Daily Meditations
Human misery is too great for men to do without faith.————–Heinrich Heine
I have often wondered what people do who have no faith to support them. What do they turn to for help with terrible things happen? I cannot imagine life without God as my support..can you?
Gracious God, thank you for all the love and care you have given us. Let us remember each day to thank you. AMEN
Many Christians say they believe in the Presence in the Eucharist, but they don’t get that it is everywhere—which is the whole point! They don’t seem to know how to recognize the Presence of God when they leave the church, when they meet people who are of a different religion or race or sexual orientation or nationality. ——-Richard Rohr
God is everywhere. He is in you and me. He is in the trees and the grass. He is in my beloved dogs. God is everywhere! Why is it so hard for us to get that?
Infinite God, you created all things and are present in them all. Help us to understand. AMEN
The Gospel was just too good to be true—for a future oriented, product-oriented, and win lose worldview. ————-Richard Rohr in Falling Upward
It is true. We spend most of our time acquiring “things’, trying to outpace the Jones-es, and win, win, win. This is not the message of the Gospel. No wonder we have trouble with it. Things like he who wants to gain his life must lose it…you must turn your back on your family and many others. These do not work with our worldview. Unfortunately it is our worldview that is wrong. We must LIVE the Gospel, not just read it.
Forgiving God, just like the disciples we don’t get it. Help us to learn to live the Gospel. AMEN
Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.–——Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve spent the last years of his life strapped in a wheelchair and yet he could say this. I have a friend whose doctor’s have said that she would be dead years ago. Her life is not perfect…she is living with physical losses but she continues to live each day. Her Facebook page is filled with family trips, boat rides, ocean photos and the most wonderful paeans (songs of triumph) to God. She is filled with love for God and her life. God is with her. She knows it and she rejoices in it. So should we.
Loving God, we thank you for the gift of your presence and love. Help us to see it each day. AMEN
The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones. —–Chinese Proverb
The political situation in the USA today is monumental. We truly have a mountain that must be removed and redone. It can be discouraging and we can fall into the mistake of thinking there is nothing we can do. The truth is there is always something. The only way that things will change is with one person, one voice. Each of us must do our part. It may seem small but mountains have been moved before. We need to believe that God will help and move that one stone.
Incredible God, you know the messes we can get ourselves into. Help us to find your path through it all and do our part. AMEN
Outside of my house I can see the resurrection ferns growing on the oak trees. I love having this reminder of how life can come from death. When things are dry and there is little rain it turns brown and looks dead. Then the rains come and it rises green. I remember the hymn “Now the Green Blade Riseth” and the fern is proof of that.
J. M. C. Crum
The United Methodist Hymnal, No. 311
Now the green blade riseth, from the buried grain,
Wheat that in the dark earth many days has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.
Yes! Love lives again. Thanks be to God! AMEN
If you have knowledge, let others light their candles with it. ———–Winston Churchill
Those of us who follow Christ has knowledge that we need to share. Tell others what he has meant to you… how he has supported you, guided you, and dried your tears. Tell them your personal story. Share
Christ our savior, remind us to share our story with others. Stories change lives. AMEN
God always required something deeper than religious legalism.—-Eric Metaxas in Bonhoeffer.
In Christianity we have many different denominations. I grew up in several of them. I was expected to learn about each and understand what I had to do to be a part of the belief. As a youth I saw them as the rules of belonging. Unfortunately, it seemed to me that many of these tenets were created to keep the lines of a certain denomination clear….to set it apart from the others. This gave me difficulty.
As an adult, the rules I want to follow are not really rules but a way of life. The life that Jesus led and the one that he wants us to follow. He told us how..Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind. …Love your neighbor as yourself. These are the only ones we must try our best to follow.
Discerning God, help us to live as you would have us live..to follow your example in all that we do. AMEN
God is not distant at the cross and God is not distant in the grief of the newly motherless at the hospital; but instead, God is there in the messy mascara-streaked middle of it, feeling as shitty as the rest of us. There simply is no knowable answer to the question of why there is suffering. But there is meaning….We want to go to God for answers but sometimes what we get is God’s presence. ——————–Nadia Bolz -Weber
God promises that he will be with us always and he will!
Ever-present God, thank you being with us throughout our entire lives. AMEN
The the true master knows that if he had a God he could understand he would never hold him to be God-——from “The Gargoyle” by Andrew Davidson
God is way beyond my understanding. There are so many things that happen in the world that make no sense to me. Who would allow pain and suffering if they were in charge? However, I know that there is a God whose wisdom I cannot grasp and no matter how much I study I will never understand. God is infinite and beyond my imagining.
Amazing God, you created the world and all that is in it. Your wisdom is before me every day and I will never understand. You are God. I believe.
Hear God in Other Voices 