Shore – This Life

Even, Especially, Now

God’s Goodness

Monday, October 6, 2025

Hearing, Seeing, Trusting

Life Without Trust

Life With Trust

Psalm 27:13

I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

James 5:15

The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.

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Words of Grace for Today –

…

It’s all good and fine to live life waiting for life after death, dismissing how miserable life is here for oneself, or how miserable it is for others, while oneself enjoys comforts and privileges unimagined even 100 years ago.

Well, that’s not good or fine, really.

Our lives are more determined by what we hear, see, and trust than the actual things we experience. The same mundane and boring or dire and desperate circumstances can be experienced completely differently by different people, usually depending most (not considering various vulnerabilities due to health and age) on their value-reality framework, which they live with each day.

If one hears the autumn winds blow, and does not take the time to actually see beauty of the yellow leaves against the deep blue skies, the marvels of the waters reflecting the wisps and billows of clouds, and the freedom from bugs the cool temperatures provide, how can one trust that even as winter approaches one’s preparations for the darkest and deepest of cold days will be enough?

If one hears the words upon words spoken, presented, and drilled into the fabric of our lives these days, and does not take the time to also hear the Words recorded by the saints through the ages of God’s love for us, and then to see the wonders the Word has brought to all peoples of all times, how can one trust that in the darkest and coldest of days to come God will walk with us?

The wonders of God’s love for us are not reserved for only after death. These wonders spring up and blow about each day around us. Today we can see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Today we can trust that prayers help those who are ill, and that God already pours forgiveness to all people, hoping we will hear it in God’s Word, see it in lives past and present, and learn to trust it today, and in each day to come.

Wonders to hear, see, and trust abound.

Deliver Us!

Send Us

Wednesday, September 24, 2025

to deliver us all.

As We Get to Reflect Christ’s Light

to Strangers and Friends Alike.

Psalm 79:9

Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name’s sake.

Luke 24:46-47

Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

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Words of Grace for Today –

…

Psychology professor Gillian Sandstrom was a lonely graduate student in Toronto when she … and a woman who ran a hotdog stand on her way to university around 2007 would wave hello and smile at each other. Their interactions were so small that Sandstrom uses air quotes to even describe them as a “relationship.”

And yet “it really meant something much bigger than it seemed like it should, and it made me feel like I belonged there,” said Sandstrom.

From https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/micro-relationships-and-talking-to-strangers-1.7636486?cmp=newsletter_CBC%20Edmonton_1646_2029080

In the drudgery and loneliness of life God finds us.

Most often God uses another person, intentionally reaching out to us,

and even more often another person unintentionally reaching us

exactly where it hurts so much we barely can describe the pain.

…

Psychology professor Gillian Sandstrom was a lonely graduate student in Toronto when she began what she calls “a tiny, tiny micro-relationship.”

Today there is a whole surge of people recommending that interacting with strangers is exactly what we are missing in the technology driven and ‘stranger danger’ driven world we’ve created.

…

In the drudgery and loneliness of life God finds us

and sends us out to share the Good News, even with strangers.

We need not start, nor should we start by mentioning Jesus’ name or forgiveness or sacrifice and atonement for sins, or even sins.

We start by being the saints God makes us, acknowledging, sharing, addressing, listening, smiling, thanking the stranger for being.

In that interaction God will bless them, and us,

and maybe we will have opportunity to demonstrate and explain that Jesus makes us possible to be

today’s saints

just a bit

for

them.

Water Flows

Living Water Flows

Monday, September 22, 2025

Through Us

Like Foam, Stuck

In The Weeds Of Life.

Psalm 111:3

Full of honour and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever.

Philippians 3:8b-9

For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.

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Words of Grace for Today –

…

When I take a shower, the water is pulled from the camper’s 30 gallon water tank, which now after nearly 45 years, probably only holds 25 or so. Since a shower takes about 10 gallons, it’s a bit dicey getting water throughout the shower unless I first refill the camper’s tank from the bigger 275 gallon holding tank. If I take a shower without enough water in the camper tank … Let’s just say it’s uncomfortable trying to fill that tank with soap in my eyes. So before I shower I open the valve on the bigger tank, which has a hose connected to it, which at the other end is connected to the filler connection on the camper.

Water flows out for the shower.

Water flows in to refill the camper tank.

All is well.

Jesus’ sacrifice for us does not simply fill us up when we empty ourselves living sinfully in this world.

No! Jesus provides a different solution for our tanks, and we are showered not with righteousness earned by our compliance with the Law, or dedication to living as Jesus did.

No! Jesus provides the living water that satisfies all our thirsting for life, life as we were created to live it. That valve is always open, flowing over us, overflowing through our lives to all those around us.

Then come the challenges of life, and we might struggle with them as usual. Or we can recognize that we are made different in our baptisms, by the living water that we are submersed in, which flows over us, which washes away our sins, which provides the water needed for growth. The living water carries us with God and our struggles become God’s, and God’s joy becomes ours, and God’s call becomes the priority for each our days.

Until we forget.

And then the living water of Jesus’ hard won forgiveness for us washes over us again and still into our ‘tank’s’, our lives, freeing us to recognize again the change the Holy Spirit makes in us, equipping us to live and deal with all the challenges of life differently.

We see, instead of unending reasons to despair, great cause to celebrate in all that has been done for us, by so many people, by so many saints working God’s blessings for us.

Then we know as Paul did, that

For Jesus sake we have suffered the loss of all things, and we regard them as rubbish, in order that we may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of our own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, given to us by the Holy Spirit, founded on the righteousness from God based on faith.

And we can praise God with the Psalmist, being examples that God walks with us, and his work is full of honour and majesty, and his righteousness endures forever.

Given the Wilds of Climate Change

We Need Jesus to Do More –

Than Walk On Water

Friday, September 12, 2025

We Need God to Stabilize the Water Everywhere!

Storms A’Brewin’

Proverbs 3:25-26

Do not be afraid of sudden panic, or of the storm that strikes the wicked; for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.

Matthew 14:26-27

But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

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Words of Grace for Today –

…

it’s just fine to deny that we are the cause of climate change.

Just go a head and bury your head in the sand,

so you can carry on blithely, making it so much worse for us all.

Now if we’d followed Jimmy Carter’s plan for 20% solar power, started in 1979,

(adapting it in each country, like our own, eh?)

We’d not be in the such terrible grips of climate change with smoke and wildfires and drought and floods, and storms so wild we’ve never seen the likes of them.

…

But wishing doesn’t make it so.

And only lots of action, guided by wise thoughts (dreams and prayers as well),

will make our future a bit better than

the even worse it is each year

because

did

nothing

when

counted

the

most.

…

Now our actions

or in-actions

count

again

the

most.

Rich And Done

Or Sacrificing All Now and …

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Rich Forever

Why Wait To Really Live?

Give Your All, Today!

Psalm 138:6

For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away.

Luke 12:19-21

The rich will say to their soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.

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Words of Grace for Today –

…

How people have yearned to be rich. To be able to ‘take a break’, head off on the ‘freedom 55’ train, give up deadlines for lifelines, to do what you want, when you want, where you want, and how you want, to turn ‘short, nasty, and brutish’ into ‘eat, drink, and be merry!’

But life simply does not work that way.

Life lived for oneself becomes perverse, if it wasn’t that already. And it rots from within, spreading to those around one, and affected by one. It’s living hell.

The true treasure of life is free, but not without cost. It is to live as Jesus did, giving everything to give life to others, to love one’s neighbour as oneself, even one’s enemies, and the downtrodden and outcast most of all.

To be truly rich, we only need recognize that God walks with us, blesses us, and sends us out to be that same blessing for all other people.

The Kick

Of the Spirit

Sunday, June 8, 2025

The Kick for Life

Sometimes We Need A Little Extra Kick,

To See God’s Horizons

For Us.

Nehemiah 9:6

And Ezra said: “You are the Lord, you alone; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. To all of them you give life, and the host of heaven worships you.

Acts of the Apostles 4:31

When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.

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Words of Grace for Today –

…

Each morning, to varying degrees, I’m not good for much until I get a good ‘wake up’ kick. As I get older, sometimes I need a few more good ‘kicks’ to get through the day.

You don’t really want to deal with me before I get a good cup of coffee, full caffeine, ‘not any of that low octane decaf’ I used to say. But then I cannot sleep through the night. So it’s a bit decaf, a bit full punch to kick me into gear.

Lately I’ve returned to my habit started in college. I ran a mile or two at 6 in the morning, showered, studied a bit, before breakfast at 7:30. Of course it’s not 6, it’s not running. It’s more like walking to the lake 200 m, up the hill 400m, back down to camp 300m, or mowing for an hour. And I don’t do any real thinking or writing until after breakfast.

Later in the day it’s either more exercise just keeping my body moving or a bit of chocolate or coffee ice cream to punch me into clear thinking or energy to keep moving. That caffeine means I get a real poor night’s sleep, so the next day is a wash. But it provides hours of ‘up time’ for me to get things done while it lasts.

That ‘up time’ is what the Holy Spirit gives us in the first place, the breathe that is life, life right away out of the womb. It is more. It is the fire-wind-energy that is life itself in us. Our drive to be, to have purpose and meaning, to give so others can live fully.

This is what the disciples receive anew, after Jesus is gone. The Holy Spirit inspires them to live as the Church, spreading the Word of Jesus. In this Word is a God-given Spirit of service, of love, of forgiveness, of hope for all people.

Everyday we need a kick from and of the Holy Spirit, to move us onward, knowing the Holy Spirit works in our lives: it’s the kick that gets us going, the kick that keeps us going, the gift that gets us to think clearly, the energy that drives us to see and hold the truth.

It is the gift that brings us to believe.

And breath,

and hope.

And share

serving others

with love.

Breath

Smoke

Saturday, May 31, 2025

Justice

Smoke Obscures Everything Good,

From Here

to The Furthest Shore

Psalm 112:5

It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice.

1 Timothy 6:18-19

They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.

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Words of Grace for Today –

…

I woke to smoke that took my breath away, so thick and acrid did it dig into my soul.

I sought desperately for that breath that would take that smoke away.

And I could not find it

for hours.

So it is when others deal injustice to us,

filling courts and communities with lies about us.

Injustice is like smoke that takes our breath and life away, grinding us to desperately seek that truth that will take away the injustice and bring us freedom to live

and breathe

and work

and be at peace

with life.

So destructive is injustice.

So destructive are the lies.

So good are the truths that support good deeds, giving life

that is really life

to all.

Fools All

Thinking They’re Wise

Tuesday, April 15, 2025

The Most Foolish of Follies.

True Wisdom is As Accessible As Beauty,

Everywhere!

Jeremiah 8:9

The wise shall be put to shame, they shall be dismayed and taken; since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what wisdom is in them?

1 Corinthians 1:20

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

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Words of Grace for Today –

…

The world’s ways spawn many people who think they are wise, who are told by many others they are wise, who’s counsel is taken by many especially those in power.

But they are nothing but mere fools, thinking they know so much, in such good ways, as to bring the world forward to some nebulous goal.

God’s Word brings a different kind of wisdom:

Jesus sees the crowds, climbs the mountain, sits down, and begins to teach. Actually, he begins to turn everything upside down. Or is it right-side-up? All of a sudden, the meek, the poor and the heartbroken are the blessed ones — and our enemies are the ones we should pray for. The Sermon on the Mount is one of the greatest gifts of scripture to humanity; just ask Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Leo Tolstoy. But who is making any use of it today?

In a time, like every other, when an eye for an eye still seems to hold sway, what is this seemingly bizarre logic of Christian non-violence, beginning with Jesus’ counsel to ‘turn the other cheek’*

if not the wisdom of God for us all.

* CBC IDEAS’ Newsletter description of IDEAS’ “Turn the Other Cheek: The Radical Case for Nonviolent Resistance” episode for 14 Oct 2022 and rebroadcast Good Friday 18 April 2025

Cheating Others?

Fear God and Stop

Sunday, April 13, 2025

Fear God Almighty Already –

Stop so that you may live!

For the love of God,

Leave Wilful Evil Behind

and Find Joy

IN Life Abundant.

Leviticus 25:17

You shall not cheat one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the Lord your God.

Philippians 2:5

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus….

…

Words of Grace for Today –

…

Let

not achieve or make yourself or strive,

just let

let the Holy Spirit put in you

the same mind that was and is in Jesus the Christ!

…

What is that?

Jesus taught, healed, sacrificed, served the poor, welcomed everyone, and died to save us all.

Can you do that?

Can anyone of us do that?

Not on our own, for sure!

But cheating others,

I mean

taking life from others with deceptions and lies and all that.

Come on, you think that gives you anything worthwhile? Really?

It just sucks the life right out of you, even as you continue to walk and work and futilely strive to live well.

The fear of God ought to have kept you from that path long ago.

But it hasn’t, has it?

So fear of God does not help you.

Perhaps you ought to surrender to God’s love for you.

God intends that you live as Jesus did.

Now that’s living!

Try surrendering to the Holy Spirit working in you,

repenting, making amends, working to give to others,

starting today!

Why not?

You’ve nothing to lose, except what God has given you exactly for this purpose, to imitate Jesus.

God waits, always with steadfast love and grace.

Not Found

Zeroed out.

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Goners

Smoke steals air

on our way to

zeroing ourselves out of life.

Jeremiah 50:20

In those days and at that time, says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and none shall be found; for I will pardon the remnant that I have spared.

1 Peter 2:24

He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

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Words of Grace for Today –

…

The order was given

by the devil’s generals

to zero us all out.

Out of shelter, clothing, food, water, even air.

Out of energy, movement, thought.

Out of time, out of hope, out of love.

…

Instead God came to zero out our sins

so that we might live free from the incapacitating chains of fear

so that we might live ready and able to give life to others

so that we might be filled with hope and love for all people.

An impossible journey made possible by the only one who made the journey to death and hell to pay for our sins of helping the generals of the devil zero out other people.

So we step forward, against all expectations

into the light of humble penance,

and hope for love that

can transform us

and

the world.