March 14, 2015 GUIDE

A friend has a guide dog.  She is blind, but her constant companion allows her to “see.”  He keeps her safe, steers her away from obstacles that could trip her up, shows her where and when to walk.  I’m amazed at the relationship these two have – it is one of complete trust.  She never doubts him.  And he is always there to keep her safe.  One is never without the other. 

My prayers often include prayers for guidance, and usually come at times when I feel that I cannot see the path ahead, when I’m afraid of unseen obstacles that could trip me up.  My prayers for guidance often come when I’m feeling alone, or afraid – when I feel that God is far from me.  It’s those times that I want a guide dog of my own who will lead me along the right paths to the green pastures and still waters. 

Wouldn’t it be great if we could all have guide dogs who would bump up against our knees when we have a difficult decision before us, pushing us in the right direction?  Or when worries overtake us and we lie wide awake in the middle of the night, if that guide dog would snuggle into us, assuring us that everything will be alright?  Or when our hearts are breaking, when we feel we can’t go on, when tears fill our eyes so we can’t see where we are going, wouldn’t it be great if that guide dog would nuzzle into us, sharing warmth and love, and lead us right to the place we need to go?

We do in fact have a guide dog who leads us.  A guide dog who walks beside us to places we may not be sure about, but who never abandons us, never leads us astray.  We simply need to lie back and trust that our guide – our God – will always be there. 

In those times I have trouble seeing what lies ahead, or which path I should take – when I am afraid, or my heart is breaking – my prayer is often this poem by Denise Levertov, calling me to simple trust.  God will always be there.

The Avowal

As swimmers dare
to lie face to the sky
and water bears them,
as hawks rest upon air
and air sustains them,
so would I learn to attain
freefall, and float
into Creator Spirit’s deep embrace,
knowing no effort earns
that all-surrounding grace. 

  

Shared by Pastor Joanne Stewart,
                  pastor at  the Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word (Rochester, NY)

March 13, 2015 INHERITANCE

“Believe in a love that is being stored up for you like an inheritance, and have faith that in this love there is a strength and a blessing so large that you can travel as far as you wish without having to step outside it.” 
― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

March 12, 2015 HEALING

To heal means to restore to health and soundness; to set right, as to heal a rift between friends or nations.  The most potent meaning is to restore a person to spiritual wholeness.  The physician with his medicines is dedicated to healing the body; the psychotherapist is trained to heal the mind.  The omnipotent and most loving healer is God: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life. [John 3:16]

As a consequence of sin, we are afflicted with anxieties and fears, and most grievously, suffer estrangement from God.  Jesus, sinless himself, offered himself as the sacrifice for the atonement for human sin.  His suffering on the cross healed us from the effects of sin, healed the estrangement from God, allowing us to live righteously.  “He himself bore our sins in his own body on the cross,  so that, free from sings, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.  For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardians of your souls [1 Peter 2:24-25].  What greater forgiveness, healing, and love could we ever experience!

To maintain this relationship and new life with God, we have responsibilities.  We must see ourselves as we truly are, “warts and all”.  “If we say we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we live and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself in the light, we have fellowship  with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” [1 John 5:6-8].  Are we waling in the darkness of sin and self-interest?  Are we walking in the light of the presence of God?

To live righteously we must obey God and when we stray we must repent and ask for forgiveness.  We must love God and therefore love one another.  To help us in our spiritual journey we need the support of a community of believers.  Healing and forgiveness eliminate the barriers between God and ourselves, restores our relationship  with God, and allows us to walk in the light of the presence of God.

Shared by Joan Bradley

March 11, 2015 BEAUTY

Beauty surrounds us. We are more attuned to the lovely than the lousy by our very nature bestowed to us by our Heavenly Father. For me, the word evokes music, of course, from the slow cantabile of a Mozart violin concerto to “in the beauty of the lilies” in the Battle Hymn of the Republic. That line reminds me that the glorious birth of our Lord was a beautiful event with stars, songs, warm animals, and adoration by shepherds, Magi, loving parents. We look to these things and not the musty stable, damp cave, rough linen, and hay. And yet there is beauty in all these things as well. Stalactites in a cave, the smell of fresh hewn wood, the photo-micrograph of a simple bacterial cell.  Nature is redolent with beauty: stars in the heavens, the fragrance of blossoms, the songs of birds and insects.

Let us remember the beauty in all things is a precious gift from God. There is a matchless beauty in the blood from the crown of thorns and in the nail-pierced hands and lanced side. That is the beauty of divine grace. Nothing is more beautiful than our “Beautiful Savior”’s  love and redeeming sacrifice for us all. We are richly blessed in all things.

Shared by Dr. Franklyn Commisso

March 10, 2015 RENEW

Shared by Sue Brown

March 9, 2015 ABIDE

Abide

Merriam Webster defines abide as a verb meaning:  to accept or bear, to stay or live somewhere, to remain or continue.

While these three seem a little different in nature, they can all apply to Jesus’ words in John 15:4 “Abide in Me and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless if abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me.”

 

What does it mean for Jesus to abide in us?  It means that Jesus accepts us, exactly how we are with all of our faults and shortcomings, his gracious love comes to us as a gift and an invitation.  Jesus is present in all of creation and so he is with us, here, today, in every place that we find ourselves, in every interaction that we encounter, Jesus is with us.  Jesus does not leave us, even in our darkest times, even when we turn away from him, Jesus abides, he accepts us, bears us and continues to be present for us.

 

What does it mean for us to Abide in Jesus?  For us it can be more of a challenge.  To abide in Jesus means to give ourselves over to Jesus and his plan and presence in our lives.  Each day we have to accept Jesus as our savior.  We do this in the ways that we live our lives as reflections of him.  When our response to the love that we receive is to turn that love toward others and to live in the way that God commands, we are abiding in Christ.  It is the sin that is present in the world that can keep us from abiding in Jesus. Each day we have to actively engage to abide in Jesus. 

 

Lord, we thank you for the gift of your Son who abides in each one of us even in our sinful nature.  As he abides in us, send your Spirit to guide us and strengthen us to abide in him each day as we seek to participate in your creative mission in the world.  Amen.

Shared by Dawn Morello

March 8, 2015 WATER

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)

“Water” is vital for life. We can’t live without it. It is used in our daily lives for cleaning, drinking, bathing, washing and food preparation. It is also used for transportation, cooling, agriculture, recreation, food processing, and extinguishing fires, to name a few. It covers 71% of the Earth’s surface. We tend to take for granted that everyone has clean water available but in 40% of the world, people still do not have safe drinking water. 

The Bible and water are very much connected. Water is referenced over 700 times in the scriptures. In biblical times, water was a blessing, used for purification and cleansing as well as associated with chaos and death. God saw the wickedness of humans with their evil thoughts and violence. He was sorry he made humankind and decided to wipe the earth clean. God asked Noah to build an ark.  Once the ark was ready and loaded with Noah, his descendants, and the chosen animals and birds, God flooded the earth of evil.

At the wedding at Cana water was used in the first miracle of Jesus as he transformed water in wine to reveal his glory and his disciples believed in Him.

(John 2:1-11)

Water was used when John baptized Jesus in the Jordan.  As he came up from the water the heavens were opened and a dove, the Spirit of God, descended on Him and a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased”. (Matthew 3:13-17)

Water is still used today in Baptism to symbolize our total trust in and reliance on Jesus Christ.  We are baptized into His death on the cross and are no longer slaves to sin. When we are raised out of the water we are raised to our new life in Christ to be with Him forever. It is the first step on a life-long journey of faith. We are reborn daily in Christ, forgiven our sins and shown God’s grace.

Shared by Joanne Icken