Daily Devotions and Podcasts
Prayer: Lord, help me to see You in every part of my day, even in the places I least expect. Open my eyes to Your presence in the ordinary and the extraordinary moments of life. Amen.
The Cathedral of Hope Devotion Ministry began as an answer to Progressive Christians who wanted to start their days with a little insight, observation, or wisdom about the Christian faith from their own point of view. Conservative internet devotions were abundant, but there was not much out there for liberal thinkers. The need was clear.
Being a large church, we had a generous amount of writing talent available and also a large number of congregants with theological training who were not on the pulpit. In the early days of the ministry, most of the writing was done by the clergy, but gradually the majority of the writers emerged from those lay volunteers.
That dynamic is still in place as new authors are always joining in to keep the ideas fresh. It’s a fitting structure for any center of progressive thought. This particular Body of Christ has many voices and each one has a unique and important story to tell.
SCRIPTURE Numbers 6: 24-26* The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. WORDS OF HOPE A couple of weeks ago I woke up to find that my heating unit was suspiciously quiet. I was grateful that it hadn’t quit during the icy grip of winter earlier, but it was still chilly. Sage and I both bundled up for our walk, and when we got back, I kept her wrapped in her rainbow fleece—just to be sure she was warm enough. At 8:00 I texted Sam, my repairman who over the years has rescued me from emergencies in broiling heat and shivering cold. Faithful as ever, he came that afternoon. My unit is aged, and as soon as he started to examine it, I said, “Sam, you know I can’t afford to replace the system; we’re gonna have to find a work around.” His reply was that the same was true of so many of his clients. Sam is thoughtful and quiet, and after some sweet talk with Sage, he set about to trace down the mystery of why things had shut down. After a while, he’d located the problem, found the parts to repair it, and gotten things going again. As he walked out of the house and down the steps, he turned to say good bye, and I said, “Sam, I appreciate you so much.” A small thing, maybe—an appreciation not just for a job well done, but for who Sam is and for his faithful care all these years. Endings are more important to me these days—the quality of endings of all kinds: the end of a life, the end of a relationship, the end of a group meeting, an interaction at church, a visit with a friend, a casual talk with a neighbor, an exchange with a waiter in a restaurant…and more. The source of this feeling is in part an awareness of aging and the limited time I have left here. But it is also the experience of having cancer steal away my partner all too suddenly. As well, I have witnessed how many people are unable to have the kind of endings they wished because their loved one is in such pain that they must be under heavy sedation or are intubated or the like. Family divisions can also harden hearts and keep us from the bedside of someone. As much as I can, then, I want to be present and attentive to the quality of endings. A long-time life group member is leaving soon to live in Mexico. Though she hopes to be able to continue meeting on zoom with us, we’ll miss the face-to-face conversations and full body hugs at church. Earlier, when she retired, we gathered the group for a Texas-sized meal and shared remembrances (a get together that was followed by a pod of the group going for ax throwing!!). And we continue to keep with the progress of her transition and write notes of appreciation. BLESSING The Bible is filled with poignant farewells, but one of the most beautiful is the Aaronic blessing cited above in the scripture section. Moses delivers these words from God to Aaron, his brother and high priest of Israel. In ending, I offer them as a blessing for you, for our church and for our nation through John Rutter’s beautiful musical treatment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZN1mryHEnQ DEVOTION AUTHOR Dr. Pat Saxon ļ»æ *I have chosen to keep the original words of this ancient blessing. A more inclusive version follows : “May the Lord bless you and take care of you; may the Lord be kind and gracious to you; may the Lord look on you with favor and give you peace.
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Words of Hope Podcast
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SCRIPTURE Numbers 6: 24-26* The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. WORDS OF HOPE A couple of weeks ago I woke up to find that my heating unit was suspiciously quiet. I was grateful that it hadn’t quit during the icy grip of winter earlier, but it was still chilly. Sage and I both bundled up for our walk, and when we got back, I kept her wrapped in her rainbow fleece—just to be sure she was warm enough. At 8:00 I texted Sam, my repairman who over the years has rescued me from emergencies in broiling heat and shivering cold. Faithful as ever, he came that afternoon. My unit is aged, and as soon as he started to examine it, I said, “Sam, you know I can’t afford to replace the system; we’re gonna have to find a work around.” His reply was that the same was true of so many of his clients. Sam is thoughtful and quiet, and after some sweet talk with Sage, he set about to trace down the mystery of why things had shut down. After a while, he’d located the problem, found the parts to repair it, and gotten things going again. As he walked out of the house and down the steps, he turned to say good bye, and I said, “Sam, I appreciate you so much.” A small thing, maybe—an appreciation not just for a job well done, but for who Sam is and for his faithful care all these years. Endings are more important to me these days—the quality of endings of all kinds: the end of a life, the end of a relationship, the end of a group meeting, an interaction at church, a visit with a friend, a casual talk with a neighbor, an exchange with a waiter in a restaurant…and more. The source of this feeling is in part an awareness of aging and the limited time I have left here. But it is also the experience of having cancer steal away my partner all too suddenly. As well, I have witnessed how many people are unable to have the kind of endings they wished because their loved one is in such pain that they must be under heavy sedation or are intubated or the like. Family divisions can also harden hearts and keep us from the bedside of someone. As much as I can, then, I want to be present and attentive to the quality of endings. A long-time life group member is leaving soon to live in Mexico. Though she hopes to be able to continue meeting on zoom with us, we’ll miss the face-to-face conversations and full body hugs at church. Earlier, when she retired, we gathered the group for a Texas-sized meal and shared remembrances (a get together that was followed by a pod of the group going for ax throwing!!). And we continue to keep with the progress of her transition and write notes of appreciation. BLESSING The Bible is filled with poignant farewells, but one of the most beautiful is the Aaronic blessing cited above in the scripture section. Moses delivers these words from God to Aaron, his brother and high priest of Israel. In ending, I offer them as a blessing for you, for our church and for our nation through John Rutter’s beautiful musical treatment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZN1mryHEnQ DEVOTION AUTHOR Dr. Pat Saxon ļ»æ *I have chosen to keep the original words of this ancient blessing. A more inclusive version follows : “May the Lord bless you and take care of you; may the Lord be kind and gracious to you; may the Lord look on you with favor and give you peace.
SCRIPTURE Isaiah 11. 1-4 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. WORDS OF HOPE ļ»æ Lord God, quiet my mind and help me to be more mindful of your presence and purpose in my life. In the days of the Lenten Season, we will be contemplating the Messiah. These will be times of reflection and the wonders of the perfect plans of the Eternal God in relationship with humankind. With Earth' s creation and the unfolding of the human experience, God saw great beauty and expanding potential for our loving relationship with the Holy One. The creative act endowed humanity with freedom of choice. Some individuals generally chose a lifestyle pattern which was compatible with divine hopes; while many more individuals ignored the opportunity to walk in the ways of God. Over many generations, disobedience and evil ways were chosen most often. From the descendants of the righteous man, Abraham, God chose to demonstrate the Divine's nature and purpose toward humanity. However, even those Israelites often failed to live according to God's desires. Even with the threat of increasing disregard for God’s will, the creation was not to be abandoned by God. Creation would be redeemed. And from the family of Jesse, King David's father, arose One who would restore humankind's relationship with God. Though often sung during Advent, listen to the words of this 16th-century German hymn: "Lo, how a Rose e'er blooming from tenderest stem hath sprung, of Jesse's lineage coming as saints of old have sung. It came a flower bright, amid the cold of winter, when half spent was the night. This flower, whose fragrance tender with sweetness fills the air, dispels with glorious splendor the darkness everywhere. True human but very God, from sin and death he saves and lightens our every load." PRAYER In the Lenten Season, as I walk the road toward sacrifice and resurrection, may I be more aware of your redeeming love. Prepare me to be more ready to share your love with others in my life. Be it ever so. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Donald (Luke) Day Order of St. Francis and St. Clare
READING “Today we can leave the governance of the universe to God.” - Martin Luther WORDS OF HOPE ļ»æ Have you ever noticed how many times you are asked a question that begins with “What are you doing….?” What are you doing this weekend? What are you doing tonight? What are you doing for spring break? What are you doing after church? What are you doing for dinner? What are you doing for Lent? What are you doing to make the world a better place? What are we doing? I don’t consider myself to have a Type A personality, but I do live each day with a somewhat lengthy To-Do list. The funny thing about my list is that I don’t write down the absolute “have-tos” for the day like feed the dogs, teach my classes, take my medication, I write down all the things that take up time but don’t really have to be done today. And then I judge my day and myself by how successful I was at accomplishing all the things on that list. The reality is that no ill will come to me or anyone else if I fall short of checking every single thing off that list today. And yet, I feel like not doing it all diminishes my “goodness”. I am certain that I am not alone in these feelings. When my youngest daughter was a toddler, bedtime consisted of me singing the song “Seek Ye First,” by Karen Lafferty, many many times. The text is based on various passages from the Gospel of Matthew. Seek ye first the kingdom of God And His righteousness, And all these things shall be added unto you. Allelu, Alleluia! Ask, and it shall be given unto you; Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and the door shall be opened unto you. Allelu, Alleluia! Man shall not live by bread alone, But by every word That proceeds from the mouth of God. Allelu, Alleluia! In those days of parenting a small child, singing these words with her were often just another thing to cross off my to-do list. Get the baby to sleep so I could get all of the other things done that were still left on my daily list. Looking back now, thirty-three years later, I realize that the times spent singing this song over and over with my daughter were God speaking to me through the voice of a little child, a small voice pleading with me to “seek-y” first the kingdom of God, a message that both she and God knew that I needed to hear. How different might our days be if we more carefully curated our to-do lists and made the top item to seek first the kingdom of God? How might our relationship with God be strengthened if when we are asked what we are doing, we respond by saying, “sitting quietly in the presence of God?” How different might we feel if we left governance of the universe to God? PRAYER “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10) Be still and know that I am. Be still and know. Be still. Be. DEVOTION AUTHOR Kris Baker Order of St. Francis and St. Clare
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