www.HopeandHelpCenter.org
Weekly Meditation
by Gina McAlexander
Mark 4:26-34
Jesus also said, 'The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come. The Parable of the Mustard Seed. He also said, 'With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade. With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
I have heard many sermons on the mustard seed; some taken from this passage and some from others in the New Testament. If I am honest, I have not always liked those sermons very much. I have felt afterwards that if I couldn't move mountains with my faith, then I didn't quite measure up. I have tried to look at this passage in a different light.
I think it's great that Jesus gives us examples of what the kingdom of God looks like. We have never seen the kingdom or its king for that matter. It is interesting that the person scattering the seeds has no idea how the seeds grow but the earth knows what to do and obviously so does the seed. The next example Jesus gives us in this passage is about a mustard seed; which in His day was probably one of the smallest seeds that the people could imagine. Have you ever looked at a mustard seed? Or perhaps you have seen one of those pendants at a Christian bookstore with a mustard seed in it. It's about 2 millimeters in size. That's pretty small. Again the mustard seed knows what to do once it's planted in the ground and the size of the seed really didn't matter nor control the outcome of the seed.
Ok Jesus, that's a nice story about farming and seeds and kingdoms and such. But what does that have to do with me? I may have a garden and it's a nice illustration and all, but what was Jesus really talking about?
I think what Jesus was trying to tell us is each person already has in them what they are called to be. They may not look like it, act like it or sound like it, but it's in there. Think about this; when you look at a seed of any kind whether apple, orange, peach, tomato etc, those seeds don't look anything like what they will become at maturity, do they? If you go to a seed store and buy seed to plant flowers, each little packet has a picture on the outside of the packet to let you know what you are planting. Why is that? Because the seed never looks like what it has the potential to become; it changes appearance on the outside as it grows and matures.
Can you think of yourself as a seed? Each of us is a child of God seed, with God given talents, gifts and abilities specifically and uniquely programmed into us. We may not look, act, or sound like, but it's all in there! Just like the natural seed we plant in our gardens or flower pots, God has put in us exactly what we are to be. So let's be patient with ourselves and with others, tend the garden of our hearts with spiritual nourishment, and behold the beauty that unfolds. Amen
Friday, June 12, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Remembering Aileen Garms
www.HopeandHelpCenter.org
The community at MCCGSL wishes to express our prayers for Rev. Bev Stephenson in the loss of her partner of nearly 30 years, as we remember the very special Aileen Garms.
Aileen Garms passed away on May 12, following an extended battle with lung cancer.
She had been a member of MCC of Greater St. Louis since 1981, and also has ties to the MCC congregation in San Antonio, Texas, where she served as a board member for 10 years.
Honorary Donations may be made to the "Building Together" capital fund
http://www.mccgsl.org/
Marjorie Aileen Garms
Date:
January 4th, 1939 - May 12th, 2009
Death Notice:
Garms, Marjorie Aileen, of St. Ann, MO. born Jan. 4, 1939 in Cotulla, TX, passed away Tues., May 12, 2009. Parents: Aldon Garms (deceased) and Margie Garms (nee Oakes). Beloved lifetime partner of Rev. Bev Stephenson. Sisters: Kathleen Hill of Colorado, Betty Fairly of Martindale, TX, and Fran Jackson of Canyon Lake, TX. Survived by other relatives, nieces and nephews. A retired teacher and coach and Coach of the Year from Texas, and member of Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis. --------------- Service: Please contact the church office for date and time 314-361-3221. Any gifts/donations are to be made to the Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis Building Together Fund. On line guestbook at http://www.hutchensmortuary.com/
The community at MCCGSL wishes to express our prayers for Rev. Bev Stephenson in the loss of her partner of nearly 30 years, as we remember the very special Aileen Garms.
Aileen Garms passed away on May 12, following an extended battle with lung cancer.
She had been a member of MCC of Greater St. Louis since 1981, and also has ties to the MCC congregation in San Antonio, Texas, where she served as a board member for 10 years.
Honorary Donations may be made to the "Building Together" capital fund
http://www.mccgsl.org/
Marjorie Aileen Garms
Date:
January 4th, 1939 - May 12th, 2009
Death Notice:
Garms, Marjorie Aileen, of St. Ann, MO. born Jan. 4, 1939 in Cotulla, TX, passed away Tues., May 12, 2009. Parents: Aldon Garms (deceased) and Margie Garms (nee Oakes). Beloved lifetime partner of Rev. Bev Stephenson. Sisters: Kathleen Hill of Colorado, Betty Fairly of Martindale, TX, and Fran Jackson of Canyon Lake, TX. Survived by other relatives, nieces and nephews. A retired teacher and coach and Coach of the Year from Texas, and member of Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis. --------------- Service: Please contact the church office for date and time 314-361-3221. Any gifts/donations are to be made to the Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis Building Together Fund. On line guestbook at http://www.hutchensmortuary.com/
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Weekly Meditation June 7th
www.HopeandHelpCenter.org
Weekly Meditation
by Kelly Durbin
Romans 8:12-17 from the Message Bible:
So don't you see that we don't owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There's nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!
This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa, or Mama?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who God is, and we know who we are: Parent and children. And we know we are going to get what's coming to us-an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with him!
I love to read the Message Bible just for fun. It is freeing, poetic and touches my soul on a level that transcends intellect and cuts right to the heart. In this passage, we are eloquently reminded that when we are in Christ, our old "do-it-ourselves" kind of life needs to die. We need to bury self interest, get rid of our agendas, and follow the Spirit of God that is calling us to live a new kind of life, a life of love. Living a life primarily focused on ourselves, doing what "we" want and getting the "things" we want is doing exactly what this passage suggests; it's grave-tending because the things of this physical world are temporary, and as my Granny would say, "won't amount to a hill of beans!"
God did not give us a spirit of fear, indeed! By living a life safely in the arms of a loving Parent, we are free. I love the concept that our new resurrection lives are adventurously expectant, that we are to live asking God, "what's next?" full of wonder and excitement to face whatever life may offer in the moment. For you see, we will not face any challenge that Christ is not there to go through with us. And the very worst of this life cannot take from us the promise of the wonderful inheritance that we will receive as brothers and sisters, joint heirs with Christ.
How do we know what God has in store for us? God is so full of grace to have sent the Spirit to touch our spirits and confirm or "bear witness", to testify who we really are! For many years, I struggled to believe that God really loved me. I was told if I didn't follow certain "rules" I was not a child of God. I had a picture in my head of a judgmental and angry God who stood ever ready to punish when I made a mistake. I knew I would never be "good enough" to be in relationship with God, to be able to stand in God's presence. That was about the only thing that I had right; that I would never be good enough in my own right. It was when I finally understood that God is not surprised by my weakness or my flaws, and that I can turn them over to Christ who God gave as the perfect lamb to carry them, that I could be free -free to live a life, giving love.
It's not always an easy life, because dying to self is never easy. Always loving others as Christ loves us is sometimes not so easy either, especially when others don't act or behave in ways that we find lovable! But the mystery is this: according to I John 4:18-21, There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because God first loved us. Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from God is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. I John 5:3-4 continues: For the love of God is this, that we obey God's commandments. And God's commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. Let me repeat that...For the LOVE of God is this, that we obey God's commandments which are NOT burdensome because love is never burdensome. Accept God's love today and begin your expectant adventure...
Weekly Meditation
by Kelly Durbin
Romans 8:12-17 from the Message Bible:
So don't you see that we don't owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There's nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!
This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa, or Mama?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who God is, and we know who we are: Parent and children. And we know we are going to get what's coming to us-an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with him!
I love to read the Message Bible just for fun. It is freeing, poetic and touches my soul on a level that transcends intellect and cuts right to the heart. In this passage, we are eloquently reminded that when we are in Christ, our old "do-it-ourselves" kind of life needs to die. We need to bury self interest, get rid of our agendas, and follow the Spirit of God that is calling us to live a new kind of life, a life of love. Living a life primarily focused on ourselves, doing what "we" want and getting the "things" we want is doing exactly what this passage suggests; it's grave-tending because the things of this physical world are temporary, and as my Granny would say, "won't amount to a hill of beans!"
God did not give us a spirit of fear, indeed! By living a life safely in the arms of a loving Parent, we are free. I love the concept that our new resurrection lives are adventurously expectant, that we are to live asking God, "what's next?" full of wonder and excitement to face whatever life may offer in the moment. For you see, we will not face any challenge that Christ is not there to go through with us. And the very worst of this life cannot take from us the promise of the wonderful inheritance that we will receive as brothers and sisters, joint heirs with Christ.
How do we know what God has in store for us? God is so full of grace to have sent the Spirit to touch our spirits and confirm or "bear witness", to testify who we really are! For many years, I struggled to believe that God really loved me. I was told if I didn't follow certain "rules" I was not a child of God. I had a picture in my head of a judgmental and angry God who stood ever ready to punish when I made a mistake. I knew I would never be "good enough" to be in relationship with God, to be able to stand in God's presence. That was about the only thing that I had right; that I would never be good enough in my own right. It was when I finally understood that God is not surprised by my weakness or my flaws, and that I can turn them over to Christ who God gave as the perfect lamb to carry them, that I could be free -free to live a life, giving love.
It's not always an easy life, because dying to self is never easy. Always loving others as Christ loves us is sometimes not so easy either, especially when others don't act or behave in ways that we find lovable! But the mystery is this: according to I John 4:18-21, There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because God first loved us. Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from God is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. I John 5:3-4 continues: For the love of God is this, that we obey God's commandments. And God's commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. Let me repeat that...For the LOVE of God is this, that we obey God's commandments which are NOT burdensome because love is never burdensome. Accept God's love today and begin your expectant adventure...
Friday, May 29, 2009
Weekly Meditation for June 1st
www.HopeandHelpCenter.org
Weekly Meditation
by Valerie Jackson
Ezekiel 37:1-14
The Valley of Dry Bones
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. And God led me all round them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. So God said to me, 'Mortal, can these bones live?' I answered, 'O Lord God, you know.' Then God said to me, 'Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.'
So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then God said to me, 'Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.' I prophesied as God commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
Then God said to me, 'Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, "Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely." Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.'
At one time, humans believed that God did not speak directly to individuals, but revealed herself (himself) through a prophet, one chosen by God to tell the people what God wanted them to see or understand. Ezekiel was a prophet of God and in this scripture, God gives Ezekiel a vision and asks him to pass it on to the Israelites.
Sometimes we miss the power of a scripture because we get caught up in the unfamiliar language and cultural differences. Let's make this scripture real to us through the guided meditation below. Meditate and pray in this way to help yourself hear God speaking to us as he/she spoke to Ezekiel.
Close your eyes. Quiet your mind. Slowly, breathe in and then slowly, exhale several times. As you breathe, think about yourself as a child of God, your essence. Concentrate on the ways you feel whole, at peace, connected with God. Stay with those thoughts for a moment as you continue to breathe and exhale slowly. Now think about the parts of you that feel distant from God, like your fears, your unwanted thoughts, your mistakes and your unhealthy behaviors. Relax, don't beat yourself up about them, simply be aware of their presence and bring them along. Feel God's spirit moving in the air around you. As you inhale deeply, breathe in the spirit of God. When you exhale say the word "Renew". You need not say it out loud. Let your breath say it. "Renew". Imagine all parts of you (whether you see them as good or bad) rising up and coming together. Feel the spirit of God connecting it all and breathing new life into you. Inhale....Exhale...Renew.
Now move your thoughts from you as an individual to the congregation called Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St Louis. Continue to inhale deeply and exhale slowly. Imagine all of the diverse parts of MCCGSL, all the faces and all the groups. They are like bones lying on the floor before you. Imagine those individual bones rising up and coming together. Initially, they are bones forming a lifeless skeleton. Continue to breathe in the spirit of God from the air around you. Each breath you take breathes more life into that skeletal shell. See muscles and tendons develop on the bones. Feel the spirit of God washing over it, invigorating it. Feel God breathing life into Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis. Hear God saying, 'Renew'. Continue to breathe in slowly and let your exhale hold the word 'Renew'. Let it flow out as a quiet prayer.....'Renew'. Yield to 'Renew'.
Weekly Meditation
by Valerie Jackson
Ezekiel 37:1-14
The Valley of Dry Bones
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. And God led me all round them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. So God said to me, 'Mortal, can these bones live?' I answered, 'O Lord God, you know.' Then God said to me, 'Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.'
So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then God said to me, 'Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.' I prophesied as God commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
Then God said to me, 'Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, "Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely." Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.'
At one time, humans believed that God did not speak directly to individuals, but revealed herself (himself) through a prophet, one chosen by God to tell the people what God wanted them to see or understand. Ezekiel was a prophet of God and in this scripture, God gives Ezekiel a vision and asks him to pass it on to the Israelites.
Sometimes we miss the power of a scripture because we get caught up in the unfamiliar language and cultural differences. Let's make this scripture real to us through the guided meditation below. Meditate and pray in this way to help yourself hear God speaking to us as he/she spoke to Ezekiel.
Close your eyes. Quiet your mind. Slowly, breathe in and then slowly, exhale several times. As you breathe, think about yourself as a child of God, your essence. Concentrate on the ways you feel whole, at peace, connected with God. Stay with those thoughts for a moment as you continue to breathe and exhale slowly. Now think about the parts of you that feel distant from God, like your fears, your unwanted thoughts, your mistakes and your unhealthy behaviors. Relax, don't beat yourself up about them, simply be aware of their presence and bring them along. Feel God's spirit moving in the air around you. As you inhale deeply, breathe in the spirit of God. When you exhale say the word "Renew". You need not say it out loud. Let your breath say it. "Renew". Imagine all parts of you (whether you see them as good or bad) rising up and coming together. Feel the spirit of God connecting it all and breathing new life into you. Inhale....Exhale...Renew.
Now move your thoughts from you as an individual to the congregation called Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St Louis. Continue to inhale deeply and exhale slowly. Imagine all of the diverse parts of MCCGSL, all the faces and all the groups. They are like bones lying on the floor before you. Imagine those individual bones rising up and coming together. Initially, they are bones forming a lifeless skeleton. Continue to breathe in the spirit of God from the air around you. Each breath you take breathes more life into that skeletal shell. See muscles and tendons develop on the bones. Feel the spirit of God washing over it, invigorating it. Feel God breathing life into Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis. Hear God saying, 'Renew'. Continue to breathe in slowly and let your exhale hold the word 'Renew'. Let it flow out as a quiet prayer.....'Renew'. Yield to 'Renew'.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Weekly Meditation for May 23
www.HopeandHelpCenter.org
Weekly Meditation
by Ron White
Psalm 1
Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of scoffers;
but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on God's law they meditate day and night.
They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.
But the wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
The concept which is taught in Psalm 1 is so very simple: "follow the law of the Lord with "delight." Don't follow the law of the Lord and our negative choices will result in misery, bitterness and long term unhappiness. The trouble is, nothing is ever that simple. To forge a positive path through life, we must survive all of the cuts and scrapes...and even deep wounds...administered by the thorns that surround our path. If we don't take the positive path as we travel through life...the longer we walk a crooked path...the deeper the root of bitterness is driven into our character. Knowing where to walk, day by day, moment by moment, can be difficult to discern. But, discern it we must. How do we walk that path with "delight?"
Psalm 1's devastatingly simple answer to knowing how and where to find the positive path is made more complex by a quick glance at the word "law" in Strong's Comprehensive Concordance which reveals that the Hebrew word for law is "Torah," a name given to the Pentateuch or the first five books of the Bible which contain what is traditionally referred to as the Mosaic law. A quick journey through Leviticus alone reveals that, in addition to the well known if not so well understood Ten Commandments, these books attribute to Moses myriad laws that were written for the culture of that time, practices which have little or no application to the world we live in today. How can we "delight in" that law? How then shall we live? Where is this "right" path that we can seek and delight in? Of course, the answer is neither as cut and dried as we might hope, nor is it simple and painless. Is that good or bad? To borrow a phrase, we shall see...
As my faith and knowledge have grown, I have come to a new understanding of the meaning of both "the law of the Lord" and how to delight in it In dealing with her daughter, Jessi, Christine has always believed in the importance of Jessi learning to make healthy decisions for herself. In the same way that God's people, Israel, were given a set of laws/rules to guide their choices, Jessi received from Christine, her Daddy, and others a set of "rules" which she could use as a guide to learn how to make healthy decisions. The other alternative, of course, has been for her to learn by making mistakes and living with the painful consequences. Christine reports - and I'll give my witness - that Jessica has learned a lot more from experiencing the pain of her mistakes than by following rules. You know the rule: we learn our greatest lessons in pain; the deeper the pain, the greater the lesson.
As she has walked this thorny path, Jessi's learning process has been enhanced by knowing in the deepest parts of her that nothing she has ever done or could ever do would take her outside of her Mom's, or her Dad's while he was still alive, or my love for her. For Jessi to know with complete certainty that she is loved even when she is less than she could be gives her the freedom to forgive herself and to do better next time...to learn God's "rules" for life and how to live joyously - "delightedly" - within them.
In the Torah, God gave Israel an ever expanding set of laws to live by... rules to help them figure out how to make life work. One Christian to another: I don't think God was finished when the last old scroll was written. What God has given us since that time is ongoing and continuous unconditional love so that we can walk life's path, learn the lessons here to be learned, make mistakes, forgive ourselves, pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off (sometimes wiping a little blood off?), and move forward even when we don't live up to what we could be. God gives us relationship...with God and with each other. That is a Torah we can delight in.
Weekly Meditation
by Ron White
Psalm 1
Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of scoffers;
but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on God's law they meditate day and night.
They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.
But the wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
The concept which is taught in Psalm 1 is so very simple: "follow the law of the Lord with "delight." Don't follow the law of the Lord and our negative choices will result in misery, bitterness and long term unhappiness. The trouble is, nothing is ever that simple. To forge a positive path through life, we must survive all of the cuts and scrapes...and even deep wounds...administered by the thorns that surround our path. If we don't take the positive path as we travel through life...the longer we walk a crooked path...the deeper the root of bitterness is driven into our character. Knowing where to walk, day by day, moment by moment, can be difficult to discern. But, discern it we must. How do we walk that path with "delight?"
Psalm 1's devastatingly simple answer to knowing how and where to find the positive path is made more complex by a quick glance at the word "law" in Strong's Comprehensive Concordance which reveals that the Hebrew word for law is "Torah," a name given to the Pentateuch or the first five books of the Bible which contain what is traditionally referred to as the Mosaic law. A quick journey through Leviticus alone reveals that, in addition to the well known if not so well understood Ten Commandments, these books attribute to Moses myriad laws that were written for the culture of that time, practices which have little or no application to the world we live in today. How can we "delight in" that law? How then shall we live? Where is this "right" path that we can seek and delight in? Of course, the answer is neither as cut and dried as we might hope, nor is it simple and painless. Is that good or bad? To borrow a phrase, we shall see...
As my faith and knowledge have grown, I have come to a new understanding of the meaning of both "the law of the Lord" and how to delight in it In dealing with her daughter, Jessi, Christine has always believed in the importance of Jessi learning to make healthy decisions for herself. In the same way that God's people, Israel, were given a set of laws/rules to guide their choices, Jessi received from Christine, her Daddy, and others a set of "rules" which she could use as a guide to learn how to make healthy decisions. The other alternative, of course, has been for her to learn by making mistakes and living with the painful consequences. Christine reports - and I'll give my witness - that Jessica has learned a lot more from experiencing the pain of her mistakes than by following rules. You know the rule: we learn our greatest lessons in pain; the deeper the pain, the greater the lesson.
As she has walked this thorny path, Jessi's learning process has been enhanced by knowing in the deepest parts of her that nothing she has ever done or could ever do would take her outside of her Mom's, or her Dad's while he was still alive, or my love for her. For Jessi to know with complete certainty that she is loved even when she is less than she could be gives her the freedom to forgive herself and to do better next time...to learn God's "rules" for life and how to live joyously - "delightedly" - within them.
In the Torah, God gave Israel an ever expanding set of laws to live by... rules to help them figure out how to make life work. One Christian to another: I don't think God was finished when the last old scroll was written. What God has given us since that time is ongoing and continuous unconditional love so that we can walk life's path, learn the lessons here to be learned, make mistakes, forgive ourselves, pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off (sometimes wiping a little blood off?), and move forward even when we don't live up to what we could be. God gives us relationship...with God and with each other. That is a Torah we can delight in.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Weekly Meditation 5-17-09
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Weekly Meditation
by Christine White
Mark 5:24-34
And a large crowd followed Jesus and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, "If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well." Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?" And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, 'Who touched me?'" He looked all around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."
In Jesus' day a woman was considered impure during her monthly menstrual
cycle. Not only was she considered impure, but anyone who came into contact
with her ran the risk of "ritual impurity." Ritual impurity, according to
Jewish law, isolated them from social and religious events. This woman had
endured social isolation for 12 years. She had spent all of her money
searching for a cure. But, nothing had helped. She was desperate!
In her book Adventures in Prayer, Catherine Marshall devotes one chapter
to "The Prayer of Helplessness." Offering several examples of people who
prayed out of a deep feeling of helplessness, she suggests why those prayers
may bring results which praying the same words without that same deep
feeling of helplessness may not. Obviously, the deepest experience of
prayer's impact on us is not about the words, but rather about coming to God
with total honesty and recognition of what we cannot do on our own. Jesus
acknowledges that without God, even he could do nothing (John 5:30).
Why is that true? Why do we need to acknowledge our own helplessness for
prayer to bring results in our lives? Does God need for us to do that? Or
does acknowledging our own helplessness fulfill a need deep within us so
that we can "let go" of our trouble and "let God," heal us? I believe that
God wants us to be whole, wants us to be physically and emotionally
healthy. I don't believe God puts obstacles in our path to prevent our
having an honest and fulfilling relationship with God. Rather, I believe
that something within me requires me to acknowledge my insufficiency so that
I can truly and totally allow myself to receive God's blessing.
Even though I don't completely understand why helplessness (or acknowledging
that I am not in control) is necessary, I know that it is. After the death
of my husband, Michael, I was left alone with total responsibility for our
daughter Jessica. I felt helpless and totally insufficient to protect Jessi
in the same way that I believed Michael had protected her. Not long after
his death, she was in a difficult situation with a select volleyball team
where I felt another adult was being emotionally abusive to her. If I
removed Jessi from that situation, it wasn't certain that she would be able
to continue to play select volleyball, something very important to her. In
desperation, I turned to God, praying out of my deep feeling of
helplessness, explaining that I didn't know what to do or where to turn.
Within days, we received a blessing that I can't explain. I can only give
God the credit. A different select volleyball team's coach called me,
inviting Jessi to try out for his team. For the next two years, she played
on a team where she was loved and cared for in ways that mattered far more
than playing volleyball. I touched the robe of Jesus and received far more
blessings than I ever hoped for.
I went to God emotionally naked and was blessed beyond measure. The
companion Psalm for Sunday's gospel expresses it better than I ever could:
"God, you have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O my God, I will give thanks to you forever." Psalm 30:11-12
Weekly Meditation
by Christine White
Mark 5:24-34
And a large crowd followed Jesus and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, "If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well." Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?" And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, 'Who touched me?'" He looked all around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."
In Jesus' day a woman was considered impure during her monthly menstrual
cycle. Not only was she considered impure, but anyone who came into contact
with her ran the risk of "ritual impurity." Ritual impurity, according to
Jewish law, isolated them from social and religious events. This woman had
endured social isolation for 12 years. She had spent all of her money
searching for a cure. But, nothing had helped. She was desperate!
In her book Adventures in Prayer, Catherine Marshall devotes one chapter
to "The Prayer of Helplessness." Offering several examples of people who
prayed out of a deep feeling of helplessness, she suggests why those prayers
may bring results which praying the same words without that same deep
feeling of helplessness may not. Obviously, the deepest experience of
prayer's impact on us is not about the words, but rather about coming to God
with total honesty and recognition of what we cannot do on our own. Jesus
acknowledges that without God, even he could do nothing (John 5:30).
Why is that true? Why do we need to acknowledge our own helplessness for
prayer to bring results in our lives? Does God need for us to do that? Or
does acknowledging our own helplessness fulfill a need deep within us so
that we can "let go" of our trouble and "let God," heal us? I believe that
God wants us to be whole, wants us to be physically and emotionally
healthy. I don't believe God puts obstacles in our path to prevent our
having an honest and fulfilling relationship with God. Rather, I believe
that something within me requires me to acknowledge my insufficiency so that
I can truly and totally allow myself to receive God's blessing.
Even though I don't completely understand why helplessness (or acknowledging
that I am not in control) is necessary, I know that it is. After the death
of my husband, Michael, I was left alone with total responsibility for our
daughter Jessica. I felt helpless and totally insufficient to protect Jessi
in the same way that I believed Michael had protected her. Not long after
his death, she was in a difficult situation with a select volleyball team
where I felt another adult was being emotionally abusive to her. If I
removed Jessi from that situation, it wasn't certain that she would be able
to continue to play select volleyball, something very important to her. In
desperation, I turned to God, praying out of my deep feeling of
helplessness, explaining that I didn't know what to do or where to turn.
Within days, we received a blessing that I can't explain. I can only give
God the credit. A different select volleyball team's coach called me,
inviting Jessi to try out for his team. For the next two years, she played
on a team where she was loved and cared for in ways that mattered far more
than playing volleyball. I touched the robe of Jesus and received far more
blessings than I ever hoped for.
I went to God emotionally naked and was blessed beyond measure. The
companion Psalm for Sunday's gospel expresses it better than I ever could:
"God, you have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O my God, I will give thanks to you forever." Psalm 30:11-12
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Weekly Meditation for May 10th
www.HopeandHelpCenter.org
Weekly Meditation
by Michael Desmond
John 15:1-8
'I am the true vine, and my Parent is the vine-grower. God removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit God prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Parent is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and becomemy disciples.
"Bear fruit." That is, do works of love. These are the tangible signs of discipleship.
For, almost unbelievably, we have been grafted into the vine of Jesus and become part of a great and everlasting community. Never alone. We are linked in relationship to the abiding and same love that flows between Jesus and God.
Feel it! The true life force.
So then, may we constantly search for ways to love so that we may bear fruit. Confidently we join with unnumbered other branches to continue to work for the glorification of God. Just as Jesus' own works did.
Also, we have been told that what we ask in prayer will be answered. May we always try to be open to and prayerfully conscious of the many ways that love flows into each of us through the one eternal vine of Jesus.
Weekly Meditation
by Michael Desmond
John 15:1-8
'I am the true vine, and my Parent is the vine-grower. God removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit God prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Parent is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and becomemy disciples.
"Bear fruit." That is, do works of love. These are the tangible signs of discipleship.
For, almost unbelievably, we have been grafted into the vine of Jesus and become part of a great and everlasting community. Never alone. We are linked in relationship to the abiding and same love that flows between Jesus and God.
Feel it! The true life force.
So then, may we constantly search for ways to love so that we may bear fruit. Confidently we join with unnumbered other branches to continue to work for the glorification of God. Just as Jesus' own works did.
Also, we have been told that what we ask in prayer will be answered. May we always try to be open to and prayerfully conscious of the many ways that love flows into each of us through the one eternal vine of Jesus.
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