Tag Archives: Caring for Others

Interdependence

Living in the Spirit

September 10, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 15:1-10

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’

So he told them this parable: ‘Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance. –Luke 15:1-7

My brother and I talk via phone most Saturdays. One Saturday morning in the spring during calving season, the first thing he said after hello was that he had just come in from walking the pasture as one of his new calves was not with its mother, and he could not find it. The next week he reported that he had not found it after a few days fearing the worst had happened, but he kept looking, and on the third or fourth day he walked out to the barnyard, and there was the mother cow and the calf together. All seemed well. My brother is a retired lineman, but in his heart, he has always been a farmer. He lives on our family farm. We had a small dairy when I was a child, and my mom always had a beautiful garden. My first job was feeding the chickens and gathering eggs. People who grow up on a farm get a degree in reality about life and death, about the necessity of doing the work in the rain or sunshine on a regular schedule, and that all people and animals matter–good life lessons for anyone. I was also the kid who turned every calf into a pet and ran crying and yelling behind the pickup when dad took a steer to the butcher, “Please do not kill Smokie; I love Smokie.” I also ate the roasts and steaks and hamburgers, which dad picked up a few days later.

Jesus’ audience was well acquainted with the importance of a missing lamb. God created an interdependent world where all things matter. We are charged with the responsibility of being the best person we can be as God created us to be, but also, being engaged in supporting others as they fulfill their purpose in God’s Beloved Community.

Prayer: Lord, help us to see the beauty of your image in each person we encounter as we work to live your love.  Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Storms of Life

Eastertide

MIDWEST CITY, UNITED STATES: Homes outside the direct path of a tornado (top) remain intact while those in the path are destroyed in Midwest City, Ok, 05 April 1999, two days after tornadoes ripped through this area killing more than 40 people and injuring hundreds. AFP PHOTO Tannen MAURY (Photo credit should read TANNEN MAURY/AFP/Getty Images)

May 5, 2021

Scripture Reading: Psalm 98

O sing to the Lord a new song,
   for he has done marvelous things.
His right hand and his holy arm
   have gained him victory.
The Lord has made known his victory;
   he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
   to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
   the victory of our God. Psalm 98:1-3

The 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado was a large and exceptionally powerful F5 tornado in which the highest wind speeds ever measured globally were recorded at 301 ± 20 miles per hour (484 ± 32 km/h) by a Doppler on Wheels (DOW) radar*.

Living in Oklahoma for the bulk of my life, I am well acquainted with tornadoes. When I was a child, there were few reliable early warning systems. My dad would stand on the porch with eyes on the sky and his ear to the weather forecaster who was doing the best he or she could alert us about coming danger. Dad would at times turn to my mother and say, “Get the kids. We had better go to the cellar.” We were whisked away, often in the pouring rain and high winds, and huddle together in our cellar. Our hearing was our only measure of and all clear. Most nights, we would climb up the steps into gentle rain or a sky full of stars and the moon. That memory probably came to my mind because the anniversary of the May 3 Bridge Creek-Moore tornado has been all over the news. Thank God we do have better warning systems now. Even so, 36 people were killed in that tornado, and over 500 more were injured. Damage estimates exceeded a billion dollars.

Life during the COVID pandemic has been somewhat like huddling together in that cellar only with masks and no social distancing. Glimmers of hope that we are reaching herd immunity soon make me think we will climb those steps and appreciate a beautifying world again.  First, we must all do our part to get vaccinated and follow healthy practices until we get an all-clear. Second, we must teach what we learned through this experience and make the changes needed to ensure that such a pandemic never catches us off guard and unprepared again. We also must recognize the worth of every person in our society—from medical staff to janitors, researchers to cashiers as we work toward a world where everyone has enough to meet their basic needs, including quality, accessible, and affordable health care.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for your presence with us through the storms of life. Continue to guide us as we seek more and better ways to care for all your children.  Amen.

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Bridge_Creek%E2%80%93Moore_tornado

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Servants of the Living God

Living in the Spirit
June 14, 2017

Scripture Reading: Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19

O Lord, I am your servant;
   I am your servant, the child of your serving-maid.
   You have loosed my bonds.
I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
   and call on the name of the Lord.
I will pay my vows to the Lord
   in the presence of all his people,
in the courts of the house of the Lord,
   in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!—Psalm 116:6-19

I honestly do not know what point the Psalmist is trying to make by self-attesting to being a servant and the child of a serving-maid. Perhaps he is identifying with one in poverty or maybe one humbling himself before God. When I read it, however, I immediately think of my mother as a servant of God. She was not the typical serving-maid by profession, but she had the heart of one who wanted to make all things good for the others who crossed her way. She was a deaconess, a teacher, a social worker, and a leader. Hard work and perseverance were her standard practices. She passed on her trust in God to all three of her children and while we God graced each of us with gifts differing we are all children of one of God’s serving-maids.

What are we passing on to our children? What examples do we see in their behavior that reflects our influences? The questions are for all, not just parents or grandparents. Children are like sponges they take in all that surrounds them. I held my six-week-old great grandniece yesterday for the first time. Her bright blue eyes were recording everything. Will they see us loving our neighbors or making fun of them, will they see us welcoming the stranger or chasing them away, will they see us supporting peace through love or peace through violence? There future in many ways is in our hands. Let us vow and keep our vow to model God’s love in all that we do.

Prayer: Lord, help us realize that we are all role models whether we know it or not. Help us to see ourselves as the little ones see us. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the new Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

God’s Way

Epiphany
February 13, 2017

Scripture Reading: Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18

You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the Lord your God.

 You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another. And you shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God: I am the Lord.

 You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning. You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling-block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the Lord. –Leviticus 19:2b, 9-13

The Hebrew word for holy or sacred as translated in Leviticus 19:2 means separate from human infirmity, impurity, and sin.* It is of God and set apart from what might be considered normal human responses to life situations. Our scripture today outlines examples of such behavior. Leaving some grain in the fields for the poor to eat hearkens to the story of Ruth who was gathering such grain in Boaz’s field when she caught his eye, and he ordered his workers to be generous with what was left.

One of the challenges of being holy is not becoming holier than thou. By trying to live in a manner set forth by a higher power, it is too easy to equate being holy with being better than those who do not practice the holy ways. God’s recommended way corresponds to the way best suited for our well-being since God designed and created us. Being holy makes us whole not better than someone else.

We must find the root purpose in the stories of God’s ways described in the Bible and apply them to current practices. If one tried to glean grain in a field today with a scythe, he or she might be run over by a combine. We continue to feed the hungry while trying to maintain their dignity. Stealing, cheating, and lying are still in vogue today. I guess some things never change. It seems we do not take them as seriously as God does. It’s a human thing I guess.

Prayer: Lord, make us whole and humble in all aspects of our lives. Amen.

*Strong’s Concordance see at http://biblehub.com/hebrew/6918.htm

All scriptures quoted are from the new Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.