www.HopeandHelpCenter.Org
Weekly Meditation
by Ron White
Ephesians 4:1-16
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called with all humility and gentleness, wit patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and parent of all who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says 'When He ascended on high, he led captive a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.' (Now the expression 'He ascended,' what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fulfill all things.) The gifts Christ gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature person, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be tossed about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into the One who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love."
How blessed I am to believe that we can all dwell together in unity as Christ and God mean us to, and to think about what that can mean for our lives. We are to walk as Jesus walked, talk as Jesus talked, following closely in His spiritual footsteps. The Apostle says in this passage that we are to do that until we all attain the unity of the faith, until we attain the stature of the Christ, until we speak the truth in love, humbly, showing patience with each other as we all grow, diligently preserving the bonds of unity which hold us together. How's that for an assignment? When I look around, I see a world being destroyed by its disunity. How, then, do we attain "bonds of unity?" Through some form of mystical Christ-experience? Well, no. Paul tells us that we have to do the work of conforming to God's ways, preserving unity in the bond of peace. We are to take responsibility for unifying all of humanity. We are to supply our gifts, our courage, our strength - all given to us abundantly by God for only that purpose. Paul says that if we won't do that work, if we can't consistently and unconditionally do whatever it takes to love our fellow human beings, we are without excuse. No one pretends that task is always easy. Just ask a soldier who has served in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Unconditionally loving all other human beings certainly requires intention and work. Tessa Greenspan, former owner of Sappington Foods, a highly spiritual woman and a friend, offers this approach for approaching seemingly impossible hard work: use positive afformations, words which literally create our world around us. She teaches what Christ taught, that we are formed and our world, our reality, is formed by our thoughts and words. Tessa writes down in short statements what she wants her world to become, puts the statements in a place where she will consistently interact with them, and repeats them aloud when she first awakens and again whenever she encounters them throughout the day. If you think that sounds a bit optimistic, consider that the relatively new science of quantum physics not only teaches that we create our reality with our thoughts and words, but quite possibly affirms a story we are all familiar with: creation. Oh, by the way, Tessa recently walked on 1700 degree coals and bent rebar steel with a partner, using only her thoughts, while attending a spiritual retreat out West. If you know Tessa, you know she is a very credible woman, highly respected for her involvement in the halls of power in this city...and I'll cheerfully introduce you to her!
We really can all dwell together in unity. It begins with us. We have to believe it. God has given you and me our own unique gifts to do this and an unending supply every day of people to give it to - doing everything from dusting the floors of the sanctuary to making quiet conversation in a coffee shop. That simple truth thrills me. How about you?
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Creating a Life that Matters - Fall Classes forming NOW
Classes forming now at MCC of Greater St. Louis.
ALL ARE WELCOME to participate in this Seminar, designed for making the most out of life, and relationships. Creating a Life that Matters is an upcoming Educational opportunity for those interested in strategies for a more Spiritually sustaining life and Relations with others.
CLASSES ARE FREE --- just RSVP for FALL Enrollment
To reserve your place in our upcoming classes, email us at info@mccgsl.org
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Weekly Meditation for July 19th
www.HopeandHelpCenter.org
Weekly Meditation
by Michael Desmond
Mark 6:30-34 (New International Version)
The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."
So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went-into villages, towns or countryside-they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.
Mark tells us Jesus began teaching the large crowd many things. He doesn't tell us what Jesus taught - exactly. He does, however, relate Jesus' prescription to his busy disciples: "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."
Jesus said this after listening to his apostles report to him all they had done and taught.
We can read this (the apostle's reporting) as a lesson meant for us. We tell ourselves to get busy, build the city of God and be quick about it! Report out and then get back to it. Maybe so. I do think there is another lesson for us in this as well. "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." Perhaps this is part of the teaching Mark refers to but doesn't tell us about. Jesus often led by example. He often spent time away, sometimes all night. In that quiet place, he probably rested and prayed. Perhaps his rest was prayer? God spoke to him in the stillness. Jesus listened and learned because it was a quiet place. Then, he went back at it and spoke to the multitudes; fed them and generally shepherded them.
So also Jesus calls us in Psalm 23 to lay down in green pastures; to have a meal with him in front of our enemy (busyness?). Yeah, but who has green pastures let alone time to cook? For answers ask Katie Wotowa where her green pastures are, where the inspiration came for the stained glass she and Kathy Wallace have created for the chapel. (Her basement?) Ask Theresa O'Flynn where the inspiration for her music (or mosaic cross for Good Friday) came from. (Perhaps it happens simply when she closes her eyes and sings prayerfully right in front of hundreds of us?) Are these examples of the quiet places Jesus is telling us to go to? As we rest in those places he will speak to us, shepherd us, feed us. We can then go out and get back to building the city of God, knowing we have just been in prayer with Jesus and have been given the strength and energy and direction we need.
Weekly Meditation
by Michael Desmond
Mark 6:30-34 (New International Version)
The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."
So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went-into villages, towns or countryside-they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.
Mark tells us Jesus began teaching the large crowd many things. He doesn't tell us what Jesus taught - exactly. He does, however, relate Jesus' prescription to his busy disciples: "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."
Jesus said this after listening to his apostles report to him all they had done and taught.
We can read this (the apostle's reporting) as a lesson meant for us. We tell ourselves to get busy, build the city of God and be quick about it! Report out and then get back to it. Maybe so. I do think there is another lesson for us in this as well. "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." Perhaps this is part of the teaching Mark refers to but doesn't tell us about. Jesus often led by example. He often spent time away, sometimes all night. In that quiet place, he probably rested and prayed. Perhaps his rest was prayer? God spoke to him in the stillness. Jesus listened and learned because it was a quiet place. Then, he went back at it and spoke to the multitudes; fed them and generally shepherded them.
So also Jesus calls us in Psalm 23 to lay down in green pastures; to have a meal with him in front of our enemy (busyness?). Yeah, but who has green pastures let alone time to cook? For answers ask Katie Wotowa where her green pastures are, where the inspiration came for the stained glass she and Kathy Wallace have created for the chapel. (Her basement?) Ask Theresa O'Flynn where the inspiration for her music (or mosaic cross for Good Friday) came from. (Perhaps it happens simply when she closes her eyes and sings prayerfully right in front of hundreds of us?) Are these examples of the quiet places Jesus is telling us to go to? As we rest in those places he will speak to us, shepherd us, feed us. We can then go out and get back to building the city of God, knowing we have just been in prayer with Jesus and have been given the strength and energy and direction we need.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Weekly Meditation for July 12
www.HopeandHelpCenter.org
Weekly Meditation
by Tom Robertsen
Blessed with Every Spiritual Blessing
[Adventure into Inner Space]
Ephesians 1: 3-14
Praise be to the God and Parent of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has bestowed on us in Christ every spiritual blessing...
In Christ we were chosen before the world was founded,
To be without blemish, full of love, accepted as children through Jesus Christ,
So that the glory of this gift, so graciously bestowed upon us in the Beloved,
Might redound to his praise.
In Christ our release is secured and our sins are forgiven.
There lies the richness of God's free grace lavished upon us,
Giving full wisdom and insight...
And you, also, when you have heard the message of truth,
Have received the seal of the Holy Spirit.
The epistle writer opens his book with a passage of astounding and nearly overwhelming hope and promise to those living in the "household of God", as he calls it further on.
We, too, live in that household, both spiritually in our hearts and physically in our new church home. Rightly so, and certainly we feel blessed at every turn. But the real blessing is not the physical structure at 1919 South Broadway. And so, let's go farther and deeper -- let's take a space journey in through the window of our own soul.
Put aside if you will, everything going on about you -- perhaps close your eyes for these moments of meditation. Now, mentally walk with me to our church's entrance, which is inviting you in.
As you walk inside, feel the love around you, giving you peace and inspiration. Find a seat in the sanctuary, perhaps before the altar. Mentally you can freely reach out to touch that altar if you like.
If we sit and wait patiently and silently, the great heart of Christ can and will speak to us as it did in Ephesians to those early Christians. Bring everything in your being to him.
Are you feeling at fault or unworthy? Listen to hear that we are "chosen in the Lord to be holy, blameless."
Feeling alone? We were adopted and planned for by the Creator in the first light of creation.
Are we feeling short-changed in our life? The Creator's grace is freely given and lavished upon us, with full redemption and forgiveness.
Yes, we can indeed feel all of this, accept this and rely on these assurances.
Feel the presence of the Christ spirit right now, right where you're sitting. Respond to it. Dialogue with it.
If you should see the image of your Lord there, embrace it, speak to it, ask for what you need. Listen to what it may tell you.
Stay here as long as you like on your spiritual journey. Return often to receive more of the heavenly peace. And so, "having believed, you are now marked by the Christ with the emblem of the Holy Spirit," in this household of God! Rejoice.
Weekly Meditation
by Tom Robertsen
Blessed with Every Spiritual Blessing
[Adventure into Inner Space]
Ephesians 1: 3-14
Praise be to the God and Parent of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has bestowed on us in Christ every spiritual blessing...
In Christ we were chosen before the world was founded,
To be without blemish, full of love, accepted as children through Jesus Christ,
So that the glory of this gift, so graciously bestowed upon us in the Beloved,
Might redound to his praise.
In Christ our release is secured and our sins are forgiven.
There lies the richness of God's free grace lavished upon us,
Giving full wisdom and insight...
And you, also, when you have heard the message of truth,
Have received the seal of the Holy Spirit.
The epistle writer opens his book with a passage of astounding and nearly overwhelming hope and promise to those living in the "household of God", as he calls it further on.
We, too, live in that household, both spiritually in our hearts and physically in our new church home. Rightly so, and certainly we feel blessed at every turn. But the real blessing is not the physical structure at 1919 South Broadway. And so, let's go farther and deeper -- let's take a space journey in through the window of our own soul.
Put aside if you will, everything going on about you -- perhaps close your eyes for these moments of meditation. Now, mentally walk with me to our church's entrance, which is inviting you in.
As you walk inside, feel the love around you, giving you peace and inspiration. Find a seat in the sanctuary, perhaps before the altar. Mentally you can freely reach out to touch that altar if you like.
If we sit and wait patiently and silently, the great heart of Christ can and will speak to us as it did in Ephesians to those early Christians. Bring everything in your being to him.
Are you feeling at fault or unworthy? Listen to hear that we are "chosen in the Lord to be holy, blameless."
Feeling alone? We were adopted and planned for by the Creator in the first light of creation.
Are we feeling short-changed in our life? The Creator's grace is freely given and lavished upon us, with full redemption and forgiveness.
Yes, we can indeed feel all of this, accept this and rely on these assurances.
Feel the presence of the Christ spirit right now, right where you're sitting. Respond to it. Dialogue with it.
If you should see the image of your Lord there, embrace it, speak to it, ask for what you need. Listen to what it may tell you.
Stay here as long as you like on your spiritual journey. Return often to receive more of the heavenly peace. And so, "having believed, you are now marked by the Christ with the emblem of the Holy Spirit," in this household of God! Rejoice.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Weekly Meditation JULY 5th, 2009
http://www.hopeandhelpcenter.org/
Weekly Meditation
by Sandra English
"Bread for the Journey"
"If it had not been
for the Lord on my side...
Where would I be?
Where would I be?"
(African American Gospel Song)
Meditation: Psalm 124
If the Lord had not been on our side;
Israel may now say,
If the Lord had not been on our side
when they assailed us,
they would have swallowed us alive
when their anger was roused against us.
The waters would have carried us
away
and the torrent swept over us;
over us would have swept
The seething waters.
Blessed be the Lord, who did not
leave us
to be the prey between their teeth.
We have escaped like a bird
from the fowler's trap'
the trap broke, and so we escaped
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
maker of heaven and earth.
I believe I've been called to testify!
In 1993 my brother died from AIDS. His death shattered my world. We were only two years apart - I was the oldest.
Through my heavy grieving period and severe depression, I learned some things about my self and our home life. I entered therapy and the depression continued to linger - until my therapist advised me to see a psychiatrist.
The psychiatrist diagnosed me with Bi-Polar - a condition I had denied and run from since I was sixteen.
In therapy I faced the reality that my brother, my older sister and I did not live in the "perfect" 1950's home I had in my mind.
I had disassociated & tucked away the memories of the childhood sexual abuse, my father had perpetuated on us.
I also began to see my mother's alcoholism and my father's alcoholism and drug addiction. And consequently, I came to understand that I had been battered in one relationship after another, and that there had even been a date rape.
It was all too much to handle. In my depression, I resigned my acting job and my M.F.A. program to give myself time to heal. Still I was not so sure I had "food enough for this journey."
My son was living with me and the money I had quickly ran out. I was forced to go on welfare and receive money from my mother.
But the difficulties didn't stop there. I tried to go back to work. I took a job at my church, but was quickly fired. I continued to get into relationships with addicts. During this period of time: I fell 15 feet into a dry canal, injuring my left leg; developed severe allergies; and was hit by a pick-up truck- breaking all of my ribs on the right side.
Broken, battered...I had to return home to St. Louis. There were blessings here I so desperately needed. I had better mental healthcare. My son and I qualified for an apartment of our own, and I was able to get my Social Security Disability.
Life still has its difficulties, but I had more than enough food for the journey. Each way of doubt or despair God met me in prayer, through the Bible, through song, with others who could give a healing word, and a beautiful church home I share with hundreds of travelers.
I've reconciled with my family. My son has survived these difficulties with a tremendous faith in God and a thriving life. I have a partner and our relationship allows us to live comfortably.
"If it had not been for the
Lord on my side...
Where would I be?"
Weekly Meditation
by Sandra English
"Bread for the Journey"
"If it had not been
for the Lord on my side...
Where would I be?
Where would I be?"
(African American Gospel Song)
Meditation: Psalm 124
If the Lord had not been on our side;
Israel may now say,
If the Lord had not been on our side
when they assailed us,
they would have swallowed us alive
when their anger was roused against us.
The waters would have carried us
away
and the torrent swept over us;
over us would have swept
The seething waters.
Blessed be the Lord, who did not
leave us
to be the prey between their teeth.
We have escaped like a bird
from the fowler's trap'
the trap broke, and so we escaped
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
maker of heaven and earth.
I believe I've been called to testify!
In 1993 my brother died from AIDS. His death shattered my world. We were only two years apart - I was the oldest.
Through my heavy grieving period and severe depression, I learned some things about my self and our home life. I entered therapy and the depression continued to linger - until my therapist advised me to see a psychiatrist.
The psychiatrist diagnosed me with Bi-Polar - a condition I had denied and run from since I was sixteen.
In therapy I faced the reality that my brother, my older sister and I did not live in the "perfect" 1950's home I had in my mind.
I had disassociated & tucked away the memories of the childhood sexual abuse, my father had perpetuated on us.
I also began to see my mother's alcoholism and my father's alcoholism and drug addiction. And consequently, I came to understand that I had been battered in one relationship after another, and that there had even been a date rape.
It was all too much to handle. In my depression, I resigned my acting job and my M.F.A. program to give myself time to heal. Still I was not so sure I had "food enough for this journey."
My son was living with me and the money I had quickly ran out. I was forced to go on welfare and receive money from my mother.
But the difficulties didn't stop there. I tried to go back to work. I took a job at my church, but was quickly fired. I continued to get into relationships with addicts. During this period of time: I fell 15 feet into a dry canal, injuring my left leg; developed severe allergies; and was hit by a pick-up truck- breaking all of my ribs on the right side.
Broken, battered...I had to return home to St. Louis. There were blessings here I so desperately needed. I had better mental healthcare. My son and I qualified for an apartment of our own, and I was able to get my Social Security Disability.
Life still has its difficulties, but I had more than enough food for the journey. Each way of doubt or despair God met me in prayer, through the Bible, through song, with others who could give a healing word, and a beautiful church home I share with hundreds of travelers.
I've reconciled with my family. My son has survived these difficulties with a tremendous faith in God and a thriving life. I have a partner and our relationship allows us to live comfortably.
"If it had not been for the
Lord on my side...
Where would I be?"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)