Daily Meditations
Sometimes I wonder if anyone has the ability to speak kindly. Dignity is a forgotten word. I can’t imagine Jesus being undignified. Angry yes, as he was with those selling at the temple. How close are we to being able to dig deep into our Christian life to withstand the frustrations that beset us. We must call on God to help us maintain the dignity expected of us as Christians.
Sometimes life is painful. It doesn’t matter whether the pain is physical, mental or both. Pain can bring on anxiety and fear. it makes us question if there is anything that can help us. We wonder where God is or if he is there at all. But even in the darkest pain there is hope and hope comes from god. God turns us to hope and helps us learn from the pain. We are like pottery made beautiful by the fire of the kiln.
Today I have been thinking about morality. Einstein is correct. Morality is for us. God already has it. Morality is based in compassion, love, and empathy. Love is the most important. If we love others as ourselves we have no problem with morality. It will follow as naturally as the night follows the day.
I think this is the perfect time to center on a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.
I am sure that Christ had no plan to be the most important person the world has ever known. His plan was to teach us about his father and how to live our lives. Each of us has a choice each day to live as Christ taught us. What is right is always the thing to do. We don’t know what the impact of that choice will be. It doesn’t matter.
Peace may not be that place of calm that we expect. It may be managing in the midst of the storm. God’s peace can allow us to cope when we don’t think we can. Remember he was the one who calmed the water for his disciples. It may not be the water he calms for us but our minds and hearts.
We pray to God for many things. We pray for others, for health, about out daily lives. The list is too long to list. Sometimes our prayers are answered but it is not the answer we wanted. The answer can make us question how our beliefs. That can be scary. Don’t worry. Those answers will cause us to grow in the knowledge of God and his ways.
It is not our responsibility to protect God. God can take care of Himself/Herself. Too often someone will want to defend their view of God. They want everyone else to understand what God wants. The trouble is it is what God wants according to them. Let us not fall into the trap of defending God. I truly believe God is fine. Just trust that, if blessed, you will hear God tell you the plans for you. He/She will not be interested in updating you about others. We each have our own perspective….our viewing point is not God’s.
As we move into the New Year keep in mind that spirit of Christmas and spread joy, peace, kindness, love and hope.
I have always been move by music. The words of this hymn have always meant a lot to me and the music is fun to sing.
, tho’ far-off hymn
from Wikepedia
Richard Rohr wrote in a recent post about Midrash. This is a term I have used often when there is discussion about scripture. Midrash is a Jewish term and has to do with the way they look at scripture. Rohr says: “Jesus practiced a form that the Jewish people called midrash, consistently using questions to keep spiritual meanings open, often reflecting on a text or returning people’s questions with more questions.”
The point of Midrash is to keep digging and thinking about scripture. See what meaning lies underneath the simple. Question what it means to you today and then look at it again tomorrow or much later. We are different each day and may have different ideas and see different meanings.
Don’t be afraid to discuss scripture and hear the ideas of others. There is nothing wrong with seeing another viewpoint. Scripture is not dead words on a page. It is a living, breathing thing.
Hear God in Other Voices 