Tag Archives: Comfort

God with Us

Advent
December 24, 2018

Scripture Reading: Luke 1:39-55

And Mary said,‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
   Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
   and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
   from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
   he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
   and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
   and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
   in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
   to Abraham and to his descendants forever.’ –Luke 1:46-55

It is Christmas Eve and my time usage has caught up to me as I write this on the day it must be posted. I needed to read what is now called the Magnificat today. The world is too much with [me]. I notice I quote these words of William Wordsworth often. It helps to synthesize all the assaults of the principalities and powers into one as I hand them to God who in the final analysis, according to this poem, has ultimate control over all that is so disconcerting. What always puzzles me is what I deem assaults on God’s way, others interpret as God’s will. How do we reconcile such division?

I find myself more and more in times of meditation desiring just to sit in the presence of Christ as it brings me comfort. I have an interesting struggle with my own trinity which actually has four, not three parts. You may experience me stumbling around in these writings as I pick the right one to represent what I am trying to say. God the Creator, the omnipotent one, who is love and the very source of love is one. Jesus, God in human form, setting examples, showing the way is another. The Holy Spirit is my guide and advocate. Christ to me is the all-powerful one full of Grace and truth. I guess I am in great need at this time in my life for the comfort of such power as exemplified in the Magnificat.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for your enduring presence and your assurance provided in ancient manuscripts that you are the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow and you are stronger than all those principalities and powers. Amen.

“Do you not care?”

Under his wingsLiving in the Spirit
June 20, 2015

Scripture Reading: Mark 4:35-41

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ –Mark 35-38

My mother was a notorious back seat drivers. It never seemed to bother my Dad. He was a good driver. Didn’t need the help. I think he rather found it attractive. Her children did not.

Mom had received a call from her sister saying her mother, my grandmother, had suffered a massive stroke and they did not know if she would survive. My dad was sick, at the time also, and could not take Mom. She called me and I drove her to Arkansas and her mother. While there, my grandmother stabilized, but we received word that my father was sicker. So with a weather forecast predicting ice, we hurriedly packed and headed home hoping the beat the freezing hazard. There were virtually no other cars on the road, and that was lucky for me. The drizzle was getting heavier and when I braked to stop at a light in Sapulpa, I did not stop, sliding completely through the intersection. The drizzle had turned to ice. An amazing thing happened on that treacherous sixty or so miles further on the journey home, my mother never once called out a panicked instruction. I am sure she was praying with all her might, but I think she knew intuitively that her calm would rub off on me. A mile or so before reaching Drumright, I topped the hill on what was then Highway 33, lost control of the car and plowed deep into the ditch burying my front axle. I swear it wasn’t two minutes later when a man knocked on my window, said he was in a winch truck, and thought he could pull me out and he did. He followed me to a service station as the ice turned to snow and the road became straighter. I have always identified that man as an angel. We made it home safely.

The answer is yes, Jesus does care about our perishing, all aspects of our lives actually, and no matter the outcome of the journey, even if we do not make it home safely, I have the confidence that He is with me all the way. I hope you feel that too.

Prayer: Lord I thank you for your abiding presence. 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 American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

Bringing Comfort

Syrian RefugeesAdvent
December 1, 2014

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 40:1-10

Comfort, O comfort my people,
   says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
   and cry to her
that she has served her term,
   that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
   double for all her sins. — Isaiah 40:1-2

What have we done to deserve this? It is an age old question. One that most of us end up asking at one time or another. For those of us who identify our allegiance with God the Creator and Sustainer of all Life, Jesus Christ our Savior, and the Spirit of Righteousness, the question most often results in a review of our sins. The prophet in our scripture today has conducted such a review for his people and declared that they have paid twice the price than was required for their sins.

I watched interviews on the news recently of Syrian families who had escaped into Jordan because they were being starved to death as a tool of war seeking to return them to the subjugation of their current ruler. I wondered what they could possibly have done that deserved such treatment.

As individuals we are called to invest time in becoming right with God in all ways at all times but it does not stop there. We are called to community with all of God’s children and we all bear responsibility for the well-being of each other. When some chose to prosper at the expense of others, it summons the resources of all the nations to seek justice for God’s children who cannot stand alone against such mistreatment. The greater challenge is: do we allow the perpetrators to draw us into their ways in our response or can we find a better way that heals all nations. And can we find and implement that better way in time that no more children are dying in the sands of a desert as they escape certain death in their own homes.

Prayer: Come, Lord Jesus, come and open our hearts to new ways of being that bring comfort to the oppressed and truth and righteousness to the oppressor. 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 American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.