Tag Archives: Wholeness

Ennui Leads to Destruction

Ordinary Times

February 1, 2022

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 6:9-13

And he said, ‘Go and say to this people:
“Keep listening, but do not comprehend;
keep looking, but do not understand.”
Make the mind of this people dull,
   and stop their ears,
   and shut their eyes,
so that they may not look with their eyes,
   and listen with their ears,
and comprehend with their minds,
   and turn and be healed.’
Then I said, ‘How long, O Lord?’ And he said:
‘Until cities lie waste
   without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
   and the land is utterly desolate
until the Lord sends everyone far away,
   and vast is the emptiness in the midst of the land.

Even if a tenth part remains in it,
   it will be burned again,
like a terebinth or an oak
   whose stump remains standing
   when it is felled.’

We are the cause of our own destruction. Fred Craddock, in a sermon I heard years ago, shared his thoughts about ennui—a French word incorporated into the American form of English. It means a feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction: languor or emptiness of spirit*. The essence of Craddock’s message was that God did not create us to live in such a state of being. God called us to lives of wholeness, fulness, and abundance. However, we choose to target our greatest talents and skills in all the wrong directions—greed instead of generosity, self-righteousness replacing justice. José Andrés is an outstanding chef and successful in business. Since starting his relief organization, World Central Kitchen, 10 years ago, Chef José Andrés has helped serve more than 50 million meals to people impacted by natural disasters around the globe, from hurricanes and earthquakes to wildfires and even a volcanic eruption**. We all have seen former president Jimmy Carter building Habitat for Humanity houses always with a smile on his face. Mother Teresa had the tenacity to soar to the top of politics, yet she chose to serve and advocate for the poor. None of these people wallowed in languor or emptiness of spirit. Neither should any of us.

Prayer: Lord, when we find ourselves in despair, open the windows of opportunity that show us the way to fullness of spirit.  Amen.

*https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/en%C2%B7nui

**https://www.shondaland.com/act/a35618726/chef-jose-andres-serves-up-hope-and-a-helping-hand/#:~:text=Since%20starting%20his%20relief%20organization,and%20even%20a%20volcanic%20eruption.

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.

Here Am I Send Me

Ordinary Time

January 30, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 5:1-11

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.’ When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’ For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’ When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

What do we put first in our lives? What are our priorities? Where does God fall in our plan for our lives? How invested are we in sharing the love of God to the ends of the earth? How hard do we work to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God*? If Jesus called us from our work, would we leave everything and follow him?

We are not all called to be full-time pastors, God does call us to be full-time Christ-followers. In fact, being in the world, working, going to school, volunteering gives us opportunities to answer that call in very meaningful ways. We do not have to do everything, but we do need to do something as well as possible to share the love of God with others and to create a world ruled by love.

Prayer: Lord, open our eyes to see where you need us most and guide us in following you wherever you call us.  Amen.

*Derived from Micah 6:8

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.

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.

God’s Abundance

Ordinary Time

January 27, 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.

Have we lost the art of empathy and compassion? Are we trading it for self-rightlessness and greed as we are encouraged on every side to think we are better than others, and that others are people we should fear? Franklin Roosevelt cautioned the people caught in the snares of deep depression and drought that the only thing we have to fear is…fear itself.

The Hebrews scripture above tells us that Christ did not come to help angels but flesh and blood people—that is us. Why did we need help? The people of God had training from the beginning in how to live a life that would serve the tests of time. God sent prophets to remind our ancestors in the faith of God’s formula for an abundant life. Yet, many longed for the world’s definition of abundance rather than God’s, and each time, too late, they learned the error of their way.

I suppose we have always had some element of such distractions but today we are surely caught in not only a viral pandemic but also a pandemic of the soul. God’s ways are still out there for us to follow, Christ’s messages are readily available, but are we willing to seek God’s higher ground?

Prayer: Lord, open our lives to living in your abundance. 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.

Restore Our Souls

Ordinary Time

January 26, 2022

Scripture Reading: Psalm 84

For a day in your courts is better
   than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
   than live in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
   he bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does the Lord withhold
   from those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts,
   happy is everyone who trusts in you. –Psalm 84:10-12

The Lord is brighter than the sun and more protective than the strongest shield. Envision a group of people waiting on a hillside for the sun to come over the horizon. A wonderful explosion of color surrounds it until it rises high enough and becomes so bright one cannot look at it without the help of sunglasses.

 The title of J. B. Phillips’s book, Your God Is Too Small, flashes through my mind when I read scriptures like this one. Scriptures like this give me great hope that God will restore us to wholeness from our wandering ways. I have become very cynical during the COVID pandemic because of our response to it. We seem caught in a web of total denial unable to deal with the reality that is around us. Our self-righteousness may be catching up with us. We have lived in a favored state for so long we forget the blood, sweat, and tears our ancestors experienced creating the privilege we now see as normal. Indeed, to whom much is given, much will be required (Luke 12:48)  We have millions of fellow citizens who do not have enough of the basic needs of life and we have a world full of starving people longing for the people of God to relieve their suffering so that they might too enjoy setting under a rising sun with the protection of God’s love.

Prayer: O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
   give ear, O God of Jacob!
Behold our shield, O God;
  look on the face of your anointed*. 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.

Rebuilding

Ordinary Time

January 25, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Jeremiah 1:4-10
‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’
Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.’ But the Lord said to me,
‘Do not say, “I am only a boy”;
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you
says the Lord.’
Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me,
‘Now I have put my words in your mouth.
See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.’

What in our lives do we need to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow? Those are harsh words of action.  Pluck means to take hold of something and quickly move it from its place. The word pluck reminds me of the unpleasant task of removing the feathers from a dead chicken before it could be cooked. Pulling down probably refers to tearing down a building, destroying means to turn something like a building into ashes, and overthrowing means removing and replacing one in control. However, I do not think these are the concerns of Jeremiah. He is using symbolism to suggest how people need to change and change drastically if they are going to get out of the mess in which they find themselves. We are in such a situation today. We each need to consider what is holding us back from creating the Kingdom God envisioned for us when God sent Jesus, the Christ, to us for the purpose of remolding us to be the people we are totally capable of being. We have moved a long way from that standard, and it will take serious intentional change to live into that vision.

The final phrase, to build and to plant, is our source of hope. Once we clear out the rubble, we can rebuild and plant needs seeds of love.

Prayer: Lord, help us examine ourselves and our communities of faith to find your path and follow it as we rebuild and renew our love and act within it. 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.

What Is Truth?

Ordinary Time

January 22, 2022

Scripture Reading:
Luke 4:14-21

Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. –Luke 4:14-15

This scripture describes how Jesus came back from wandering in the wilderness where he was tempted by the devil. He, applying the teachings of his faith and taking advantage of the gifts of the Spirit, was able to withstand the willy creature and returned to begin his ministry. That did not mean Jesus was never tempted again. However, he learned from experience where help was when he needed it. Those same sources of help are available to us today as we commune with God.

When I was in grade school my dad was committed to a popular radio minister who offered a correspondence course that dad received in the mail. We spent evenings, where I read the lessons aloud at his behest.  Each lesson was carefully written with what the author discerned as important presented in bold print. Even at the age of ten, I was cynical of these teachings and my greatest act of defiance was never to read the bolded sections with emphasis. Two good outcomes resulted. I developed skills at reading allowed and the drive to test everything I read or heard for its veracity– devotion to the truth. The older I get the more I understand the Spirit guides me toward finding and understanding truth.  For me, the most profound measure of truth is whether the situation being assessed passes the test of love.

We find ourselves in a world where truth is evasive and lying is treated like truth if one can get away with it. At times my mind flashes back to the scene in John 18 where Jesus says ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’  and Pilate says, ‘What is truth?’

Make no mistake truth is stronger than all the evil in the world and truth does exist.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the gift of the Spirit and turning awkward situations into positive lessons learned. 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.

Make Me a Blessing

Ordinary Times

January 21, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Romans 12:9-21

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. –Romans 12:9-21

To bless means to confer what is beneficial*. Confer means 1) to hold conversation or conference now typically on important, difficult, or complex matters: to compare views: to take counsel,  2) to grant or bestow (something) from or as if from a position of authority, 3) to give or yield (a property, characteristic, or quality, especially an advantageous one) to someone or something**.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
   and all that is within me,
   bless his holy name. (Psalm 103:1)

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them (Romans 12:14a)

While it may seem contradictory in terms, God calls us both to bless the Lord and bless those who persecute us. They are not contradictory. When we do what is beneficial for others, we benefit God. Behaving in such a manner is a habit we must cultivate requiring us to see others as Christ would see them through the pain and fears that are causing them to persecute. How can we turn a negative encounter with another into something that dispels their vulnerabilities and moves them a step closer to wholeness without damaging them further and without compromising what is just and merciful? Maintaining a close relationship with God and staying in tune with the Holy Spirit are the drivers of our ability to be a blessing to others. It is in God’s blessings including those sent through us and others, that the Kingdom of God will be realized.

Prayer: Lord, strengthen each of your servants to be a blessing especially when it is the very last thing we want to do. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/2127.htm

** https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/confer

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.

Transform Us

January 20, 2022

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness. –Romans 12:1-8

I am going off lectionary today because I messed up and used the scripture for today, last week. I am sure this scripture from Romans is somewhere in the lectionary but it is one of my favorites and I am substituting it here so I will not repeat the same scripture too closely.

I wrote emails this morning making changes in meetings because COVID is peaking in Oklahoma. I used the phrase “COVID times” to describe how we must adapt to the world in which we live. I then moved on to consider this scripture that tells me Do not be conformed to this world and realized that our world has no conformity. My faith group strongly supports safety precautions during COVID, passing out masks at entrances to people who desire them and offering worship in-person, live-streamed, and on Facebook. Other groups refuse to adapt to such safety recommendations. They indicate requiring them to follow such steps limits their rights as individuals. We are a house divided in so many ways, all believing theirs is the way to which we should conform.

Amid our divisiveness how do we as Christ-followers, be transformed by the renewing of [our] minds, so that [we] may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect? My usual response is to say we need to love like Jesus and to love our neighbor as ourselves, but the louder cry seems to be to question who is my neighbor? These have only become words, not actions. My prayer is for God to reach into our collective hearts and transform us.

Prayer:

Bind Us Together, Lord
Bind Us Together
With Cords That Cannot Be Broken
Bind Us Together, Lord
Bind Us Together
Bind Us Together In Love

There Is Only One God,
There Is Only One King
There Is Only One Body,
That Is Why We Sing*. Amen.

First verse and chorus of Bind Us Together by Bob Gillman see at https://divinehymns.com/lyrics/bind-us-together-song-lyrics/

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.

Restore Our Souls

Ordinary Time

January 18, 2022

Scripture Reading:
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ‘This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.’ For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, ‘Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’ —Nehemiah 8-10

One of my favorite songs is Lessons to be Learned* I heard on a Barbra Streisand album.

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
We too might weep if we come together and realized the way we live our lives differs from God’s design for living an abundant life. Perhaps that is because our definition of an abundant life relates to financial well-being whereas scriptures describe spiritual health. We tend to get the world’s measures of success mixed in with God’s.

I do believe that spiritual health supports and sustains the idea that all people have the right to have enough—enough food, clothing, and shelter; enough quality affordable and accessible health care, and public education that enables each person to become the one they were created to be. We all have responsibility to make sure that enough is reality.

Prayer: Lord, as you return us from the exile of COVID help us to examine our lives and see the changes we need to be in sync with you. Amen.

*First verse and refrain from Lessons to be Learned by Gazeley / Malamet / Rich © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Spirit Music Group, Write By The Sea Songs

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.