Tag Archives: God’s Power

Possums in the Attic

Eastertide

May 20, 2020

Scripture Reading: Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35

Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth;
   sing praises to the Lord,
Selah
O rider in the heavens, the ancient heavens;
   listen, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.
Ascribe power to God,
   whose majesty is over Israel;
   and whose power is in the skies.
Awesome is God in his sanctuary,
   the God of Israel;
   he gives power and strength to his people.
Blessed be God! –Psalm 68:32-35

I did not wake up this morning ascribing power to God. I was letting all the mess that is going on around me sap me of my strength, draining me of hope, making me feel helpless. The fault lies with a possum. It wandered into my attic or my crawl space a few days ago. I was busy and hoped it would wander out and not come back, but it did return. I called and made an appointment for an animal removal service to rid me of my guest. They will be here tomorrow.  I fear though that the possum is now receiving the full thrust of my frustration from sheltering at home, trying to follow in Paul’s example being content in all circumstances*  and failing miserably. I was not ready for the upbeat Psalm above, telling me to sing and listen and ascribe power to God, and it was exactly what I needed. Paul recognized and depended on the power of God.

We all, I am sure, are having good days and bad, as we track the news, rearrange routine activities to protect ourselves and others from the spread of COVID 19, and deal with the pesky possums of life that often arrive at inconvenient times. Now is the time, if ever there was one, to awaken to the awesomeness of God and accept his gift of power and strength. Blessed be God!

Prayer: Lord, thank you for your sustaining gifts that we somehow fail to see when we need them most. Amen.

*See Philippians 4:11-13

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.

Times That Try our Souls

Living in the Spirit
July 27, 2018

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 3:14-21

Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. –Ephesians 3:20-21

While my life is nothing compared to what Paul and his fellow workers in the faith faced, I have experienced times that try souls as Thomas Paine described the folly of getting enough citizens to back the cause of the American Revolution.

I was a grade schooler when the cold war was raging overhearing the news on our first television while practicing drills in school to protect ourselves from the threat of atomic bombs. Little did we know that sitting under our desks covering the backs of our heads with our hands would have had no effect. I had nightmares of huge “Russians” whatever they were that looked amazingly like the Star Wars metal soldiers marching to get me. I wonder what nightmares we are inflicting on our children today?

By the last half of the 60’s, I was in college caught in cultural change as the Watts Riots tore at the heart of my concept of my homeland as did the war in Vietnam.

Working in public welfare after college gave me hope that we could open doors for the impoverished. That hope was drastically damaged by the passage of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 that curtailed services. One of the byproducts of this philosophical change was skyrocketing child abuse and neglect that have not been adequately addressed to this day.

What challenges me, all of us for that matter, today is that others see these same events in a totally different way than I perceive them. This has led to our living in a divide-and-conquer world.

Jesus’ followers were called to oneness. While it is easy at times to get discouraged in our quest for that oneness, we must not give up because it is the only way to the shalom, the wholeness, the peace that is the Kingdom of God, a world ruled by love. The writer of Ephesians reminds us of the source where our power for unleashing shalom derives.

Prayer: Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. 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 Power

Jesus'baptismEpiphany
Celebration of God
Manifested in the World
January 7, 2015

 Scripture Reading: Psalm 29

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
   ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
 Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;
   worship the Lord in holy splendor. 

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
   the God of glory thunders,
   the Lord, over mighty waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
   the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. — Psalm 29:1-4

 As we prepare for the observation of the baptism of Jesus this Sunday, we are reminded in our scripture today that the power of the voice of the Lord was recognized from the beginning of time when God spoke creation.  God’s voice was also heard identifying Jesus as God’s Son, the Beloved, at his baptism.

My dog, Hefner, had a broad vocabulary and responded to actual words not just the tone of my voice. He lived with me all 13 years of his life except for the six weeks with his mother. I was thus accustomed to communicating with my dog verbally. A few months after Hef’s death Micah came to live with me and I had to relearn my communication skills. I don’t think he ever understood a word I said. One day I discovered by accident that he was very visual and immediately responded to hand signals. He and I developed our own little sign language that served us well for many years. What I did learn in this process was that Micah did respond to the tone of my voice. While playing in the yard, he ran out the gate toward a very busy street. He had no experience with traffic. Whatever my panic-laden voice said to him he stopped in his track and looked back at me with a new found respect. Stood there until I was able to pick him up and return him to the enclosed yard and the freedom of his fenced area.

The first verse of our scripture today says we are to ascribe—acknowledge as the cause, author or source—the power of God that can create worlds. If we grasp that reality, the introduction of God’s son as God with us becomes even more profound.

Prayer: Lord we acknowledge your power and your glory. We thank you for your gift of Jesus to show us the way, the truth, and the life. 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.