Devotion

Reading

[As] I weather the autumn of my own life — I find nature a trustworthy guide. It’s easy to fixate on everything that goes to ground as time goes by: the disintegration of a relationship, the disappearance of good work well-done, the diminishment of a sense of purpose and meaning. But, as I’ve come to understand that life “composts” and “seeds” us as autumn does the earth. I’ve seen how possibility gets planted in us even in the most difficult of times. Parker Palmer

Words of Hope

Autumn is a season for my heart: the leaves waving their glory—goldenrod, russet, magenta, caramel; the softening of light and shadow; the silence which draw us into contemplative depths. I would hold these days at the peak of their beauty—yet leaves will fall, shedding and cascading to piles becoming playgrounds for children. They fall, decay and die, yet become the fertile ground for new life.

Of his own life, Parker Palmer speaks: “Looking back, I see how the job I lost pushed me to find work that was mine to do, how the “Road Closed” sign turned me toward terrain I’m glad I traveled, how losses that felt irredeemable forced me to find new sources of meaning. In each of these experiences, it felt as though something was dying, and so it was. Yet deep down, amid all the falling, the seeds of new life were always being silently and lavishly sown.”

Many of us can confirm the truth of Palmer’s experience. My own deepest loss turned to new life as God’s Grace ignited the ashes of grief into spiritual fire.

This autumn, I invite you to reflect on those times in your life where loss and death were shaped anew, seeded into hope and possibility. Such recollection can help sustain us in hope during present darkness.

Prayer

God of all seasons, Thank you for the seeds of new life “silently and lavishly sown,” waiting for just the right moment to send their green shoots into the light. Amen.

Devotion Author

Dr. Pat Saxon

Scripture

Matthew 5:8

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Words of Hope

I recently witnessed God’s grace in an unexpected way while managing a site in Louisiana where folks could register for assistance from hurricane Ida. I arrived over 3 weeks after the storm where devastation still loomed. Businesses torn apart, debris on the road, houses literally in shambles and ancient trees ripped from their roots. It was a swift reminder how life changes in a minute.

One day after dealing with “trivial” issues of the moment, I approached an older gentleman with a young boy standing by the curb and asked if they needed help. He smiled then said they were waiting for a ride to pick up his blind wife and other young boy so she could register too. He told how their house had been destroyed and all 4 were living in a truck. I was about to respond when he said. “But isn’t God great!!, I have my wife and the 2 little boys, we are alive, healthy, and full of love…. God is good, and we will be fine”.

I said “yes, God is amazing, and I pray remarkable things will happen for you.” He replied, “oh they will ma’am and let God bless you too, everyday!” With tears rolling down my face I walked away realizing I had been witnessed to by an angel unaware! I get so busy I forget to just stop and say, “thank you God, just because”.

Thanksgiving holiday will look different for me this year as I reflect upon my time with folks who lost everything. I will give thanks for the stranger who reminded me of impermanence, how devastation and living in your truck can be filled with hope. How possessions are meaningless, and love is priceless.

American explorer Richard Byrd said, “half of the confusion in the world comes from not knowing how little we need…I live more simply now and with more peace.”

Prayer

Creator God, as we celebrate Thanksgiving, let us remember to look for angels who remind us everyday is a great day to be thankful, no matter what! In Jesus name, Amen.

Devotion Author

Donna Jackson

Scripture

The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth, and not only I but also all who know the truth, because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:

Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Creator and from Jesus Christ, God’s Son, in truth and love. 2 John 1:1-3

A Word of Hope

“Love and Relationship”

One of my gifts, which at times has also been a curse, is to be able to see and understand diverse perspectives. Every day, we share a planet inhabited by billions of people who speak in thousands of different languages (portions of the Bible have been translated into at least 2,508 different languages). These people each share a unique perspective.

Even when we share a similar political or religious viewpoint (think Democrat/Republican or Christianity/Judaism) there is tremendous diversity within those delineations. Both Hillary Rodham Clinton and George W. Bush self-identify as Christians whose faith and life experience were influenced by the United Methodist denomination. Still, quite a difference!

I have spent most of my life looking at people’s opinions, passions and arguments about the Bible and have come to the conclusion that love and relationship must take priority over doctrine and dogma if we are to take God’s grace and Christ’s teaching seriously.

The writer of 1 John said it succinctly. “. . .the truth that abides IN US and will be WITH US forever: Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Creator and from Jesus Christ, God’s Son, in truth and love.” Granted, the preceding paragraph and this verse from 1 John can take a lifetime to fully unpack and embrace, but what a life of love and learning that would be!

May we live as people of love and kindness, compassion and dignity, embodying the truth of the love of the Christ.

Prayer

Holy One, teach me to love the truths of Scripture, but not more than I love your people. Amen.

Devotion Author

Rev. Dr. Gary G. Kindley
Pastoral Psychotherapist
CCIADallas.org

Scripture

Hebrews 10:26-27

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

Words of Hope

At the age of 58 years + 1 day, I got my first tattoo.

I’d been talking about it for years and thinking about what I’d get even longer. Circumstance and hesitancy kept me from doing it for so long, but with encouragement from my spouse, I finally made the leap.

It’s a really simple tattoo, being only three words on one forearm and three on the other. I wanted these six words to be where I could see them often. The three words on my right forearm are “Grace, Mercy, Gratitude” (the three words on my left arm may be the topic of another devotional).

I frequently need those three words on my right arm to be reminded of my core values. Perhaps like so many followers of Jesus, I often get caught up in an economy of loving others too scarcely. Too regularly, I practice conditional forgiveness, forgetting that I have been the recipient of God’s good grace and mercy. In our consumeristic culture, I commonly get too focused on my own selfish needs that I neglect to share freely and not take note of God’s generosity towards me.

The writer of Hebrews warns us, rather starkly, that if we know God’s good grace, mercy, and generosity and keep forgetting it, there is “no sacrifice for sins left.” If we treat the gifts of God as an “unholy thing” and “insult the Spirit of grace”, we willingly take ourselves to a place separated from God.

With “Grace, Mercy, Gratitude” permanently tattooed on my skin, I still fall short. That simple reminder should show me love undeserved, forgiveness unearned, and abundant generosity. That dark ink on my forearm should prompt me to exude love, forgive without condition, and give scandalously.

For when I fail to remember, I am consumed in selfishness and set my back to God. May we always strive to be a people who insult not the spirit of grace, but a people who make God’s good grace, mercy, and giving known in the world.

Prayer

Loving God, mark me a person of grace, a person of mercy, and person of gratitude. Let me be a reflection of your love.

Devotion Author

Thomas Riggs

Reading

A little chicken soup does a lot of good. It’s warm and hearty. As we cup our hands around the bowl, the heat radiates into our bodies. The steam hits our face with a comforting aroma. Similar to what chicken soup does for our bodies, the regular nurturing or our soul benefits our health. Whether you pick up a book, meditate or go for a long walk, reflect on who you are and your achievements. -Chicken Soup for the Soul Day website

Words of Hope

Today is National Chicken Soup for the Soul Day. For me, that’s a good thing, since, as I write this devotion, I am worrying about my friend who just had a heart attack yesterday. She is in the hospital, after having had a stent placed in the cath lab. I am relieved to know that she is resting comfortably. It is odd, because my partner and I just spent the weekend with her, along with her partner and two other friends, at a lake house.

While this friend was not feeling well over the weekend, we did have a nice time, fishing, playing cards and other games, and just relaxing and enjoying the beautiful view. Chicken soup for the soul. We were worried about why our friend Bev wasn’t feeling up to par, but none of us could put our finger on what the problem was. Should our weekend of rest and relaxation have prevented Bev from having her heart attack? Of course not. But it may have helped her partner to deal with the challenges of supporting Bev through her hospitalization. Self-care does help caregivers keep up their stamina so that they can perform the tasks of caring for a loved one without depleting their own energy.

Here are some ideas for how to celebrate National Chicken Soup for the Soul Day:

            Celebrate you. Have some chicken soup and read an inspiring story.

            Tell an inspiring story to a friend or a family member. It will lift their spirits and remind

                      them that you care about them.

            Try a new recipe and make a double batch. Then share it with someone who needs

                      some cheering up.

            Do something wholesome for yourself.

            Listen to some soulful music.

            Watch a movie with an uplifting message.

Prayer

Loving God, help me to remember as I replenish my soul that doing so enables me to be your hands and feet. I want to be a vessel for your love and taking good care of myself helps me to spread your love to others.

Devotion Author

Molly Sutton

COH Member

Scripture

1 John 2.1

Anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

Words of Hope

From Where Does the Rainbow Come?

If you spend your whole day speaking against discrimination, and if by the end of that day all of your friends look like you, then you have accomplished nothing. You have not brought together the divided. Your words did not treat the affliction. We cannot by shouting make the tree grow any taller, but we must refresh the broken limbs with water and give it light. The problem will not change with our observation, but in how we act. It is not someone else’s responsibility to do what you have had the power to do all along. It is not the police, the government, or your friends who must change but you.

Do not be a hypocrite who calls for change but refuses to do so themselves. If red stays with red, if blue stays with blue, and if green stays with green, from where then will the rainbow come? Only by mixing these colors together do we see a true diversity of colors. Likewise, if we only stay with our own kind, with those who are likeminded, and with people who are of the same class as us, then how will discrimination end and diversity begin? We are doing the very things our adversaries do and ask, “Where is peace?”

This is the path to peace, and it must start within oneself. It cannot come from the toil and sweat of someone else. Indeed, it will not come unless we first stop discriminating and change ourselves. A little prejudice makes all prejudice possible, so if we have something against our neighbors, then we must drain out the poison before it spreads to the whole body. Only then, will our words have any credibility to them. Words without actions are useless, and if we never do anything to turn an enemy into a friend, then we have no power and we understand nothing.

Prayer

Spirit of divine love,

Let our actions speak louder than our words, let love triumph over hate, and let us come together. Amen.

Devotion Author

Jonathon McClellan

Scripture

Luke 4:23-24

He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’” And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.

Words of Hope

In business it is common to hire consultants, especially in the field of marketing.

I once worked for a large corporation in the digital marketing department and managed the website of the company. It was a very intense job and one that required a lot of reporting and analysis as well as creativity in finding ways to increase the effectiveness of the site.

Management decided we needed an outside consultant to evaluate our website and make suggestions on the best way to optimize it.

The consultants arrived from New York and spent several days combing over the site and analyzing everything. During their engagement, they sat down with me and the other folks who managed the site and asked a lot of questions about what we were doing and how we functioned.

After many days and what I assume was several thousand dollars they came back with their recommendations. Almost to a word, every one of them was something we were already in the process of doing or had already planned.

It was good to get the assurance that we were doing what seemed to be correct but seemed wasteful to pay someone else to verify what we already knew. Still it was enlightening to hear it from someone else.

My partner who is an engineer is intimately familiar with the consulting business and he told me, “A consultant borrows your watch to tell you the time, and then keeps your watch!”

I will not draw comparisons between myself and Jesus, but I certainly know how he must have felt when he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.”

Prayer

May we learn to see God’s truths reflected in those around us and in ourselves. May we also be open to listening to those outside our faith who just might have a new perspective on our lives.

Amen

Devotion Author

Hardy Haberman

Scripture

Psalm 90:2

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Words of Hope

Today is Carl Sagan Day. Carl Sagan is consolidated a famous atheist. But the truth is he himself denied that title. When asked if he was an atheist his response often centered on the idea that an atheist had way more knowledge than he did. An atheist knew what he, Carl Sagan could not say he knew: that God does not exist. Despite the deep doubts Sagan expressed that cause people to think he was an atheist; he was open to proof of the existence of God. I suppose since his death in 1996 he has known one way or the other.

Part of the issue is what defines proof. Sagan and others saw the universe as existing through some natural process which could eventually be understood in its fullest. But that same evidence of time and space that Sagan saw as self-existing has been seen by others as proof of a source of existence. This is why Paul Tillich and John Spong often referred to God as “the ground of being”. God is being, reflected in the phrase given to Moses when he asked by the Israelites to answer the question of by whom Moses was sent: “I am that I am”. An expression of being. One might say God is a verb.

The proof Sagan sought could not come in the same scientific manner usually associated with science. Proof of God’s existence is experiential. We who believe do not believe because of scientifically provable evidence. We believe because we have experienced God in our lives in some way. For the first Christians this was a direct contact with God through Jesus. For some, like Saint Francis, it was a direct conversation. For most I think it is safe to say it is through the love of God we feel as we live out our existence. Others are able to look at the same universe Sagan saw and know God is there.

As you go through your days stop and think, stop and feel, stop and listen for the existence of God. Through experiencing God whether through the universe around you or the warmth in your heart, you will know God.

Prayerful Words

God of creation be with me today in ways that allow me to experience Your grace, Your Love, Your very being.

Devotion Author

Weber Baker
Order of Saint Francis and Saint Clare

Scripture

Psalm 113. 1-3

Praise the LORD. Praise, O servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. Let the name of the LORD be praised, both now and forevermore. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised.

Words of Hope on World Orphan Day

The pandemic of homeless and orphaned children is exponentially growing, leaving 140 million children orphaned or displaced globally. Children who have been orphaned or rendered vulnerable by AIDS are among the most impoverished children of the world- currently over 15,000,000. The orphan crisis, (including displaced children from wars, natural disasters and AIDS) creates a humanitarian and economic challenge that our global society must urgently address.

The second Monday in November is observed each year to raise awareness of the plight of orphans and displaced children around the world. Today please pause and pray for the plight of children around the world who suffer physical want and lack of family on this day.

Daisy Dube Children’s Home Global Ministries in Zimbabwe is a United Churches of Christ denominational outreach. But individual churches within our denomination support other programs as well that care for orphan children. Cathedral of Hope has been instrumental in helping two programs during my time here that were specifically for displaced children.

I have been associated with several amazing childcare facilities in Texas. Most no longer call themselves orphanages. I was a member of licensed childcare administrators of Texas for several years in the 70’s and 80’s.

Most of those programs who actually had children without family provided wonderful opportunities for education and occupational training for the young people who came of age in their facilities.

However, children in underprivileged countries do not have such advantages. The care they receive, if any, is only life sustaining and minimal. And once they are considered an adult, they are on their own with no opportunities for earning a living.

I am grateful for several friends who have adopted children from other countries out of orphanages. I know the opportunities they have given their children has been a world of difference from what their child’s life would have been. I also have friends who have been foster parents, (as I have many years ago) who have helped children transition from a family situation most of us could never imagine. I am thankful for those foster parents who provided care during the time it took to find a family for children. And for all adoptive parents.

Please offer prayers today for all orphaned children. All those who provide whatever care for them they can. And give prayers of gratitude for families who have adopted.

Prayer

God of all children. We pray today especially for children without loving families and those without safe homes. We ask miracles for these innocent ones who suffer more than most of us can ever fathom. Help us find some way to help children! Guide us we pray.

Devotion Author

Jan Nunn
CoH Volunteer

Scripture

Colossians 2.2-3

My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Words of Hope

Today, we live in a time of human experience which is dominated by the scientific method in which all reality is able to be measured by direct means or indirect effect. If it cannot be measured, its true existence is questioned. And then there is God, the immeasurable One!

Throughout history, humanity has struggled with this titanic clash of two realities and tried to understand (intellectually measure) the nature of the Creator God. To resolve this conundrum, God was often considered mysterious. A God of mystery, whose appearance was obscured with the dazzle of blinding light, dark clouds or flames of fire. The psalmist claimed that God’s thoughts are not like human thoughts; God’s ways are unlike the ways of mankind.

We humans find it to be difficult to relate in positive manner to something that is hidden in mystery; our emotional response tends to be fear or flight from interaction with it. For centuries, God spoke by means of an intercessory, holy person who in turn communicated the divine desire to humanity. Otherwise, God was unknowable to humans. However, the time came when God chose to self-reveal the divine nature to mankind in the form of Jesus of Nazareth.

Some of the divine, mysterious unknown of God became visible and understandable in the life and words of Jesus. Some of God’s earlier mystery became visible. Now fast-track forward to this scientific, postmodern world in which we Christians live. If I ask you to name five characteristics of God, you could rattle some off, because you use the life example of Jesus to give vision to the mysteries of the Creator God. Wonderful, that’s exactly what God intended, but does that still leave you wondering more and more about the Holy One?

Because we know so much more, have we lost some of the reverence for God which mystery generated? Have our thoughts about God become a little too easy to understand? Are we glossing over the depth of meaning when we proclaim a God of love… mercy… power? As we think about these characteristics of God, let’s keep a little mystery in each of them. Meditate on the reality that divine mercy is far more deep and more complex than what we experience in even the highest form of human mercy. That level of added mystery generates a sense of awe in those who do this. Our God of mystery is an awesome God!

Prayer

Lord God, quiet my mind and open my heart to learn more about you. Guide my times of meditation, and allow me to better experience your unlimited majesty. Amen.

Devotion Author

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