"It was all over! The Lord was dead! It he had been sick, they would have cared for him. If he had been imprisoned, they could have waited for his release and started over. It they had been persecuted, they could have gone underground and kept the course alive. But he was dead--finally, unchangeably dead." From Living Witnesses, musical of the 1970s.
Easter Day...for many of us that is the entirety of Easter. One day to celebrate, to hide and hunt eggs, to have a big dinner and sit and visit and talk and then go home wishing we had more time to unwind before going back to work on Monday. On the Christian calendar, though, Easter is not just one day. It is actually an entire season and it lasts seven weeks until the day we call Pentecost is celebrated.
On Easter Day we read the traditional resurrection story of Jesus from one of the Gospels and we proclaim:"He is risen! He is risen, indeed!" The story does not end there, though. For the next six weeks we will hear more stories of Jesus' resurrection appearances to his disciples. We will see Jesus walk through walls to rooms with locked doors. We will hear Jesus teaching disciples as they walk sadly toward Emmaus. We will witness Jesus appearing in the fog on the beach as the disciples have gone back to a life of fishing and preparing breakfast for them as they gather on the shore. We will give Jesus a proper send-off as he gathers his followers together once more and tells them that they are in charge of his mission to the world and they see him go upward into the heavens. Jesus returns to be with God the Father and leaves the mission of making the world a better place in the hands of those who he taught and all who would follow them on the Christian journey.
This second Sunday of Easter we have to get out of the locked room where the disciples are hiding for fear of their lives so we can begin to spread the good news. Jesus had been murdered and they had been witnesses to his violent death and they figured they would be next. After all, if the Jewish authorities hated Jesus so much that they would insist on his death to silence his message, then perhaps they would push the Roman authorities to also kill Jesus' followers just to be sure that none of them would continue to teach what they could not agree with.
So, they found a hiding place and decided to lay low. They waited quietly and tried to console one another as they recounted again and again the terrible events that surrounded Jesus' trial and execution. For some reason, Thomas left the group and went out into society. Perhaps he went to find food for everyone or he started getting cabin fever and had to get some fresh air. Whatever the reason for his absence, it was during the time he was gone that the resurrection Christ appeared to the others locked away and revealed his wounds to them so they would believe that he was indeed alive.
Many of us need to see and experience things for ourselves. We may hear of the experiences of others but do not truly understand what they are until they happen to us. I have heard of many people who have been struck by lightning and survived. A cousin and a friend of ours both have had this experience. I have never been struck by lightning, thank God, and cannot truly relate to what they must be like but these two men I know who say they have been struck by lightning can truly testify to what it feels like to have that experience.
When Thomas returned to the disciples in the locked room, they immediately shouted to him, "We have seen the Lord!" As they told him of the visit of the resurrected Jesus, he could only say that he would not believe until he had the same experience they had had. Thomas was not being so much of a doubter, as he is often called, as a realist. He could not believe in resurrection because he had never seen a resurrected person (except Lazarus, and that must not have made a huge impression on him) but he needed the same experience the others disciples had if he was to believe that his friend Jesus was truly alive.
So, a week later, as the disciples continued to be in their secret hideout, Jesus again walked among them without opening the door and showed his hand and side to Thomas to which Thomas exclaimed his confession of faith--"My Lord and my God!" Not only did Thomas believe that Jesus had been raised from the dead but he also believed that Jesus was truly the Son of God, who could not be truly killed.
Jesus' reaction to Thomas' confession of faith was not to belittle him or scold him for not believing what the other disciples had told him about their experience. It was simply to say that those who can believe in things without having to have rock solid evidence are often happier than those who demand proof. Such people are often happier because they are not tormented with having to have explanations for everything in life. They often just benefit or enjoy what life provides without having to know how everything works.
I am always amazing at air travel. I know if I board a plane and it successfully takes off and then lands without incident that I will be in a new place when I step off the plane. I have had people describe aerodynamics to me and why such a heavy thing as a multi-ton piece of metal can be lifted into the air but I still cannot truly understand it. It just does not make sense to me. I benefit from air travel and plan to continue to do so as long as I can but I do not have to understand how it works in order to enjoy it.
Resurrection is a bit like air travel. I do not have to understand how it works to believe in it. I just believe that Jesus died and came back to life three days later. It is just something I choose to believe. If others must have proof in order to understand, then I congratulate them on their curiosity and inquiring mind. It is enough to me that just believe that Jesus rose from the dead and has granted me and all eternal life because of the miracle of his resurrection. I choose to proclaim--"He is risen! He is risen, indeed!"
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Day 36 of Lent: God's Love Embraces This World and the Next
This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. John 17:3
"This is my father's world, and to my listening ears, all nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres." (words by Maltbie D. Babcock) God's presence is proclaimed in this world and the next. Every place can be a "thin place" where God is revealed in the tasks of ordinary life. Every landscape reminds us that God is everywhere we are, even when we are most oblivious of God's presence.
All life is interconnected--that includes the relationship between heaven and earth. Our image of heaven expresses our hope that God will transform our lives within an environment where grace and growth are constant companions in an adventure toward wholeness for all things.
We are created to live this lifetime in our spiritual journeys and we are creating eternity by what we do today. We seek justice in this lifetime because it promotes well being for others. As we live and work to love God and neighbor we find God's presence in the world around us and in the people around us whom we serve.
God loves the world, both the world we live in and the worlds we cannot even imagine. In this lifetime, we are fellow adventurers together in bringing beauty to this good earth. God entrusts this planet and its inhabitants to us and guides us as we work together to bring about good.
Affirm for yourself:
God loves this world and all that is in it.
My life is an eternal gift from God.
My loving actions bring joy to others in this life and the next.
I rejoice with God in the beauty of the earth.
Prayer:
Loving Creator, artist of galaxies and planets, and world to come, help us to trust your love for this world and this life. Help us to create beauty that endures as we celebrate the passing moments. Help us to see holiness in all things and glimpse your everlasting life in this world's most unlikely places. Amen.
"This is my father's world, and to my listening ears, all nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres." (words by Maltbie D. Babcock) God's presence is proclaimed in this world and the next. Every place can be a "thin place" where God is revealed in the tasks of ordinary life. Every landscape reminds us that God is everywhere we are, even when we are most oblivious of God's presence.
All life is interconnected--that includes the relationship between heaven and earth. Our image of heaven expresses our hope that God will transform our lives within an environment where grace and growth are constant companions in an adventure toward wholeness for all things.
We are created to live this lifetime in our spiritual journeys and we are creating eternity by what we do today. We seek justice in this lifetime because it promotes well being for others. As we live and work to love God and neighbor we find God's presence in the world around us and in the people around us whom we serve.
God loves the world, both the world we live in and the worlds we cannot even imagine. In this lifetime, we are fellow adventurers together in bringing beauty to this good earth. God entrusts this planet and its inhabitants to us and guides us as we work together to bring about good.
Affirm for yourself:
God loves this world and all that is in it.
My life is an eternal gift from God.
My loving actions bring joy to others in this life and the next.
I rejoice with God in the beauty of the earth.
Prayer:
Loving Creator, artist of galaxies and planets, and world to come, help us to trust your love for this world and this life. Help us to create beauty that endures as we celebrate the passing moments. Help us to see holiness in all things and glimpse your everlasting life in this world's most unlikely places. Amen.
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Day 35 of Lent: We May Forget Ourselves, but God Will Never Forget Us
Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.
Isaiah 49: 15-16
Our longevity has led to the growing challenges of maintaining quality of life amid the many chronic illnesses we have such as Alzheimer's disease, cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Many persons fear becoming victims of the technology intended to sustain and support life. Words that were unknown to our grandparents strike terror in our hearts as we imagine our helplessness, vulnerability, and forgetfulness.
In many ways, Alzheimer's disease embodies many of our deepest fears--the loss of memory, reason, speech, and self-awareness. Tragically, the progression of Alzheimer's disease eventually robs us of our self-awareness and the ability to remember our own personal stories. We may forget who we are and who we have been in the course of our unique personal adventure.
God never forgets us, nor does God quit working in our lives. All things are treasured in the divine memory. As the one to whom all hearts are open and all desires are known, God experiences each moment from the inside as well as from the prospective of its external relationships. If God is truly omnipresent and active, then God is also present within the experience of persons with Alzheimer's disease.
We often experience God in our sighs too deep for words. God is loving and faithful, even when we can no longer remember who we are. God's enduring love and unfailing memory remind us that we can believe on behalf of others, and others can believe on behalf of us. We can heal them with our healing words and touch and by singing hymns of faith with them. With awareness that God never forgets, we can accept our fears of the future and experience God's healing touch when we are most fearful of what tomorrow may bring.
Affirm for yourself:
Regardless of state of mind, God loves me.
I am God's beloved child in every season of life.
Regardless of health conditions, God loves me.
Prayer:
Holy companion, help me to experience your unfailing love in health and illness, in success and failure. Help me to listen for your presence in my inner voice, through unexpected moments of inspiration, and through the care of others. Help me to know that you are always with me and that nothing can separate me from your love in Christ Jesus, our Savior and Healer. Amen.
Isaiah 49: 15-16
Our longevity has led to the growing challenges of maintaining quality of life amid the many chronic illnesses we have such as Alzheimer's disease, cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Many persons fear becoming victims of the technology intended to sustain and support life. Words that were unknown to our grandparents strike terror in our hearts as we imagine our helplessness, vulnerability, and forgetfulness.
In many ways, Alzheimer's disease embodies many of our deepest fears--the loss of memory, reason, speech, and self-awareness. Tragically, the progression of Alzheimer's disease eventually robs us of our self-awareness and the ability to remember our own personal stories. We may forget who we are and who we have been in the course of our unique personal adventure.
God never forgets us, nor does God quit working in our lives. All things are treasured in the divine memory. As the one to whom all hearts are open and all desires are known, God experiences each moment from the inside as well as from the prospective of its external relationships. If God is truly omnipresent and active, then God is also present within the experience of persons with Alzheimer's disease.
We often experience God in our sighs too deep for words. God is loving and faithful, even when we can no longer remember who we are. God's enduring love and unfailing memory remind us that we can believe on behalf of others, and others can believe on behalf of us. We can heal them with our healing words and touch and by singing hymns of faith with them. With awareness that God never forgets, we can accept our fears of the future and experience God's healing touch when we are most fearful of what tomorrow may bring.
Affirm for yourself:
Regardless of state of mind, God loves me.
I am God's beloved child in every season of life.
Regardless of health conditions, God loves me.
Prayer:
Holy companion, help me to experience your unfailing love in health and illness, in success and failure. Help me to listen for your presence in my inner voice, through unexpected moments of inspiration, and through the care of others. Help me to know that you are always with me and that nothing can separate me from your love in Christ Jesus, our Savior and Healer. Amen.
Monday, March 21, 2016
Day 34 of Lent: We Experience God's Strength in Our Weakness
My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness. II Cor. 12: 9
Life is often difficult. In the intricate interdependence of life, much of what happens to us is beyond our control. The apostle Paul spoke of a life filled not only with persecution and pain but also with grace and wonder. The same is true of our lives. God's aim for wholeness in our lives embraces our vulnerability and pain as well as our success and joy. Growing in wisdom and stature involves accepting the totality of your life, both what you can change and what you must endure.
Our pain is often personal as we attend to our own quest for relational, psychological, and spiritual wholeness. We cannot hide from our pain and the pain of others if we seek to be God's partners in healing the world. If we live long enough, we will have our own personal struggles with aging, sickness, and dying. While we praise independence, we will also learn the gift of vulnerability and interdependence.
When we claim our place in God's dynamic and interdependent universe, we continually discover resources and inspiration beyond our own powers. This is a matter of trust in God and in others when we least are able to care for ourselves. When we open ourselves up to God's continuing care for our lives, God and those whom we love will supply our deepest needs in living and dying. Though we may wish to remain independent, we will become stronger in faith and life as we claim life's radical interdependence as a gift and grace.
Think about these things:
God's grace is sufficient for me.
I rejoice in the graceful interdependence of life.
God strengthens me in my vulnerability.
God strengthens me in specific situations.
Prayer:
God of all seasons, we bring you our health and illness, our joy and our pain. Work with our vulnerability so that we might find your grace always sufficient for our need. Bless us with the spirit of interdependence, receiving and giving your grace in every encounter. Amen.
Life is often difficult. In the intricate interdependence of life, much of what happens to us is beyond our control. The apostle Paul spoke of a life filled not only with persecution and pain but also with grace and wonder. The same is true of our lives. God's aim for wholeness in our lives embraces our vulnerability and pain as well as our success and joy. Growing in wisdom and stature involves accepting the totality of your life, both what you can change and what you must endure.
Our pain is often personal as we attend to our own quest for relational, psychological, and spiritual wholeness. We cannot hide from our pain and the pain of others if we seek to be God's partners in healing the world. If we live long enough, we will have our own personal struggles with aging, sickness, and dying. While we praise independence, we will also learn the gift of vulnerability and interdependence.
When we claim our place in God's dynamic and interdependent universe, we continually discover resources and inspiration beyond our own powers. This is a matter of trust in God and in others when we least are able to care for ourselves. When we open ourselves up to God's continuing care for our lives, God and those whom we love will supply our deepest needs in living and dying. Though we may wish to remain independent, we will become stronger in faith and life as we claim life's radical interdependence as a gift and grace.
Think about these things:
God's grace is sufficient for me.
I rejoice in the graceful interdependence of life.
God strengthens me in my vulnerability.
God strengthens me in specific situations.
Prayer:
God of all seasons, we bring you our health and illness, our joy and our pain. Work with our vulnerability so that we might find your grace always sufficient for our need. Bless us with the spirit of interdependence, receiving and giving your grace in every encounter. Amen.
Day 33 of Lent: Finding God in the Darkness
Where can I go from your spirit? Psalm 139: 7
God's holy adventure embraces darkness as well as light. Personal healing and wholeness must include both prevention and response to health challenges if it is truly to respond to the well-being of the whole person. Darkness has a light of its own. Within the darkness, the seedling grows. Within the womb, new life takes form. Within the chrysalis, the caterpillar transforms into a butterfly. We often fear the dark and flee from the unfix-able aspects of life that will eventually be our companions on this adventure of life.
The theologian Howard Thurman reminds us that when we attend to the divine light within our own lives and the world, we can find our way through the deepest darkness. Psalm 139 describes the reality that if God is truly with us wherever we go, we are always at home even when we don't know it. Despite our apparent distance from God, God never leaves us.
"If I say, 'Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me becomes night, even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you." (v. 11)
Anxiety, depression, and fear may dim our experience of God, but even when our struggles threaten us, a divine light can still illumine our path. This light may come through the love of a listening friend, the help of a sensitive therapist, the support of a faithful community, or the intervention of one who may care.
Affirm for yourself:
Wherever I go, I am in God's hand.
Regardless of how I feel, God supports me.
Regardless of my thoughts and actions, God works to heal and guide me.
I am always at home, because God is always with me.
Prayer:
In darkness, O God, we experience your light shining upon us. Help me embrace light and dark, action and rest, birth and death. Help me accept my shadow side as a womb of possibility rather than shame. Help me take my whole life to you--joy and sorrow, friendship and anger, intimacy and alienation--knowing that you bless and heal all things by your love. Amen.
God's holy adventure embraces darkness as well as light. Personal healing and wholeness must include both prevention and response to health challenges if it is truly to respond to the well-being of the whole person. Darkness has a light of its own. Within the darkness, the seedling grows. Within the womb, new life takes form. Within the chrysalis, the caterpillar transforms into a butterfly. We often fear the dark and flee from the unfix-able aspects of life that will eventually be our companions on this adventure of life.
The theologian Howard Thurman reminds us that when we attend to the divine light within our own lives and the world, we can find our way through the deepest darkness. Psalm 139 describes the reality that if God is truly with us wherever we go, we are always at home even when we don't know it. Despite our apparent distance from God, God never leaves us.
"If I say, 'Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me becomes night, even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you." (v. 11)
Anxiety, depression, and fear may dim our experience of God, but even when our struggles threaten us, a divine light can still illumine our path. This light may come through the love of a listening friend, the help of a sensitive therapist, the support of a faithful community, or the intervention of one who may care.
Affirm for yourself:
Wherever I go, I am in God's hand.
Regardless of how I feel, God supports me.
Regardless of my thoughts and actions, God works to heal and guide me.
I am always at home, because God is always with me.
Prayer:
In darkness, O God, we experience your light shining upon us. Help me embrace light and dark, action and rest, birth and death. Help me accept my shadow side as a womb of possibility rather than shame. Help me take my whole life to you--joy and sorrow, friendship and anger, intimacy and alienation--knowing that you bless and heal all things by your love. Amen.
Day 32 of Lent: The Gift of Peace amid the Stresses of Life
He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Mark 4: 39
Stress is one of the greatest threats to personal and spiritual well-being. It is both destructive and addictive in nature. Physicians report that more than 75 percent of patient visits are related to the negative impact of stress on persons' overall health.
Jesus the Healer calls persons to abundant life. For Jesus, fullness of life involved the integration of challenge, risk taking, and hard work. Jesus spent long days teaching, preaching, and healing. He also regularly sought peace in quiet places. As a model for persons today, Jesus' ministry balanced work with sabbath rest.
Stress and distress are often a matter of perspective and faith. The biblical tradition challenges us to find sabbath rest amid the demands of our busy and challenging lives. Psalm 46 describes a time of personal and national tumult and then counsels the faithful community to "Be still, and know that I am God!" (v. 10) We can find a quiet center even in the most distressing times.
Think about these things:
God is with me in all the storms of life.
I experience peace in every situation.
Peace is only a moment away.
I experience peace in particular situations.
Prayer:
Loving God, amid the storms of life, calm my soul. Remind me that you are always with me, and that in your presence, I cannot fail. With your grace, I will remain calm amid stress and conflict. In the stillness, let me hear your voice and know that I am safe. In my safety, let me bring your calm to others. Amen.
Stress is one of the greatest threats to personal and spiritual well-being. It is both destructive and addictive in nature. Physicians report that more than 75 percent of patient visits are related to the negative impact of stress on persons' overall health.
Jesus the Healer calls persons to abundant life. For Jesus, fullness of life involved the integration of challenge, risk taking, and hard work. Jesus spent long days teaching, preaching, and healing. He also regularly sought peace in quiet places. As a model for persons today, Jesus' ministry balanced work with sabbath rest.
Stress and distress are often a matter of perspective and faith. The biblical tradition challenges us to find sabbath rest amid the demands of our busy and challenging lives. Psalm 46 describes a time of personal and national tumult and then counsels the faithful community to "Be still, and know that I am God!" (v. 10) We can find a quiet center even in the most distressing times.
Think about these things:
God is with me in all the storms of life.
I experience peace in every situation.
Peace is only a moment away.
I experience peace in particular situations.
Prayer:
Loving God, amid the storms of life, calm my soul. Remind me that you are always with me, and that in your presence, I cannot fail. With your grace, I will remain calm amid stress and conflict. In the stillness, let me hear your voice and know that I am safe. In my safety, let me bring your calm to others. Amen.
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Day 31 of Lent: We Share in God's Healing
"If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well..." (Mark 5:28)
Jesus the Healer transformed persons' lives by touching and by being touched. Jesus touched the outcasts, the lepers, those who were maligned by society of his day. Jesus transformed their lives by his healing touch.
Today, at a time when we are highly conscious of the importance of safe touch, we are also discovering the power of appropriate and welcome touch to heal body, mind, and spirit. Jesus' healing touch is being rediscovered in light of the growing influence of complementary medicine in the Western World. It is no coincidence that Christians and non-Christians alike experience greater spiritual and physical wholeness through practices such as healing touch, therapeutic touch, and massage therapy.
In our high tech times, we must balance the necessary separateness of the modern world with the intimate touch of appropriate healing through interaction with others. Our hands as well as our hearts and minds are God's intention to promote the well being of others. Healing energy flowed from Jesus' hands and it also flows from our lives when we commit ourselves to be God's instruments of healing and wholeness.
Think about these things:
I mediate God's healing touch in every encounter.
I touch only when appropriate and helpful to others.
I touch with love and healing.
I protect others from unhealthy touch.
Prayer:
Healing God, we are open to your touch. Awaken us to places where we have chosen disease rather than health, distress rather than peace, busyness rather than calm. Inspire us to live fully, healthfully, and lovingly. Let every touch bring life and hope and healing as as we journey with your son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Jesus the Healer transformed persons' lives by touching and by being touched. Jesus touched the outcasts, the lepers, those who were maligned by society of his day. Jesus transformed their lives by his healing touch.
Today, at a time when we are highly conscious of the importance of safe touch, we are also discovering the power of appropriate and welcome touch to heal body, mind, and spirit. Jesus' healing touch is being rediscovered in light of the growing influence of complementary medicine in the Western World. It is no coincidence that Christians and non-Christians alike experience greater spiritual and physical wholeness through practices such as healing touch, therapeutic touch, and massage therapy.
In our high tech times, we must balance the necessary separateness of the modern world with the intimate touch of appropriate healing through interaction with others. Our hands as well as our hearts and minds are God's intention to promote the well being of others. Healing energy flowed from Jesus' hands and it also flows from our lives when we commit ourselves to be God's instruments of healing and wholeness.
Think about these things:
I mediate God's healing touch in every encounter.
I touch only when appropriate and helpful to others.
I touch with love and healing.
I protect others from unhealthy touch.
Prayer:
Healing God, we are open to your touch. Awaken us to places where we have chosen disease rather than health, distress rather than peace, busyness rather than calm. Inspire us to live fully, healthfully, and lovingly. Let every touch bring life and hope and healing as as we journey with your son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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