Category: Coyote

Walking

The Wonderful Way

Saturday, June 24, 2023

Even When the Way Looks Obvious,

There are Dangers,

and Choices:

Coyote Ahead?

or Take the Other Path?

Micah 6:8

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Philippians 2:5

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

Words of Grace For Today

If it were so simple, then we would just have to be humble and walk with God, love giving kindness to all (especially those who certainly do not deserve it, and they are many), and do what is just and right.

Trouble is, even for good people, it is hard to do these things. The ways of the world are everything but these; the pressures to be successful in the ways of the world are intense and unrelenting; even in small daily exchanges humans fudge reality in order to get along with others and to seem to be just a bit (or maybe a lot) better in their own eyes and in others’ eyes than they really are; and, let’s face it, walking with God is not something that is even possible because God goes so many places that we cannot follow since we are just not omnipresent, all powerful, and capable of transcending time and space. Even a tele-transporter or time travelling space ship would not make it possible. It’d be hard to follow God for a stroll on a planet with no breathable air, or – imagine this simply – to the centre of the sun!

So often, we hear that we ought to be like Jesus, to live as Jesus did, to make decisions as Jesus did. Besides that we simply cannot (sin gets in the way all the time), if we did we’d all end up crucified by the age of 30 or so. Today’s passage is a bit more realistic: let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. Ah, that is passive. It is to let the Holy Spirit put that mind in us, and let us be as Jesus was, kind, just, and humble.

Now if we let the Holy Spirit work unimpeded in us and through us, then there is hope that we might indeed, do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God

One day at a time, one step at a time. God walks with us, so that we can walk humbly with God.

And that walk is a wonderful, and even the most wonderful, way to proceed through life!

Or did you have other plans for today, and the rest of your days, plans that you cannot or will not cancel?

Learning, Life-long Learning

Monday 5 December 2022

Coyote Chases Crows Away From A Carcass;

Do animals survive only as they continue

to learn all their lives long?

Is that what did the beaver (carcass) in?

Psalms 143:10

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.

Galatians 5:22-23

By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.

Words of Grace For Today

Climbing hills, descending to valleys, climbing again … all this is good exercise and good exercise builds strong muscles and a healthy circulating system. Why would we want God’s Spirit to lead us on level paths?

Well, that is something that one learns again and again through life, if one is attentive to learning, learning, and learning.

The hills and valleys the Spirit helps us avoid are the hills and valleys that the Devil puts in our way to impede our progress towards completing God’s work assigned to us. These hills and valleys will kill us, if not physically, the nspiritually, which is worse than a physical death. All which one would learn through life … if one were attentive to learning.

While we cannot earn God’s saving grace and favour (that’s all gift) we certainly can descend from receiving God’s grace and favour back into the ways the Devil would have us pursue, straight to hell in a hand basket for us and for those around us, if the Devil has it’s way. (‘It’s’ because the Devil is often referred to as him, but I’ve met a few women who serve the Devil so well, I’ve learned to respect that the Devil is both male and female, incarnate in too many people who the only thing they learn life long is how to destroy more and more people in order to ‘get ahead.’)

Thus we can discern and choose to behave in certain ways other than in ways that serve the Devil. Paul describes some of these as “ love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

Life-long learning will teach us again and again that we can strive for these, but only the Spirit can help us achieve them, if temporarily, until we face the next challenging decision.

If one stops learning, then one is as good as dead, or worse, a very good agent of the Devil.

May today provide us with more opportunities to learn …

again …

of God’s grace that sustains us.