Archive for March, 2011

Don’t Lose the Imprint of God’s Fingers

2011/03/31

Oh, that you would burst from the heavens and come down! How the mountains would quake in your presence! As fire causes wood to burn and water to boil, your coming would make the nations tremble. Then your enemies would learn the reason for your fame! When you came down long ago, you did awesome deeds beyond our highest expectations. And oh, how the mountains quaked! For since the world began, no ear has heard, and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him! You welcome those who gladly do good, who follow godly ways. But you have been very angry with us, for we are not godly. We are constant sinners; how can people like us be saved? We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind. Yet no one calls on your name or pleads with you for mercy. Therefore, you have turned away from us and turned us over to our sins. And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand. Don’t be so angry with us, Lord. Please don’t remember our sins forever. Look at us, we pray, and see that we are all your people.
Source: Isaiah 64:1-9 (New Living Translation)

But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?
Source: Romans 9:20-21 (New International Version)

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.
Source: Ecclesiastes 3:1 (New Living Translation)

It is not you who shapes God, it is God who shapes you. If then you are the work of God, await the hand of the artist Who does all things in due season. Offer God your heart, soft and tractable, And keep the form in which the artist has fashioned you. Let your clay be moist, Lest you grow hard and lose the imprint of God’s fingers.
Source: Shalem News, www.shalem.org

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Stone Soup

2011/03/13

Stone Soup is an old folk story in which hungry strangers persuade local people of a town to give them food. It is usually told as a lesson in cooperation, especially amid scarcity.

Some travellers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty cooking pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the hungry travellers. The travellers fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire in the village square. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The travellers answer that they are making “stone soup”, which tastes wonderful, although it still needs a little bit of garnish to improve the flavor, which they are missing. The villager does not mind parting with just a little bit of carrot to help them out, so it gets added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the travellers again mention their stone soup which has not reached its full potential yet. The villager hands them a little bit of seasoning to help them out. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. Finally, a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by all.

This story was the basis of a 1947 children’s book, Stone Soup (ISBN 9780689878367), by Marcia Brown, which featured soldiers tricking miserly villages into making them a feast. The book won a Caldecott Medal in 1947.  This book was read aloud to the viewers by the Captain (played by Bob Keeshan) on an early episode of Captain Kangaroo in the 1950s.

What is scarce in DC?  What gifts, talents and resources, however large or small, could be made available if cast in the light of cooperation?

Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_soup

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For Japan

2011/03/12

O God, you divided the waters of chaos at creation.  In Christ you stilled storms, raised the dead, and vanquished demonic powers.  Tame the earthquake, wind, and fire, and all the forces that defy control or shock us by their fury.  Keep us from calling disaster your justice.  Help us, in good times and in distress, to trust your mercy and yield to your power, this day and for ever.[1]

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.[2]

We pray today for the people of Japan who have suffered the worst earthquake in hundreds of years and the tsunami that followed.  Our hearts also go out to Japanese-Americans and others around the world who know not the fate of their loved ones.

The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.[3]

Lord, we pray not for tranquility, nor that our tribulations may cease; we pray for thy spirit and thy love, that thou grant us strength and grace to overcome adversity; through Jesus Christ.[4]

Amen.

Ref 1: “In Time of Natural Disaster”, Andy Langford, USA, 20th Century
Ref 2: Isaiah 54:10 (NIV)
Ref 3: Psalm 145:9 (NIV)
Ref 4: “For Overcoming Adversity”, Girolamo Savonarola, Italy, 15th Century

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Montgomery County Council Opening Devotion

2011/03/08

Today’s reading is from Psalm 24, verses 1-6.

The earth is the LORD’S and all that is in it, the world and all who dwell therein.

For it is he who founded it upon the seas and made it firm upon the rivers of the deep.

“Who can ascend the hill of the LORD? and who can stand in his holy place?”

“Those who have clean hands and a pure heart, who have not pledged themselves to falsehood, nor sworn by what is a fraud.

They shall receive a blessing from the LORD and a just reward from the God of their salvation.”

Such is the generation of those who seek him, of those who seek your face, O God of Jacob.

I have some questions and answers for you today.

Q. What are we by nature?

A. We are part of God’s creation, made in the image of God.

Q. What does it mean to be created in the image of God?

A. It means that we are free to make choices: to love, to create, to reason, and to live in harmony with creation and with God.

Q. What do we learn about God as creator from the revelation to Israel?

A. We learn that there is one God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

Q. What does this mean?

A. This means that the universe is good, that it is the work of a single loving God who creates, sustains, and directs it.

Q. What does this mean about our place in the universe?

A. It means that the world belongs to its creator; and that we are called to enjoy it and to care for it in accordance with God’s purposes.

Q. What is the Old Testament, also known as the Hebrew Bible?

A. The Old Testament consists of books written by the people of the Old Covenant, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to show God at work in nature and history.

Q. Why do we call the Holy Scriptures the Word of God?

A. We call them the Word of God because God inspired their human authors and because God still speaks to us through the Bible.

Q. What are the Ten Commandments?

A. The Ten Commandments are the laws given to Moses and the people of Israel.

Q. What do we learn from these commandments?

A. We learn two things: our duty to God, and our duty to our neighbors.

Q. What is our duty to God?

A. Our duty is to believe and trust in God; These are given in the first four commandments.

Q. What is our duty to our neighbors?

A. Our duty to our neighbors is to love them as ourselves, and to do to other people as we wish them to do to us; These are given in the last six commandments.

Q. What is prayer?

A. Prayer is responding to God, by thought and by deeds, with or without words.

Therefore, let us pray:

Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace:

Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will.

Almighty God, kindle, we pray, in every heart the true love of peace, and guide with your wisdom those who take counsel for the nations of the earth, that in tranquility your dominion may increase until the earth is filled with the knowledge of your love.

O merciful Creator, your hand is open wide to satisfy the needs of every living creature: Make us always thankful for your loving providence; and grant that we, remembering the account that we must one day give, may be faithful stewards of your good gifts.

Heavenly Father, bless all who give themselves to the service of others; that with wisdom, patience, and courage, they may minister to the suffering, the friendless, and the needy.

O God, you are the hope of all the ends of the earth, the God of the spirits of all flesh. Hear our humble intercession for all races and families on earth, that you will turn all hearts to yourself. Remove from our minds hatred, prejudice, and contempt for those who are not of our own race or color, class or creed, that, departing from everything that estranges and divides, we may by you be brought into unity of spirit, in the bond of peace.

Lord God Almighty, as you anointed leaders and called prophets of old, lead us to recognize our true representatives and authentic leaders: men and women who love your people and can walk with them, who feel their pain and share their joys, who dream their dreams and strive to accompany them to their common goal.

In your fire, with your Spirit, embolden and commission these elected officials to serve your people, and to bring real glory to your holy name.

Amen.

Source 1:  Book of Common Prayer according to the use of The Episcopal Church, 1979.

Source 2: United Methodist Book of Worship, 1992, Tenth Printing, October 2000.

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