Tag Archives: God as Creator

Bonds of Love

Ordinary Time

February 2, 2022

Scripture Reading:
Psalm 138:1-3, 7-8

I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
   before the gods I sing your praise;
I bow down towards your holy temple
   and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;
   for you have exalted your name and your word
   above everything.
On the day I called, you answered me,
   you increased my strength of soul.


Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
   you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand,
   and your right hand delivers me.
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
   Do not forsake the work of your hands. –Psalm 138:1-3, 7-8

God created all for a purpose, and according to the Psalm above the Lord will fulfill that purpose. I must say I do not envy God’s tasks in that regard. The world works hard at distracting us from our purposes and can even be very destructive. I have stood over the bed of abused children on life supports and tried to understand a mother who held her infant’s feet and bottom in boiling water for what reason I never knew. I cannot fathom that God created these children to suffer in such a manner. Such incidents as these, no doubt, planted the seed of advocacy in my being.

When I was a child we sang, He’s got the whole world in his hands*. Children may have a better grasp of that theology than we adults do. God created an interdependent world that only works well when each of the elements in it fulfills their purposes and do not hinder any other from fulfilling theirs. God tethered those elements together with love. When the bonds of love break, we are all called to restore them by whatever means possible.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when the world distracts and misdirects us, restore our souls and our commitment to love like you. Amen.

*See at https://hymnary.org/text/hes_got_the_whole_world_in_his_hands

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

Learning from Mistakes

Ordinary Time

cycle to reach success: try, fail, try again, success

January 28, 2022

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 2:14-18

Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.

It took guts for God to create humans and grant them free will. God could have basked in a Garden-of-Eden world where all things were bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all*. Why do we suppose God created humans? Did God long for pardners in God’s quest to create a more dynamic world with beings who could also create along with God and spread love and be loved in return? Was God so perplexed by human’s inability to escape the temptations of the world that God needed to understand being human? Through Jesus God experienced being human and learned the test of temptation and God gave us a reboot? With the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ, we gained salvation and grace. We have a loving Creator God who recognized the need for humans to have second chances which we must choose to take and not remain in the cycle of Groundhogs Day**.

They say there’s a universal plan
For every woman, for every man
I do believe there’s a higher power
But in our darkest hour it’s hard to understand
So we start to question, start to doubt
We lose faith in what life’s all about
Why did the right road take the wrong turn
Why did our heart break, why’d we get burned
Just like the seasons there are reasons for the path we take
There are no mistakes
Just lessons to be learned***

Prayer: Lord, give us the guts to learn from our mistakes and take advantage of your second changes until we do not need them anymore. Amen.

*First verse of All Things Bright and Beautiful by Cecil Frances Alexander see at https://hymnary.org/text/each_little_flower_that_opens#Author

**https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day_(film)

***First verse and chorus to song Lessons to be Learned by Gazeley / Malamet / Rich see at https://www.google.com/search?q=lessons+to+be+learned+barbra+streisand+lyrics&rlz=1C1VDKB_enUS987US987&sxsrf=APq-WBvmA1VgseLRLx3vKIfKQuCbR4hQLg%3A1643381883802&ei=ewT0YcWtMPyoqtsP2bq7uA4&oq=Lessons+to+be+learned&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAEYADIHCCMQsAMQJzIHCCMQsAMQJzIHCAAQRxCwAzIHCAAQRxCwAzIHCAAQRxCwAzIHCAAQRxCwAzIHCAAQRxCwAzIHCAAQRxCwAzIHCAAQRxCwAzIMCC4QyAMQsAMQQxgAMgwILhDIAxCwAxBDGABKBQg8EgExSgQIQRgASgQIRhgAUABYAGC-G2gBcAJ4AIABAIgBAJIBAJgBAMgBC8ABAdoBBAgAGAg&sclient=gws-wiz

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.