicts, controversies and crises in his far-flung churches, writing inspired and thoughtful solutions to all those congregational aches and pains, but there was that one moment by the river when the grace of the Gospel worked pure and sweet.
        Paul debated with Peter about the "rules" of the faith, arguing this point and that point as the Church tried to find its way, but there was one moment by the river when the grace of the Gospel worked pure and sweet.
        Paul presented his case to the Roman courts and then spent years in Roman prisons eventually martyred by Roman sword, but there was this one glorious moment down by the river when the grace of the Gospel worked pure and sweet.
        They went to the river to pray but there found a listening soul - Lydia was her name.  Her heart opened and the words of grace found themselves a new home.  They stepped into the river and baptized a new believer.  ... and the grace of the Gospel worked pure and sweet ...

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, let me go down to the river and pray ... where the grace of the Gospel works pure and sweet ...
       
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Lost in the Foggy Streets of an Unknown Town

"A blind man by the name of Bartimaeus sat along the Jericho road, begging.  When he heard that Jesus was about to pass by, he cried out, "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!"  Those nearby tried to quiet the blind man, but the man cried out all the more.  Then Jesus called for the man.  The crowd then said to the man, "Take courage and rise to your feet for he is calling for you."  So Bartimaeus sprang to his feet and ran over to Jesus.  Jesus then asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?"  Bartimaeus answered, "Master, I want to see."  Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you."  Immediately he received his sight.  Bartimaeus then followed Jesus on the way." - Mark 11:46-52

       The fog had rolled in thick and heavy.  I was trying to navigate my way to a place I had never been before.  I slowed at each intersection straining to read the street signs.  The driver following me pulled his car up beside me, rolled down his window, and in an act of generous hospitality asked, "You appear lost.  Where are you trying get to?"  I gave the name of the Church to which he responded, "I know right where it is."  He then tried to give me directions, but mid-way through stopped and offered ..." Just follow me."  And I followed him through those fog-bound streets until I found myself at the place where I needed to be.
        There are times I think I know where I am going but in the end I end up lost.  And there are times I know I do not where I am going, but I can seem to read the street signs that show me the way.  And there are times when I cry out, Lord, help me, I'm lost, and the Lord tries to give me directions to get there.  But usually the Lord in His compassionate understanding eventually says, "You had best just follow me."
        The Christian Way involves a lot of faith and also a lot of following the One who knows the Way.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, I confess I am lost and I can't find my way ... can you help ...

Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Einstein

And the Lord God said, "Where were you, Job, when I founded the earth?  Tell me, if you have understanding.  Who determined its size, do you know?  Who stretched out the measuring line for it all?   Into what were its pedestals sunk, and who laid the cornerstone, While the morning stars sang in chorus and all the children of God shouted for joy? ... Which is t way to the dwelling place of light, and where is the abode of darkness.  That you may take them to their boundaries and set them on their homeward paths." - Job 38:4-7, 19,20

         I am reading a biography of the renowned physicist, Albert Einstein.  I have always been fascinated with the mind of the genius - a genius for imagining what lies beyond the boundaries of our present understanding.  He is one of those true geniuses of science and mathematics that has a healthy respect for the mystical dimensions of life.  Any true and honest scientist knows the humility of having to work on the border of the vast mystery.
         Einstein was a religious thinker in his way - not specifically Jewish or Christian - but lived with a respect for the reverential aspects of the human experience.  When asked about the matter of divine inspiration, he answered, "I gaze into the universe I find a sea of thought that we as mere mortals have yet to think!" 
          What is prayer?  To sit at the edge of the mystery and to eavesdrop on the heavenly conversations. 

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, I stand at the edge and listen ...

Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Breakfast

         "After the resurrection,Peter had told the other disciples,"I'm going fishing."to which they responded, "We'll go with you." So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
          Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore of the Galilean Sea, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus called out to them, "Have you caught any fish?"
         "No," they answered.
          Jesus then said, "Cast your net on the other side boat and you will find some." When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
          Then John said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" As soon Peter heard this, he dove into the water and started swimming to shore. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish. When they landed, they saw a fire with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught." Peter then dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 1esus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." - John 21:1-12

          The only mention in the Bible of the word "breakfast" is in this appearance of Jesus after the resurrection.  And I find it most intriguing, that Jesus begins the ongoing life of the Church with this very commonplace invitation, "Come, have breakfast." 
           The way the story is told, the disciples had returned to work.  They were commercial fishermen and they had returned to the daily routine of making a living.  This was not a casual get-away from the stress of the ministry.  They had returned to the work they had always known.  In those days, the Galilean fishermen fished through the night, to get the fish to the docks (the fish market of the day) by early morning.  There was no ice, no refrigeration, all fish had to be consumed immediately or preserved in salt.  So the invitation to breakfast was not the beginning of the day for Peter and his fellow fishermen, it was the end of the work day.  And the one of the first things Jesus did for his disciples was to help them bring in the catch of the day.  Jesus helped his disciples make a living.  And then he -- well, made them breakfast.
            Maybe there is a profound yet almost too simple lesson here about what it means to be living with Christ as Easter people -- Jesus helps us with our day's work and then gathers us for breakfast.    I remember those holy moments in the early morning, when after Granddad and I had finished the pre-dawn milking, he'd make us breakfast.  I can still smell the sizzle of the eggs in the skillet and can still taste the ice-cold milk and buttered biscuits.  And through it all we would share in holy conversation while the rest of the world was still waking for the day.
             Again, such a strange way to begin the history of the Church ... with Jesus inviting his disciples to breakfast.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, I have been fishing a long time and the nets are pretty empty .. can you help ...

Thursday, April 5, 2007
The Guiding Light

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." - Psalm 119:105

As I drove the Interstate highway, two clear bands of light traveled before me as if I were being guided along my way by a heavenly light.  For over forty-two miles, I dutifully followed that light -steady as it was as we took each wide bend in the road, always about twenty feet in front of me.

It all seemed rather miraculous, this guiding light.  For those more sci-fi oriented, they may have looked upward to locate the hovering spacecraft.  Being more theologically oriented, I was awe-struck at this display of divine glory either on the road or in my spirit-filled eyes.

Before you fret about my sanity - let me tell you more.

HENDERSON GLASS AND MIRROR was printed on the rear panel of the truck.  You have seen those trucks with the tall racks on the sides that carefully carry sheets of mirror and glass to the construction sites.  This truck was ahead just a length in the left hand lane, I was cruising along in the right lane.  Being early in the morning, the sunrise poured in from the eastern horizon on our right.  The low sunlight hit the two tall sheets of mirrored glass in just the perfect angle - to cast reflected light in two clear bands on the road ahead of me.  They caught the fancy of my imagination; I suppose I was mesmerized, hypnotized, enchanted.  And not wanting to lose sight of this rare phenomenon, I kept pace with the glass and mirror truck - keeping her on my front-right for all those miles.

So what is this sermon from this ... the light of God that guides us along our way is sometimes reflected light off some soul who travels this road we travel.  And when ever find that guiding light - keep sight of it until you can see that light no more. 

I find it so powerfully significant that Jesus defines the Christian journey in this way -- "Follow me even when you can see me no more."

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, shine some light on my path ... even if it is only reflected light off some traveling soul ...

P.S. For those worried about where I've been.  Things are fine- simply had a big writing project to finish on time ...

Monday, March 19, 2007
The Easy Way

And then Jesus said, "You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow
gate.  The way that leads to destruction is broad, and its gate is wide for the
many who choose the easy way.  But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it." - Matthew 7:13-14

Somehow I have always known this teaching of Jesus.  From reasons I do not know, this passage from the Sermon on the Mount was bedrock of the Gospel, foundational in my understanding of the Christian way of life.  "You walk the straight and narrow and not that many folks choose to do it."

Yes, this notion that the faith is not an easy path to follow seemed almost self-evident to me.  It was a given.  Yet this teaching seems to go drastically counter to the "gospel" I hear preached in the dawn of this 21st century.  Have I been wrong all these years?  Could I have so misunderstood the teachings of Christ? 

When I first came into the Christian Way, I saw it as a mighty challenge, an heroic venture in discipleship.  Nowadays, - or so it seems - we want the Christian Way to be easy and light.  True, we ought not to hinder honest seekers in access to the grace of God and we certainly do not want to promote that somehow we "earn" God's grace.  But is it the true Gospel to market that the Way of Christ is an easy recreation?

When I first came into the Christian Way, I saw it as involving a measure of struggle, suffering and sacrifice.  I thought Jesus mentioned that often to his disciples. Nowadays - or so it seems - we speak only of prosperity and happiness.  True, we ought not believe that the Christian Way does not bring its blessings and we certainly ought to flee the notion that the Christian Way is a lifetime of sorrows and sad-faces. But is it the true Gospel to promise that the way of Christ is free from hard times and heartaches?

Not far from where I live there is a Christian community - a "revival center"
lead by an evangelists who preaches holy laughter.  When the Holy Spirit enters the lives of those gathered, they break into fits of laughter.  And this makes sense to me - nothing wrong with that, probably something right with that.  I picture the Lord laughing -- a times.  What strikes me is that "revivals" of days gone by - it seemed that when the Holy Spirit came upon a new believer - there was more crying than laughing. 

I suppose I am haunted in my now September years -- have I been wrong all these years about the broad and narrow way -- and what Jesus meant by that?

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, help me to "perfect" my understanding of the faith
without "abandoning" your understanding of the faith ...

Friday, March 16, 2007
Some Days are Diamonds

"This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it." - Psalm 118:24
        
Ah, yes, the Bible says, "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."  I want to believe this; I try to believe this; on a certain level, I do believe this.  But in recent days, I have let go of my prior interpretation of this Biblical truth and I have begun to embrace a new interpretation.

John Denver wrote a song that pretty much describes my experience of the days of my life.  The chorus goes ...

"Some days are diamonds, some days are stone
Some time the hard times won't leave you alone
Some times the cold winds blow a chill in my bones
Some days are diamonds, some days are stone"

Yep, some days ARE diamonds and some days ARE stone.  And I believe the good Lord made them all.  I used to interpret the Psalmist's admonition as a call to make every day a bundle of laughter and delight.  When the days were diamonds, this was an authentic expression of my soul; when the days were stones, I fear this effort became an exercise in denial of the day the Lord had created.

I have heard that in diamond mines, you have dig through massive amount of stone to find the rare and occasional diamond.  Thank the Lord that when in comes to my life the diamonds are not so rare and occasional.  But the stony days are still there and the stony days are not necessarily days that ought to be denied.  Rather they need to be appreciated for what they are and for what they bring to our soul.  Surveying my lifetime, my soul has probably gained more from the hard times and the cold winds than from all the easy days and warm sunshine.  Yes, I do believe that the hard times are the stuff out of which the good times find their joy.  Yes, I do believe that the cold winds make the warm sunshine feel like the Garden of Eden.  If every day were diamonds, the diamonds would eventually become like stones. 

So my more recent interpretation of the Psalmist's advice goes much like this ... thank God for the diamonds and thank God for the stones and thank God that I have lived long enough to have endured them all and gained a measure of God's grace from each.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, this is the day that You have made and I will rejoice and be glad in it ... even though it may feel like stone ...

Thursday, March 15, 2007
The Toll Booth

"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf." - Hebrews 6:19

It was nearing the end of a long day.  My wife and I were driving after the last service of the night.  The journey to our home took us over a toll bridge.  Both coming and going, a lonely, silent soul in the toll booth would reach out his hand and take from us a dollar.  We had done this daily routine so often, we did this paying of the toll as well-grooved, without-thinking habit.  But on this night - the lonely man in the toll booth broke his silence.  Refusing our dollar bill, he said, "The man in front of you has paid your toll and wanted me to tell you to have a good-night."  I had never had this happen to me before - to have an unknown someone pay the toll for me to cross the bridge.  And I still don't know who this toll-paying benefactor might be - and I know it was but a dollar ... but that particular crossing of the bridge felt so luxurious, so precious, so wondrously gracious.  "Someone paid the toll for me!" 

The sermon flows too easily out of this moment when the toll booth man served as an angel of grace.  Jesus goes on before us -- paying the toll so that we might cross all the bridges on our way home.

When our sons were wee lads, my wife - their mother - would turn down their beds, warm up their sheets and fluff their pillows.  They would climb in, she would tuck them in, read a story, say a prayer.  And when they would slip off into their dreams, she would give each a kiss and then whisper, "Good-night, sweet prince."  I must confess I envied them.  Don't we all yearn to be kissed by the grace of God and to hear the Lord whisper with a grace far beyond our merit, "Good-night, sweet prince (princess)!"

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, tell my toll-paying angel ... how we so enjoyed the grace-filled journey home ..

Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Wade in the Waters

Now there is at Jerusalem pool called Bethesda. In these lay a great multitude of blind and crippled souls waiting for the moving of the water, for an angel would come and trouble the waters.  Whoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was healed.  And a certain man was there who had been suffering for thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him reclining there, and knew that he had been sitting lying there for a long time, he said to the man, "Will you be made whole?" The man answered,"Sir, when the water is troubled, I have no one to help me into the waters and if I try to crawl there myself, another gets into the waters before I do."  - John 5:2-8

There is an old spiritual that goes, "Wade in the water.  Wade in the water, children.  Wade in the water.  God's gonna trouble the water." 

Yes, the angel might come and trouble the waters in the healing pool of Bethesda, but still the soul who wanted healing had to get into the waters and wade.  Maybe that is at the heart of that strange question Jesus asks the man who had spent all that time beside the healing waters ... "Sir, do you really want to be healed?"  What kind of question was that?  Of course the man wanted to be healed -- why else would be there? 

Yet, I find it true in my life and in the lives of so many others.  We moan and complain about what's wrong in our lives, yet we never get around to wading in the waters.  We keep God close by, we sit there near healing places in  life - the Church, the chapel, the counselor's office, the spiritual friend's chair - waiting for the Lord for someone to carry us into a better place in life.  But though God might come and trouble the waters, we still have go wading; though the Lord might ask the obvious question, we still have to make the faithful step and get to our feet
and walk.

That is faith -- wading in the waters and taking that first step -- God is wanting to help -as are
other souls who love us -- but you have to still roll up trousers and get your feet wet.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, I've been sitting too long here by the pool, it's time to ...

Friday, March 9, 2007
This Rig Is Bound for Glory

And Jesus said to them, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." -- Matthew 11:29-30

The other day I was driving behind a big tractor-trailer rig.  I was amused by a word of witness the trucker had painted on the cab of his truck.  With musical notes scattered among the words was the message, "This Rig is Bound for Glory".  I had to smile how each soul finds a way to express their faith in the context of their vocation.  "This Rig is Bound for Glory"

This word of witness got me to thinking about a conversation I overheard at a highway truck stop.  Every now and then when I travel I pull into one of those truck stops and order a cup of Java and a piece of apple pie.  Somehow that seems like what you order at a truck stop.  As I lingered over my coffee, I began to eavesdrop on four truckers sharing the table behind me.  One of the drivers asked, "Whatya haulin?"  The others answered in turn: "Chickens!", "aircraft parts", "Lumber".  The last one returned the question, "And whatcha carrying?"  I was rather caught off guard by his answer.  "Coffins!"  There was a pause for a moment of silent teasing.  And then one joked, "Full or empty?"

Those truckers lived their lives carrying heavy loads down the road. And oddly, most of us everyday souls do much the same.  We set out on our day's journey, load up our lives with the stuff leftover from yesterday, adding more and more to the load with each passing mile.  The difference between us and those truckers - they unload their trucks at the end of the day! 

There are those who travel through life, burdened.  And there are those who travel through, unburdened.  They all tend to have same measure of struggles and labors, but some are able to unload their trucks at the end of the day.  How do they do it?  I am not sure about all of them, but I know there are many who focus on the day at hand and that day alone.  They have learned the knack of being surprised that a new day has arrived and they treat it like the very first day of life.  And they have learned the knack of unloading the truck at the end of the day.  "That day is done - nothing more I can do - no more miles to travel - time now to bed down and give thanks for the miles I traveled this day." 

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, remind me to travel light for the road to glory is long ...

Wednesday, March 7, 2007
The Greatest Discovery

Jesus arrived at his hometown of Nazareth.  There he taught in the local synagogue.  Many were astonished by his teaching and said, "Where did this man gain such wisdom and how does he perform such mighty deeds?  Is he not the son of Joseph the carpenter?  Is not his mother named Mary?  Is he not the brother of James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?  Do we not know his sisters?  Where did this man acquire all this?" -- Matthew 13:54-55

Elton John sang the song; Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics.  The song is titled "The Greatest Discovery".  It is a sweet, tender song of a little boy discovering his newborn brother.  The little boy hears the baby's cry; he sees the love in his parent's eyes as they look into the crib; he is lifted up and he beholds "his brand new brother"-- the greatest discovery.

Though some have debated the possibility that Jesus had siblings, there seems to be sufficient Biblical evidence that Jesus had younger brothers and sisters.  And if this is the case, then I wonder what went through Jesus' mind when he made his "greatest discovery".

Of course, the Christian community has always used the phrase "the brothers and sisters" to define the membership.  We are the family of God and within the family of God, we are brothers and sisters.  And if we are the children of God the Father and Christ was the son of God, then when we are adopted by God, when we are born from above, do we not then each become Christ's greatest discovery.  Is not Christ our spiritual older brother? 

That Elton John/Bernie Taupin song closes with these lyrics: "A parent smile is made in moments, They have made for you a friend.  And all you ever learned from them until you grew much older, did not compare with when they said ... "This is your brand new brother.  this is your brand new brother." 

What a wonderful motivation for welcoming new brothers and sisters into the family of faith!

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, I am so thankful to be loved by the family of God ...

Tuesday, March 6, 2007
In Search of a Sabbath

"The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place." - Mark 6:30-32 NIV

The sign along the interstate highway warned: "NO STOPPING NO PARKING NO RESTING".  And I was tired, and I was weary.

What a world we live in; what a world we have created; what world we have to now live with. In neon lights my grocery store reminds me, OPEN 24 HOURS.  You can get bad news 24/7.  I leave for work at 5:00 a.m. and I am surprised that the roads are filled with cars filled with people like me.  Go, go, go, go. 

The other night my wife and I did our waiting up for our seventeen year old son to come home from an out-of-town band trip.  He arrived home at 1:30 a.m. only find his parents asleep on the couch, both of us tuckered out from our early morning rising and working overtime that night.  Our calendars take up more space than our wallets - thicker than most dictionaries, jammed with appointments, reminders.  Even my cell phone is beeping that more messages await me.  One hundred and five e-mails came in today.  I used to get maybe five letters a day.

The long drive home from the business trip - McDonald's coffee in the cup holder to keep me going until I get home.  I ought to pull over and take a nap but the sign reads NO STOPPING NO PARKING NO RESTING. 

There were Ten Great Commandments that came down from the mountain of God to us mortals here below. One commanded us to take a Sabbath - a day of rest every so many miles along the highway of time.  Why?  The commandment says that we ought to respect that Sabbath so that we might live long in the land the Lord has promised us.  You see the Sabbath is God's way of managing God's human resource.  If you don't give these mortal souls some down time,they will eventually become broken down in time. 

I remember watching my grandfather work his draft horses on the farm in the hot and humid days of summer.  When he arrived the morning he would take with him a crock of lemonade.  Every so often, he would pulled the horses to a rest.  He would then stroll his way over to the lemonade and take drink.  He'd sit for a moment and wait for the team of horses to raise their heads and given them a big shake.  That meant the horses were ready to get back to work which meant that he was ready to get back to work.

What is a good Sabbath?  It is a day spent in such a way that you're ready to get back to work.  Tired of working?  Take a long look at your Sabbath-keeping.

PRAYER FOCUS: Lord, I guess I need to confess that I am but a mortal soul - a good soul, but still merely a mortal soul ...

Monday, March 5, 2007
A Dove Nesting in the Yellow

Jesus and his disciples were attending a wedding in Cana of Galilee.  During the wedding, the wine ran short.  Jesus' mother turned to him and said, "Jesus,
they have no wine." Jesus answered her, "Mother, I know you are concerned
but it is not my place to care for such matters.  My time has not yet come.  Mary then said to the servants, "My son will take care of this.  Do what he tells you to do." - John 2:2-5

I love this story!  Jesus is called upon by his mother to take care of an embarrassing but rather mundane problem.  The family has not ordered enough refreshments for the wedding.  Here is Jesus - the rabbi - with his school of disciples, and his mother ignores his plea to be left out of this matter and simply tells him to take care of it!  Jesus could face down the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, he could face down King Herod, he could withstand the pressure from the mighty Sanhedrin and the massive crowds - but when mama talks, you had best listen - even Jesus.

Jesus mysteriously includes the phrase, "Mother, my time has not yet come."
You have the sense that Jesus understood the significance of timing.  Each sermon, each miracle, each action needed to be placed at the right moment.  Yes, doing the right thing is important, but doing the right thing at the right time even more so.

Take the matter of traffic lights.  Of late, I have had some close calls with people stretching the yellow and subsequently running the red light.  I have become rather gun shy about crossing the intersection on the green - I suppose I don't trust the green as much as I used to.  But the other day - a rather mystical occurrence took place -- as I approached an intersection the green turned to yellow and as the yellow light shone in its momentary brilliance, a dove came to roost in that very yellow, amber caution light.  As I pulled to a stop I thought it so strange. A closer look gave evidence that this quite unusual dove had nested in that yellow light.  "Why would dove choose this place take up residence?"

As to the mystical meaning of this dove in the yellow light?  When the yellow light first appears - treat it as a call to peace.  Don't race through the yellow
- give thanks for an invitation to slow down and pause for a moment or two.  And when the light turns green - take a cautionary moment to consider if there are those who are so infected with the rush, rush, rush of modern life that they fail to notice the dove in the yellow light - the dove nesting in the yellow light who looks down upon the hectic pace we humans demand of ourselves and asks, "Why do you hurry so?  Is it worth the risk, to chance a lifetime for a minute or two?  Why do you hurry so?"

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, teach me the wisdom of respecting the times in life when the red light shines, and the times when the green shines, and even - maybe even more so - the times when the yellow shines... 

Thursday, March 1, 2007
The Crystal Heart

When Jesus saw Mary weeping, and the people with her weeping, his soul was deeply moved.  He said, "Where have they laid the body of Lazarus, Mary's brother?"  They said to him, "Lord, come ad see."  Jesus then began to weep.  Some of the people said, "See how he loved him!"  But others said, "Could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind have also kept this man from dying?" - John 11:33-37

Each year, I give my wife on our wedding anniversary a little crystal something: a crystal rose, a crystal teddy bear, one year, a crystal heart.  The other day I was holding in my hand that crystal heart.  For a heart-stopping moment, the heart began to slip through my fingers.  I managed to hold on; it did not fall to the floor.   And as I clutched it, I thought, "What a tragedy it would be if I had allowed it to shatter on the floor!"

Such is the nature of crystal hearts - beautiful as they are, elegant as they are, romantic as they are - they are easily broken on the hard places of life.  This crystal heart that I now hold in the sunlight.  It somehow captures within itself the light and then sends it forth again in a dance of prisms and sparkles.  The very transparency of the heart allows the light to fill its soul.  Yet the very same transparency allows the light now enhanced to dash back into the world to play.  It is really the elegant artistry of the jeweler's hands that makes the crystal heart the dance partner with the light.  If it were not for the jeweler, the glass would merely be -- well, glass.

The Christian's heart is in a certain way to be a crystal heart.  We receive into ourselves the light of God, and if we have allowed the jeweler to make those sometimes frightening, breath-stopping facets upon hearts - the light received, we send forth in prismatic colors and sparklers of grace.

But alas, as was with the heart of Jesus - the crystal heart - as beautiful as it is - must be handled with gentle care - for the Christian must live with tender-heart without it becoming the shattered heart.  And so from time to time, we weep.  And so from time to time, we weep.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, in Your wise and careful jeweler's hands, I place my heart, my soul, my all ...

Monday, February 26, 2007
Critics and Controversies

When Jesus was in Bethany having dinner in the home of Simon the leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of perfumed oil.  She then broke the jar and anointed the head of Jesus.  Some present were indignant about this extravagant act.  They said, "This expensive oil could have been sold for a year's worth of wages and the money given to the poor."  But Jesus told them,  "Leave alone for she had done a good thing, a beautiful act of love.  What she has done will be remembered whenever the gospel is proclaimed." - Mark 14:3-9 paraphrased

There is not much in life that can completely avoid the critic's commentary; there are few decisions in life that don't easily become controversies.  Critics and controversies -- they have always been and will always be.

For example - one day I was amazed that a lady came up to me and "criticized heaven".  I had read the figurative picture of heaven found in the Book of Revelation -- "... and the streets were paved with gold..."  She muttered to me with all seriousness -- "Who would ever pave streets with gold - it would be difficult to walk on and when the sun would shine it would blind you... I think they should be paved the streets in heaven with smooth concrete."  I gave her a long, disbelieving stare, a drawn out o-k-a-y, and then told her that I would pass the suggestion along to the Lord.

But even this poor woman who gave such a sacrifice out of love - the disciples' response was to criticize her.  I suspect that if she had consulted with Jesus beforehand he would have given her a warm word of appreciation for her gesture but suggested she might honor him with a gift to the needy.  But she didn't.  She did what she believed was the right, good and beautiful thing to do.  If I could take the liberty and highly paraphrased Christ's words to his disciples I believe he said, "Fellas, give her a break!  At least she has a clue what is about to happen to me and to all of us!"

I served a Church with beautifully exquisite stained glass windows.  They were jewels in glass, an artistic storybook of the life of Christ.  One day a drifter came by the Church door asking for some help.  That church had a soup kitchen next door that provided a box lunch for the needy.  After he got his lunch, I noticed that he slipped into the Church and simply sat in the pew, bathed in the colored sunlight as it passed through one of those stained glass windows.  He appeared to be at pray for the longest of time.  He left with a thank you and a smile.  And as he walked down the street I wondered if it were the box lunch or the stained windows that meant more to him that day.  Probably both - each in their own way.

To the disciples back then and the disciples of today - the Church is always a complement of stained glass windows and soup kitchens - alabaster jars and baskets of bread and fish.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, help me to do that one beautiful thing for you this day ...

Monday, February 19, 2007
Stewards of the Mysteries

"Think of us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God who have been given the work of explaining ways. And since our first duty is to be faithful to the one we work for..." -- I Corinthians 4:1,2 TEV

"Preacher, what is God's will in this situation?"  In many different ways, I have been asked this question.  It is an awesome question, I so want to answer, but only if I can answer it correctly.  To be sure, I have an opinion I could easily offer- all thinking souls have an opinion.  But upon what information, upon what experience, upon what authority is my opinion based.

The justices on the court base their opinions on the text of the Law, on the spirit and intent of the Law, on the tradition of the Court's interpretation of the Law, on the well-reasoned arguments on the specifics of the case, and, though some might be uncomfortable with this, the needs of the present context in which the Court finds itself.  Justices are probably characterized by the balance of these considerations in their coming to their decision. 

And it is probably a model for the preacher and for the Christian to follow in their deliberation on just what might be the will of God in any particular case. 

Study the original text - the Scripture. 

Reflect upon the original voice and the original moment when the particular Scripture was originally brought to life.  (i.e. Moses and the Exodus, Jesus and the Roman occupation of Palestine, Paul and the spreading of the Gospel among the Gentiles).  

Learn from the history of the Church in its interpretation of the Scripture -- both the occasions when history has proven our interpretation wise and the occasions when history has proven our interpretation unwise.

Listen to the well-reasoned argument that Spirit of God makes with your own sense of reason. Listen until the Spirit of God seems to have won the debate.

Be aware of the specifics of the present circumstance and they may affect the application of the Scriptural truth.  For example, was there a specific cultural significance for Paul's admonition for 1st century Gentile female converts not to cut their hair?  Probably.  Still applicable today?  Probably not.

You have noted that I have tied knowing the will of God to the Scripture.  Can the will of God be known outside of Scripture?  Yes, I suppose it can be.  But I have always found that the Scripture provides the keys that unlock the mysteries of God.  I have found that the Scriptures are like the portals that open into the mind of God.  Without the Scriptures, the will of God tends to slowly sound more and more like my mortal, human thoughts rather than the 
immortal, divine thoughts that are greater than my own.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, help me to be a wise steward of our mysteries ...

Thursday, February 15, 2007
The Undiscovered Country

"Then the officers selected by Joshua went through the camps of the Israelites
and commanded the people, "When you see the ark of the covenant being carried
by the priests, then you shall set out from your place.  Follow it, so that you
may know the way you should go, for you have not passed this way before.  ... the
people then crossed the Jordan River and into the Promised Land." - Joshua
3

Shakespeare's Hamlet ponders the crossing we all must make with the words, “But
that the dread of something after death,  the undiscovered country, from whose bourn,
no traveller returns, puzzles the will,  and makes us rather bear those ills we
have, than fly to others that we know not of?”

Ah yes, it is the stuff of human nature that we are pulled between the wild, divine
call to explore the still unknown realms and the tame and timid human reluctance
to journey far from the place we have come to know.

The people of Israel camped on the banks of the Jordan River, their feet standing
in the wilderness they had come to know too well for these past forty years.  But
their tomorrow was beckoning from the other side of the Jordan, their Promised Land,
their unexplored realm, their undiscovered country.  Should they stay here in the
comfort of lesser places, well-known; or should they dare cross the river to the
hope of the better place, yet unknown.

It appears that the courage needed by the Israelites to cross that river would be
found in the ark of the Lord's Presence crossing the river ahead of them.  Not
knowing the way, they followed the God who did. 

Christ at the Last Supper said to his disciples, "And you know the way to where
I am going."  They spoke up to correct him.  "Lord, how can we possibly
know the way?"  To this Jesus answered, "You have been with me these many
years, how can say you do not know the way.  I am the way - the truth - the life.
Follow me, follow me across the river to the promised land, to the unknown realm,
to the undiscovered country." 

Follow me.  I have found that there are many, many wonders of God waiting to be
discovered and explored.  These yet-to-be-known wonders are the stuff of the abundant
life.  But you have to cross the river ... I know the river i wide, the river is
deep, the river is cold ... but God knows the way, follow the Presence of the Lord.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, give me the courage to explore the promised lands ...

Tuesday, February 13, 2007
The River Stones

"When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan River, the LORD said to Joshua, "Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the river from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight." ...In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever." -- Joshua 4

I wonder if those twelve river stones are still there, piled somewhere near the banks of the Jordan.  And I wonder if the oak tree planted for me on the banks of the Chateguay River is still standing now fifty years later.  And I wonder if the elm tree into which my wife and I carved our initials on our first date twenty-four years ago still bears that mark of our romance.  I wonder ...

I suppose most of us grow a bit sentimental and nostalgic in the October years.  We have more milestones to look back on with the passing of time,  the road behind us stretches further and further away from where we stand in the present moment.  For me, it is not so much remembering where I've been, but remembering how I got here.  In the springtime of a lifetime, we pack our belongings in a red bandanna and take off down the road, Tom Sawyers and Huck Finns - not racing anywhere, jus' running barefoot down the days of life.  When the spring matures into the summertime, we stretch our legs into full stride, a runner's race to set then leave behind mile marker after mile marker, proving to ourselves and others how far, how fast we can sprint.  For the wise ones who make it into the softening of September, the race down the road is well-paced, hoping to make it to the finish and to finish strong.  But eventually - as it probably ought to be - the October days return us to amble - a more humane pace, a well-seasoned pace, a pace that somehow allows us to notice the trees along the road and wildflowers that reappeared from our childhood days.  We slow to stroll that has no problem waiting while to take a look back over the road we almost forgot we traveled.  And if we have lived it well -- the river stones that we placed along the way tell stories of those new Tom Sawyers and Huck Finns who come upon them in the passing of their days.  And the children and their children will ask ... "What do these stones mean?"

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, there is a time for the gathering together of stones ... not for ourselves ... but for those follow and the questions that need to be asked in the traveling of the road ...

Wednesday, February 7, 2006
The Wheat vs. the Weeds

Jesus then told the parable of the weeds among the wheat.  He said, 'The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away.  So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well.' - Matthew 13:24-26

I suppose we all have had "those" days when it seems someone has hung the Complaint Department sign on the door of your life.  Just when you think you have matters running smoothly, someone throws a wrench in the gears and it comes grinding to a halt.  Or as Jesus might phrase it, "Just when you think the wheat harvest is going to be a bumper crop, you find some scoundrel has come by and tossed weeds into a perfectly good field."

The farmers in my family always complained about the birds coming and stealing the newly sown seed from the fields.  So they would erect scarecrows in the fields to ... well ... scare away the crows.  I know some folks - even some preachers - who deal with those weed planters buy using the scarecrow method.  I recall being an Associate Pastor to whom everyone would come with their complaints.  I would plead, "Why don't you tell the Senior Pastor?"  They would answer, "Oh no, I could never tell him!  He doesn't take complaints well!"  I didn't have the heart to confess to them, "Neither do I." 

I don't know who those dastardly Weed Sowers are -- I am probably one of them and just don't realize it -- but I wish they would leave my perfectly good fields alone!  It seems I spend more time on the weeds than I do on the wheat.  But there might exactly be my problem ...

That wheat and weeds parable goes on to say, "The field workers came and as the farmer if they should go to work pulling the weeds.  But the farmer said, 'No, it is best to leave them grow along with the wheat for you might end up mistaking wheat for weeds.  We will sort them out in the harvest."  Now, I am not an expert on farming but I think I see what Jesus might be saying.  The good wheat is the far more important concern -- not the weeds.  Now is the time to invest in growing wheat for the harvest will be measured by not few weeds you have but by how much wheat you have.

I think I need to give more attention to the wheat than to the weeds -- but it is frustrating, how difficult that is to do.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, remind me to spend more o my time and energy in growing wheat than in pulling weeds ...

Tuesday, February 6, 2007
One Truth Leads to Another

"No one after lighting a lamp hides it under a jar, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light.  For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light.  Then pay attention to how you listen; for to those who have, more will be given; and from those who do not have, even what they seem to have will be taken away." -- Luke 8:16-18 NRSV

I sense this is at least a part of what Jesus is meaning by this enigmatic teaching -- one truth leads to another, and will always lead to another; if not, the truth once considered to be true, will prove not to have been truth at all.  Why?  For one truth leads to another and will always lead to another.

At the circus, the clown with the bright red nose and the over-sized shoes galooped over our way.  He directed our attention to the yellow handkerchief in his pocket.  Feigning an ove-rsized sneeze, he pulled out the handkerchief which in turn pulled out a red handkerchief, then a blue, a purple, a green, on and on one brightly colored handkerchief after another until his over-sized feet were buried beneath a mountain of hankies. 

Now in a much more subtle and sophisticated way, so flows the truth of God and within it the truth of living.  One small truth fully followed leads the searching soul to the further truth, the fuller truth -- the truth behind truth, the truth beyond the truth, the truth that explains and extends the truth first received.

I sense that almost all Christians build their belief and lives on truth.  The problem is that they stop with the first handkerchief of truth pulled from the pocket.  They see the red handkerchief and they conclude that is all there is.  But there is always more -- there is always more to the truth than what have yet to find.  This is why -- Christians on all sides of arguments -- are probably both right and wrong.  We all have the truth -- just not enough of it.

When you go to court, you lift your hand and answer this question:  "Do you swear to tell the truth, the WHOLE truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"  And that is the secret ... to get to the whole truth. 

Jesus speaks of the lighting of a lamp so that those who enter might be able to see.  For what purpose?  Oh, possibly to then set out on the journey of discovery; or possibly to read the pages that follow one after another.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, remind me to read the book all the way through ...

Monday, February 5, 2007
In the Mountain Air

"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.  He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." - Micah 4:2

It is rather striking the number of times the Biblical beckon us to climb the mounain of the Lord.  We have tended to live in the green valeys - there in the rich bottom land, down by the river.  Yet - by some deeply imprinted instinct - we climb the mountains to get close to God. 

I am not all that convinced that we are geographically any closer to God up there on the mountain than we are here down in the valley - but somehow, in some way, most of us tend to feel closer to God up there in the cool, high mountain air.  The air is lighter up there, clearer and cleaner.  The mountain air presses less heavily on oru humanness up there - the mountains feel like ambitious, adventurous portions of the earth that strive to reach into the heavens.  There is a wildness in the mountain air.  There is an experience of venturing into places beyond ourselves - up there - in the mountain air.  For these few reasons and probably a multitude more, we climb the mountain to catch momentary breaths of heaven's wind.

I find it rather intriguing that Micah invites us to mountains for the purpose of learning God's ways for living and finding God's paths through life.  You would think we would learn those things here in the valley where all the living is done and the journeys of our lives are made.  I am intrigued that is - until I recall the look of the valley from the mountain heights.  From way up there - in the mountain air - I can see the river both its coming and going through the valley below - I can see the patchwork quilt of farms and villages down there in the valley below - I can where the roads begin and the roads end and where the roads go on forever - from up there in the mountain air.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, I'll grab my pack and walkign stick ... for I am lost in the valley and could use some mountain air ...

Thursday, February 1, 2007
The Near-ness of the Kingdom

"Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the Good News of God and declaring, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the Good News." - Mark 1:14

What does Jesus mean by the "near-ness of the Kingdom of God"?

Is the near-ness akin to the experience I had in my Senior year in high school?  After all these years, graduation is finally arriving.  It still feels far away - in fact, the days seem to slow in an agonizing way as the day approaches, but yet in the perspective of a lifetime, graduation is but a few more days away.

Or is the near-ness akin to feeling one gets when one is returning home after a long vacation.  For two weeks you have been away - not much change can occur in such a short span of time - yet as you near the exit on the interstate that leads you home and then the roads, then the streets, then the finally turn, the old neighborhood seems somehow a shade different.  Not much has changed except the change that the vacation has made in you.  Is the near-ness of the kingdom that sense of being almost home?

Or is the nearness akin to that moment in the working of a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle when the puzzle pieces that had been coming together oh so slowly, now begin to come together at a quickening pace and the picture, though now fully seen, begins to make itself known.

When I listen to the Good News found in the words of Jesus, I feel the near-ness of a bright and glorious future as if at any moment it might suddenly appear.  In fact, I sometimes think that the near-ness is what the Kingdom of God is all about.  Like Christmas - I enjoy the near-ness of Christmas being almost here even more than Christmas Day itself.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, sometimes my soul can sense the coming Kingdom for sometimes my soul begins to ...

Thursday, January 25, 2007
The Divine Dimension

One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, "When will the Kingdom of God come?"  Jesus replied, "The Kingdom of God is not ushered in with visible signs.  You won't be able to say, "Here it is!" or "It's over there!"  For the Kingdom of God is among you (or within you)." - Luke 17: 20-21 NLT

The well-schooled Pharisees asked Jesus a rather straight forward question ... "When is D-Day for the coming revolution when the new Kingdom will be established?"  But Jesus gives a very enigmatic answer (even the translator of the NLT struggles if whether he meant "among you" or "within you").  And every time I listen to Jesus' answer, I think to myself, "Just what did Jesus mean by this?"  And quite possibly that is the very reason Jesus answered the way he did.

The PBS science documentary was about string theory and multiple dimensions to the universe.  I tried to follow the erudite physicist from M.I.T. words with every ounce of my intellect.  I was in over my head, but I gave it my best.  Multiple dimensions - I know four - width, height, depth and time.  These four make sense to my earthly rationality.  But the good Doctor suggested that there were many more dimensions - dimensions that our earthly senses can perceive.  Okay!  I really couldn't grasp it but my scientifically gifted collegiate son seemed to understand. He tried to explain it all to me - but finally gave up with a merciful smile.

But it did get me to thinking - is it possible that there we exist in the midst of a divine dimension to our reality - a divine dimension that our senses cannot perceive.  Is there a dimension that only our souls, our spirituality, can perceive.  Possibly heaven is no far beyond the expanse of the stars but merely a dimensional shift away.  Could it be that heaven will suddenly or possibly slowly, simply appear in our midst?  I did once hear a saintly, old preacher one day say, "When you see this earth in heaven's light, you can see the kingdom of God."

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, what did you mean when you said, "The kingdom of God is among you"?...

Wednesday, January 24, 2007
A Soul Full of Stars

"Is not God in the heights of heaven? And see how lofty are the highest stars! " - Job 22:12

As time goes by, the stars in the heavens grow in number and in wonder.  When Abraham looked into the sky, he could see with his eyes on a certain number stars - a vast number but still a certain number of stars.  When Galileo looked into the sky with his telescope, he could see with his eyes an even greater number of stars - more stars than had ever been counted before.  When modern astronomers looked through their gigantic telescopes, the stars grew even more - in both number and the wonder of their nature.  When in recent years we have gazed through the orbiting Hubble telescope -- the stars in our eyes grew exponentially - in number - and, my goodness, in awestruck wonder at their cosmic magnificence.  As time goes by - as in the maturing of human history - the stars in our universe have grown and grown and, I do believe, will continue to grow.

In my childhood, my soul was both humbled and exalted when allowed the stars to fill my soul.  "I am so small in such a vast universe," I thought, "yet somehow I am of the fabric of all this vastness!"  In my college days, when the science taught me of the fiery, awesome power of stars and the unbelievable distant that separated me from them - tied together but by a fading thread of starlight - I thought, "God, You are so far greater than I can ever imagine, why would even bother to think of me?"  And now in my older years, the stars seem like beacons to awaiting realms, to be explored in far distant eons or on the wings of angels and mystic imaginations.

In the end, when I gaze upon the stars I return to the ancient poetry of Job -- "Is not God in the heights of heaven?  And see how lofty are the highest stars ... for those stars keep getting loftier and loftier as time goes by!

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, thank you for the stars that tantalize my soul with wonder ...

Friday, January 19, 2007
Chance Encounters

The Lord then spoke to the prophet Elijah, "Flee to the east, and hide in the marshes beyond the Jordan River.  You shall drink water from among the reeds, and I have commanded the ravens to bring you food." -- I Kings 17:2-4

Three masked strangers crossed my path and I wondered what intrigue was in the making.  As I traveled, I came upon as acquaintances from distant days passed my way - I paused to remember those memories of those times that I had long forgotten.  I was nearly home, lost in thoughts - pensive, melancholic thoughts, wistful thoughts - when a wisp of joy paused to wink at me - changing me.

The three masked strangers were three raccoons who appeared to be off to mischief somewhere.  I remember thinking, "I would like to follow them to wherever they are headed." 

The acquaintances were robins, dozens of red-breasted robins- a flock making a rest stop in Florida in January - heading south.  They were summer residents in my Canadian childhood.  And I considered the truth that no matter where life might take us all of Creation is somehow woven together - even if only by flocks of robins going here and there.

The wisp of joy who winked at me was a rabbit - more a bunny than a rabbit - hopped through the beam of my headlights causing me to brake my car.  After he had crossed, he seemed to stop, turn and wink at me as if to whisper to me, "Thank you, good traveler, for not being so lost in yourself that you failed to see the little bits of joy that sometimes come hopping by."

And if God can angels to Elijah in the form of ravens, why not also raccoons, robins and bunny rabbits?

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, thank you for the many ways you speak to me, to all of us who listen for such things ...

Monday, January 15, 2007
The Country Lanes

"Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 5

I want to walk the country lanes once more before I die. I want to climb once more among the oaks, to smell the lilacs in a summer's day, and to play with in the haystacks, and to tell of dreams together with old friends - all before I die.  I want the old man that I have become to resurrect the young lad asleep within this weary soul -- all before I die.  I want to be born again - once more and then once more, again.

The Gospel of Christ has something to do with the miracle of being both old and young at the same time.  In Christ, we mature as wise, well-weathered, ancient oaks - stronger of soul in our aging than we were at our beginning.  And yet, in Christ, we stay forever young, as young as this season's acorns that burst forth in a resilient celebration of life being born once more.  In Christ, we are reborn as fresh, young children again and again even as we mature with each new birth.  We are living as expressions of the living Lord.  We are filled new life and then filled with even more new life.  We are living more than dying, forever young even in the gray-haired days.

Ah, there are so many who allow the child within to die away - slowly, sadly with the passing of time and the gathering of burdens.  It is that fresh, sparkling new life re-surging within the old soul that keeps the old soul vibrantly alive.  And this is one of the miracles of the Christian Way, we can mature, we can gather the well-earned experience and slowly-seasoned wisdom, yet remain forever young, forever the lad or the lass that races down the country lanes.

And so before I die, I want to walk the country lanes once more and then once more again, to climb among the oak tree's limbs, to smell the lilacs in summertime, to play in the haystacks and to dream together with old friends of what one day will be.  This old man ... is but a young boy enjoying the gathering of years and the splendor of time.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, as a child and as an old man, I behold your glory and give You praise ...

Friday, January 12, 2007
The Drum Major Instinct

"Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.  So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so they may be praised by others.  They have already received their reward." - Matthew 6:1,2

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. preached a sermon titled, "The Drum Major Instinct"  It was re-voicing a sermon preached by Dr. J.Wallace Hamilton, a former pastor of the Church I now serve.  Both of these preachers preached before thousands of people.  Both WERE drum majors before a mighty band.  Yet both preachers - quite possibly preaching to their own souls - warned of living for the sake of receiving the praise of the crowd.

We all want to be successful.  We all need affirmation that we are worthy, significant and competent.  The problem is not the praise we seek; the problem is from whom we seek the praise. 

Jesus counsels us to do our praying and our alms-giving in secret.  Why?  If we do such things for the praise of the crowd - for the honor and glory bestowed by those assembled - then we short-change ourselves.  The praise of the crowd is fickle.  With the cheers that boost our self-esteem come also the jeers that erode our self-esteem.  The praise of the crowd is to place ourselves in the judgment seats before an inadequate jury.  By what standards do they judge us; with what competency to they understand what we do.  No, Jesus advises us to seek the praise of God - to experience God's delight, to know God's affirmation, to receive God's thanksgiving.

I was on vacation.  I stopped to worship in a little clapboard church, Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church.  A gentleman in an old suit shook my hand when entered with hands that felt like farmer's hands - calloused and gnarled.  Handed me a bulletin with a pre-printed picture of Jesus, the order and the announcements appeared produced by one of those old mimeograph machines.  The sanctuary was eight pews deep, the nine-pane windows decorated with an occasional color-tinted glass.  The upright piano was slightly out-of-tune.  The preacher's wife sang "The Old Rugged Cross" to the sixteen souls gathered there that Sunday morning.  The preacher preached on the parable of the Good Samaritan.  And it was the greatest sermon I ever heard preached in all my life.  And only the piano player, the preacher's wife, that farmer turned usher, the fifteen other assorted souls there that day heard the greatest sermon I ever heard preached.  Oh yes, and the God who inspired that preacher that day.  Kind of strange that God would squander such inspiration on so few people - but that is what God chose to do.

We do what good and right to please God.  Any other motivation to do good and right simply robs us of what could be the deepest satisfaction we could ever know.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, take my eyes off the crowd and off the crowd I wish were there ...

Thursday, January 11, 2007
The Holy Life

"Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  You must make allowance for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you.  Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.  And this is the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love.  Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony." - Colossians 3:12-14

God HAS chosen us to be holy people.  We are called to be people to live life in a certain, godly way.  We are people who are called to be a visible witness of God's transforming power.  It is not that holy people are better than other people; it is that holy people are in the process of being transformed by God.

I recall a science project I undertook in high school.  I was given two young watermelon plants, exactly the same: the same variety, the same genetics, the same size.  I planted both of them in the same soil, a couple of feet from each other.  The first plant I left to the nurturance of nature; the second plant, I added to nature's nurturance with extra watering and fertilizer.  The first watermelon vine grew and eventually yielded some pretty fair watermelon.  The second watermelon vine grew further and yielded even greater watermelon.  As far as I know, each of the watermelon vines did simply what came naturally to them.  What made the difference was the involvement of the faithful and loving attention given by the gardener.  Somehow holiness works this way -- invite the holy presence of God into the growing of your life and somehow what comes naturally becomes super-naturally enhanced.

The holy life is characterized by tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience and love - try as I might I can't seem to grow enough of it.  But when I hour after hour receive God's Holy Presence into my life, these holy ways seem to grow quite naturally -- and, at times, they even flourish.

The holy life is, in a certain sense, something quite natural if your roots find nourishment and refreshment in the soul of God.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, I keep "trying" to be holy instead of simply "being" holy ---

Monday, January 8, 2007
No Better Praying Than This

"Epaphras, our much loved co-worker, was the one who brought you the Good News.
He is Christ's faithful servant, and he is helping us in your place.  He is
the one who told us about the great love for others that the Holy Spirit has given
you.  So we have continued praying for you ever since we first heard about you.
We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what God wants to do in your
lives, and we ask the Lord to make you wise with spiritual wisdom.  Then the way
you will always honor and please the Lord, and you will continually do good, kind
things for others.  All the while, you will learn to know God better and better."
- Colossians 1:7-10

How about taking a moment and reading the above Scripture once more.  While you
do I'll hum some quiet music in the background ......... 

Welcome back!  I believe that there is no better praying than this praying done
here by Paul and Timothy.  "... to ask God to give others a complete understanding
of what God wants to do in your lives ... to make others wise with spiritual wisdom."
I don't know about you, but I could certainly use some of that myself.

I suppose it is the vulnerability of the mass marketing of Christianity - but we
seem to be in the era of the shallow and brief understanding, and the catchy and
easy-to-consume thought-for-the-day.   Whatever happened to thoughtful, reflective,
in-depth Christianity?  Does this kind of wisdom come too slowly in this "cyber-paced"
culture that has come upon us?  In this instant messenger, immediate e-mail reply
world, do we no longer take time to think it through, to reflect upon, to consider
more fully?  Is speed everything? 

I noticed in a success-oriented magazine I receive, an advertisement for a service
that digests into a few pages the latest best-selling self-improvement books.  In
the ad I noticed a digest for a book titled, "How to Read a Book."  Intriguing!
Reading a brief digest about a book about reading a book!

I was blessed in my upbringing but being surrounded by some old souls who had grown
wise through the years.  To be sure, there were a few who stayed foolish all their
years.  But the wise old souls were the ones who had come to realize that there
were no easy answers and understanding comes through humble experience.  They understood
that dandelions sprout overnight but in a few days they are gone; but strong oak
trees grow strong by living through many seasons of time.

Wisdom takes time - it takes other things well - but wisdom does take time.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, we for a complete understanding of what God wants to do in
our lives, and we ask the Lord to make us wise with spiritual wisdom ... there is
no better praying than that ...


Thursday, January 4, 2006
The Cold Gray Light of Gone

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? ... Lord, do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help." - Psalm 22:1, 11

Country song writer Vince Gill has a sad, sad song with the line, "No, there's nothing quite as lonely as the cold gray light of gone."  When I first heard those mournful words, I thought of Jesus' cry from the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  And when I imagine those agonizing words of Christ, I picture the skies being cast in a cold gray light.

Now this all sounds awfully depressing I know.  But it speaks of the reality of a God who hears those cries and comes to those hurting souls with compassion.  I give witness that there is a God who hears the cries of David, Jesus and souls like you and me.  When the cold gray light of gone fills the lonely soul, the light of God does break through.

The other night, in the lonely quiet hours past midnight, I made one of those lonely cries.  "Lord, where are you?  I need you bad!"  There were a few tears mixed in with that prayer - tears of pain, frustration, and anxiety.  I suppose most souls moan from time to time - life can be difficult.  And there in the midst of that "dark night of the soul" the radiance of the Lord fell upon my soul.  I felt an overwhelming presence of God in my heart and mind.  My soul was flooded with the joy well-being.  And in that listening within my thoughts I swear I heard Lord say to me, "Jim, do not be afraid for I am here with you."  Now mind you, I am a rather rational soul, not given to flights of mystical fantasy, so this whole experience caught me quite off guard.  But it was as real as these spiritual experiences can be.  I was lifted out of the cold gray light of lonely despair into the warm gold light of God's glorious presence.

I can't remember who said it, but someone very wise and also quite courageous, I am sure.  He wrote, "It is not an eternity of hell that causes me fear, it is an eternity of loneliness that keeps me calling for God."

And so, I give a word of witness.  If you are ever caught in the cold gray light of gone, call upon the Lord in earnest desperation.  Why?  For the Lord is listening and is caring and is wanting to draw near.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, embrace Your children in the warm light of your grace ...

www.pasadenacommunitychurch.org

Friday, December 22, 2006
Diverse Recollections

"And while Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem, the time came for her baby to be born.  She gave birth to her first child, a son.  She wrapped him in swaddling cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for him in the inn." - Luke 2:6-7

"When Joseph awoke from his dream, he did what the angel of the Lord commanded.  He brought Mary home to be his wife, but she remained a virgin until her son was born.  And Joseph named him Jesus." - Matthew 1:24-25

I sense that the Gospel of Luke shares Mary's recollection of the birth of Christ; the Gospel of Matthew, Joseph's. 

Luke's Gsoepl speaks of Mary's time having arrived - a sense that Mary was well aware of the nine months that led up to that moment.  Luke includes the tenderly maternal details, "she wrapped him in swaddling cloths" and "she laid him in a makeshift cradle, a manger."

In contrast, Matthew's Gospel speaks essentially in terms of what did: he awoke from his dream, he obeyed the angel's commands, he took Mary as his wife, he named the child Jesus.  There are no tender details - no intimate sense of the creation of life waiting its fullness of time - just duties accomplished faithfully.

It is a funny thing about folks - we do tend to remember events in different ways, even very significant events.  We all tend to see things from our point-of-view, a perspective created out of our individual natures and our diverse experiences.  Even our visions of God, I believe, are influenced by our individual histories.  I find my God to be rather rather grandfatherly - grandfathers have been a better part of my life.  I enjoy old; I enjoy wise; I enjoy the weather-worn and oak-tree-like qualities of life.  For others, the grandfatherly God just doesn't fit.  And that's okay and that's even good and godly.

When I walk into the Christmas Eve experience, I find my soul walking into a stable that looks like a Canadian farm, Holstein cows, worn-out tractors, maple sugar shacks, and jingle bells on the old farm horse now retired from duties.  I fully understand that this was not the original Christmas stable -- but it works for me.  And that's okay and that's even good and godly.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, help us each and all find our Christmas stable ...

Thursday, December 21, 2006
Mary's Way

"All who heard the shepherd's story were astonished, but Mary quietly considered their words in her heart." - Luke 2:18,19

I often try to imagine Mary the mother of Jesus.  For the Roman Catholic side of my family, images of Mary are everywhere, but for the Protestants in our family, our image of Mary is that young, innocent mother-to-be dressed in pale blue.  She truly is a symbol of innocence, of purity, of motherly grace.  But we must never forget that there was so much more to this woman.  For thirty-three years she pondered in heart the songs of angels and the stories of shepherds, witnessing before her eyes the unfolding destiny of her son.  She endured the crucifixion of her son.  She encountered the reality of her son's resurrection.  And then she lived on when he departed from her sight once more.  I cannot but believe that Mary's faith was profoundly formative in the faith of her son.  It was her voice that first told the ancient stories of the faith.  It was her hand that first lit the lamps for the Sabbath and the Passover.  It was her heart that first taught him the human touch for his divine love.

I am one who believes that Mary matured into a wise, theological soul.  Not only in her spiritual instincts obvious in her songs of praise, but to live so intimately with the mind and manner of Jesus, how could she not be filled with wisdom divine!   I believe that in Luke's Gospel, we find evidence of the reflective theological thinking of Mary -- her words, her accounts, her songs, all memories enriched by years and years of quiet consideration in her soul.  Yes, I believe there was much more to the woman than the pale blue cloth and the swaddling clothes.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, thank you for that amazing soul we know as Mary ...

Monday, December 18, 2006
Heaven's Toll

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favored." When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go to Bethlehem ..." - Luke 2:13-15a

The fog had rolled in over the bay and the towering Skyway Bridge seemed to climb into heaven.  The golden web of the Skyway was hidden in clouds and the load road upward flowed into the heavens.   For some, this bridge to heaven would appear as a peaceful invitation; for others, it would appear to be a haunting call.  I was okay with the thought of driving into heaven -- surprisingly, but then again, not so surprisingly - for the Lord and me, we are square with each other, I do believe.

I described to a friend this ethereal drive up the Skyway.  He whimsically noted, "You mean there is a toll booth on the road to glory!"  Well, in this particular case, yes.  One dollar.

Not to let the preaching moment pass -- is there a toll on the Skyway bridge to heaven?  Yes, but Jesus paid it.  The trick is -- you have to ride while Jesus drives.  Rev. Dan Johnson of Trinity Church, Gainesville, Florida, one of the best preachers I have ever heard, preached that very metaphor.   If I recollect his words correctly, he said, "There are some of us who might be willing to give a ride to Jesus if we saw him standing along the road we travel.  We might be willing to give him a ride to where we are intending to go.  But true salvation requires that we let Jesus drive the car causing us to journey to where he is intending to go."  Yes, that the hard part.  It is easy to have Jesus pay the toll; it is not so easy to let him take the wheel.

If you look carefully at Luke's Christmas story, you find a fascinating detail.  Find a Bible and look for yourselves.  The angels brought to the shepherd a heaven-sent message, "In Bethlehem, in a manger, a Savior is born."  Then the angels took off for heaven and the shepherds took off to Bethlehem.  And what did the shepherds tell Mary and Joseph?  What the angels had told them?  We have no evidence that anybody in the whole town of Bethlehem heard one thing from angel's lips -- except for some shepherds lost in the night in the quiet of the hills.  Not even Mary and Joseph -- they had to hear it from some shepherd boys on leave from their duties.

The road appeared to be leading me to heaven ... but ... it led me instead back to town, to the Church, where we are building Bethlehem once more.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, would you mind driving for awhile ...

Wednesday, December 13, 2006
A Tree Full of Stars

"In that region, there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.  Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them ... Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom God favors!'  When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." - Luke 1:8-9,13-15

The lights of the sanctuary were brought low as the choir took their places for the Christmas concert.  The candles brightened in the dimming of the lift and the two towering Christmas festooned with tiny, white lights appeared to be full of stars. 

I have a sense that the glory of angels is magnified in the darkness of the night.  There in in the countryside, there up in the hills where the shepherds kept watch through the night far from the city lights, there where the black sky is wide open, the stars must emerge from their hiding places and celebrate.   Don't you have to believe that shepherds who live long night after long night beneath the stars come to know those stars quite well?  Eventually the shepherds would begin to bring those stars to earth and gain a sense of living not only beneath the stars, but also among the stars.

The shepherds' encounter with the angel has also charmed me.  I wish I had been there - to see it for myself, to experience it for myself.  What was it like?  Was it as if the stars themselves begin to sing?

Why do we fill our Christmas trees with stars?

I believe we yearn for heaven to come upon the earth.  Is that not the intent of Christmas - to fill the trees of this earth with the stars of heaven?

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, fill my sky tonight with angels ...

Monday, December 10, 2006
The Passersby

"And while Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem, the time came for the baby to be born.  She gave birth to a son.  She wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger.  Because there was no room for them in the village inn, the baby was born in the stable." - Luke 2:6-7

The fireplace is draped with leafy garland, stocking pegged to the mantle. The Christmas tree stands nearby, laced with white lights and decorated with twenty-three years of ornaments, annually selected by my wife - each ornament to tell a story, to mark a birth, an anniversary, to give reason for sentimental reflection during Christmas-tree-night each year.  Along the wall stretches the ever-growing Dickens Village, a place we visit in our nostalgia, our yearning for simpler, slower times. 

And I come to the over-sized  dark, wood coffee table in our living room - there each Christmas, Bethlehem returns.  Years ago we received a gift of a Fontanini nativity set, Mary in her blue, Joseph in his brown, an angel in his robe of white, a rustic, wooden, strawy stable, a tiny manger, and Baby Jesus.  Through the years the streets of Bethlehem have become far more crowded.  Magi, camels, Roman soldiers, horses, shepherds and their sheep.  Beside the stable there now stands a carpenter's shop and a bakery; in the streets a lady carries a water jar, a young lad plays a flute, a girl sells her flowers, and a potter creates his wares.  After all these years, the Bethlehem street has become a bustling place, filled with passersby.  But I have noticed that every now and then one of those Bethlehem street folk seem to have turned to gaze toward the stable.   Probably one of the family has bumped the table or in the dusting my wife has made a change, or a teenage son in an unnoticed moment has made a subtle change.  Yet -- I have enough romantic magic in my soul to allow myself the thought ... just maybe ... one of those tiny passersby took a momentary turn to catch a glimpse of a nearly unnoticed miracle.

Watch the crowds at Christmas.  I was in the heart of Manhattan one Christmas night, trying to hail a cab.  I turned an noticed the crowds of shoppers pushing their way through the crowds of each other - some headed uptown, others heading downtown.  Everybody was hustling somewhere -- except one little boy and his mother.  They were staring into one of those classic Christmas windows - a Nativity scene with all the characters in their places. 

All the passersby, too often they include you and me.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, turn my eyes toward that quiet place filled with hay and heaven's light ...

Friday, December 8, 2006
The Weary Jesus

Indeed, the God who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. -- Psalm 121:4

And on the seventh day God finished the work that He had done, and so God rested on the seventh day from all the work that He had done. -- Genesis 2:2

As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." - Luke 9:57-59

"Foxes have dens and birds have nest, but I have no place to rest my head."  The humanity of Jesus seems so confessed with these words -- but then again, maybe also his divinity.

I love those mystifying questions that children can sometimes bring into a theologian's life.  Like the day a young boy asked in response to reading the Creation story of the Sabbath, "Does that mean that God takes Sundays off?"

I started to answer but then my logical machinery got trapped in a theological paradox.  God rested on the seventh day, the Sabbath -- yet God is always at work!  God is always at work and yet - God rested on the Sabbath?!

As sometimes happens, the call about the parishoner's passing came after midnight.  You get used after awhile, but those middle of the night drives through the near empty streets still stir some anxiety -- even after thirty-two years of doing it.  This call came at 2:17 in the morning according to my digital clock by my bed.  By the time I had dressed, drove over to the family home, listened, shared tears and laughter, prayed the final prayer, it was a little after 4:00 a.m.  Too late to go back to bed so I pulled into a Denny's Restaurant -- OPEN 24 hours.  There I slowly nursed a cup of coffee and snacked on whole wheat toast. For two hours, I scratched out some sermon notes for the coming Sunday and observed the souls who frequent such places in the long, lonely hours of the night.  I recall thinking - "These souls seem sleepier and sadder than the folks I see during the day - a tougher, wearier, earthier lot.  They somehow seemed to be the survivors of the day - worn and tattered, but still hanging on.  At the counter, an old fellow in a faded, Army surplus jacket was slumped over his coffee.  He might have merely dozed off, but I swear he looked like he was deep in prayer.  In the window, the neon sign OPEN 24 HOURS buzzed and burned and I wondered if and I hoped that -- God was still open for business -- for that family I had just left behind, for this Pastor to tired to think, and for that old fellow in a faded, Army surplus jacket.

To that young lad with the mystifying question, God gets weary but somehow He knows how to keep going.  Remember Jesus yearning for a place to rest his head -- there was a story about him taking a nap in a boat as he made a voyage across the Sea of Galilee.  We keep journeying on -- but we still catch some rest along the way.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, I pray for souls who sip coffee in the long, lonely hours of the night ...

Monday, December 4, 2006
Joseph's Angel

"While Mary was still a virgin, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit.  Joseph, her fiance, being a just man, decided to break the engagement quietly, so as to not to disgrace her publicly.  As he considered this, he fell asleep, and an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.  'Joseph, son of David,' the angel said, 'do not be afraid to go ahead with your marriage to Mary.  For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit.  And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.'" - Matthew 1:18-21 NLT

Joseph was a man who was both righteous and kind.  Some folks are righteous, but are mean in their righteousness; some folks are kind, but are lax in their moral expectations.   In my view of the man, Joseph had found the balance.  He wanted to do the right thing but to do the right thing in the right way and in the right spirit.

I have to believe Joseph was rather shocked and disappointed at the news.  A lesser man would have taken her into the streets and brashly declared his innocence by way of public disowning her. I assume Mary declared her innocence.  He went to bed, his heart hurting and torn.  But then in a dream, an angel brought him second-thoughts.  He changed his mind, accepted her story and believed in the seemingly impossible.  I find Joseph to be a tribute to heroic love.

My life has been a string of second-thoughts and in those second-thoughts I have found much wisdom.  My first thoughts are often driven by impulsiveness and defensiveness - neither a sound foundation for making wise decisions.  So I have learned to let letters written in the heat of the moment to linger for awhile in my desk drawer while I await for the angels of second-thoughts to appear.  I have learned to let the rash declaration and the first impression to linger awhile in my soul, waiting for those second-thought angels to provide me with their counsel.  I have learned that even first impressions and quick decisions that are right on target are strnegthened by the confirmation of those late-arriving angels -- their reassurance bestows confidence to the impulse of my rather imperfect human judgment.

So I am mighty thankful, as should we all, that Joseph chose to sleep on it for at least one angel-filled night of dreams.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, I could use one of your counseling angels to swing by some night ...

Friday, December 1, 2006
I Wonder as I Wander

"Jesus was born in Bethlehem during the time of King Herod.  About that time some magi from the East arrived in Jerusalem, asking, "Where might we find the newborn king of the Jews?  We have witnessed the rising of his star in the East and we have come to worship him."  ... After speaking with Herod, the magi continued their journey.  Once again the star appeared and guided the magi to Bethlehem." - Luke 2:1-2, 9

"I Wonder as I Wander."  I identify with that Christmas song.  For I myself do wonder as I wander - always have and I suppose I always will.

I get lost all the time.  I sometimes wonder if it might be some sub-conscious intention of my soul - but I find myself getting lost all the time.  And most of the time, I don't mind it all that much.  For a good share of the golden moments in my memory were created in those wanderings off from where I was intending to go. 

Life today is built to be lived on interstate highways at 70 mph or higher.  Get there quick; get there in a hurry.  Drive, drive, drive, as hard and efficiently as you can to get to your goal.  And I reckon that "success" is built on such a premise and principle.  But for myself, life is better on country roads at the pace of no more than 35.

When I was a boy we used to go for "drives" on Sunday afternoon.  We were never really going anywhere -- except going for a drive.  We would all of sudden take a turn on a side road we have never gone on before, for no other purpose to discover what was down that road.  More often than not, we discovered something good and golden.  Every now and then -- even here in the big city -- I will suddenly take a turn down a street simply for the sake of getting lost in a portion of the world I had never known before.

In the story of the Christmas magi, they came looking a prince in a palace.  Then a wandering star had them turn on to a country road to a village in the hills and there they came upon a stable and a child and something we call an experience of wonder.

When was the last time you had an experience of wonder?  Maybe - just maybe - it might be time to get off the interstate and wander for awhile.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, which road takes me to that village tucked away in the hills - you know - the place where I can smell the straw and see the stars and be caught in wonder once more ...

Thursday, November 30
In the Bleak Mid-Winter

"Then the wise men gave to the child, gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh." - Matthew 2:11

Of all the Christmas carols, my most cherished is "In the Bleak Mid-Winter" based on a poem by Christina Rosetti.  Its last stanza goes, "What can I give Him, Poor as I am?  If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb, If I were a wise man, I would do my part, Yet what I can, I give Him, Give my heart."

Christmas is about gifts and giving.  God's gift of His Presence in a Child and then in the Spirit of the Child, passed on is why Christmas is even with us.  The gift of the magi, the gift of stars turning into angels in the hopeful eyes of shepherds, the gift of a story we love to have told year after year, Christmas is about gifts.

And what are gifts?  Gifts are the unearned blessings we receive from the heart of another.  A true Christmas gift is born in the thought of someone who takes the care to imagine what gift would be the perfect gift for that special someone.  A true Christmas gift is something that says something both about the one who gives the gift and about the one who receives the gift.   The perfect gift is the gift that embodies something of two souls and brings them together in a moment of blessed grace.   Like Christmas itself - the Christchild was a gift that surely said something about the soul of God and said something about the soul of man. 

But what shall I give to Him?  I believe in Rosetti's thought - I give my heart.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, if I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb ... but I will bring ...

Monday, November 27, 2006
Zechariah's Angel

"When the priest Zechariah saw the angel standing at the right side of the altar of incense, he was overwhelmed with fear.  But the angel said to him, 'Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear a son and you will give him the name of John.  You will rejoice at his birth, along with many others, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord, being filled with the Holy Spirit, and he will will turn many to the Lord their God.  ... I am Gabriel.  I stand in the presence of the Lord, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news." - Luke 1

Christmas is filled with angels.  In the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, the angels appear here and there, to him and her, in dreams, in visions and even in the starry skies.  And today, angels still fill Christmas.  On the top of the Christmas trees and scattered throughout the children's Christmas pageants, angels appear.  Worldly singers who would never ever speak of angels will sing of angels in their newly released Christmas CDs.  Angels, angels, everywhere singing and looking beautiful, but do angels still speak to old men's souls like Zechariah and me and to young lady's souls like Mary and my brown-eyed niece?

Zechariah's angel gave him the shocking, good news that he would have a son.  So late in life, when having sons and daughters are not thought about any more, and even more so, not talked about for fear of remembering the loss of that which never was, Zechariah's angel brings hope.  But I would guess even more than the news of a son soon being born, but also the hopeful vision of what that newborn son would come to be about when he himself had become a man -- probably at a time when old Zechariah had himself, gone on. 

And that is the wonder of Zechariah's angel -- the angel gave the old man a dream to pursue so late in life, but not too late.

Angels are pretty good at doing this sort of thing -- bringing to our minds, dreams - even in the December of our time.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, I could use a visit from Gabriel this Christmas season ...

November 23, 2006
I Like Saying "Thank You"

"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.  Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.  Know that the Lord is God.  It is God who made us and not we ourselves; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.  Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.  For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." - Psalm 100

I like saying "Thank You."  The other day, I took notice of this.  I hadn't been aware of it before, but it is true.  I like saying "Thank You."  I feel respectful when I say thanks and, in turn, I somehow feel respected.  I feel well-mannered, somehow more civilized when I say thank you.  I feel valued and cherished when I offer a word of appreciation to another.  You would think it would be the other way around.  I think it has to do with empathy - I tend to feel what other people feel.  Maybe, I believe that God has created us to experience life - its wonders and its emotions, its worries and thoughts - together.

I was teaching an adult Sunday School class.  To illustrate the idea of God "commanding" us to rejoice, I started laughing for no apparent reason - no joke, no story, no particular cause.  It took only seconds for the whole class to be rolling with ever-increasing laughter. 

I find that saying a respectful and appreciative thank you tends to spread through a crowd as well.

One last question for this Thanksgiving Day ... We give thanks to God, but do you think God ever says a word of thanks to us?  If it is good to give thanks, then I think God must give thanks as well.   -- but without the turkey.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, I am thankful for ...

November 21, 2006
The Tidal Spirit

"Moses gathered the seventy elders around the tabernacle tent.  Then the Lord's Presence descended as cloud and settled upon the tabernacle.  The Lord then spoke to Moses.  Moses then shared with the elders some of the spirit that that had come upon him and then elders prophesied." - Numbers 11:24-25

The last time I drove by the bay, the water was high and the boats bobbed in the chop of the wind-driven waters.  But this morning, the tide was at its lowest ebb, the boats listing, aground upon the once-hidden sandbars.  When the tide rolls in the bay has a certain character and when the tide rolls out the bay takes on another - but when considered over time, the bay is both the ebb and the flow.

There are times when I wonder if the Spirit is not in some ways, tidal - if the Spirit does not have its ebb and flow.  Sometimes think that our Spirit-uality is only present at high tide. Sometimes we think that our Spirit-uality must then be absent at low tide.  But possibly, like the tidal life within the bay, our Spirit-uality includes both the ebb and the flow of God's Spirit within our human experience.   Quite possibly, the Spirit must ebb and flow within us in order to maintain the dynamic nature of authentic and deep Christian spirituality.  Maybe - yes, maybe, our souls need the waters of the Spirit to wash in from the sea and to wash out to the sea - in order, for our souls to teem with the freshness of life.

And so, if the tide of the Spirit is high, rejoice, hoist the sails, and make good time; if the tide of the Spirit is low, rejoice, mend the sails, and make good rest.  For the tide will rise again - once more.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, may Your Spirit be as living waters within me ...

Monday, November 20, 2006
The Story of the Ten Bridesmaids

Jesus told this parable.  The realm of God will be like ten bridesmaids with lanterns who went out into the night to welcome the bridegroom.  Five of the bridesmaids did not plan ahead, assuming that the groom would soon arrive.  The other five bridesmaids brought extra fuel just in case the groom might arrive later than expected.  And that is what happened, in fact, he was so late that they bridesmaids went to sleep.  When the groom finally arrived well after midnight, the bridesmaids went to light their lanterns but they had used up their oil.  Only the five bridesmaids who had brought extra oil were able to light the way for the groom.  By the time the other five bridesmaids returned with more oil, the wedding party had already begun.  So therefore, stay awake for you neither know the day or the hour that the realm of God shall arrive. -- Matthew 25:1-13 paraphrased

"Be ready," the coach would always tell the second-string players, "for you never know when your time will come."  This was the constant motivation our football coach would give those of us who sat the bench.  "Practice as if you were the starter, for you are but one play away from being the starter."  Was the coach simply trying to keep us second-stringers working?  Yes, but more than that.  -- it was true.  Third game of the season, Randy Roberts hobbled off the field.  "McWhinnie, " the Coach bellowed, "you're in!"  And I thought, "Lord, I'm playing!  And at that moment, I wished I had learned the new plays we had put in that week!"

I have always had a notion what Jesus was driving at with this story -- always be ready to meet your Maker for you never know that this may be the day!  But when I last read this parable I had to ask, "Just what is the oil that keeps our lantern burning bright?"

Faith?  Keeping your prayers of forgiveness up to date?  Walking the straight and narrow?  Just what is the oil that keeps our lantern burning bright?

The Spirit living within us?  The Word living within us?  The fervor and vigilance of one expecting the Lord's return?  Just what is the oil that keeps our lantern burning bright?

I am not all that sure, but lately it seems the oil - at least, for me - my love of Christ and Christ's love of me.  This keeps my lantern glowing bright.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, give me oil for my lamp, keep me burning, burning bright even in the darkness of the night ...

November 17, 2006
With a Soul Full of Stars

"While the stars sang in chorus and all the children of God shouted for joy." - Job 38:7

The space traveler in Arthur Clarke's sci-fi classic, "2001 A Space Odyssey" looks into the mysterious dark monolith and gasps, "My God, it's full of stars." 

I have been fascinated with the Creation story's mention that God filled the night skies with stars.  Such overwhelming extravagance to fill the sky with sea of stars, even stars we earthlings have yet to behold.  And so Arthur Clarke was quite correct, "it is full of stars", Creation, that is.

One clear, cool, moon-less December night I was taking my prayer walk.  And somehow that night the sky was jam-packed with stars.  The stars stopped in my steps more than once - as if they were calling for me.  In the midst of one of those star-beholding moments a thought passed my way,  "If the universe out there is filled with stars, might it be possible that the universe within my soul is filled with stars as well?"

What would it be like to have a soul filled with stars?  Your soul would need to vast indeed.  The darkness within the soul would always be muted by the soft night-light glow of the starlight.  The stars as they run their courses would measure and mark the passing days, the pole star could guide the seafarer within to its distant port-of-call.  But most of all, I find great strength in sensing that my soul is paradoxically much larger than the boundaries of my flesh and blood.  For when I stand beneath the star-filled sky - in a universe so large that even my thoughts cannot find its boundaries - I feel so small and so insignificant.  But if my soul is filled with stars as well, I begin to feel not so small, and I remember that in the Starmaker's eyes, I am not insignificant at all, I am a child of God and I shout for joy and I can hear a chorus of stars within me, singing.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, thank you for the stars ...

November 16, 2006
Fade to Gray

"How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!  My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord ..." - Psalm 84.1,2a

Josh Groban sings a lyric to a song called "February Song"-- "Where is that simple day before colors broke into shades; and how did I ever fade into this life?" 

How did I ever fade into this life?  Some lives are torn apart while other lives simply fade. 

The old, old man lived in an old, old house.  He lived alone and had lived alone for a long time.  The lady in the sepia toned wedding photograph had left long ago.  He had lived on.  For too many years, he believed, he lived on.  Every time I visited we sat on kitchen chairs with rusty metal legs and yellow vinyl seats at a table piled with aging newspapers and past issues of Reader's Digest.  The kitchen looked like one abandoned years ago -- much like the man.  Irv would show me ancient photographs pulled from a Buster Brown shoebox.  Each photo had a story, sometimes the story was the same story told many times before, sometimes the story changed from the one he told before.  Irv had been a baseball player, a dapper Dan, a war hero, a fire chief, a husband for forty years, a father for a couple of years, ... and all that had somehow faded away. 

One day, I came to visit.  The kitchen had new curtains, the sunlight flooded in through clean windows, the newspapers and magazines were gone.  As if a miracle had taken place - a housekeeping miracle.  The old house now seemed quaint and charming; the old man seemed not so old - especially in the red and orange Hawaiian print shirt he was wearing.

"Irv, what happened." 

He thought for a moment - "It's strangest thing - I woke up one morning and I thought, 'Lord, I'm tired of dying.'  So I went downtown and bought this here shirt.   Pretty spiffy, don't you think?"

"Yes, Irv, pretty spiffy!" 

Sometimes life calls for the wearing of the brightest Hawaiian shirt you can find -- for you can fade away, maybe not to black, but to gray, if you're not careful.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, when did I fade into this life I now have ...

November 15, 2006
On the Post Office Wall

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." - Matthew 5:8

I stood obediently in line waiting for my turn in the post office.  I never keep a surplus of first-class postage stamps.  I am not sure why, but I am always in need of one more stamp for my letters.  The line finally passed those classic WANTED posters.  I have seen them and ignored them dozens of times, but this one poster made me do a double-take.  "WANTED: Joseph Grendl: alias JESUS CHRIST."  What?  I lifted my glasses to inspect the tiny photograph.  "Well, I'll be ... he does look like Jesus!"

Now, my loved ones, think about what I just said.  How do I know what Jesus looks like?

One of the humblest moments in my life took place 31 years ago in one of my first pastorates.  I was visiting a lady, possibly eighty years of age.  She was a charming soul; she spoke with an enchanted and enchanting accent - Austrian, I believe.  When she spoke, her words sounded as if they fell off the pages of a children's fairy tale.  I believe it was on my third visit with Anna.  She was declining quickly, her days were becoming fewer, possibly even numbered.  Before I prayed, she reached up her hand to touch my face.  Then with a smile that somehow looked like how an angel might smile, she said, "You look like Jesus."

I was not sure what to do with that moment, but I have cherished it all these years.  To look like Jesus ... when in fact you don't look anything like the Jesus that you find in all those paintings in the Christian bookstore or in the pages of old Bibles ... is something quite humbling, quite wonderful.

I sense that Anna's seeing the Jesus in me was due far more to the quality of Anna's soul than to the quality of my soul.  Why would I say that?  "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."

I find this to be consistently true -- the godly tend to see the God present within other people -- maybe even in the souls of scoundrels like Joseph Grendl: alias Jesus Christ.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, come purify my soul that I might see thee more clearly ...

Tuesday, November 14, 2006
The Name of the Rose

"Jesus asked his disciples, 'Who do people say that I am?'  They answered him, "John the Baptist; Elijah; one of the prophets."  Then Jesus asked his disciples, But who do you say that I am?'  Peter answered, 'You are the Christ.'" - Mark 8: 27-29

"A rose by any other name is still a rose." So wrote the poet Browning.  Yet in our Church rose garden, each rose has its name.  The souls who lovingly create new varieties of roses seem to as lovingly give them names.   In my garden I have roses that have bestowed upon them names such as "Saint Patrick's", "Peace", "Old Gold".  Ah yes, they are all roses no matter their name; but each rose's enchantment deepens with the name bestowed them.

"Who do people say that I am?"  But far more significant to Jesus was the questioned that followed, "Who do say that I am?"  And Peter bestows a name upon his rabbi, "Christ - the anointed one."

Almost hidden, often overlooked, is a detail in the Creation story.  In Genesis 2 we are told that God brought each of the animals to be named by Adam.  The obvious understanding is that Adam gave each species a name in whatever Adam spoke!?   (I am not quite sure how he did the whales and the penguins, but that is a question for another time.) But a romantic understanding might be that Adam gave each critter in his garden a specific name.  A little far-fetched I suppose but why not?  It is said that God will call each of us by name like a good shepherd calls his sheep by name!

Jesus asks all of us and each of us, "Who do you say that I am?  No, not what other people might say, but who do YOU say that I am?"  This is one of those decisive moments in our relationship with Christ.  But I offer another question that ought to be asked, but this question we ask of Jesus.  "Jesus, who do YOU say that I am?  I have heard what other people have said, but I need to know, who do you say that I am?"

Why not take a few moments now and I ask that deeply personal question of the Lord who sits beside you?

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, some people say that I am like this and other people say I am like that, but who do see me to be ...

November 8, 2006
Rest

"My soul rests in God alone, from whom comes my salvation.  God alone is my rock and my salvation, my secure heights, I shall shall never fall." - Psalm 62:2,3

"My soul rests in God alone..." A thousand times and probably many more I have read these words, recited these words, even prayed these words, but only of late has life experience brought to them a deeper understanding.  (I find that the passing of years adds the third dimension, the dimension of depth, to the words of God.)    My doctors have advised me that I am in the early stages of a condition that requires well-disciplined "rest."  Now I suppose that a prescription to have more "rest" sounds pretty good.  Except -- I have always been an overworker.  My family upbringing really drilled into me the Protestant work ethic.  Add to that some unhealthy workaholic tendencies, a drive to succeed, be the best, and maybe to prove myself to others -- and you can see why the idea of "rest" has never been all that vital and virtuous to me.  Yet I have preached many a time on the Scripture... "My soul rests in God alone."

My father had two cats, Tiger and Boots.  Though looked alike, they were of very different natures.  Tiger was a shade on the grumpy side, a bit skittish, an instinctive hunter.  Boots was a rather laid-back cat, easy-going, playful, maybe some might call her a bit lazy.  When Tiger would nap, he would nap with "one eye open".  Make the slightest move and Tiger was at the ready!  When Boots would nap, he would slip into the deep, deep, sweet sleep of the innocent.   Momma could run the vacuum cleaner up next to Boots and Boots would just sleep away.  Tiger grew cranky in his later years; Boots grew loveable.

I read that Americans nowadays are sleep deprived.  I read also that Americans are stressed out.  I read that Americans are suffering burnout and exhaustion.

My grandfather was a dairy farmer.  He got up before sunrise and worked a long, hard day.  He would go to bed bone-tired.  But he always awoke the next morning rested.  Somehow he had gained the knack  of resting his soul in the peace of God -- to rest his soul in that high place where the worries and wolves of the day could never get to him. 

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, help me find that place in hills where the worries and the wolves can't get to me ...

November 7, 2007

Election Day!

"Let every person be obedient to the civil authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God." - Romans 13:1

For centuries in the European realms of Christendom, these words of Paul were the credo of the divine right of kings. Even today, the Queen of England is known as the Defender fo the Faith. But today is election day in the United States of America and our nation has never had much to do with the divine right of kings. Our belief is that the sovereign of our land is a combination of "We, the People" and the Constitution. Is there any room in our contemporary political thought for Saint Paul's teaching about the divine appointment of political authority?

Not long ago, in a former Church, an election day, now that I think of it, I had back-to-back conversations, so different yet so much the same. The first was a lady with fervor in her spirit who said to me, "Pastor, I just don't know how you can be both a Christian and a Republican!" The second was but a few minutes away - this time a gentleman delivered a stack of flyers endorsing a certain slate of candidates. He said with equal fervor, "Reverend, we in the Church need to back these Republican candidates. (and I quote) I just don't know how people can call themselves Christian and vote Democratic!"

Hmm. For that Democratic lady I quote Saint Paul. "Let every person be obedient to the civil authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God."For that Republican gentleman I quote Saint Paul."Let every person be obedient to the civil authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God." This teaching seems to apply most effectively in a nation such as America - in a land where we, the people, vote. Once the ballots are cast, once the votes are tallied, we work together, we discourse together, we come to those compromises that serve the common good while respecting the light available to each citizen.

I am suspecting that Christ is neither Republican nor Democrat and has concerns with all parties and politicians -- and possibly all citizens. But I do know that God will hold us accountable for both how wisely we govern ourselves. And I think Jesus might ad this word - "I pray that those elected will conduct themselves on a higher plane than they did in the process of getting elected."

PRAYER FOCUS: Lord, I pray for both candidates for political office and those who vote for them ...

Monday, November 6, 2006
The Dove and the Wind

"And Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River.  And when Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens open and the Holy Spirit descending like a dove upon him." - Mark 1:10

"Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roar of a mighty wind.  The sound of it filled the house where the disciples had gathered.  Then, what looked like flames and settled on each person.  They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages." - Luke 2:2-4a

Upon Jesus the Holy Spirit settled like dove upon a branch; upon the disciples the Holy Spirit settled on them like wind and fire. 

I have been to places where the Holy Spirit generated a good deal of shouting!  And I have been to places where the Holy Spirit generated a good deal of holy quiet.

Some souls are like a mighty wind and a blazing fire; my soul is more like a dove settling gently in a summer field.  And after all these decades of pastoring, I find the Spirit of God tends to settle on souls in keeping with the nature of those souls themselves.  Those souls filled with wind and fire are most often inspired by the wind and fire of God.  While the quiet, gentle souls are most often inspired by the doves that drift down from heaven.

I recall an exhibition at an art museum.  Several artists were commissioned to paint an ancient, sprawling oak tree.  As I strolled past the paintings, I was amazed, intrigued, even puzzled by the wide diversity of interpretation.  All the artists had gazed upon the same majestic oak, yet each put to canvas something so vividly distinctive from all the others.  The oak tree remained the same, the constant, the eternal.  It was the souls of the artists that created the difference.

Look not to the crowds about you to find the Holy Spirit -- neither the hushed crowd in the ancient cathedral nor the shouting crowd in the modern worship center -- look to God who comes to settle on your soul, in your way, in your time.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, either like a dove or like a mighty wind ... settle deep within the soul of my life ...

November 1, 2006
A Cup of Vegetable Soup

"A woman of Samaria came to draw water from the well.  Jesus approached her and asked, "Could you give me a drink of water?" - John 4:7

Most local church pastors make hospital rounds.  In our congregation, I receive a list of our folks known to be in the hospitals around town.  I had made a number of stops at various hospitals.  You search for a parking place; check in at the Information Desk.  "Mrs. Sally Jones, please."

The volunteer behind the desk searches for the name.  "She's in room 511.  Second hallway turn left.  The elevators will be on the right." 

"Thank you, ma'am." 

You make your way across the always shiny tile floors.  You push the arrow up button.  Wait for awhile, watching the digital numbers above the door telling you the bad news.  The elevator is going up, not down.  I push the button again - I know it doesn't help, but it gives me something to do.  Finally the door opens.  I check the number once more.  511. The nurse carrying her salad lunch looks at me to silently ask which floor.  "Fifth floor, please." 

After those few socially awkward moments as the elevator makes its trek, the door mercifully opens and step into the realm of the fifth floor.  The chart on the wall points left-ward to the rooms 501-515.  I count down the rooms.  515-513-511.  I knock.  "Sally?"

"Yes." 

I find an older lady, looking a bit confused as to who I might be.  "Reverend McWhinnie from Pasadena Church."  My answer doesn't seem to help with her confusion.  I make gentle inquiries as to how she is doing.  Not much of an answer.  I keep trying.  Not much progress.  She seems depressed.  I ask casually almost thoughtlessly, "Is there anything I could do for you?"

She takes time to seriously consider my offer.  "I'd like a cup of vegetable soup." 

I don't think I had ever had that response to that question in my 34 years of pastoring.  I thought, "But I don't a cup of vegetable soup."  Then not where to go with that request, I said,  "I'll see what I can do!  But for the moment, could I pray with you?" 

"No, I'd rather have a cup of vegetable soup."

And how I wish I had that cup of vegetable soup.  Sometimes Pastors have what folks need and sometimes we have to ask the cook.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, I pray that tonight the hospital has vegetable soup on the menu ...

Monday, October 30, 2007
The Name of God

"And Jesus said to his disciples, 'I have made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them." - John 17:26

To know the name of God. 

When I come to a new church, I meet a sea of faces.  Even when I shake their hand or share a moment's conversation, they remain unknown, strangers unto me, until I know their name.  Like the doorknob of a house is a person's name to me.  Once I can call them by name, I seem to able to enter the inner realm of that person- that vast undiscovered country of the soul within that name.

But by what name do I address God?  The Bible mentions many names - some quite enigmatic, some quite descriptive, even one name which is never spoken.  Jesus addressed God as "Father".  Is that the name Jesus made known to his disciples?  Or was there yet another name?

Some live with a God who is much like a stranger with no name.  They sense God out there - but they never seem to know God one on one.  And that does seem to be the spiritual watershed among human souls - those who call God by name and those who don't.  Those who do, enter into the inner realm of God's soul; those who don't, keep wondering just what life might be like on the other side of that door.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, Father, God Almighty, Yahweh, my name is ...

Friday, October 27, 2006
Behold My Heart

"The Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not judge him by his appearance or by his lofty status  ... but the Lord looks into the heart.' " - I Samuel 16:7

Ecce Cor Meum, "Behold my Heart" is the title of a beautiful and stirring sacred, classical work composed by Sir Paul McCartney.  Yes, the Paul McCartney of the Beatles, now forty years older.  He once wrote songs from a playful, young lover's heart; now he composes songs from a heart who have lived long enough to know sorrow and the approach of immorality. 

Ecce Cor Meum, Behold my Heart.  He writes, "Behold this heart of mine, See the sun within it shine, Reveal this heart of mine, Let me discover love divine, Love within in my heart, Let me behold my inner joy, Help me to reveal my inner light."

The story of Christ is the story of God revealing his heart.  In the giving of Christ to us, God is crying out to us, "Behold my heart."  Look beyond the majesty, look beyond the thunder, look beyond the power and awesome moral necessity -- and behold my heart.

And what greater desire is there in our own souls than to say to others - even to God - "Behold my heart."

My words fail me, my actions confound me, but behold my heart.  To have that someone who truly does behold our heart is to know what it means to be deeply loved.

PRAYER FOCUS:  Lord, I do behold your heart and I rejoice at the luxurious grace that I find there ... allow me to rest in the velvet of Your soul ... and Lord, Behold my Heart ...