Tag Archives: Living in Harmony

Seeking Shalom

Living in the Spirit

July 7, 2020

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 55:10-13
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
   and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
   giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
   it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
   and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
For you shall go out in joy,
   and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
   shall burst into song,
   and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
   instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,
   for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Sharing one’s thoughts in either the spoken or written word makes one vulnerable. Ecclesiastes 11:1 tells us to Send out your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will get it back. I can read this in a couple of ways. If I say or write something, I own it. It, however, also means that we must invest ourselves if we want to shape a quality world in which to live. The challenge is to discern what a quality world for all of the world’s populations is? Whether we like it or not, that requires us to live in community striving for oneness.

Oneness does not mean sameness. Oneness recognizes that each of us is unique and has special skills and talents that need to be developed entirely in inclusiveness with others.  When we perfect oneness we shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace.

 The last few lines of the above scripture set forth the conclusions of our efforts of working together rather than being divisive. Do we want to live among thorns and briers or cypress and myrtle? Are we planting seeds of love for God and love for one another, or are we filling the world with weeds of division and discords because we are worshiping the lesser god of self-righteousness?

Prayer: Creator of all, forgive us when we fail to see the importance of sharing your love to all and working together to fulfill your vision of a world driven by shalom. 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.

Living in Harmony

Living in the Spirit

June 3, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b

O Lord, how manifold are your works!
   In wisdom you have made them all;
   the earth is full of your creatures.
Yonder is the sea, great and wide,
   creeping things innumerable are there,
   living things both small and great.
There go the ships,
   and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it. –Psalm 104:24-26

I am entering week three of critter control at my home. One lone squirrel remains in my attic. I think it entered the trap set last night. Hopefully, this squirrel will be returned to the wild today. The critters are here because of urban sprawl. Workers accidentally knocked open the door to my crawl space, welcoming hungry raccoons, possums, and at least one squirrel into the outer bounds of my house. The company removing the critters is very humane and uses exit cages on openings that let the animals leave but not return. When they examined my house, they discovered other possible entries that have now been sealed. The gateway out from my crawl space remains, but apparently, my squirrel friend is not aware that the exit exists. Yesterday the trap was set.

The moral of this story is that God created an interdependent world where all on earth must work in harmony to thrive. Whenever we allow our quest for wealth or privilege or power overcome our commitment to accepting our roles in an interdependent society that society is thrown off balance in varied destructive ways from the results of climate change to racism.

God also populated the earth with a diversity of people who together possess the skills and talents needed to sustain life and grow in wisdom and truth. For our world to work at the most fundamental level, we must work together, each making his or her contribution to society. God’s world is designed to function optimally when we love our neighbors as we love ourselves—all our neighbors all the time. Our wellbeing is based on the wellbeing of others. I think that is precisely what God intended.

Prayer: Lord, help us grow in wisdom and truth as we change our way of being to reflect your plan for a world fueled by 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.

Reconciliation

Kingdom Building

June 29, 2019

Scripture Reading: Luke 9:51-62

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?’ But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village. –Luke 9:51-57

I am not sure what the problem was that caused Jesus to be rejected. There was a long-standing feud between the Samaritans and the Jews dating back to the division of Israel and Judah. I think they both claimed a corner on God, at the very least where it was appropriate to worship God. Jews when heading north away from Jerusalem would go out of their way to not enter Samaria. The book of John relates a story where Jesus did travel through Samaria and had an encounter with a woman at a well. He was accepted then and identified as the Messiah. Perhaps the Samaritans rejected him on this trip because the wanted him to be exclusively their Messiah while he set his face to go to Jerusalem. Our world today is similarly affected.

James and John’s over blown response is also akin to our world today. President Trump warned on Tuesday that any attack Iran might carry out “on anything American” would result in the “obliteration” of parts of Iran*. Jesus clearly saw a better way then commanding fire to come down from heaven and consume the Samaritans.

Living together in harmony is not easy. We each perceive the world uniquely and we tend to cluster together in groups whose participant’s worldview are close to our own. Living together in harmony is exactly what Jesus expects us to do. We are called to love one another and to be one. The ability to reach those seemingly unattainable outcomes lies in our first loving God and second allow the Spirit of God bring us to oneness.

Prayer: Lord, help us see the beauty of oneness in your love and guide us to reconciliation. Amen.

*https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/world/middleeast/iran-rouhani-us-sanctions.html

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.