Sunday, November 5, 2023
This is Life,
To Walk Free In through the Woods, through the Snow,
and Know it is All Gift.
Especially to Be Able to Walk.
Proverbs 21:21
Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life and honour.
Matthew 6:33
But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
…
Words of Grace For Today
Death
Death comes in so many ways, quick and merciful, slow and cruel, hungry and thirsty …
when so many people act from selfish motives, against anything good for others, with violence or deception, with twisted words and cruel actions, without regard for decency or rightness, even where there is not much by which to gauge what is right and what is wrong …
so even truth seems difficult to remember …
From where will we find strength to remember what counts, what is truly valuable, what speaks truth clearly enough not to be drown out by all the other voices,
and by our own pain, grief, and despair,
so that we know God’s grace, gentleness, steadfast love and … and hope for all the future days as rough as they may be.
For as we stare death in the face
we know
both the Devil’s worst
and God’s best,
a freedom and truth in the deepest, widest way,
to see Grace coming for us again
to see God’s Grace clearly coming for us again
and to see God’s all-embracing Grace clearly coming for us again
… again.
Death met by God’s Grace creates hope that is unrelenting and … undying.
That’s what Jesus give us … the
End of death
Now we can chase away our living days pursing righteousness and kindness or striving after the kingdom of God and his righteousness in order to find life and honour.
This, though is a fantasy made by people who cannot accept that life and honour, God’s kingdom and righteousness are gifts, gifts that we can never earn, nor achieve, or pursue successfully, nor come close to with our strivings.
And that is what Jesus teaches us about death, sins, and life as God’s children.
It’s all gift … all the way down.
And all the way up.
And all around.