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October 2024

Between the Woes

Between the woes

Some Thoughts on Time Between Woes
Revelation 11:14-19

“The second woe has passed. The third woe is coming very soon. “

We are always between woes. Some may be judgments; some may be attention-getters; some may be growth opportunities; some may be the cycles of creation; most will be combinations of some of these depending upon how we experience and incorporate them. All will be inevitable.

Be ready for the woes and faithful during them, but always look for the respite time.

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever." 

In the time between the woes is a moment of reminder. The Kingdom of God is God’s and is given to the Messiah. His reign does not come in segments, spurts, or interrupted outbursts of tragedy. His kingdom is forever. His reign is consistent. His triumph is eternal.

Then the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, singing, "We give you thanks, Lord God Almighty, who are and who were, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath has come, and the time for judging the dead, for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints and all who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying those who destroy the earth." 

Changing the scenery, we find ourselves back in Heaven, where eternity has its own clock and calendar. In the timelessness that transcends time and space, is a pause. It is a reorientation of our thinking, It is a perspective check. It is thanksgiving and praise that is aware of God and God’s transcendence.

The elders who represent us before God’s throne, sing

Rage is overcome by wrath because wrath is hitting your head against the brick wall of truth or swimming against a current that will not change at our command.  That is how it looks to us, but to God, it is about not bending or relenting in divine truth, authority, justice, mercy, and peace.

If you choose to fight that, you are up against a formidable foe and you will soon know it. That is judgment.

Time enters the mix. It is time. That was a present reality in John’s time and in ours. Judgment vindicates and indicts, but all long for a final pronouncement, a setting straight of the record.

The flip side of judgment is reward for those who have served, the prophets, the saints, all who reverence the name of God. That includes the small and the great.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ is a letter of encouragement for those who suffer under the whip of injustice and persecution. It takes strong language to lift those who are beaten down so severely.

Destruction and destroyers are about to be destroyed.

When?

In earth time, we do not know. In heavenly time, now.

Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

With great power comes the vision and assurance that God’s covenant with God’s people, extended by grace to all nations and tongues, is still settled. God is in God’s temple and surrounded with all power and might. Nothing can infringe upon that power or the love of God for those God gathers into the fold.


Guttersnipe

Guttersnipe 2

In a dream one night having laid down a volume of Dickens,
Sympathetic, almost romantic stroll through London of yesteryear.
Charles is walking beside us, narrating, ruminating, gently nudging
My conscience; I cannot speak for yours. We walk. We walk on.
Little boys and little girls with empty eyes and empty tummies
Along the sidewalks, some hiding, some hustling, some busking.
"Guttersnipe!" The soul behind the voice assumes authority
Not bestowed. If he speaks harshly enough, they will disappear.
Dematerialize. Evaporate. Disperse. Become invisible.
But even if one does, there will be another to take that place.
This gutter is a black hole. Each child is a star that could have been
That might still be.
Guttersnipe

Spoken

El Elohim  YHWH has spoken

"El Elohim, YHWH has spoken ... "

מזמור לאסף אל
אלהים יהוה דבר
ויקרא־ארץ
ממזרח־שמש
עד־מבאו׃

"The Lord, the God of gods, has spoken;
he has called the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting."
- Psalm 50:1



El, who can just be God, but is also the God of all that purport to be lesser gods, imaginary or some spiritual entity, this God who is personal and named with a name that indicates pure, undefined, undefinable existence that needs no definitions, this God has spoken.

Two basic tenants of theology are addressed in this one brief statement.

  1. God is..
  2. God speaks

And, when God speaks, it is from the rising of the sun to the ending.

That is, not to endorse a particular cosmology, but to affirm that God speaks from the beginning of all you comprehend of reality to the end. God is before; God is during; God is after.|

God is eternal.

God is YHWH, the "I am."

God is the very essence of all existence, the very definition of all definitions, the Eternal.




Believing Is Seeing

I want to see again  blind bart

Your Faith Has Made You Well

"And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus in the way." - Mark 10:52

What sort of faith can make us well?

What will raise us up and send us on our way?

There was a blind man. He could not have gone his way because he could not see the way. He had been led around for many years. His was a life of dependency that robbed him of his dignity. There was no” Americans with Disabilities Act” to insure him equal treatment, a level playing field, or a chance to live with dignity and independence.

Yet, he had an ability to see that far outpaced the vision of his neighbors. He could see Jesus through the eyes of faith. He could see a better future.

"And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me."

He cries out to Jesus, using a messianic title, Son of David. He cries for mercy, trusting that the one to whom he cries is merciful.

Jesus recognizes this desperation as faith and responds with the mercy requested.

The man who had been led by the hand now had another hand to lead him. Now, it was not because his eyes could not see. He was free. He could go his way. He could become all that he was made to be. He could earn a living, make a home, build a family, and watch them grow. Yet, when his eyes were open and he was sent to go his way, he chose to follow Jesus.

What could you do if you had more faith?

What could you see?

What could you become?

What could you be?

God, grant us deeper faith to cry to you for mercy. Open our hearts and eyes. Give us a vision of the path before us. Awaken us to go our way, the way that you have prepared for us. Set us free. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.


Believing Is Seeing

NOTES

Mark 10:46-52

“In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.” - Erasmus 

 

What is in a name?

They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. 

What did Bartimaeus see?

When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

What did the “many” miss seeing?

Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" 

Take heart – a three-point sermon in a three-part sentence.

Jesus stood still and said, "Call him here." And they called the blind man, saying to him,

 "Take heart;

 get up,

he is calling you." 

His last possession – Another three-parter

So throwing off his cloak,

he sprang up

and came to Jesus. 

A searching question and a simple answer

Then Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?"

The blind man said to him, "My teacher, let me see again." 

Believing is seeing – three more points

Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you well."

Immediately he regained his sight

and followed him on the way.


If you prefer to watch on YouTube:




Come, Sinners; You Are Welcome

Girl on bike

Photo by Ahmet Kurt on Unsplash

You clean up, fix up, or straighten up and it goes well for a while and then ... you relapse into a worse state than before.

There is a futility in constantly cleaning up and not dealing with the roots of what pollutes us, corrupts us, and manipulates our thinking into even deeper futility. An interruption in a cycle that is empowered by its own forces will only be temporary. Christian faith and spiritual transformation are not about momentary behavior modification or immobilization of peripheral demons.

To repent is to recognize the difference between where we are going and where we can go and to change direction.

We have been invaded by the Kingdom of God and the King Himself has come to invite us into transformation, liberation, and deep significance. This is no passing matter or minor deliverance. The enemy that seeks to entrap and destroy the soul is sinister, persistent, and patient. We can choose a different master and step away from the "generation" bent on destruction. We need more than subtle reformation.

We need re-FORM-ation in all of its implications.

Jesus speaks to the frustration of the human condition and its resistance to transforming grace when He says

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”  -Matthew 12:43-45 ESV

Emptying ourselves of the dysfunctional elements of our lives is great. But we must fill those gaps with something.



Hear and Obey

Hear and trust



But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it. - Luke 11:28


Jesus could handle controversy. He had just demonstrated that He could do so. He could handle direct attack. Now He faced an even greater challenge – how to handle praise. “Blessed is the womb that bore you,” seemed innocent enough, but Jesus knew that compliments could be dangerous and manipulative. He also knew that the greatest compliment that could ever be paid to His ministry would occur when people heard God’s Word and did something about it.

Proverbs 27:21 says that we are tested by the praise we receive. Jesus passed the test without being rude or ungrateful. What he did with that opportunity was zero in on the real issue with which He was confronting the people. It was not about how wonderful His words sounded or how magnificent His works appeared. The issue was that the people had the opportunity to hear the Word of God and the urgency to respond.

Hear and obey. It is that simple. It is the way of blessedness. It is the path of peace. It is the Jesus way.

Jesus had dealt with a difficult issue in the manner of a master teacher. He had confounded those who had accused Him of alliance with Satan. He had destroyed their argument and exalted the truth. At least one woman had been spellbound by the spectacle and profoundly impressed with His skill. She shouted out a compliment of the highest order.

So often we hear sermons and songs that are so beautiful in language and musical presentation that we are tempted to linger over them and pour out endless praise to those who have performed masterfully. Not to diminish their efforts, we must remind ourselves that it is the truth presented that carries more weight than the skill and artistry of the presentation.

Then, the real proof is in what we do with what we have heard. Having heard the Word, shall we obey? Therein, lies true blessing.




October 24 in the History of Public Thinking and Acting

1920px-Historybooks

Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine - Own work

History. I read it every  day. I take, at least, a shallow dive into the history of events on the day of the month I am experiencing, looking back over the centuries. 

It helps keep everything in perspective.

I quote from Wikipedia and footnote its sources:

History (derived from Ancient Greek ἱστορία (historía) 'inquiry; knowledge acquired by investigation')[1] is the systematic study and documentation of the human past.[2][3] History is an academic discipline which uses a narrative to describe, examine, question, and analyze past events, and investigate their patterns of cause and effect.[4][5] Historians debate which narrative best explains an event, as well as the significance of different causes and effects. Historians debate the nature of history as an end in itself, and its usefulness in giving perspective on the problems of the present.[4][6][7][8]

History records major events on this day in October related to our present times.

You don't have to like everything they do.

The fact that there are disagreements between nations is the reason we unite around the things that we do value. Foremost, would be peace, dignity, and the welfare of humanity.

If we forget that in order to posture and abandon the forum because we do not get our way, we are abandoning principles that we cannot survive without.

One might argue that the crash came due to irrational choices, greed, and an overabundance of self-interest.

Or, perhaps it was just a correction.

What have we learned?


From Wikipedia:

Alice Hamilton (February 27, 1869 – September 22, 1970) was an American physician, research scientist, and author. She was a leading expert in the field of occupational health, laid the foundation for health and safety protections, and a pioneer in the field of industrial toxicology.

Today, some cry out against "over-regulation" of businesses and production, forgetting the past and abandoning a sense of history. The larger problem of under regulation was the constant danger of health threats, injury, and abuse for those whose only goal each day was to earn a living for their families while supporting our economy.

Best practices in foreign policy did not develop overnight. They took centuries to emerge. Best practices came in response to worst practices. They promote peace, self-determination, incentivized progress. and decency.

Shortsighted leaders and potential leaders with no appreciation for history, theory, or the rational of how we came to where we are, would abandon sound foreign policy in favor of populist rhetoric and flippant slogans.

It was the beginning of the modern age of communication.

We would not be having this conversation if that had not happened.

There have always been entrepreneurs and always will be. Read about one lady who went to extremes to carry the entrepreneurial torch.

Read history and let it be a guide in your life.


A Close and Reliable God

God is near and true

We need reliable help from someone who knows us and our circumstances.

"You, O Lord, are near at hand, *
and all your commandments are true."
-Psalm 119:51


In this body of a much longer prayer, the psalmist makes two affirmations that stir our souls and comfort our hearts.

He says to God, "You are near at hand."

In other words, "You are close; you are reachable; you are available."

There is a peace that comes when know that God is near. An children's chorus by Marie Ingram said it this way,

"When I pray, soft and low,
When I pray, this I know:
God is very near; God is very near."

The second thing is that God's commandments are true.

One may ask, "How can a commandment be true or false? It just is. It is a command.

But God holds a higher standard for divine direction. God's command are founded in and surrounded by truth. God will never command or decree that which makes no spiritual sense or does not point us in the direction of what is right, true, good, loving, and eternal.

We can trust God's decrees and direction.

So, God is close at hand, knowing our hearts and our circumstances, and God is giving us clear and reliable direction for life.

What more could we ask?




The Point of No Return

The lonesome valley

The Point of No Return and the Lonesome Valley

And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. – Luke 9:51

Have you ever made up your mind with such decisiveness that nothing could change your course?

When did the passion of the Christ begin in earnest? One might suggest that it started in eternity or at His birth or even later, intensifying in His baptismal identification with sinful man as the sinless Savior. However, if we are talking about that segment of His life where all of time begins to crescendo into an explosive event of redemption, it might be at this moment of turning. He set His face toward Jerusalem and all those who would be His disciples began to follow Him there. It was a point of no return.

There was no turning back for Jesus. The time had come. He knew what He had to do and He knew where He had to do it. Even though it meant suffering the likes of which no man had ever known, He would face it. He would follow the Father’s plan. They had planned it together and agreed from eternity that this would be the way.

It was the way of the cross.

“Jesus walked this lonesome valley;

He had to walk it by Himself.

Oh, nobody else could walk it for Him.

He had to walk it by himself.”

In the most profound sense, He was alone, even though others followed Him there. Though He taught us all to follow in that costly way of the cross, He led the way alone. There comes a point of no return in our lives where we must choose to stand along with Jesus whatever the cost.

“You must go and stand your trial;

You have to stand it by yourself.

Oh, nobody else can stand it for you.

You have to stand it by yourself.”

We know we are never alone in the most profound spiritual sense. God is always with us. As we follow Him steadfastly and with resolve, we are His yokefellows. Yet, we come as individuals and we make the choice in the same lonely place of our individual hearts as He did. We will go it whether or not our friends come along. We will do so with or without the support of our families or the favorable treatment of history.

Homeless 

And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.  - Luke 9:58 

A certain man wanted to follow Jesus as have many through the centuries and into our time. Perhaps he thought it would be an adventure – and following Jesus is.

 Perhaps he thought discipleship would bring a new dimension of meaning to his life – and it does.

Perhaps he longed for the camaraderie and acceptance that was so evident among the disciples of Jesus as it often is today in authentic Christian communities.

He may have been attracted by the laughter and awe of the other followers as Jesus taught them with such vivid realism.

But he was failing to consider one very important point: to follow Jesus would mean leaving all that he had ever counted on for security.

Follow Me ... But

 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. -Luke 9:59

“I want to follow you, but...”

Was it an excuse, a delaying tactic, or a simple statement of ignorance? Have you never interjected, “but first” into your commitments with God? How often we have come to the Master with non-negotiable conditions.

Let the Dead Bury the Dead

 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.  -Luke 9:60

Jesus’ answer to the man who cried, “but first” demonstrates the profound contrast between life and death. Discipleship is about dying to the old that we might live to the new.

Excuses

"And another said, 'Lord, I will follow, but ...'"Luke 9:61a

Erstwhile followers of the Master make a series of irrelevant statements in this great movement of scripture. They are irrelevant because they are merely excuses, postponements of discipleship, weasel-ways of saying “no” without having to actually commit to the word.

In the world of promoting where one’s lifeblood is getting people to show up somewhere for something, there is an adage: A “no” is a “no;” a “maybe” s a “no;” and a “yes” is a “no” half the time. Nothing is as reliable as a rock-solid commitment and even that may falter. Humanity is infected with a disease for which David Schwartz coined the phrase, “excusitis.”

Moses had them: “ I am unworthy; I am unlearned; I am unable; I am unbelievable.”

But then he got to his bottom line, “Send someone else.” In other words, “I am unwilling.”

Here is the question: Are you willing to follow Jesus anywhere and in any way – NOW? If not now, when? Will it be as the old despot told the Apostle Paul, at a more convenient season? Are we “almost persuaded?”

Jesus has no time for nonsense. He calls to us through the waves of time, “Follow me.” And He means for us to drop everything – every excuse, every fear, every reservation, every other aspiration of our lives and follow. Half-hearted commitment is no commitment at all. Every reason Moses gave for not doing what God was calling him to do was basically true, but God’s power made them irrelevant.

No Looking Back 

And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. - Luke 9:62 

All the man wanted to do was say, “goodbye.” At least that is what he said, but Jesus knew what was in his heart and that he was not truly ready to say, “goodbye.” Otherwise, he would have and would not have just talked about it. He was looking back with the longing gaze of one who was not truly leaving.

Let us set our faces toward Jerusalem.

It will not always be an easy path, but it will lead us home.




What It Takes to Lead

What it takes to lead

Can You Drink the Cup?

"And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:" - Mark 10:39

I do not know what I can do.

Nor do I really understand the price of the things I desire and require.

The disciples were posturing and negotiating. Who was most important among them? Who would be entitled to sit with Jesus in his throne room? They still assumed it would be like Herod’s throne.

It was a rather immature exercise. Yet, we still do it, even when we are more subtle about it.

We flash our credentials and flaunt our titles. We brag about our accomplishments and list our achievements as often as possible.  It may be insecurity; it may be self-doubt; or we may just be prideful.

We try to leverage our relationship with Jesus and our spiritual insights for material wealth, prestige, and power.

Jesus says directly to them that they have no idea what they are asking. They have no notion of the depth of suffering he must face. They do not get the concept of service and sacrifice. They assume that Jesus is going to march into Jerusalem, take over, and need a couple of associates to help him run things.

They answer that they are willing to suffer and even die. They will drink whatever cup is necessary. They will take whatever baptism is required.

Indeed, you will, is Jesus’ response, but not yet.

 Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized: But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.”

We can’t choose how or where we will serve if we are sold out to Jesus. We sign up for service at his discretion and pleasure. We must be made ready to serve, ready to suffer, and ready to rule whatever he places under our responsibility.

There is a cup for each of us to drink. Can we drink it?



Sign Up

Sign up

Signing Up

Lately, I've been signing up for things - mostly free, but not always.

You have to sign up first; then you can sign in whenever you like.

I have noticed that if I don't sign-in for a while, I sometimes have to sign-up again.

It is really nutty ... I am trying to find parallels to participation in the Kingdom of God here and the easy ones come easily ... but the really hard ones ... are really hard.

Something about the whole thing of an easy sign-up and a simple sign-in seems incongruent.

Something about that long list of affiliations sitting somewhere in my in-box and databases ... many forgotten, just strikes me as qualitatively different than the call to oddity that is the essence of holiness.

If being a disciple is nothing more than signing up and signing in, then I am reading a different four gospels


Sometimes, Our Views Change - Sometimes, They Do Not

Politics

Yes. I am posting a statement I made 11 years ago.

Why?

If I post it, I might read it. If I read it, I will evaluate it. If I evaluate it, I might find some areas where I still agree with myself.

If I disagree with myself, I can congratulate myself for being open to change.

I can also ask why I agree or disagree. What has changed in the world to inform me. What has changed in me to alter my perspective?

That is my work to do.

You do your own.

To the extent that my politics are based upon principles, I think that the change has been more of an evolution with the principles remaining intact.

Regarding application, there is always necessary adjustment.

Regarding perspective, I hope that my vision gets clearer with each passing year and that my heart grows larger and more tender.

— — — — — — — — — — -

My Blast from the Past


Consuming Passion

Passion - drive

Outlandish?

Audacious?

Extreme?

Radical?

Unreasonable?

Shocking?

Absolutely. Discipleship is a consuming passion leaving all other passions in the dust by comparison.

That is the nature of consuming passions., Look what people leave behind for passions and consider that eternal significance asks no less than a temporary "burn." The hand is to the plow. Looking back is not part of the deal.

What consumes you?

"As they were going along the road, someone said to him, 'I will follow you wherever you go.' And Jesus said to him, 'Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.' To another he said, 'Follow me.' But he said, 'Lord, let me first go and bury my father.' And Jesus said to him, 'Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.' Yet another said, 'I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home'” Jesus said to him, 'No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'” -Luke 9:57-62 ESV)


My Favorite Day

My favorite day pooh

I wanted to share this again because you may have been startled wo wakefulness this morning with a sense of dread.

I think that today offers you something better than that.

How can you make it better? Start with rejoicing intentionally and overtly.

Then, move on to wishing a good day to others.

Let me know the difference it makes.



St. Teresa

TeresaAvila

On October 15, much of the Christian Church remembers Teresa of Ávila (St. Teresa of Jesus), a church and monastic reformer and contemplative Christian.

In one of her classics, "The Interior Castle," she wrote that the treasure of heaven lies buried within our hearts, and that there is an interior part of the heart which is the center of the soul.

She described mystical prayer as taking the participants through four stages:

Devotion of the heart
Devotion of peace
Devotion of union
Devotion of ecstasy

Her last words were: "My Lord, it is time to move on. Well then, may your will be done. O my Lord and my Spouse, the hour that I have longed for has come. It is time to meet one another."

Read "The Interior Castle"


Teresa of Avila  quote


Avoiding Confrontation

I would not mention this except that, my pastor friend may need this because many of us hate confrontation.

We'd rather subject an entire congregation to a 30-minute sermon about something that one member needs to work on - just to avoid one difficult conversation.

On a serious note, difficult conversations, in love and with grace, can have some powerful and bonding results.

But we need the courage not to be passive-aggressive.


I Can't Feel at Home


"I can't Feel at Home in this World Anymore" is both mournful and hopeful. We all long for home. For a time, we may be content with the values, hopes, and benefits of this world. As we progress, we find ourselves outside the mainstream or, perhaps, fading in our capacity to adapt and thrive.

It could be the loss of our own health, or our friends and family. It could be the growing sense of a better home.

What then, is the attraction of home?

H - At home you HANG your hat.

You hang your hat, your hopes, and your baggage on the racks of home. You take off your shoes. You recline. You identify. You give out your address as your place of residence. On a good day, it is where you can be found. When you are at home, you are not wandering.

O - At home you OCCUPY your environment.

You can roam around the house when you are at home. Things feel familiar. The people are familiar. You can find your favorite mug. Your favorite foods are in the cupboard. Your home has been fashioned around your needs and preferences.

M - At home you MINGLE your vision with those with whom you dwell.

There is a commonality with your home folks. You may not all have the same habits or preferences, but you have been able to mingle and merge your needs and work together to build community and life. Your common life has been defined in agreements and understandings.

E - At home, you are at EASE, you rest, and you are comforted.

You relax at home because it is home. When you walk in the door, it all fits. You belong. There is peace.

So, when the singer says, "I can't feel at home in this world anymore, she or he implies that those things are no longer true of the world.

Part of it is a longing for an eternal home. With that comes the sense that, in some ways, we no longer belong here. We can't fit in. We can't relax. We cannot merge our values. We cannot adapt our identity. We cannot share our vision of truth.

When we say we are not home yet, we are saying, with hope and expectation, that we are on our way.


What Is Indigenous Peoples’ Day and How Is It Celebrated? - The New York Times


Many cities and states are observing the day. Here’s some of the history behind it.

Three years after President Biden became the first U.S. president to formally commemorate Indigenous Peoples’ Day, more than a dozen states recognize some version of the holiday in lieu of Columbus Day.

More than 100 cities have adopted the holiday, choosing to heed calls from Indigenous groups and other activists not to celebrate Christopher Columbus, the Italian navigator after whom the holiday is named. They say he brought genocide and colonization to communities that had been in the Americas for thousands of years. Many around the country, however, still celebrate Columbus Day or Italian Heritage Day as a point of pride.

More at

via www.nytimes.com


You Can See God

1024px-God_the_Father_with_His_Right_Hand_Raised_in_Blessing

"Lord, you have assigned my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure." - Psalm 16:5

God is righteous. That means that everything about Him is fully integrated into His holy character – He is 100% pure truth, love, goodness, and holiness.

There are no contradictions in God – except those that we contrive in our own misunderstanding of Him.

God loves justice.

God's heart delights in seeing things set aright.

God loves consistency in our lives. He takes joy when His truth is integrated into the loose dimensions of our lives and we come into right relationship with Him.

There is a promise in this verse, that the upright will see His face. What a glorious affirmation!

The more we seek God, the more our hearts are changed by His power within us and the clearer our vision of Who He is becomes.

We can see God. God's grace in Jesus Christ removes the scales from our eyes so that we may have a glimpse in this life and the hope of full disclosure in the life to come.

Let that truth sink into the pores of your being today and celebrate it as you walk through the maze of confusing messages and distorted truth.

You can see God.


The Rich Young Ruler and the Possible Impossibility

Camel and needle

Here is a video of my sermon of the morning. 

Entering the Kingdom of God is hard because it involves a change of values. We discover that the things we think we own may own us.

But Jesus, looking at us with love, invites us to go, and get rid of our false masters so that we might come and follow him.

It is hard and we are sad when we think we cannot do it. Jesus says, that while such a reordering of our lives is hard and impossible, with God, all things are possible.

The cost may be high, but the reward is great.





Blameless Walking and Happiness

Walk in the way of the lord
"Happy are they whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord!" - Psalm 119:1
One wonders how long it took to perform 119 in ancient Hebrew worship. There is a stanza for every letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

Was there harmony or was it in unison?

Did each stanza have its own melody or was it a long series of chants?

A celebration of the Torah, it begins with a statement that says speaks to the joy of living by the Torah.

Happy people walk the blameless way.

Happy people walk in the law of the Lord!

There is bliss and fulfillment in this way.

There is peace and contentment knowing that we are guided and protected, instructed and encouraged by the gift of a word from God.

It is worth a bit of exploration and meditation today.



Life Itself, is a Circle, a Line, and a Vapor

Life is a circle

The origins of life? I believe it all comes from God, but that is only part of the story.

It came from God originally and it continues to come from God, is sustained by God, and is brought to its end by God. Life is both fleeting and enduring, but this life gives way to other life and that life must also, some day, to passed to others and to God Himself, the source of life and all that sustains life.

Nature "gets it" without contemplating it.

We contemplate it "to death" and don't "get it."

Life is a circle. Things go around and come around. We begin in the middle and endure past the end. We flow from one and into another. 

Life is a line. We have a start and an end and the line continues. Someone began what they could not finish. We continue, but we do not finish either. The line goes on.

Life is every shape imaginable and beyond imagination. It is every color. It is every sound.

Life is a vapor, only because we cannot grasp a better word and the concept takes us into the realm of the undefinable, invisible, incomprehensible nature of things.

Life is life itself.

That is enough to say.

Life, in all of its cyclical, chaotic order and beauty. really is a good thing, but we are so preoccupied with our perception that it is imperfect and that we must control it and cling to our understanding of it that we miss it.

Sometimes we just need to get out of the way and let God renew things.

Live life, life itself.
"These all look to you,
to give them their food in due season.
When you give it to them, they gather it up;
when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
when you take away their breath, they die
and return to their dust.
When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground."
(Psalm 104:27-30 ESV)
 



Rise Up


Baloon

Photo by David Clode on Unsplash

In English, it is two words and a recurring New Testament theme, "Rise Up."

Sins are forgiven, weights are lifted, and impediments are rendered irrelevant.

Rise Up!


Matthew 9:1-8


And after getting into a boat he crossed the sea and came to his own town. And just then some people were carrying a paralyzed man lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."

Then some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming."

But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, ’stand up and walk'? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"-- he then said to the paralytic-- "Stand up, take your bed and go to your home."

And he stood up and went to his home.

When the crowds saw it, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings.





We Just Do

Babylon ruins 800px-thumbnail

"How shall we sing the Lord’s song
upon an alien soil?" - Psalm 137:4

It was the key theologically reflective question of the period of Exile,

It became the foundational question for a faith that was not centered in place or in a priesthood, but in Word and teaching.

It would not obliterate all theology of place and space, nor of ritual, praxis, or priestly ministry, but it would move the center.

Even after the people returned, reestablished Jerusalem, and the Temple, they would have the Synagogue, gathered around the Torah. Rabbis/Teachers took on new prominence and a great role in shaping faith.

So, when the Romans, centuries later, once and for all, destroyed the Temple, they could not destroy the faith of the people which endures to this day.

"How shall we sing the Lord’s song
upon an alien soil?" - Psalm 137:4

We just do.



Joe Hill

Joe hill

Joe Hill was executed for a murder he most likely did not commit. However, he came to believe he was worth more to the labor movement dead as a martyr than alive.

As a result his last words to the firing squad were, "Go ahead, fire."

Just prior to his execution, Hill had written to Bill Haywood, an IWW leader, saying, "Goodbye Bill. I die like a true blue rebel. Don't waste any time in mourning. Organize ... Could you arrange to have my body hauled to the state line to be buried? I don't want to be found dead in Utah."

Hill's will was written as a poem beginning with: "My will is easy to decide/for there is nothing to divide".

Not only was he an organizer and agitator, but he was a song writer and poet. His songs often were to the tune of popular songs and hymns of the time. He coined the phrase "pie in the sky" in his song "The Preacher and the Slave" (a parody of the hymn "In the Sweet By-and-By"). He also wrote "The Tramp", "There Is Power in a Union", "The Rebel Girl", and "Casey Jones—the Union Scab".


My will is easy to decide
For there is nothing to divide
My kin don't need to fuss and moan
"Moss does not cling to rolling stone"

My body? Oh, if I could choose
I would to ashes it reduce
And let the merry breezes blow
My dust to where some flowers grow

Perhaps some fading flower then
Would come to life and bloom again.
This is my Last and final Will.
Good Luck to All of you
Joe Hill



Yes. We Are Connected.

We Are Connected

I am not sure that there are more tragedies in the world these days or if we are just more connected and the news becomes immediate and personal.

There are some good things about that for people of prayer: deeper, closer connectedness.

The danger is numbness and the blink factor.

We get distracted; we blink; we miss something; we kick ourselves; we go on.

We keep finding bodies broken, bleeding, breathless, and pleading.

For families and survivors of the tragedies among us - May you find hope on the wings of tragedy.

We are all connected - even if the web goes down.

We are all connected