I believe it has lead me closer to that inner light of truth which is within us all – the very DNA of God’s image that was placed in us billions of years ago at the first breath of creation that exploded all life into being.
In explaining the difference between “spirit” and “flesh,” or human understanding and the divine, Jesus said, “ What is flesh is flesh and what is the Spirit is Spirit.” We have to discern between the two. He tells an inquisitive man, “We feel the wind, yet we cannot see it, we do not know where it comes from or where it is going, same is true about the Spirit.” We can feel it (in our gut or on our skin), we can see it’s effects (wind rustling the leaves and ripples on water) and even know what causes wind to move, but we don’t really know where it first comes from anymore than we can control where it’s going. If a raccoon wants to waddle through my yard in search of food or water, that raccoon will do it and no security light is going to stop him. The same is true about a burglar. Likewise, if God is going to come to you, because God desires to be with you, then God will come. God breaks through your deepest, darkness places to bring us the light of the world. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:5). Each time that security light turns on I know the Spirit of God is with me – protecting me, and filling my heart with peace. And as I feel compelled to look out the window to see God out there, I must remember to look a little closer...at the reflection in the glass...and I will see and know God within me. Prayer: Loving God, shine your divine light upon my deepest, darkest secrets and fears so I might see your great works and begin to truly shine for you and for your world. Amen.
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In the segment a woman is sitting on the ground prepared to pet a baby elephant who approaches her like a cat or dog might do – nudging his head into her chest as a show affection. It seems the strength of the elephant was too much for the woman as she is knocked over into the muddy ground. Where most would be afraid, Ms. Frenchick erupts into a fit of laughter. This seems to trigger more joy in the elephant who wants more hugs and cuddles. When she begins to show her own affection towards the animal, the baby elephant seems to slip in the mud and falls on the woman’s lap. However, I like to think it was purposeful. Something one might see when a baby runs and jumps onto her parent’s lap. This of course causes more laughter, which triggers more joyous affection. It also triggered something in all of us walking laboriously on our treadmills. Laughter and smiles – the universal symbols of human joy. As I looked down the line of people, all eyes were focused on this one television set. The man next to me laughed out loud. Looking at the words on the close captioning it seems one of the newscasters reported, “Boy, does that look messy.” And it was.
Love is messy. God proves that to us in so many ways by coming to us and loving us in our messiness. And does so with great exuberance and joy. As I watched the segment I wasn’t sure which one, the elephant or the woman, would best represent God. On one hand, God is the elephant whose love knocks us over and causes us to react with joyous laughter. On the other hand, God is the woman who welcomes the baby into her lap and embraces us with such surprising joy. Either way, love abounds in ways that seem counter to who we try to be as guarded or overly protective humans. Perhaps you can take some time out of your day and think of a way that you can greet a person in your life with such welcoming love. And then show that love to that person. Drop your defense mechanisms and let down your guard to allow love in - mentally, physically or spiritually. I believe that it’s in such actions that we are not only able to receive God’s love but to also give it. Who knows, you might surprise someone to react as we all did at the gym or the way God does when we come jumping into love. That is to say, with awe and joy. Prayer: Dear God, thank you for loving us in all our messiness. Help me to offer that same love, with the same joy that you give to us. Amen. St Ignatius remarks that love is found in deeds rather than in words. Jesus praises good deeds over good intentions that are not carried out. I pray to be like a good servant who does the work assigned me by God. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love.”“Lord have mercy on me, was the kneeling drunkards plea. And as he knelt there on the ground, I know that God in heaven looked down.” In 1996, Johnny Cash sang this remake of the Carter Family song, "Kneeling Drunkard's Plea." In it, God hears the cry of a man kneeling at his mother’s grave. For whatever personal reasons, he didn’t make it in time to say good-bye. But he shouts up to God for mercy, and God looks down upon him. Depending on how you see yourself this song, or at least the portion I read, God’s mercy could be interpreted in two ways. The first way is that God looks down upon the drunk, and shakes his head in disgust. God then picks up an index card and a pencil, and begins to scribble down all the sins this drunk had committed in his life. God then he hands the card to an angel who rushes it to a gigantic warehouse filled with countless white cards just like this one. It's here they are all safely stored there until that fateful day when the drunk is brought before God in judgment. That’s one way of interpreting the Bible and Christianity. The other way is more like this. God looks down on the drunk and sees a man, empty, broken and in dire need of help. God feels the man’s pain, and has empathy. When God hears the man crying over his mother’s grave, He can't help but be reminded of all the tears shed at his son’s death. God knows the drunkard’s story, because he has walked with people just like him. People whose bad choices...have made their life a living hell. So in hearing the man cry out, “Lord, have mercy on me,” God pulls out his pencil and begins to erase the man’s index card. Ever since Abel’s blood cried out from the ground, God has responded mercifully to our pleas. This is exactly what Psalm 51 is all about: God’s Mercy. More than a poem or a song of praise, I often turn to this passage when I offer up prayers for healing and spiritual renewal. However, this is not your typical prayer either. Each stanza is a cry of passion and pain. Every word hungers for grace and salvation. Simply reading it or reciting it won’t cut it. It needs to be wailed from a place in your heart where you dare not go. You have to vocalize the pain and suffering. For our hearts to heal, we must first be honest about their brokenness. But there’s more to this psalm than a plea for forgiveness. There’s a plea for re-creation – to be cleansed, restored, washed and made new again. The key to our healing and renewal is, of course, God’s creative mercy and grace. Only the creator of all life is able to take the dust of our broken hearts and regenerate abundant life. I want you to imagine writing all the sins you’ve committed over the last 24 hours on an index card, and then handing it over to God. Now if you understand God to be a vindictive judge who holds every sin you’ve ever done in some filing cabinet, then you might be reluctant to give your card over to God. This perception has caused many of us to carry fear in our heart. Its like whatever you did has made you somehow ugly and unforgivable. To quote the band Mercy Me, “No matter the bumps, no matter the bruises, no matter the scars, still the truth is the cross has made you flawless.” How better off would the world be, if we stopped hiding from God and instead started crying out to God with a loud voice? Brennan Manning says, “Jesus comes for sinners, for us who are outcast, or caught up in squalid choices and failed dreams.” That’s pretty much the sum of the gospel. Just as he came to the blind and the lame, the lepers and the demon possessed, Jesus loves the prostitute who prays to her Sunday School God to help her find a different job so she can support her 2-year-old daughter. He comes to love corporate executives, dope-sick addicts, lonely teachers, burned out bartenders, tired social workers, IRS agents, EMTs, janitors, AIDS patients, frustrated caretakers, movie stars, sports stars, the unknown, and the unwanted. This list is endless, because there's no ending to God's love. Jesus comes to you...he comes to me. He does not come to condemn us to the hell we find ourselves in. He comes to break bread with us; to talk and pray with us; to heals us, tolerates us, and of course, to do unthinkable for us. Our of great love, Jesus gives himself up as a servant and sacrifice for all. At the end of the day, what God desires the most isn't an index card...but a relationship with you and me. It’s been said, "If God condemned every sinner then who would he have left to forgive?" God gave his son to restore the joy of our salvation and to put a new and right spirit within us. We must be like the psalmist who trusts God enough to cry out in pain, and to seek God for compassion and mercy. His cries are inspiration for us all to turn to the words of the prophet Jeremiah, “from the least to the greatest, says the Lord, I will forgive their iniquities and remember their sin no more.” God knows what we have done. But do we know what God can do? God forgets so we can remember to live anew, without the shame and guilt of our past, or without fear of meeting God in the future. This psalm is often used by the Church on Ash Wednesday as a way for us to begin Lent with a clean and contrite heart. But I chose to it for today, as we enter our last week of our Lenten journey before Holy Week, because we continue to discover stuff about ourselves in this spiritual practice. Lent is time for training our hearts and eyes to focus on a God who meets us in our brokenness, and loves us into holiness. God meets our grief with grace; our pain with the great paradox that our salvation will come through our suffering, not in spite of it. Let us leave here today remembering the cries of the psalmist, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love.” In the final verse Johnny Cash joyfully proclaims, “Three years have passed since she went away. Her son is sleeping beside her today. And I know that in heaven his mother he sees, for God has heard that drunkard's plea.” Now if that isn't Good News, then “Lord, have mercy on me.” Works Cited Bartlett, David L., Barbara Brown Taylor, ed. Feasting on the Word, Year B, Vol. 3. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009. Manning, Brennan. The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat Up, and Burnt Out. Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books, 2005. Each Sunday represents a mini-Easter, which means we take the day off to celebrate Jesus' resurrection and what that means in your life. As you ponder that important event, I give you this beautiful video to watch. The singer is Audrey Assad, whose angelic voice brings to life the great hymn Be Thou My Vision.
When I listen to this song it is hard for me NOT to picture God's angel's singing this to me like divine sirens drawing me out of the wilderness and closer to God. I hope that it will have the same effect on you. Happy Sunday. if you have trouble linking to the video, cut and paste this url into your web browser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXDhCEnM-bQ Lorica of st. PatrickI arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through a belief in the Threeness, Through confession of the Oneness Of the Creator of creation. I arise today Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism, Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial, Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension, Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom. I arise today Through the strength of the love of cherubim, In obedience of angels, In service of archangels, In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward, In the prayers of patriarchs, In preachings of the apostles, In faiths of confessors, In innocence of virgins, In deeds of righteous men. I arise today Through the strength of heaven; Light of the sun, Splendor of fire, Speed of lightning, Swiftness of the wind, Depth of the sea, Stability of the earth, Firmness of the rock. I arise today Through God's strength to pilot me; God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me, God's word to speak for me, God's hand to guard me, God's way to lie before me, God's shield to protect me, God's hosts to save me From snares of the devil, From temptations of vices, From every one who desires me ill, Afar and anear, Alone or in a mulitude. I summon today all these powers between me and evil, Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul, Against incantations of false prophets, Against black laws of pagandom, Against false laws of heretics, Against craft of idolatry, Against spells of women and smiths and wizards, Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul. Christ shield me today Against poison, against burning, Against drowning, against wounding, So that reward may come to me in abundance. Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me, Christ in the eye that sees me, Christ in the ear that hears me. I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through a belief in the Threeness, Through a confession of the Oneness Of the Creator of creation St. Patrick (ca. 377) Colleen and Sean at the Guinness Factory in Dublin, Ireland, 2014
Good lighting is the key to finding real beauty in life.
Think about it, God’s first official act was calling light into being. And then declaring it good! Like God, light is both beautiful and mysterious. It can be separated into many colors but yet remains one. So it should be of no surprise that Jesus uses the analogy of light to describe his divinity in light of his humanity. He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Jesus is the divine light that dispels the darkness and illumines our way. When life is cold or scary, he is warm and comforting. And, of course, his divine presence exposes the dangers that might trip us up. He is the light that is essential to our growth and wellbeing. As I sought to take a picture of the glowing weeds, I began to see Jesus in a new light. With its dirt and filth, an alleyway is a place we tend to avoid – but Jesus never did. He does not try to avoid those places, but instead shines his light on the broken glass and weeds – and on us. In his light we are able to see ourselves differently, the way God sees us, beautiful in our brokenness and filth. Lent is a time to not only walk in the darkness but to do so as the light of Christ. He was the one who tells you that, “You are the light of the world. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to the entire house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” Prayer: God of Light and Love, illuminate my mind to Christ, and his Spirit who came to us in the form of fire on Pentecost. Let me use the gift of this day to follow their lights, as I look forward to eternal light in God's kingdom where “Night will be no more, nor will they need light from lamp or sun, for the Lord God shall give them light” (Rev. 22:5). Amen.
Lent is a time to take a look in the mirror and see how God is present in your life. While my tattoos recall the crazy adventures of my past, or the well-disguised line across my neck speaks to my future, every cut, bruise, scar, grey hair or memory I have, is a life marker that screams out, “I am important to God.”
Dan Allender writes, “Take seriously the story that God has given you to live. It’s time to read your own life, because your story is the one that could set us all ablaze.” The one thing all humans have in common is we all have a story to tell. And somewhere in yours, God is at work writing a great plot with a fantastic ending. Better yet, Jesus shares our story, just as we share in his. He knows what it’s like to be betrayed, to be hurt, or to feel abandoned. He also knows what it’s like to love and be loved, to forgive and to be forgiven, to give and to receive. Being a part of Jesus’ story means our personal story will end in victory – our final chapter concludes with each one of us fulfilling our God-given destiny. Your life may have begun “Once upon a time.” But thanks to our blessed Lord and Savior, all of our stories can end the same way: “They lived happily ever after.” Prayer: God of my light and life, thank you for writing me into your story. As each day brings a new adventure, a new plot twist, or dramatic surprise, help me to live out the words that you have written on my heart. Amen.
As part of an initiation into a martial arts group, the instructor reminds Randall that, “the world is not an easy place, especially for [black] men like us.” He then invites Jack to get into a push-up position, and tells Randall to lie down on his father’s back. “Jack you’re back was built to carry your son through life. Are you willing to hold him up no matter what comes his way? To raise him to be a strong man, to be the best in the world that he can be; to lift him to greater heights even if it hurts?” With each question, Jack does a push up. And with each push up, my heart wells up with emotions as tears stream down my face. It’s a beautiful mess…but then again, This Is Us. And God loves us in all our messiness. I think what gets me about this scene is that it reminds me of how has God’s grace and love has carried me. Just as Jack shows Randall that he is willing to carry him through life – no matter what – God gave us the same promise when he sent Christ to carry us and shoulder our sin. This Is Us in God’s grace. God didn’t pick the best of the people to call his own; God made a promise to carry all of us, even if we can offer nothing in return. Such faithfulness is sometimes hard to understand. We often prefer the idea of karma, in that what we do will come back to us. God’s love and grace refuses to play by the rules of reciprocity, fairness, and evenhandedness. In a 2010 interview, Bono of the band U2 had this to say: “Grace upended all that “as you reap, so you will sow” stuff…Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff.” Moreover, it is by God’s grace alone that we are adopted into God’s family, and can participate in God’s redemption and restoration to the world. The grace we receive is shared in the world. It empowers us to love others with the love of Christ that was given to us. Such love can be overwhelming - causing tears to well up and spill out from time to time. If and when that happens, I invite you to climb on the back of God who holds you, carries you, and lifts you up to be the best “you” that you were meant to be. Prayer: Holy Parent, in your divine mercy, you have given me another day of grace. Allow me to not only receive it into my heart but to pass it on to others so that they too might be overwhelmed by your love and become your child in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Knowledge isn’t everything. The Internet is full of knowledge. Libraries are too. I hold a few degrees in various disciplines, and have spent years accumulating bits of information that help me do the jobs I’ve set out to do. But what good is this knowledge if I don’t actually do anything with it? Action is also required if we want to put that knowledge to good use. I need to call a repairman or fix it myself. I need to physically change the direction of the sprinklers or simply shut them off. I know if I don’t do anything the door is going to remain open and the only thing that will happen is the problem will get worse. Knowing God is kind of the same, don’t you think? We can look around the world and see “God” throughout creation. While knowing and recognizing God in your midst is a good thing, knowledge alone isn’t going to mean much if you ignore what God is calling you to do. I like to remind people that faith is a verb, and thus it requires us “to do.” Lent is a time to take some kind of action that will better your life, or bring you closer to God or to discover what God is calling your to do. What might that be? If you want to get the knowledge then you have to do the work of finding, praying, contemplating, fasting, and asking. It’s in the doing that we move from belief (knowing) to faith (doing). When asked what the most important commandment was, Jesus boils all 611 down to “Love God and love your neighbor: there is no commandment greater than these.” These echo the words (knowledge) of a famous rabbi from Jesus’ days, Rabbi Hillel, who said to an overzealous young rabbinical student in Judea, “What you find hateful do not do to another. This is the whole of the law. Everything else is commentary.”
Both men taught, knowing the law was good, but living the law in the way you live your life is what God is calling you to do. Saying you love someone is not nearly as effective as showing someone how you love them; be it God or a neighbor. In Revelations, John reports Jesus as saying, “ Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.” His words make me think of my garage door a little differently (knowledge). Perhaps God wants it, like my hearts and mind, to remain open (action). This way it can always be open and ready to do what it was designed to do best, be an open invitation “to be” in the presence of the Lord where we gain more wisdom. Prayer: God, your Spirit has awoken something in me. I pray that today it will move me to act upon it in a way that will bring glory to your name. Amen. |
Ian MacdonaldAn ex-copywriter turned punk rock pastor and peacemaker who dedicates his life to making the world a better place for all humanity. "that they all might be one" ~John 17:21“Prius vita quam doctrina.”
~ St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) * “Life is more important than doctrine.”
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