Oh wow!

"For the man and his wife the Lord God made leather garments, with which he clothed them."
Genesis 3:21

Oh wow, oh wow!  Fr. Richard Rohr pointed this out in his daily message today and I'm so excited by it!  After Adam and Eve sinned in the garden and were hiding from God, God asks them why they're hiding.  They explain that they were ashamed because they're naked. God asks them in verse 11, "Who told you that you were naked?" In other words, God doesn't point that out to them. God doesn't track them down and shame them. Not at all. God sews them garments to protect them from their shame. Fr. Rohr points out to us, too, who so often wallow in shame and guilt, that God uses our wounds of shame to draw us closer to God. Like I said, Oh Wow! God only loves us. When will we understand that? When will we stop trying to get God to love us and just be able to bask in the fact that it's true?  Blessings abundant on your holiday weekend! Safe travels and enjoy!  Love,heidi

Powered by God

"When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to men."
Matthew 9:8

When I read this I couldn't help but be surprised the people recognized the authority was from God.  They seemed to go back and forth between thinking Jesus was powered by an scary force (thus asking him to leave them) and recognizing God is involved in the event. So it surprised me a bit they caught on and attributed the healing to God this time.  I wonder what caused them to clock that correctly? I think it was the fruit of the event. The positive result of the man being able to get up, take his bed and go home. We can look in our own lives and see the God tracks in situations based on the fruit of them as well.  If we wonder if God is involved, wait a bit and see the fruit resulting from the event. Is it positive? Is there healing and forgiveness? Are people reconciled, forgiven, made whole? Then you can be assured that God is at work!  We can look all around us, even in our tumultuous world, and see positive fruit resulting in the actions of people powered by God. Love, heidi

Who, literally, is my neighbor?

"But because he wished to justify himself he said to Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?'"

Luke 10:29

 

It's funny what six hours of no electricity will do to a neighborhood! Our neighborhood found out Monday night when a dump truck knocked down power lines, sending the power company scurrying to restore power. It sent us all out into the streets, much like the zombies in an Apocalypse movie. I met neighbors I'd driven by for nine years and knew by sight and location but now we were actually talking! Wow, that! It sort of reminded me of the 60's...people hanging outside on a summer evening, chatting with whoever walks by. It was reminiscent and lovely. Besides being concerned about the food in the fridge and freezer, I rather enjoyed it. I choose to unplug fairly regularly, myself, on my Silent days, but having the whole neighborhood participate added a whole new element.   I felt a little bit differently as I drove through the neighborhood on my way to work the next day.  I felt a little more at home.  Let's try taking a walk through our neighborhoods on a summer evening and making a point of talking with neighbors we see outside. We don't need a power outage to do that! Love, heidi

Tossed about at sea...

"He said to them, 'Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?' Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm."
Matthew 8:26

On Pray-As-You-Go this morning, it was pointed out that Jesus wasn't surprised at the storm, but he was surprised at the disciple's fear of the storm and weak faith.  Interesting.  We are invited to turn our storms over to Jesus, too, every day.  During a quiet day recently I read through old journals from last summer.  It was fascinating because I was able to see that the storms of last summer--the things I fretted over and worried about--have all worked out.  Not only that, but they have worked out better than I could have anticipated last summer while I was praying about them!  Imagine!  If I can only remember that when the storms of life come along now and in the future. Dearest Jesus, you are always in the boat with us. You may be asleep, but you are always there with us.  Please help us to remember that and to know we can gently wake you when we feel afraid or upset as the sea tosses us about.  There is no reason for us to fear, as you tell us so often.  It is so reassuring to have you there with us!  Love, heidi