Voice of the Day- May 14

Voice of the Day

I don't care if you're dead! Jesus is here, and he wants to resurrect somebody.- Rumi


I think each of us need to have this saying posted all around our lives. We each have those moments when we feel overwhelmed or overworked--dead to life. We need to be reminded that it is at those moments of "death" that Jesus is still with us, wanting so desparately to "resurrect" us--to restore us to life.

Voice for May 13

Verse of the Day

Answer me when I call, O God of my right!You gave me room when I was in distress.Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer. How long, you people, shall my honor suffer shame?How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies?But know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for himself;the Lord hears when I call to him. - Psalm 4:1-3

Voice of the Day

If Christ were coming again tomorrow, I would plant a tree today. - Martin Luther

Luther's above comment flies directly into the face of the popular Rapture/Left Behind mentality of many Christians today. But then, Scripture also contradicts teaching about a Rapture, as well. Nowhere does the Bible say that Jesus is returning to earth to take us with Him to heaven. It states that Jesus is coming again TO THE EARTH.

God has not given up on us or this planet that He created. That is why Luther would "plant a tree"-- he knows that Jesus 2nd coming will be a time when the earth will be restored to its original perfection, not destroyed. God has not ceded this planet as Satan's domain for eternity. This is God's creation; & God still loves it.

We all need Luther's hope & confidence in God & in God's word!

Verse & Voice- April 28

Verse of the Day

Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord accepts my prayer. - Psalm 6:8-9

Voice of the Day

It is so important not to let ourselves off the hook or to become apathetic or cynical by telling ourselves that nothing works or makes a difference. Every day, light your small candle.... The inaction and actions of many human beings over a long time contributed to the crises our children face, and it is the action and struggle of many human beings over time that will solve them—with God's help. So every day, light your small candle. - Marian Wright Edelman Guide My Feet

The quote from Marian Wrigth Edelman is a tough one for me sometimes. I see the "inaction & actions" of so many people, including Christians, in our world that are contributing to degradation of our planet, to continuing (& often escalating war & hatred), to the widening gap between the haves & have-nots, & on & on; & I dismay that my small candle cannot make a difference.

And guess what? What Ms. Edelman is really saying is that it can't...without God's help, that is. Conversely, without my little candle there may be no spark for God to fan into the flame of change.

Doubt

Verse of the Day

When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."- Matthew 28:17-20

Voice of the Day

Language has created the word loneliness to express the pain of being alone, and the word solitude to express the glory of being alone.- Paul Tillich

These verses from Matthew’s Gospel keep emerging in my life. “When they saw Him, they worshiped Him, but some doubted.”

In her book Amazing Grace, Annie Dillard writes, “…doubt is merely the seed of faith, a sign that faith is alive & ready to grow.” The story of Abraham & Sarah is a prime example of this. Their faith grew through many seasons of trials & doubts & hardships. Obviously, Jesus’ disciples experienced the same.

On Christmas Eve, CBS aired the documentary “In God’s Name,” which featured faith leaders from around the world (& from various faith backgrounds). I think our ELCA Presiding Bishop, Mark Hanson, did a wonderful job throughout; but I was most impressed by his statements reflecting his own continuing journey of doubt & faith.

By contrast, the current President of the Southern Baptist Convention claims to have had absolutely no doubts at all since he “gave his life to Jesus” at the age of 9. If that is true (which I seriously doubt), then this Baptist leader has a very shallow & undeveloped faith indeed.
Doubt is natural. Doubt is healthy. Doubt truly is “the seed of faith.”

Verse & Voice- Dec. 3

Verse of the Day

"Friends, why are you doing this? We are mortals just like you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. In past generations he allowed all the nations to follow their own ways; yet he has not left himself without a witness in doing good--giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, and filling you with food and your hearts with joy."- Acts 14:15-17

Voice of the Day

People never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.- Blaise Pascal


Pascal is so correct. Just look at Muslim suicide bombers & jihadists today. Or view the long history of Christian intolerance—the Crusades, the Inquisition, the conquest of the New World, & homophobia, just to name a few.

It brings to mind the scene in “The Last Temptation of Christ” in which Satan comes to Jesus as the Lord is suffering on the cross & gives Jesus a glimpse of the atrocities that will be perpetrated in His name. Satan then asks Jesus if the sacrifice is truly worth it. Sometimes you have to wonder…

Was it worth it? What has happened to all that Jesus taught? Why do we so seldom follow Jesus’ example of how to live & how to love?

Verse & Voice- October 1

Verse of the Day

May grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. - 2 Peter 3:14-14

Voice of the Day

In modern memoirs written by real people about another real person we would expect just that sort of diversity which we find in the Gospels. If it surprises us there, it is perhaps because we have fallen out of the habit of looking on Jesus and his disciples as really real people. -Dorothy Sayers Introduction to The Man Born to Be King

Sayers is absolutely correct. If we cannot see Jesus as a real person, then we miss the pain he endured, the temptations he resisted, the doubts he must have had, the love that he felt for us. By elevating Jesus to the status of a "superhero," we water down the enormity of God's sacrifice for us.

God risked EVERYTHING HE HAD & EVERYTHING HE WAS because of His great love for humanity.

Verse of the Day

[God] frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. [God] takes the wise in their own craftiness; and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end. They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope at noonday as in the night. But [God] saves the needy from the sword of their mouth, from the hand of the mighty. So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth. - Job 5:12-16

Voice of the Day

To practice hospitality in our world, it may be necessary to evaluate all the laws and all the promotions and all the invitation lists of corporate and political society from the point of view of the people who never make the lists. Then hospitality may demand that we work to change things.- Joan Chittister

I think this story that I received in an e-mail today speaks eloquently to Chittister's comments:

During my second month of college, our professorgave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious studentand had breezed through the questions until I readthe last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall,dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.

"Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you dois smile and say "hello."

I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.