To Travel Beyond

For when we landed a man on the moon we dazzled at our own brilliance

All at once we forgot the cradle where we had come from

That God created a world full of life for us to be a part of

Yes there is a joy to travel beyond, but that we care for it as our home

Thankful

As we consider a season in which we have a life of plenty.  It is a time we remember that plenty is not something had by all at anytime in history.  This holiday season we must ask ourselves if we truly have dreamed big enough to think of a world where all have plenty.  The possibility of a world where people feel they can make the best of what they are given is long overdue.  It is my hope that you can share a dream of a better world sometime during this holiday season.  Realize it is the only way that we can hope for a better tomorrow.  Dream big. 

A message

Amos 5:18-24 (NRSV)

¹⁸Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord!
   Why do you want the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, not light;
¹⁹   as if someone fled from a lion,
   and was met by a bear;
or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall,
   and was bitten by a snake.
²⁰Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light,
   and gloom with no brightness in it? 

²¹I hate, I despise your festivals,
   and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
²²Even though you offer me your burnt-offerings and grain-offerings,
   I will not accept them;
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
   I will not look upon.
²³Take away from me the noise of your songs;
   I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
²⁴But let justice roll down like waters,
   and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. 

 

A Message to the Church

To the church who is crying out in the wilderness, “Oh where are the young?”  

To a church that creates self worth around the amount of grey hair in the pew.  

To a church that says young people are of value 

and yet do not empower the disenfranchised voices of the world.  

You beg God that your institution, 

the one to which have dedicated your life, 

may not die. 

You beg for a new generation to see the beauty and love of God.  

I pray that you recognize what this next generation begs for:

The new generation is avoiding your pews not because they are too hard, 

but because their form has not been challenged.  

The words from your pulpit have instead made the pews soft, 

made the people comfortable, 

and made our God tame.  

Our God, Our Jesus, Our Spirit are not docile.  They are ALIVE and they are FREE.  

Young people want to live, 

they want to engage in the dialectic of the divine.  

The dialogue of how to change the world in which we live, 

to create a kingdom of God.

They want what YOU WANT

To live with the image of a new world

To experience a world that creates opportunity for ALL GOD’s PEOPLE

Hope

As we walk through our lives we must continue to search for what hope there is.  We have a duty to not only search, but to create hope for others.  In our daily lives look for places to create hope for others and in their eyes hope will develop for you.  For God knows that in others hope we create our own hope.  

Take a break

Can you imagine a day where all you have to do is relax?  Relaxation in which you feel no pressure, no guilt, and can face the next day with the most energy possible.  The value of a Sabbath is amazingly powerful in a human life.  Learning to relax as well as we work and play is a skill that our ancestors found and respected.  I am not saying we need to halt all society one day a week, but learn how to halt all things that make you worry and stress one day a week.  In this peace we hear our inner thoughts, we hear God, and we can hear our neighbors in need.  Take time for yourself, take a Sabbath and know that you are able to relax completely.

Grace and Enthusiastic Peace

Finding Peace in any Moment

In our constantly faster moving society it is important to step back and breathe from time to time. In this relaxing we will notice God around us. I realize this post is a lot like yesterday, but in worldly stress it is very important to continually remind yourself of God's peace.

I pray for each of you a moment of peace in your day.

Peace for the day

Take time this day to recognize where God creates peace around you. Find peace in all parts of the day. Know that you are loved.

Amen

Radical Hospitality

I was in awe of the phrase "Radical Hospitality" when I first heard it preached on. It is strange what it means to be hospitable radically. To give no fear of first impressions, to want to know someones soul when you meet them, and then to forgive all past transgressions for the current conversation. In this one act you can move mountains, change worlds, and create a kingdom on earth. Imagine if every place of worship you entered was so radically hospitable that you felt like you were at home with the divine the second you entered. Imagine communities that overwhelmed their new visitors with "Radical Hospitality." If we can learn how to invite in the foreign, the strange, the new, or the truly divine then we will be closer to God in that moment than we were the moment before. For in each act of "Radical Hospitality" we in turn invite God to enter our heart that much more.

God's Beauty

Sometimes in crazy lives we forget that the world is much bigger than us. We forget that the trees have been here much longer than us and that this Universe is much older than us. It is important that we as humans take time to respect our mortality and be in awe at the beauty of creation. A beauty that shows God's divine presence all around us. It is in this presence that we can feel purified again and free from all those things that separate us from God. So my message today is short...

Enjoy the beauty of nature and let in cleanse you so that you may know God better.


May God grant you Grace, Peace, and the ability to see the divine everywhere

Console Others

In this culture of want we so often want to be consoled. We look to media or to friends to give us this consolation about the injustices we have faced. Each time we look to these sources they do not truly listen they hear and try and offer solutions. In truth what we are looking for is hope that tomorrow will be better, no matter the injustice we have faced today.

The response we get from our constant whining has become a horrible cycle of whining and quick fixes. So many times we see Doctors treating the symptoms of a disease, a banker providing more debt to cure debt relief, or a person providing a quick donation to relieve the guilt of not working to change the world.

Is it time that we start to console the world instead of searching for consolation. The only way to provide real solutions is to provide hope of change. If we can prevent ourselves from listening to whining about that one thing and instead work with someone to find a solution we may console the world just a little bit. It is time that instead of a quick fix, we offer a loving and God filled way to heal the world.

Grace and Peace and Hope

Your Value

One of the hardest things in our society to forgive is the way people put value on other people. It is especially difficult to forgive when people put a value on you that makes you feel less of a person. What we have to realize is that prevenient grace from God means that we all have the same value. That value must allow us to forgive others their trespass of putting a dollar sign on us. In so doing we can better serve the world by knowing that we in turn will not put a dollar sign on their head. In doing this we as the church can learn to be loving to all because we unlike society will refuse to put a value on someone.

Grace and Peace

July 30,

God,

Today grant me the peace to know that you will provide. That as much as society drives me to consume, my life is about helping to give back to humanity. You will provide the tools to me that will help me to give back.

"It is in giving...that we recieve" St. Francis of Assisi


Grace and Enthusiastic Peace

Welcome

God's Grace and Peace to you all,

Welcome to a page for reflection and a time of understanding of the Universe that shapes and changes us. Please take time when reading this page to relax and know that God's kingdom is ever present in our daily lives. God will change you in ways you can not imagine if you relax into the spirit that is around you. This page will be update everyday with new prayers and desires for change each day. Please use your time at this page to reflect each day.

Grace and Enthusiastic Peace to you all