Devotion

Reading

…[T]he line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.” Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

A Word of Hope

Devotees of Star Trek will be familiar with the cloaking device. Of Romulan origin, “this technology can generate an energy screen to render a target object—usually a spacecraft—relatively invisible to sensors” (Star Trek online data base). The shield hides insidious intent—usually to weaken or destroy an enemy.

Recently, politicians across the country have used the façade of virtue as cloaking devices for bills and laws which deprive others of their rights. Consider Georgia Governor Brian Kemp’s camouflaging massive voter suppression– particularly disenfranchising people of color– under the guise of securing the vote from fraud. (We should remember that Georgia’s 2020 presidential vote was recounted not once, but three times and pronounced valid.) As well, the bill “criminalizes” offering food and drink to voters who sometimes have to stand in line for hours. Iconic was the image of Kemp’s signing the bill behind closed doors, flanked by 6 white men, three on each side, with a picture of a plantation on the wall behind them. Outside, African American legislator Park Cannon who knocked on the door to witness the signing—was hauled off to jail by security officers and charged with felony obstruction.

Texas has its own version of the virtue cloaking shield with a proposed bill that would require K-12 students at traditional public and charter schools to participate in interscholastic sports based on their “biologic sex.” Essentially, the action would bar transgender girls and women from participating in women’s sports—arguing that it would create unfairness for women. Organizations supporting such bills adopt virtue labeling in their names: Save Women’s Sports and the Alliance Defending Freedom.

Fortunately, justice seekers everywhere are dismantling these cloaking devices with protest and litigation.

As Solzhenitsyn implies, though, we can all throw up cloaking devices to try to secure our own purposes—power, control, love and much more. Interestingly, the choice to use cloaking shields usually “prohibits simultaneous use of other major systems such as weaponry, shields or warm drive because of the immense power drain.” Living an inauthentic life surely drains one’s energy as well. Pursuing a more authentic life requires us to be genuine and real, more vulnerable and accountable, aligned inside and out with our principles. Doing so means less “drag on the system” than perpetuating and maintaining cloaking devices under the guise of good.

Prayer

Authentic One, direct us to your true purposes, that we may live into the peace and freedom of authenticity. Amen.

Devotion Author

Dr. Pat Saxon

Scripture

Philippians 4:6-7

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

A Word of Hope

We need understanding in order to have peace within ourselves. Understanding is our armor against feelings of fear. How often do we ask questions and how often do those questions direct the course of our lives? We ask questions like “who am I, why am I here, and what is my purpose” because without the answers we often feel lost. When we feel lost, it is because we do not know where we are. The only reason that it bothers us is because we fear the unknown. Thus, we try to remedy ignorance with understanding.

Our thirst for knowledge is like searching for a good cup of tea. If the tea is too hot, then it burns the tongue. However, if the tea is too cold, then it loses its appeal. When humanity is consumed by its thirst for knowledge, that knowledge can be what hurts us. On the other hand, no desire for new knowledge makes life repetitive and boring. A warm cup of tea is both savory and soothing just as an appreciation for knowledge can be. The first step of understanding is knowing that you do not understand. The next step is coming to terms with that.

If we do not love ourselves despite our ignorance, then by effect we are creating a rule that we can only love ourselves when we understand. In all of humanity’s advancements, have we truly advanced? There are more effective ways to end a life than there were a hundred years ago, but is that progress? Perhaps, a lack of understanding is not the real problem. Maybe, the real problem is that we cannot appreciate what we already have. It is natural to be curious. New horizons are on the other side of that curiosity. Be brave and cross the ocean; discover what is on the other side. Consider that what is on the other side of the ocean and that which gives life its savory flavor are the unknowns!

Prayer

All knowing One,

Grant us balance between wanting to know more and being satisfied. Show us the way to having peace within ourselves. We want understanding and even more than that, wisdom. Help us to be grateful for what we have and to truly find what it means to better ourselves. Bless You God, for You have given us so much excitement to discover. Be with us on the road to every new adventure. Amen.

Devotion Author

Jonathon McClellan
Order of St. Francis and St. Clare

Scripture

John 21.25: But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

Word of Hope

This is National Library Week.

The word library derives from a latin word the roots of which mean the inner bark of a tree; presumably a writing surface. The word book comes from German and seems to derive from a work meaning beech tree; again presumably a source of writing material. The Greek word for book is biblios. This is not only the source the name Bible, but also means papyrus; from which we get paper; writing material to this day. Long works are often broken up into books. “A Tale of Two Cities” (3 books); “The Lord of the Rings”, (3 volumes,6 books), and of course the Bible (which in Christian terms has a varying number of books depending on denomination) are examples.

A library is a collection of books. We refer to the Bible in terms of its books. So it is fair to say Bible is a library all its own.

Taken in conjunction with the scripture from John, it is easy to realize that we are missing significant, unwritten events and actions in the life of Jesus, in what he did after his resurrection, and in the life of the early church. Our spiritual library is missing books.

We know there are writings that have not been placed into the canon of modern Christianity. The Gospel of Thomas in one such book which perhaps stands a chance of being accepted as a valid writing to add to the canon; but I doubt it will be. When Bishop John Spong visited COH some years ago I had a chance to ask him if he thought there were works that should be added to the canon of the Bible. His immediate response was “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr.

But as well as what we might be missing, we need to think about what we have. The books of the Bible were not written with chapter and verse. That came later; much later. Taking a few short phrases out of their context can change the meaning. As an example, here is a longer quote fr John’s Gospel:

Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, ‘Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?’ When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, what about him?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!’ So the rumor spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, ‘If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?’

This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

This passage, the last in the book of John happening after Jesus resurrection, gives a great deal of context to the short passage quoted above. We should pause to think about all the things Jesus did after his resurrection about which we have no book. We also know that Jesus, while perhaps not as physically present today as he

was in this passage, is still writing in the book of God’s creation. We know our library is still growing because God is still speaking.

Prayerful Words

Loving Creator, continue to speak to us through the words of ancient Christians, through modern sages, and through that of You which is within us. Speak so that we can understand and feel Your love so that we can pass that love on to others.

Devotion Author

Weber Baker
Order of Saint Francis and Saint Clare

Scripture

Genesis 1:1-5 (NRSV)

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Words of Hope

I love this creation story.  I say this one because there are several in Scriptures.  Genesis 1 differs from Genesis 2 and in John 1 there is a completely different creation story. 

Which one is right?

I guess I could take the story metaphorically if I wanted to equate the moment of creation to the Big Bang and the remaining days as the slow formation and coalescing of matter into the expanding universe as we now understand it.  But I don’t need to try to align the words of Genesis to science, because it’s not a scientific book. 

To me it doesn’t matter; they are theological stories not scientific explanations.  For me the first one gets to the heart of the matter, not how the universe was created, but why.

Creation was good.  The details which are purposefully murky are not as important as the results.  A little later on God rests and the Sabbath was born.  It was a not-so-subtle way to remind us that rest is important to everything and all creation. 

It reminds me that I was created to do good.  It gives me a greater purpose in my day-to-day struggle and that I believe was the purpose of the story. 

We are put here to continue God’s work; Jesus makes this abundantly clear in his teachings.  We are here to help each other, to take care of the world and to bring the realm of heaven to earth.

It is a tough job, so I have to be sure to take a day to rest so I will have the strength to keep going. 

Prayer

May we continue God’s work of creation in our lives and in the lives of others and may we remember to take time to relax and enjoy the miraculous creation we are part of.  Amen.

Devotion Author

Hardy Haberman

Scripture

John 19.34-37

But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe.

A Word of Hope

It is Good Friday, the climax of the turbulence of Holy Week. For me, it is a day when I can always set aside a time of meditation, usually after the silence following a Good Friday Service, but I don’t meditate in silence. I listen to Richard Wagner’s “Good Friday Spell” (or “Good Friday Music”) which falls at the end of Act III, Scene One of the opera, Parsifal.

Among the themes which are explored in Parsifal are self-renunciation, compassion, the hope for resurrection, all seen through the eyes of the young Arthurian Knight as he searches for the Holy Grail. The haunting music of the Good Friday Spell reflects the emotions that accompany all of these themes; the essence of the passion of the Christ.

The composer, in his autobiography, recalls the occasion of his inspiration for the opera: “…on Good Friday I awoke to find the sun shining brightly for the first time in this house: the little garden was radiant with green, the birds sang, and at last I could sit on the roof and enjoy the long-yearned-for peace with its message of promise. Full of this sentiment, I suddenly remembered that the day was Good Friday, and I called to mind the significance this omen had already once assumed for me when I was reading Wolfram’s [epic poem] Parzival.”

Though the name Jesus is never mentioned in Parsifal’s libretto, (He is called the Redeemer) the opera presents all that Jesus was and is in the person of the young Knight whose actions reflect the life and purpose of the man who was to become the Savior. Foremost among the acts of the Christ, Parsifal displays compassion, seen as the highest form of human morality. He does retrieve the Holy Grail, the symbol of Jesus’ compassion for all, but along with it he rescues the Holy Lance mentioned in the above scripture, used by the Roman soldiers to pierce his side; the reminder of the price universal compassion cost the man who hung on the cross.

These along with all of the other symbols of Holy Week; the Crown of Thornes, the Crucifix, the burial shroud, culminated on this day of despair, are what my mind sees as I allow the Good Friday Spell to direct my thoughts; the art of music becoming my reality.

Wagner further explains his own reality: “Art can show that the symbols which religions would have us believe literally true are often figurative. Art can idealize those symbols, and so reveal the profound truths they contain.”

You Tube is a good source for many orchestral versions of “Good Friday Spell”. It’s about 10 minutes long. Perhaps it could inspire your own meditations on the Redeemer and the profound price he paid.

Prayer

May the significance of this day remind us that compassion for all comes with a cost and may the example of the strength of Jesus fortify our own quest for his Holy truth.

Devotion Author

Dan Peeler
Order of St. Francis and St. Clare

Scripture

Psalm 90.12

O God, teach us to number our days that we apply our heart [and life] to your wisdom.

A Word of Hope

On this Holy Thursday, we reflect on the mortality of Jesus as we face the reality of our own. Believe the words of this old man, time flies at warp speed! In this fast-paced and uncertain world, we can become so distracted in our attempt to keep up and get the next thing done that we lose sight of opportunities for spiritual growth which pass by unnoticed or ignored. God’s wisdom to strengthen our life may become a series of blessings lost and never realized in the rushed “dust” of trying to get everything done before the day ends.

Maybe that could be why we celebrate birthdays. Oh, but how rarely are birthday celebrations used to look back on missed opportunities. Much better than an annual “I screwed up and missed God’s blessing” type of birthday party would be a regular evening prayer when you inventory your day’s actions while also including those opportunities for growth and ministry which were ignored. That would give you the opportunity to correct the mistake and next day try to recapture those opportunities for spiritual growth. Fortunate for us, God is patient with our faults, and if we’re serious about developing a richer spiritual life, God will offer new opportunities each day.

As we strive to humble ourselves in opportunities to serve, we also center our Holy Thursday reflections on Jesus’ sacrificial act as the ultimate example of humility. Psalm 25.9 tells us, “God leads the humble to do what is right and teaches the humble” the way of righteousness. Currently we live in a time of very inflammatory speech and political backbiting jabs, none of which leads to peaceful exchange among people. It’s hard to act as an agent of divine peace in situations when everyone seems to carry the “I’m the best, listen to me” chip on their shoulder. The psalmist tells us that God interacts to teach the humble one.

The humble person has a right view (evaluation) of their contribution in human interactions. You can softly state your words without crawling up and down the other person’s throat. You don’t have to huff and puff up your statement. Remember the lesson of a small ocean fish. When puffer fish sense an interaction which threatens them, they swallow large amounts of water and become very large, bloated and menacing in appearance. However, an exaggeration of the fish’s belly size doesn’t really change the amount of fish that is present. So, it is with human arguments which get out of control and wildly exaggerated. The humble person can speak without distortion or “puffing up” his statement.

Jesus faced the cross examinations of a number of puffed-up individuals during Holy Week. His answer was often silence. He taught all of us a good lesson.

Prayer

Lord God, quiet my mind and sharpen my attention to your Spirit’s presence in my life. It is my desire to live this day in closer relationship with you and to express your love in each of my interactions with other people. Be it ever so. Amen.

Devotion Author

Donald (Luke) Day
Order of St. Francis and St. Clare

Scripture

John 13.21-32 NIV

Holy Wednesday

After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.” The disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.”

Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.

So, Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

A Word of Hope

Holy Wednesday

This is Holy Week, and we are right between the festivities of Palm Sunday and the celebrations of Easter Sunday.

Our Scripture tells the story of Jesus meeting with the disciples in the Upper Room, a familiar place for them to gather and have difficult conversations. In the middle of a shared meal, Jesus speaks his truth and informs them that one of them will betray him. He is troubled in spirit and testifies to truth. He confronts the realities of his situation and gives voice to highlight what is going to happen.

This betrayal would lead to Jesus’s arrest and charge of blasphemy, which would leave him hanging on a cross on Good Friday; placed in a tomb that was to be found empty three days later.

For the faithful this week is a necessary part of the journey – to get to Easter Sunday, we must journey through this week of grief and sadness, of sorrow and betrayal and on this Holy Wednesday we pause to see the significance of the journey then as we can now.

Our world today is facing many difficult conversations and the model that Jesus uses here might be useful for us. He speaks his truth, his experience, his spirit. He confronts the systems that brought Judas to the ultimate decision to give up his loyalty to Jesus and collude with power and Jesus was willing to go to the cross for something bigger that would ultimately bring down these systems and bring about freedom – welcoming in a new day that would be good news for all people.

On this Holy Wednesday we also might consider what we are willing to go to the cross for. What systems of power and oppression are we willing to confront and work to bring down for the betterment of others and welcome in a new day, a day of Good News?

Holy Week is not just the story of Jesus. It is a story of those who follow Jesus today as we understand that our message is of both Jesus and Justice – that Jesus’s death and resurrection is a recurring story of our world, lived out in each of us creating a more just, more loving, fairer, a freer world that leaves the tomb empty of death and shame and replaces it with life and hope and pride.

Let us not skip from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday without understanding the fullness and complexity of the journey in-between – a journey that we are living ourselves if we are truly following Jesus to the cross, and beyond.

Prayer

God of Easter, and Christmas, and Pentecost, and Sunday – let us not neglect the in-between times that teach us so much more about our faith and our life as followers of Jesus. Help us to seek out opportunities to confront the systems of oppression that keep captive our world in the tomb of death and shame, so that we might once again open the tomb on Easter’s resurrection that promises life and hope and pride. Let us strive to be that world – that representation of “heaven, here on earth”. May it be so. Amen.

Devotion Author

Rev. Dr. Neil G. Thomas
Senior Pastor, Cathedral of Hope UCC, Dallas

Scripture

2 Corinthians 2:15 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.

A Word of Hope

On this Holy Tuesday, as Jesus made his words and presence known among every level of the population of Jerusalem, let’s consider the wisdom in this prayer by John Cardinal Newman:

“Dear Jesus, help me to spread your sweet fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that my life may be only a radiance of your life. Shine through me, and be so in me, that every soul with whom I come into contact may feel your presence in my soul. Let them look up and see not me but only you Jesus and give you glory. Stay within me and then I will begin to shine as you shine; so, to share as to be a light to others, and that light, O Jesus, will be all from you. It will be you shining on others through me. Let me preach you without preaching, not by words alone but by my life example; by the captivating force and sympathetic influence of what I am which is the evident fullness of the love my heart and life bears for you. Amen”

Were there specific portions of this prayer which had extra meaning to you? That’s probably God’s Spirit talking to you about your life’s need for a more vibrant spiritual life. The phrase that stays with me the most from this prayer is: “Dear Jesus, help me to spread your sweet fragrance everywhere I go.” When I was a kid, we used a common phrase to describe another kid whom we disliked: “he’s a stinker!” It may have become part of our vocabulary from the old Our Gang movies, in which one little nuisance boy was named Stinky.

Have you ever wondered if your presence, words and actions within the group might be given a similar label? As we go about our life, we emit an emotional and“spiritual fragrance” which has an effect upon other people. Will it be good or “stinky”? All of us have known individuals whose fragrance spreads gloom, doubt, suspicion and gossip. However, a life filled with the Spirit of God has a very different fragrance. Each Christian is like a rose bush which God planted in the individual’s daily life. The loving life of Christ shines upon its leaves and urges each rosebud to open its petals wide to let the sweet scent of God’s love perfume the whole garden area.

I’m reminded of the words from 2 Corinthians 2:14-15; “But thanks be to God, who in Jesus Christ always leads us… and through us spreads in every place [we go] the sweet fragrance that comes from knowing Jesus. For we are the aroma of Christ among those” [with whom we have contact]. (II Corinthians 2:14-15)

Will our aroma be one of kindness, forgiveness, love and acceptance which is the scent of God to a needy world?

Prayer

“Let me preach you without preaching, not by words alone, but by my life example; by the captivating force and sympathetic influence of what I am which is the evident fullness of love my heart and life bears for you.” Amen

Devotion Author

Donald (Luke) Day
Order of St. Francis and St. Clare

Scripture

John 12.1-3

Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair.

A Word of Hope

On this Holy Monday, as the above scripture reminds us that Mary of Bethany was symbolically anointing Jesus for his burial, we are faced with several days of turmoil, confrontations, betrayal, and finally the death of the man called Jesus. Throughout the heartbreaks of the week, of one thing you can be certain. Death is Not the End.

You will be reunited with your loved ones. Heaven promises everlasting joy for the departed, and it is a place where you will one day see all of your loved ones gathered together. There will be no more crying and no more pain. I have lost loved ones, and I have learned that no one wants to say goodbye. No one wants to live in a world where their loved ones are not in it. Losing a loved one is the hardest things anyone will ever have to go through. Knowing that death is not the end, but a new beginning, makes everything that you are going through less impossible to deal with.

God is not punishing you, and their deaths are not your fault. No one is expecting you to act as though everything is okay, but remember, anyone who loves you wants you to be happy. That means that you do not have to stay bitter, angry, and miserable for your entire life. If you died, would you want that for your children? If not, then live! You are allowed to grieve in your own way and in your own time. We all want to live a happy life, and you can only do that if you try. There is no one who ever lived that did not face hard times. With age comes many experiences that we cannot avoid, but hope never dies; hope is just hard to see sometimes.

Everyone has a time appointed to them when they meet God. We know that God lives, and that God prepares an eternal home for us in heaven. Your loved ones are happy where they are, so do not punish yourself for your loved one’s blessing. The best thing you can do now is to honor your loved ones by taking care of yourself. When you do this, you are fulfilling the wishes of the ones who returned to God. You will get through this pain, you will find the strength, and you will live on never forgetting the ones you love. And we can thank Jesus for that.

Prayer

God, on this Holy Week as we face the reality of death in all of our lives, we need you now to wrap us in your arms. The pain makes it hard for us to even breath. Heal our hearts and help us. Have compassion on us and bring our souls out of the depths of despair. Give us strength. Help us to not be bitter or angry, but rejoice over your children returning home. Please do this for us and bring your children together again. We need you. Oh, how we need you. We do not understand your will, but we desire to. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Devotion Author

Jonathon McClellan
Order of St. Francis and St. Clare

Scripture

Psalms 119:105

Your word [is] a lamp to my feet, and a light unto my path.

A Word of Hope

After 30+ years of studying the Bible, both randomly and focused, I’ve decided that a respectful and thoughtful reading deserves a liberal understanding instead of a literal understanding. In our world of commentaries, there are thousands upon thousands of Bible interpretations. If we were also able to count the the number of people who have picked up and read any of the Bible, we could count those as interpretations as well. Most of us receive what we want to receive from the Bible.

This lays the foundation for what I’m considering today. My first serious studies of Scripture were in Bible Studies connected to a very conservative church. It was so Bible-centered that it was called a Bible Church. The Bible was dictated by God, immutable, and inerrant. I started this journey believing that I had to take the Bible’s many books at face value, of which I had been told should be literal. I was also told that all of the laws and commandments, though they were written long ago, still apply to us today.

As my studies progressed and I actually read the narratives, I’m sure you can guess this opened the door for all kinds of misinterpretation particularly concerning the Hebrew and Greek laws of the day. Taken from a literal point of view would mean it’s OK to cut off somebody’s hand or take an eye of someone who has wronged you. It’s also perfectly acceptable to sell your daughter into slavery in order to pay off a debt or condemn your son to death for disobedience to the patriarch.

Most of these cruel and archaic laws were brought to you by everybody’s favorite, the Book of Leviticus, which also contains the Bible’s most comprehensive collection of our daily sins. The list of transgressions seems to have no end, like the sin of wearing clothing woven from both wool and flax or the sin of planting more than one crop in the same field, the sins of wearing makeup or having a tattoo, the sin of touching the skin of a pig, and of course, the sin of eating virtually anything that is appetizing…makes me wonder what they would have said about potato chips or a burrito supreme. When I questioned my Bible study facilitators about how any of this was relevant today, I was told that we need to think about equivalents, such as worshipping a golden calf being the equivalent to watching too much TV. I was not told how much was too much. Leviticus or Exodus didn’t mention airtime.

Then one day, I discovered there were different approaches to studying God’s Word and therefore interpreting those ancient Hebrew and Greek texts. The term “literal” was replaced with “liberal” in my understanding of what had seemed to be inexplicable. I was able to separate the world of an ancient desert culture from our own, but also recognize when their truth was also my truth. Some things never change. I am grateful for that. But, in the case of Leviticus, some things change drastically. For that I am even more grateful.

Prayer

Thank you for the stories, poetry, wisdom, and histories of your ancient followers and for Jesus’ own interpretation of his world centered on the power of love. Huey Lewis would be proud.

Devotion Author

Charlie Rose
Order of St Francis and St. Clare