Word Dwelling

Or dwelling in the Word

Thursday, May 21, 2026

Or just wishing for a dwelling?

No matter our situation, even in a ‘Hobbit House’,

God’s great deeds abound,

giving us cause to give God thanks

with all we are and have.

Psalm 150:2

Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his surpassing greatness!

Colossians 3:16

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.

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Words of Grace for Today –

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So much is said calling people to “dwell in the Word”, as if we could somehow take up residence in God’s Word. As if we could determine our presence in God’s Word! Such hubris!

We are capable only of ‘letting’ God’s Word be in us (of not standing in the way of or not choosing to deny that God has placed God’s Word be in us) the Word of Jesus, the Christ.

There is much that we can strive for, for many it is simply to have a dwelling, a physical place of safety and love on this planet wherein we can thrive and love, and give God thanks. Those with dwellings so soon forget how easy it is to lose one’s dwelling, through recklessness or through no fault of one’s own. A dwelling is not to be taken for granted, nor ought we cease all efforts to ensure all have a safe dwelling in which to thrive and love.

No matter our situation, God’s great deeds abound, giving us cause to give God thanks with all we are and have.

How will we do that today!?

Signs That Accompany

Our Sharing God’s Word

Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Do We Even Know What They Are?

As far as our eyes see, to the horizons and back on their reflections in water, can we see inside events and recognize God’s Signs

…

of steadfast Love

Psalm 89:2

I declare that your steadfast love is established forever;
your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.

Mark 16:20

And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.

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Words of Grace for Today –

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I’ve never thought of the sky being firm, but rather gaseous and quite movable, moved by wind that brings all kinds of weather and skies over and down upon us.

But there you go: a different time thought of them as firm, and actually as firmaments, a barrier/border that kept the chaos of al pre-creation void at bay, allowing the earth to exist with good order, from morning through noon, to sunset, through night and again to morning’s new beginnings.

As earth still moves us through morning, noon, sunset, night, to new beginnings, and we share again and again the Words of God’s Works, Promises and Steadfast Love, being ourselves the deeds thereof as well, do we ever consider that we could notice God’s Signs.

Oh, the highway has all sorts of signs, which we must learn in order to earn the privilege of driving on them. The seasons have all sorts of signs of what might blow in next, challenging or easing the struggle to thrive or perhaps just to survive. The faces of others bear all sorts of signs, of emotions, of struggles past and present, of hope unreasonable, of joy founded and sorrow unbearable.

But!

But do we take time to recognize the signs of God’s Work around us and among us and in us?

If you take time and give a bit of effort to it, what Signs could you see today?

What Signs of God’s Works, Promises, and Steadfast Love?

Play-Doh

Standing Up To The Maker(s) and Moulder(s)

Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Ridiculous, eh?

Never From a Seedling or Tree, But An Everyday Event In Our Human Lives!

Isaiah 64:8

Yet, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.

Romans 9:20

But who indeed are you, a human being, to argue with God? Will what is moulded say to the one who moulds it, “Why have you made me like this?”

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Words of Grace for Today –

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That stuff comes in so many colours, including gold and silver, with a scent, a reduced salt content to allow drying without losing colour. It’s makers have changed names (as corporations bought and merged and sold the product line) so many times until today Hasbro owns and produces it.
Talking about Play-doh.

So would we every expect those little figures we created as kids (and adults playing with our kids and/or returning to our own childhoods) to rise up and start making demands of us, arguing that things ought to be more advantageous for them or for other figures made of Play-doh?!

So how is it that we, creatures moulded by the Potter-Creator of ALL and given breath by the Same One, stand each day begging and demanding that things be moulded differently so that life would progress better for us or for others?

And how is it that some of us use every opportunity to take advantage of others to grab more for ourselves at great cost to others, so that we enjoy more comforts and privileges while other face death because of our greed?!

Now there is a grievance to raise to the Potter, eh?!

Why have you made us like this?

Glory Hallelujah

(ours or God’s)

Monday, May 18, 2026

Seekin’ a Step Up for Our Own, or …

Letting God Shine Through Us!

Psalm 115:1

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.

John 7:18

Those who speak on their own seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him.

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Words of Grace for Today –

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It’s all okay to take on each day’s challenges, feeling overwhelmed, and working like everything depends on one’s own success.

It’s okay, but futile and in the end just senselessness.

To live (aware and counting on and trusting the gifts the Holy Spirit gives us) is the greatest adventure we can ever know.

Whether one faces enemies’ attacks, or others’ diseases, depressions, and perversions, or the struggle to have the basics for life …

Whatever one faces

the only way to actually face it all and live through it (not escaping some side road to a half life or less) is

to trust God’s promises

and with all one is and does and speaks and writes

to give God praise, to turn any and all glory towards God’s

in thanks

for life

and breath.

We sing hallelujahs, in thanks.

Unbind ‘em

Let ‘em Go!

Sunday, May 17, 2026

With Thanks Sing Your Hearts Out!

We Ain’t Much, But It’s Living!

Psalm 30:4

Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name.

John 11:43-44

When he had said this, Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

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Words of Grace for Today –

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It’s not just that final deep sleep, death, that binds us, and keeps us from breathing in the goodness of all creation.

There are all sorts little deaths, illnesses, losses, griefs, worries, perversions, assaults and, and, and that rob us of the ability to breathe in the abundant goodness available to us in this fragile ecosystem on this small planet in such vast space.

From all our little and huge deaths,

Jesus, having redeemed us from our sins (past, present, and future), cries out:

“Come out! Rejoin the Living. Unbind your hearts and spirits, and be free … go!

Go out into the world among the people and breathe it all in, with joy!”

…

what

are

you

waiting

for

anyway!?

Wise Opposition

To Fools

Saturday, May 16, 2026

Grace for the Humble

One can only be humble looking at God’s work.

Job 9:4

God is wise in heart, and mighty in strength; who has resisted him, and succeeded?

1 Peter 5:5b

All of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for
“God opposes the proud,
but gives grace to the humble.”

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Words of Grace for Today –

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Being humble is to allow

that the other person might know a little about what they are doing.

That is hard to grant to some

who act like idiots

more often than not.

…

But true idiots

cannot benefit

from honest reactions to their idiocies.

…

Those who benefit are the ones who respond with grace to idiots,

for to condemn others, putting aside all grace and humility

only corrodes the heart and spirit.

…

Since Jesus commanded us to love one another,

to resist such wisdom is not going to help much good come one’s way.

…

But the honest truth is treating real fools and idiots with Grace is always a challenge!

God help us.

God Hears

Our Cries

Tuesday, May 12, 2026

If we are prisoners or doomed to die.

Does God Hear Us In Our Humble Luxurious Life?

Psalm 102:18-22

Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord: that he looked down from his holy height, from heaven the Lord looked at the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die; so that the name of the Lord may be declared in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem, when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.

James 5:16

Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.

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Words of Grace for Today –

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We live.

We live and breathe.

We live and breathe and hope

for the day when things will be better

but

will that day every come?

…

The promise of God through the ages is that God listens first to those in desperate need:

The prisoners, those doomed to die, the sick, the downtrodden, the refugees, the aliens, the poor, the homeless, the ones struggling to find clear water and nourishing food.

Is that us?

And if not!!!

Does God listen to us at all?

God is merciful and loving, finding no greater joy than in a sinner who repents.

Whoever we are, rich or poor, free or prisoner, doomed or secure, sick or healthy … anyone at all.

Whoever we are God hears us as well, and weeps for us and our flagrant sins that separate us from God, God’s people, and God’s good creation.

We have life.

We live, and breathe.

We live and breathe, and hope

for the day when things will be better

and

that

day

is the day that we listen to God’s Word

and share it with the next generations

so that God’s steadfast love and mercy

will be known and trusted

and lived

by all.

Eyes Seeing

Truth and Singing

Monday, May 11, 2026

Seeing Beyond The Horizons of Life

Where Heaven and Earth Meet

First Samuel 2:2

There is no Holy One like the Lord,
no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.

Revelation 4:8

And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing,
“Holy, holy, holy,
the Lord God the Almighty,
who was and is and is to come.”

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Words of Grace for Today –

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The troubled waters of these times, like most of history for most humans who ever lived, are full of change, and not towards the better.

We’ve enjoyed peace.

Well, some of us living in the privilege and comfort afforded a small percentage, have enjoyed peace,

while most live in the chaos of wars, conflicts, displacement, refugee camps, job loss, food insecurity and and and.

But now climate change robs more and more of the ability to live where their people have lived for centuries even millennia. Even the most isolated have more trouble finding clear air, sufficient water, dry land, or or or.

While we struggle more, and fear even more and more the coming state of our worlds,

the one solid foundation of our lives and our hope is God.

The four winged creatures, with eyes all around, and even eyes inward (which see what we cannot) respond always

giving God praise in song.

So we

in our troubled times and fear filled days

can pause at least

to sing

for in song

we see inwardly what we otherwise cannot see:

the pure joy of being God’s creatures on this ever changing planet.

The New Year Winds

Bring In the Blues

Sunday, November 30, 2025

And All Will Wake in the Love and Light

Of Christ,

Like Children Filled With Expectation of

Impossible Things,

for These Impossible Times.

Jeremiah 31:34

No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

Matthew 21:15-16

But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that he did, and heard the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became angry and said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,
‘Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies
you have prepared praise for yourself’?”

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Words of Grace for Today –

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As another New Church Year begins, the wind blows and the colour blue for Advent arrives. The blue of waiting and boredom, the blue of royalty, the blue of despondency, the blue of deep yearning, the blue of hope, the blue of clear skies, the blue of the water into which we are baptized. These are the blues of Advent, four Sundays of preparing, as sombre as our other season of preparation, Lent. Just as Lent is more than giving up things, so Advent is more than waiting for the celebrations to begin.

These are the days (once again and always) to acknowledge

that in our baptisms

God has equipped us to know the Lord, for our sins are forgiven.

And we are freed to share God’s good things with everyone, especially those in need, and to sing God’s praises

unending.

Choose

Where You Will Dwell Today

Saturday, November 29, 2025

In Wickedness, or Servitude?

Finding Our Way Through the Thick Woods of Life.

Psalm 84:10

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness.

Luke 2:49

He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

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Words of Grace for Today –

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Every day we make choices

again and again

whether we will dwell in wicked places of comfort and privilege,

in servitude to others, answering Christ’s call,

to be blessings to others

at great cost.

Pastor Schmitke shared this story from decades ago:

“On a typical spring Sunday afternoon in downtown Vancouver, a bit cool under cloudy skies, a group of pastors and lay people gathered to discuss how better to lead their congregations in doing more of what Christ calls us to do. Serving my internship in a nearby congregation, I stood with a group meeting outside on the lawn while other groups met inside the church.

“Then a street person, jacket-less and a little rough around the edges, stepped up onto the lawn. He needed help finding the local second hand shop where he hoped to get a jacket. Multiple responses from the group made clear that this shop was closed on Sundays and there was no other second hand shop open within even a half day’s walking distance.

“Surprising us all, a young pastor, who was about the same size as the street person, stepped forward, emptied his jacket pockets and handed over his good leather jacket to the man, asked him if he needed anything else, and pointed him to the local soup kitchen for a hot meal.”

Surely this is living in the Light of Christ, eh?

It is fine to talk the talk

but Jesus calls us to walk the walk.

How do we choose again this day?