The calls and the mira-calls

"For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him..."

Luke 5:9

 

When we accept the call from Jesus do we always witness an accompanying miracle?  Peter and his friends in today's Gospel come in from a night of fishing with a meager catch.  Jesus tells them to "Go deep!" And they return with nets so full they are tearing!  Jesus follows up the miracle with a call to them to become "fishers of people." My question today is, what miracle did we witness when Jesus called us?  We have all been called by Jesus...what was the accompanying miracle?  As I thought about this, I remembered so many times in my life when I felt the call...and then I could recount the miracle. The Spanish word "mira" means "look."  It is a lovely prayer to just sit with Jesus and remember your calls and your "mira-calls"...Look at the calls from Jesus and see the miracles accompanying them.  Love, heidi

It's OK

"It's okay

to not be okay..."

"Exhale," by Tiffany Lee, Matt Armstrong, Josh Silverberg; performed by Plumb

 

This song has been getting a lot of airplay lately and it has message I really love. The artist explains on a "Behind the Music" segment that her husband heard this message from a pastor the first Sunday he attended church after they had separated.  He was definitely NOT okay and really needed to hear that he was still in the right place, there at church.  In thinking about it, it is so reassuring to know that God is with us throughout it all.  There are times when it is so easy to praise God; things are going well, we're cooking right along.  And then there are the other times.  When we feel weak, we reach out as vulnerable, needy children.  God is always closer than we can imagine.  In our weakness, God can show us strength. 

If you have a chance, today, listen to this beautiful song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQcJjDcST1A

Blessings on your Wednesday!  Love, heidi

Encourage all!

"Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up..."

1 Thessalonians 5:11

 

It's amazing how powerful a few words of encouragement can be! Many of us have jobs where we encourage people all day, but, in thinking about this, there are some people I tend to feel don't need any encouragement.   Those who already seem so confident and self-assured, for example.  Their bluster tends to leave me withering in their wake...they don't need ME to boost them up! But, in reality, maybe they do. Maybe their arrogance is masking a real insecurity, a lack of faith in themselves. Today, as we naturally encourage those who come easily to us, let's keep an eye open for those who may really need a kind, encouraging word from us, though they don't show it.  Our day will be filled with people who need encouragement from us.  Let's keep our eyes open and give it to them! Love, heidi

Perfect Love

"And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth...

When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury."

Luke 4: 22, 28

 

What a difference a few verses can make! Verse 22, the people love Jesus; verse 28, they run him out of town.  People can be so fickle! Jesus, the first century celebrity, has learned what many, even most, celebrities learn; one minute you're up, the next minute, you're down. But why did the hometown crowd turn on Jesus? I'm wondering if it was out of fear. We learned in our homily this past weekend that fear makes people do crazy things. And if a whole group feels fear, the group-think kicks in and, stand back, REALLY crazy things happen.  We also learned in our homily that we have no reason for any fear, because we have Jesus.  The people of Nazareth may not have appreciated him, but we do! We have no reason to fear because Jesus is Perfect Love and Perfect Love casts out fear.  And that is a wonderful gift to ponder this last day of August!  Love, heidi

Healing hands

"And may the gracious care of the Lord our God be ours;

prosper the work of our hands for us!

Prosper the work of our hands!"

Psalm 90:17

 

Our hands are very busy right now, aren't they?  Families, students and teachers getting back to school.  Many hands are harvesting the gifts of the earth we will all enjoy throughout the winter. Our hands are busy, Lord, please help us to do it all with you and for you!  We pray for all those whose hands may be idle due to illness, injury or the loss of work.  We pray for all those whose hands are folded in prayer due to terrible life circumstances and suffering.  We look around and can feel so worried and fearful about our world, and yet, know that you, Lord, carry us in your Hands.  Help our hands to prosper, sure, but also help us to roll up our sleeves and put our hands to work, helping to heal our hurting world. Love, heidi

Inside, outside, upside down

"Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing."

Matthew 23:28

Ouch!  This must be what people mean when they talk about having a "Come to Jesus" talk, right?  Jesus calls it like he sees it, and we may cheer from the sidelines as he gives it to the scribes and Pharisees, but should we be cheering?  These self-righteous tassel-lengtheners seem to be so obviously in the wrong as they are called out by Jesus.  But, rather than throwing stones at them we maybe want to look at our own lives and make sure our insides match our outsides.  Even as we profess to follow Jesus, white-washing our outsides, do we harbor prejudices and attitudes on the inside that don't match up? Let's put away the pom poms and spend some time sitting and talking with Jesus about this in our own lives.  And, as we may feel a bit chastened, we can be grateful that our merciful and marvelous God still loves the dickens out of us!  Thanks be God!  Love, heidi