And Aaron

Responded With …

Sunday, October 13, 2024

Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press: taken near Cremona, AB sourced 09 Oct 2024 https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/features/northern-lights?cmp=newsletter_CBC%20Edmonton_1646_1737656

Sometimes

Just Let

Yourself Be

Awestruck

Leviticus 10:3

Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘This is what the Lord meant when he said,
“Through those who are near me I will show myself holy, and before all the people I will be glorified.” ’And Aaron was silent.

Romans 5:1

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Words of Grace For Today

And Aaron was silent.

What a response to such a marvellous statement:

Through those who are near me I will show myself holy, and before all the people I will be glorified.

Hearing good news we usually respond with something loud, a whooop, a full bodied laugh, a noisy smile, a word of thanks, a statement of wonder, a word of thanks.

But, the mouth piece for Moses who does not know how to speak, Aaron, chooses instead of words (which is his specialty)

silence.

S I L E N C E

What would it be like if all people, knowing

since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ

responded – instead of with

all the foolishness and spins and lies and conspiracy theories and hatred and, and, and, which trouble our world so much –

What if we all responded

with silence?

What’s that you say?

S I L E N C E

awestruck

S I L E N C E

Clear, Foggy

Morning

Saturday, October 12, 2024

After It Has Lifted Considerably,

The Fog Remains on the Lake.

Is That Clear?

Genesis 50:20

Joseph said to his brothers: Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today.

Luke 6:28

Bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

Words of Grace For Today

I woke to a clear morning,

early before the sun rose

in the twilight of dawn

in the thick fog

holding visibility to less than a quarter kilometre.

How can this be, you rightfully ask.

Take Joseph’s words to his brothers: you intended to do me harm, but God made something good of it, preserving our lives and helping us grow to a great and numerous people.

If they hadn’t thrown in the pit, and then sold him into slavery, where he served, was falsely accused by the wife of his master, and finally freed by Pharaoh for his wisdom and set as Pharaoh’s right hand, in charge of saving grain to prepare for the 7 year famine to come,

which would have wiped out his family back home,

then Joseph would not have been in a position to save his family.

Things are never just what they seem to be.

Most often things are very complicated, an interwoven set of events, actors, sufferers, and results.

Jesus knows this full well. Bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

Why?

Because things are never so simple.

The person who curses you today, when blessed may well be the person who saves you on the most challenging day of your life.

But even before that, cursing another person costs the person cursing as much as, if not more than, the person being cursed.

So how is this a clear morning in the soup of thick fog?

It’s complicated and true.

After a very short night’s sleep the night before last, leaving me in a brain fog of exhaustion yesterday, while I had to deal with a vehicle that just did not want to run,

last night I slept long and fast, a full 8.5 hours plus.

So the brain fog is gone. I see, think, hear clearly. I can work without risking making costly mistakes. It’s a wonderful recovery, made so marked by the comparison with how difficult yesterday was.

The fog shrouding the lake and touching even the trees across the meadow may limit visibility, but I need not see far to know what I see actually is what I can deal with, and must deal with.

Of course, I’m not driving or flying, in which case what you don’t see in the distance can literally knock you about until you are silly or never going see, hear, or smell anything ever again.

Today I am thankful (it is that weekend after all) that it is a crystal clear morning, shrouded in a wonderful hug of fog.

What has God done lately to use evil intentions, aimed at you, in order to bring about greater good? What can you be unexpectedly thankful for this morning?

The Hard Way

Forward?

Friday, October 11, 2024

Even as the sun sets,

God renews life again,

and again,

and again,

for us

with forgiveness.

Psalm 130:4

But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.

Luke 23:34

Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they cast lots to divide his clothing.

Words of Grace For Today

Any old mean son of a … erm, a gun, can hold a grudge and seek revenge.

Pretty much any person can be that mean, no old or son qualities needed.

But

to forgive.

Now that takes courage, strength, and wisdom beyond normal.

Thankfully (mentioning also it is Thanksgiving weekend) God is not a God of grudges and revenge. Else we’d all be doomed.

Thankfully (it’s that weekend, eh?) God is a God of steadfast love and forgiveness.

We have God’s promise that God will forgive us our sins, all of them, every last one of them, even the really, really evil and ‘unforgivable’ ones.

All we have to do to be forgiven is … well, nothing.

We just get to acknowledge that we are forgiven, and get on living as forgiven people, not perfect people, not evil people, but forgiven people. That’s a humble way to move through life.

Of course,

God also forgives our enemies.

You know, the one’s Karma forgot about, that list that we each keep, those names and events that burn a hole in our pockets, or rather in our hearts, minds, and spirits.

And since God forgives us and them, we get to

– see that, it’s not we have to, it’s we get to, we are privileged to, we are honoured by the Holy Spirit giving us the ability to –

we get to forgive our enemies and all the people who would and have done us harm.

Now that

is quite a way to live,

Quite a marvellous, miraculous, life-energizing, peaceful way to live.

And since we get to live that way,

We also get to revere God who makes it possible.

Just saying,

maybe revering God and giving God thanks

outta be part of our Thanksgiving weekend,

and every day that ends with ‘y’, eh.

Maybe even today,

especially the today

of each morning.

Wild Guessing

Or Hope?

Thursday, October 10, 2024

Here We See What Lies Ahead,

Sometimes.

After Death,

Not At All.

Ezekiel 37:11-12

Then he 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.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44

So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.

Words of Grace For Today

Everyone wants to know what happens after we die.

Just think if one could guarantee that one’s information about what happens to us after death were absolutely true! One could control the hearts and minds of many people with that information.

But dying is what we know.

After that it is wild guessing.

Some call that hope, but it really is still a feeble hope built on wild guessing.

Real hope is

to know that God loves us, promises to forgive and renew us in this life (which we need desperately each day, hour, minute, second), and gives us so many gifts we do not deserve, all so that we are equipped to share life abundant with others,

and knowing that

we can

trust that whatever comes our way in this world,

whatever would zap life-energy from our bones

to lay us low and take life from us

God will respond by reviving us

and renewing our spirits:

God will walk with us,

and help us continue

to help others,

and if we die

to bring us

home.

Hope in that, instead of some wild-guess based description of what happens after death,

so that when we lie on our deathbed, we know from so much experience

that God will walk with us

whatever comes next

after death.

Learning

As We’re Made To

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Learning About Shadows In The Snow,

We Can Do.

About God’s Commandments,

Not.

Psalm 119:73

Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.

2 Thessalonians 2:15

So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.

Words of Grace For Today

To learn God’s commandments,

The God that made and fashioned us,

it not

merely to read the commandments, and perhaps memorize them, and then be able to regurgitate them for another person.

To learn God’s commandments, the commandments of the God who create us,

is to

know them by heart, mind and soul

so that, like muscle memory,

they become second nature

to our dealings with others

and all we do

as we traverse

the life that God created us to live.

Holding to traditions may seem to help,

but

to actually learn God’s commandments

is something so far beyond anything

we are capable of,

so that we must recognize

only as the Holy Spirit makes us able

can we learn (know, and do, and have embedded in our being)

anything about God

and anything good.

So we pray each day:

with thanks for everything that keeps us alive,

for forgiveness for all our sins,

and that we may do what is good and what is necessary,

which is to trust that the Holy Spirit will be with us through it all,

giving us what we need

to do what is good and necessary each day,

even today.

Especially today.

Putting

Away Our godlets

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Our Lives May Seem Too Precious to Place in Such A Small Boat,

on the Treacherous Waters of Life,

But the Master of the Waters Knows and Protects Us.

Climb In?

Joshua 24:14

Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.

Galatians 4:8-9

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods. Now, however, that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits? How can you want to be enslaved to them again?

Words of Grace For Today

Confidence in the economy can push a down slump into something more severe.

And

Everything can be linked back to the economy.


Or so Peter Armstrong reported (quoting others) in his weekly CBC Mind You Business newsletter for 7 October 2024.

Challenged by God’s Word in Christ, let us pray for the church, the world, and the whole creation.

and instead

accept the grace of God demonstrated most visibly in the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ, as the measure of our confidence in love and hope, and our linking everything to God’s grace,

letting the economy (and our parts in it) recede into the distance

as matters

that can even concern our confidence or non-confidence?

What else will give us life?

Forgive

Even the Atrocities!?

Monday, October 7, 2024

1 Yr After The Attack On Israel, Is There Hope?

Photo by Saša Petricic · CBC News https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/israel-gaza-west-bank-year-war-1.7344060?cmp=newsletter_CBC%20News%20Morning%20Brief_12625_1736161 accessed 2024.10Oct07

Jeremiah 14:7

Although our iniquities testify against us, act, O Lord, for your name’s sake; our apostasies indeed are many, and we have sinned against you.

Matthew 6:14

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you;

Words of Grace For Today

Sin is a hard thing to live beyond.

It has a way of haunting us,

even when we do not know it,

creeping into our fears, our nightmares, our reactions to stress, our hopes,

eating at us

like locust eat a landscaped dead, one bite at a time

times millions

like the number of our small sins.

How do we find freedom from these living, consuming, deadly haunts in our minds and souls?

God knew we’d need help,

so God sent Jesus, to free us with his sacrifice, so dramatic, less we miss out what God does for us,

and each day God promises to forgive us,

no strings attached!

God asks (non-binding is the request, but it completes our freedom) to forgive others as well.

Not doing so is another sin,

which eats at us again.

Are there really any circumstances – consequences of another’s sin – that cannot be forgiven?

Very definitely, and yet God forgives us for all of them, and asks us (non-binding is the request, but it completes our freedom) to forgive others these atrocities as well.

Are we up to it today?

All-Everything

God

Sunday, October 6, 2024

Even Our Grandest Views of God’s Beautiful Creation,

Pale Compared to

God’s Love

Made Visible in Us Loving Each Other,

Even Our Enemies.

Isaiah 40:15

Even the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as dust on the scales; see, he takes up the isles like fine dust.

Romans 3:29

Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,

Words of Grace For Today

The muck we get ourselves into is most often rooted in our forgetting or rather refusing to remember

that God is Almighty, Omniscient, Onmipresent, and all the other Everythings that God is, Divine, Immortal, All Loving ….

and we think we can get by without God

all on our own.

Thankfully God planned for that

and waits for us to repent, and turn back to God, ask forgiveness (which is already promised and given) and be renewed with the power of the gifts given to us in our baptisms,

even today

no matter what you did yesterday or before.

For God waits

as long as it takes,

for each and every one of us to humbly ask God for forgiveness,

so that we can all be renewed in God’s great, generous, gracious love

by giving the same to others in need.

To Grouse

Or Not to Grouse

Saturday, October 5, 2024

Always, There’s Colour in Our Days.

Seldom A Grouse,

or Reason to.

Jeremiah 14:21

Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake; do not dishonour your glorious throne; remember and do not break your covenant with us.

Romans 11:2

God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

Words of Grace For Today

how do we know God has not abandoned us?

There’s a landscape that I often see and take photos of. It’s not unlike the landscape painted by the fictional painter Povel Wallander. He painted it, and only it, over and over again, even when he tried to paint something else: a hill, trees of dark outlines with whiter bark, on a background of the north, mostly grey tones, sometimes with a grouse. Sometimes not. These landscapes tell a story about life, but only part of the story. There’s much to be filled in.

The photos that I take, which remind me of Povel’s grey landscapes, seldom show only the grey tones of our north. Most often they burst with colour and light in every season. Only the winter photos show more grey, but even they are pulled towards blues and remind me of taking a familiar jazz piece and putting a new riff into it.

We know that God has not forsaken us because,

even if we think there is much to grouse about,

there are always full colours in our days,

and new riffs in our nights.

Siblings Many

One God

Friday, October 4, 2024

We crawled out of the soup eons ago,

what for?

Psalm 119:82

My eyes fail with watching for your promise; I ask, ‘When will you comfort me?’

Hebrews 4:16

Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Words of Grace For Today

The Siblings

Two brothers:

One ate oatmeal for breakfast every morning, sometimes before bed as well. Slim, fit, though he worked little with his hands, arms, legs, and body. His was a labour of the mind, teaching students in high school, mentoring them on how to live in this wide world of challenges unending, as he provided the basics for them to become responsible citizens of Canada.

The other never disclosed his diet though it obviously was always sufficient, for his body was rotund. He also worked with his mind, a farmer of a large operation. And he worked with his hands, arms, legs and feet, labouring hard at various times during the year to raise crops and animals to feed many, many people well.

Two sisters:

One, solid and sturdy on her feet, worked endlessly to secure a safe and secure life for herself and her five children. The costs of raising children was immense, and her securing sufficient income was always on her mind, always dictated her decisions. She drove her husband harder than she drove herself, for he shared her focus, to earn enough money to secure a good life for himself and his family. Until he could not anymore, for the lies he had to tell in order to continue in his job were too much to bear. He switched occupations and started a thriving store, making more money than he ever could have before. But his body and his mind could not keep up with the pressure and after a year of severe sleep deprivation added to the stress of his own and his wife’s demands on him he succumbed to the depression that had haunted him since he was a teenager and he killed himself.

As a widow this sister continued working the store and her own job, letting the children raise themselves. As she approached 55 years old she looked back on her life, and forward to her future and she succumbed to deep depression. Her oldest daughter had murdered at least two people, and gotten away with it. Her to older sons had left home as soon as they could and never talked to her. Her younger daughter in her late 20s, still fully dependent on her, had followed her father’s exit from life. Her youngest son stayed in touch. Everything he did was about earning more money, and he was fundamentally unhappy, trying anything from travel, to drugs, to sex, to danger to try to find some meaning to life.

This widow’s sister was in comparison frail of body, though she had been graceful in her youth. Most certainly beauty had passed her by and she made little attempt to cover the awkward mismatched features she’d been born with. She had excelled at school, for it was the only thing she could do well. Music and math, history and languages, hard sciences and psychology, and even religion engrossed her. She had earned multiple Ph.ds. Her classes at a small university were always overfilled. She engaged her students, pushing them to not only master the subject before them, but the questions of life that lay beneath it all, and their place in the whole project of life.

She was still happily married to her first love, also a professor, he in philosophy. They had two children who had families of their own. Each made their way around the world on projects, one as a medical volunteer with various NGOs, the other as an organizer, speaker, and counsellor to leaders and vulnerable children alike.

The focus of this sister’s life, and her families’ lives, was to share God’s gracious generosity in any and every way they could with the people most in need. No one was wealthy in the family. More than a few times the children had come to their parents for help, sometimes for money. Lately the parents had gone to each of their children for help, organizing a project to educate and inspire people of all backgrounds to reach out with compassion to people in the greatest need around the world, starting in their backyards, with the homeless people in their city.

This year for Thanksgiving the second sister and her husband, with both children and their whole families, travelled to Tanzania to help start building a new medical clinic that would eventually become a full fledged teaching hospital outside the capital, Dodoma.

The first sister, with more than 8 million dollars in investments and assets, worked at her store, and exhausted spent the evening at home, taking a phone call from her youngest, asking for more money, this time to buy a new motorcycle to travel with some friends somewhere to the south. She transferred $80k into his account, sat on the couch in her fancy living room and a huge emptiness engulfed her, and she wept for hours like she had never wept before. The next morning she woke up feeling worse than if she’d had a hangover, which she’d had plenty of in her life.

Fraternal Twins, a boy and a girl

Fraternal Twins, a boy and a girl, were born yesterday to a distant cousin of the brothers and the sisters, in a small town near the SK border. Their parents attend church irregularly, aren’t really driven to do anything they do not need to, but they get by on their income living a rather simple if not poverty consumed lifestyle.

Where will each of these twins find themselves in 20 years? In 30 years? In 55 years? Will they find meaning and joy in life? Or will they pursue life selfishly only to find life meaninglessness easily engulfs them?

Could we make a difference if we knew these twins, these sisters, these brothers? Does God equip us to share humility, purpose, joy, reasons to give thanks, and grace with those most in need?

Who are we?