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 2 Kings2:15-18 When the company of prophets who were at Jericho saw him at a distance, they declared, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. They said to him, “See now, we have fifty strong men among your servants; please let them go and seek your master; it may be that the spirit of the Lord has caught him up and thrown him down on some mountain or into some valley.” He responded, “No, do not send them.” But when they urged him to the point of embarrassment, he said, “Send them.” So, they sent fifty men who searched for three days but did not find him. When they came back to him (he had remained at Jericho), he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?” WORDS OF HOPE This story reminds me of many times when I was a child. Living in Texas, summer heat is a fact of life. It changes our daily activities in sometimes subtle and often profound ways. I remember one day, with the temperature in the triple digits I asked my mother if I could go outside and play. She knew I would be safe in our back yard, but admonished me, “Stay off the slide today, It’s going to be too hot to slide on.” And soon I was off to join my friends who had come over and we all began some kind of silly game in the backyard. Eventually, we hit the swing set and were swinging and laughing. One of my favorite things to do was to slide down the small slide attached to the swing set, and before long I climbed the rungs to the top. Wearing shorts and flip-flops, I jumped up and sat down on the slide and was soon sliding down the hot metal surface. By the time I reached the bottom, my legs and calves had been seared on the hot steel, and I yelled and began crying. My mother heard this and when she approached me and said, “Did I not tell you not to get on the slide?” Sometimes we are stubborn just like Elisha’s followers. We often only learn from experience, even though we have been given wise advice. PRAYER May I learn to heed the advice of those who are wiser and more experienced than myself, and if I fail to do so, may I learn the lesson with a minimum of pain. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Hardy Haberman
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Words of Hope Podcast
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SCRIPTURE 2 Kings2:15-18 When the company of prophets who were at Jericho saw him at a distance, they declared, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. They said to him, “See now, we have fifty strong men among your servants; please let them go and seek your master; it may be that the spirit of the Lord has caught him up and thrown him down on some mountain or into some valley.” He responded, “No, do not send them.” But when they urged him to the point of embarrassment, he said, “Send them.” So, they sent fifty men who searched for three days but did not find him. When they came back to him (he had remained at Jericho), he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?” WORDS OF HOPE This story reminds me of many times when I was a child. Living in Texas, summer heat is a fact of life. It changes our daily activities in sometimes subtle and often profound ways. I remember one day, with the temperature in the triple digits I asked my mother if I could go outside and play. She knew I would be safe in our back yard, but admonished me, “Stay off the slide today, It’s going to be too hot to slide on.” And soon I was off to join my friends who had come over and we all began some kind of silly game in the backyard. Eventually, we hit the swing set and were swinging and laughing. One of my favorite things to do was to slide down the small slide attached to the swing set, and before long I climbed the rungs to the top. Wearing shorts and flip-flops, I jumped up and sat down on the slide and was soon sliding down the hot metal surface. By the time I reached the bottom, my legs and calves had been seared on the hot steel, and I yelled and began crying. My mother heard this and when she approached me and said, “Did I not tell you not to get on the slide?” Sometimes we are stubborn just like Elisha’s followers. We often only learn from experience, even though we have been given wise advice. PRAYER May I learn to heed the advice of those who are wiser and more experienced than myself, and if I fail to do so, may I learn the lesson with a minimum of pain. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Hardy Haberman
SCRIPTURE Romans 14:13 (NIV) Therefore, let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. WORDS OF HOPE Paul’s letter to the Romans could easily be written to any Christian church today. I don’t know exactly what was taking place among the Roman church of yesteryear, but I know that today’s hyper-critical, mud-slinging culture inhabits our pews. It takes effort to look for understanding rather than blame. It takes commitment to love those who actively plot to harm us. Still, Jesus said we should love our enemies, and Paul, in this scripture is telling us how to do that. Paul said, “make up your mind,” and I believe he is on to something life changing and beneficial to us as individual Christians as well as our church as a community As individuals, we can purpose in our hearts and pray for the Holy Spirit to help us love everybody, always. That means every human on the planet, regardless of race, creed, social standing, or political belief. Everybody, always. If we find ourselves falling short of that ideal, no need to grovel, just correct. Actively change hateful thoughts to love filled prayer for the person or group you have hated. Imagine them healed of their “flaws,” then pray for God to make it so. As a community, our church can pay attention to individuals or groups we are criticizing or presenting ourselves as “better than.” We can change our language to include even individuals or groups who have harmed us, or those who may threaten our freedom. We can make up our collective minds to love everybody, always! We can actively seek out opportunities to make peace across aisles, across generations, across borders. PRAYER God of Love and Peace, I seek your help as an individual, and as a member a congregation born of Love. I ask for new eyes to see every individual on this earth as your beloved child. Help us seek justice without hating the haters. Give us patience, allowing others to grow and lead by example rather than criticism. Help us love better. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Carole Anne Sarah
SCRIPTURE Hebrews 12:1-2 Let us run with perseverance the race that lies before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of faith WORDS OF HOPE On my daily early-morning walk, I found Jesus (okay, it’s not what you think, but I’ve always wanted to write a sentence just like that). As I was making my way across the Doubletree Ranch Trail lake bridge over a small portion of Lake Lewisville, I spotted Jesus. He was a very small rubber figurine, less than 1” tall, of a very white-skinned, long brown haired, bearded Jesus wearing a white robe and a colorful sash. I wanted to pick him up and take him home with me, but I already have two of these figurines. So, I picked him up from the sidewalk and put him on the bridge’s railing, looking out over the lake. These early morning, one-hour hikes give me a lot of time to think, which may or may not be helpful or productive. But the little Jesus figurine turned my thoughts towards how each one of us see Jesus. For many, the Jesus we find in the Gospels is a Jewish, Middle Eastern teacher who identifies with the poor and marginalized, welcomes outsiders, challenges religious hypocrisy, warns repeatedly about wealth, rejects retaliation, teaches forgiveness, and commands people to love their neighbors—and even their enemies. A far cry from my little rubber figurine with the perfect beard. For some, however, a narrower, agenda-driven understanding of Jesus has emerged—one that has been used to justify political power, exclusion, and Christian nationalism. Much of what is presented as “biblical Christianity” bears surprisingly little resemblance to the teachings of Jesus. In his book, Separation of Church and Hate by John Fugelsang, John writes a funny, thoughtful, and thorough argument that the most effective response to Christianity being weaponized for nationalism, prejudice, wealth, and political power, is not necessarily to abandon the Bible, but to reclaim it by putting Jesus—and his teachings about love, mercy, justice, nonviolence, and care for the marginalized—back at its center. The writer of Hebrews captures this idea perfectly in Hebrews 12 when he says “looking to Jesus”. Christianity can become distracted by politics, power, doctrine, culture wars, or institutional preservation. From denominationalism to nationalism to who gets to sit in what pew on any given Sunday, we find ourselves looking to justify our own selfishness. However, discipleship continually calls us to turn our attention back to Jesus and his teachings about love, mercy, justice, nonviolence, and care for the marginalized. Maybe that little Jesus on the bridge was a reminder for me—and perhaps for all of us. In a world where we are constantly tempted to remake Jesus in our own image, discipleship asks us instead to keep “looking to Jesus.” When we do, we may rediscover the Christ who calls us away from power and exclusion and toward love, mercy, justice, and radical welcome. Perhaps the challenge of faith is not simply to find Jesus, but to keep finding our way back to him. PRAYER Jesus, turn our eyes toward you when we are distracted by power, fear, and division. Help us follow your way of love, mercy, justice, and welcome. May our lives reflect not the Jesus we create in our own image, but the Jesus we meet in the Gospels. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Thomas Riggs
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