Tag Archives: Future

Children are Our Future

Jesus-and-poor-childrenAdvent
December 22, 2015

Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26

Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and with the people. –1 Samuel 2:26

Shouldn’t this scripture be our goal for every child? Don’t we want all children to grow up healthy and strong and in the favor with adults? Yet we live in a country were children are not of primary concern to either the people or the government of the people that represent us. Just look at poverty and children. Contrary to common myth the vast majority of children have parents who work at some point during a given year, around 90%*, but 28% of US children are recipients of some type of what we call public assistance*. Seventy percent of children are eligible for free or reduced participation in the school lunch program**. The school lunch program is the only food available for some of these children on a routine basis.

Hunger is just the tip of the iceberg. Public school systems are being underfinanced throughout our nation. Our failure to meet the most basic needs of children is considered by some to be a pipeline to prison***.

This Advent season, I invite all of us to take stock of the local state of all our children and consider whether they have equal opportunities to grow in stature and in favor with the people.

Prayer: Lord, help us grow in our knowledge of the status of the children in our hometowns and across the world for as the children go so goes our society. Amen.

*Kids Count Report from Annie E. Cassie Foundation see at http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data#USA/1/0

**http://frac.org/federal-foodnutrition-programs/national-school-lunch-program/

***http://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/tsr/education-under-arrest/school-to-prison-pipeline-fact-sheet/

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.

Them Bones

Them bonesEastertide
May 22, 2015

Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 37:1-14

The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all round them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’ I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know.’ Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.’ –Ezekiel 37:1-6

Many years ago I participated in a Bible study based on the story of the raising of Lazarus. I have long sense lost the study material, but the study itself was truly burned into my being. It address the question of whether we were, for all intents and purposes, dead like Lazarus rotting in his tomb and just going through the motions of living.

The people of Israel living in exile were, by and large, just going through the motions of living. I imagine that is what it must be like for all the refugees scattered about the world today. People fleeing Iraq and Syria, people on boats stuck in the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia trying to escape from terrorist. Some hope must still exist among them though for they are people fueled at least by the will to live.

What about you and me? Those of us who live and move and have our being in the midst of plenty, in relative security, seem to be going through the motions of living also. Why?

Ezekiel’s well-known vision is designed to foster hope. The spirit of God is still moving in the world, unseen, but actively engaged in reconnecting the people of God with purpose and a future. There is more to life then obtaining the latest electronic gadget or acquiring the latest thing in fashion, cars, or homes. Being loved and loving are the key ingredients to joy and self-worth.

Prayer: Lord, enable us to love you and love others to the extent that our love is mirrored in the ways of the peoples of the earth. 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.