Tuesday, July 22, 2008

One thing we can't recycle is wasted time.

Well into this all too brief New England summer we ought to pause and make sure that we are not letting it pass by without doing the things we wanted to do. Perhaps we wanted to spend some time in nature or with friends and family or taking a trip or reading a good book or going to a concert or whatever helps you know God's grace. Don't waste the gift we are given to pause, reflect and recreate.

Monday, July 21, 2008

In Germany, they came first for the Communists,

And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist; 

And then they came for the trade unionists,

And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist; 

And then they came for the Jews,

And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew; 

And then… they came for me…

And by that time there was no one left to speak up. 

~ Martin Niemöller

We may not mind if the rights of "the other" are infringed. Yet justice for one is justice for another. Our faith calls us to speak up whenever someone is denied fair treatment, whether they are so-called "enemy combatants" or undocumented immigrants. So let's speak up and stand with "the other" so that all are treated with justice and mercy.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

If faith can see every step of the way, it is not faith.

~ William Barclay

Faith is more like the moon than the sun. It gives us the ability to make out the contours of the land and take one step at a time. We may wish for the bright  blaze of the sun to make the way totally clear, but in this world "we see through a glass darkly."

So today may you welcome the sight faith gives you and step into the light darkness with trust in Christ.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Prayer does not change God, but changes him who prays. 

~ Soren Kierkegaard

Often in prayer we ask God to do for us. This a natural impulse. But we can also ask that we might do for God and others. To see ourselves as a part of the process, that perhaps God might need us to accomplish some purpose is to know ourselves as an integral part of God's creation. So borrowing from JFK, ask not what God might do for you but what you might do for God and others.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Just to be is a blessing; just to live is holy. 

~ Abraham J. Heschel

I often remember this quote during the summer months. For many, life in July takes a bit of a pause and we have time "just to be." And indeed, this is the gospel of Sabbath, to realize that life is a blessing and just to live a holy act. So may you welcome the moments, the blessings and the holy.