Thursday - April 20, 2023

Modern Lesson “If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I am living for, in detail, ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for.” ― Thomas Merton Words of Hope Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk, was a most thoughtful interpreter of God‘s word. While he does not cite a specific section of the Bible in the above quote, he does express something that, for me, is it the very heart of Jesus’s message. He is dealing here with the external in the first part of his statement. These are the things we typically ask someone when we first meet them. Where do you live? Do you know of any good restaurants around? Where do you get your hair done? (Those of you who have met me know this last question is one you never need fear I will ask.) But then Merton says you should ask him what it is he lives for and what stops him from living fully for the thing for which he wants to live. And there’s an implication here for all of us. Because in order for Merton to to be identified by what it is he’s living for and for what stops him from doing that very thing, it means he must have examined that within himself. It means he has done the necessary reflection on his life, on the things he lives for, and for the things that stand in his way. Because only then can he look at someone and say “ask me about these things, I’m ready to tell you”. As a Trappist monk we know that at least a good part of what he lived for revolved around a strict obedience to the rule of Saint Benedict. But we also know that he used many of the meditation techniques that come out of Buddhism as a way of living fully. He was also a prolific writer not only of religious interpretation, but of poetry. He also kept an ongoing diary. So for your own devotion and meditation time today, you should stop at some point, as I plan to do, and prepare yourself to be asked the questions “what am I living for?” and “ what is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for?” Because although you may not be directly asked those questions, the way you live into the answers will be apparent to all meet you. Prayer Loving God, we pray that we can come to realize what it is we are living for in service to you. Open our hearts and our minds and our spirits so that we may overcome any of the things that keep us from living fully into the way you would have us live. Amen. Devotion Author  Weber Baker Order of Saint Francis and Saint Clare

SCRIPTURE Matthew 11: 28 Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. WORDS OF HOPE The other day I realized just how heavy my mind was. How much I was carrying. Recent deaths, imminent deaths, terrible diagnoses. Relationships ending. Friends with aging parents in crisis, and adult children learning to walk again as a strange disease attacked their body. And, dear God, the world we live in—where every day the powers that be slap us with another outrage, another violation of dignity and justice without a drop of mercy. “Stop!” I said, to my mind. Even writing part of the list of concerns weighted consciousness once again. Memory took me back to a time I taught Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carry,” an acclaimed collection of stories of the Vietnam era. In telling detail he unrolls the contents of a group of soldiers’ backpacks—can opener, pocket knife, candy, dog tags, love letters, the finest marijuana, and much more. But two common items bound them all: a thick compress bandage in case they got shot and a green plastic poncho for cold and rain but also to wrap bodies of the wounded before transport. It was a time the young women I was teaching were laden with their own heavy loads of academic work and anxiety over college choices and other personal issues. I could read it in their eyes, so we paused class and did a guided meditation where they went to a beautiful place in nature and set out on a hike with a backpack, which over the course of the journey, got heavier and heavier. As they paused for a drink of water, they considered if there was anything they could leave behind to lighten their load—or if they could even temporarily leave their pack, knowing they could retrieve it when they returned. Lightened, refreshed, they became more mindful of the pine and spruce, the cascading waterfall, the tiniest purple flowers on the forest floor. They breathed. They sat on a large boulder and felt the morning sun on their face. A sacred pause.  The recollection suggested that I too needed to put down my backpack of cares and turn again to the practices which restore my soul and help me see beauty again. Writing it out. A morning walk. Singing the song given for the day: “O Love which will not let me go.” Hearing Jesus’ words: “I will not leave you [them] comfortless.” Another ritual practice arose at a grief retreat. In my room the evening of the first night, after 15 people had begun to share the stories of their loss, it took shape. I stretched out my arms, with hands cupped upward. I called out and placed the names of the persons grieving and the loved ones who had died into those hands. Then I drew in my hands to my heart, holding them there for a moment as tears fell. Afterward I opened my arms wide and released this shared pain to the wide mercy of God, imaged as the then gentle- flowing Guadalupe. Each time I perform this ritual, casting my burden upon the God who sustains us, it releases the weight of sorrow. PRAYER “God of the gathered and the scattered, thank you for people who check in, who show up, who remind us we don’t have to do life alone. Bless our mutual care. Bless shared meals, shared tears, shared laughter. Make us brave enough to ask for help and generous enough to offer it….Let our connections be a shelter, our compassion a healing balm. Band us together in ways that honor our limits and multiply our strength, so that no one among us is left to carry their burdens alone. Amen. Ase.” (Excerpted from a prayer by Rev. Dr. Winner Laws.) DEVOTION AUTHOR Dr. Pat Saxon

SCRIPTURE  John 11:45-52 Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So, the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.” He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. WORDS OF HOPE This passage has always bothered me. Mainly because it is used to stoke anti-semitic sentiment and is used to justify the Jews killed Jesus. I heard it a lot growing up Jewish in a predominately gentile neighborhood. When I went to college, this passage was hurled at me by Theology students at Baylor in their quest to “convert the Jew”. Today, I read scripture much as I was taught growing up in a Reform Jewish household. The Bible, both Old and New Testament are theological works, not historical accounts. Yes, there is a good deal of history in them, but their purpose was not to be light reading, Scripture should be studied and examined in the context it was written and through modern eyes. This is why thousands of rabbis debated and dissected the Torah in the many books of the Talmud. So back to this passage. What I take away from it is the words of the high priest who essentially prophesies that Jesus will be sacrificed for the good of the nation and all those “dispersed children of God”. It is a foreshadowing of the narrative that follows which leads to the crucifixion and more importantly the resurrection. If we take it theologically, it shows that Jesus sacrifice will lead to the salvation of the entire nation. In short, redemption takes sacrifice. PRAYER May we look at the Scripture not just as a story but as deep works that hold relevant messages for our lives. Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Hardy Haberman

SCRIPTURE  -2 Corinthians 15:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, that person is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. WORDS OF HOPE I am writing this from somewhere off the coast of the Pacific Northwest. Cruising is my favorite way to travel; I wake up each day in a new location, with new possibilities, yet in the same bed, no packing and unpacking required in getting from one place to another. It is simply a matter of boarding the ship and then enjoying the journey ahead. As I sit on the balcony gazing at the sunrise over the early morning horizon, I am struck by the similarity between my experiences on the water and the message that Paul is sharing with the Corinthians in the above passage. With each day’s sunset, the old passes away and in each sunrise is born a new creation, both for the dawning day and for each of us. Leaving the past behind and beginning anew is the gift that the reconciling Christ freely gives to each of us every day. The seemingly infinite horizon line is both emptiness and possibility. Mistakes, wounds, failures from the past are not visible. The possibilities, the great potential of beginning anew in Christ is there, waiting on the horizon, for any and all who choose to lay down the old ways and take up the cross of Christ. We don’t have to wait for a new year, a birthday, or even Easter to start fresh. Jesus is waiting with open arms at any time we invite him to be our companion on the journey. The sunrises and sunsets take on a new kind of beauty and peace when we travel through life with Christ. PRAYER Creator of all things, I give you thanks for the old ways that have passed away and for each new beginning that is offered through Christ. Remind me that through your grace with each new day I, too, am a new creation. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Kris Baker Order of St. Francis and St. Clare

SCRIPTURE  Matthew 25:35 – 46 …for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You as a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ WORDS OF HOPE Monday, October 5 is World Habitat Day. This year's theme is "Adequate Housing for All." United Nations Human Settlements Programme is the agency leading this focus. They are addressing the global housing crisis, where billions face inadequate living conditions or reside in informal settlements, and reinforcing adequate shelter as a basic human right. I think it is a sad situation for housing in a country whose wealth is enormous! The top 1% in America owns nearly 50% of the stock market and a third of total wealth. The top 10% in America controls roughly 87.2% of corporate equities. The bottom 50% possesses roughly 1% to 2.5% of total household wealth. These are sad facts about America! It is heartbreaking to see the large number of unhoused people just in our city. I see 25 to 50 people just on my Tuesday drive to my volunteer job at the Arboretum every Tuesday morning in one spot. And our church feeds housing-insecure people every week! Hundreds of them. I don’t know about other cities, but Dallas has very little affordable housing. It is nearly impossible for a single parent working one job in Dallas to afford housing for their family unless they have a fantastic job. Average low rent for houses is $1,939 and apartments is $1,406. On top of that, childcare averages $2,711 for 130 hours of care a month for one child. These are averages and it is hard to find suitable housing at the average price! Let us be aware today of those who struggle to find housing! Let those of us blessed with adequate shelter be grateful for our homes! Let us continue to help at least feed those who have struggles in their life through the programs at Cathedral of Hope to at least help in one way! PRAYER God who loves us all and wishes abundant life, we pray that all our neighbors across the whole world can live in suitable housing. DEVOTION AUTHOR Jan Nunn CoH Volunteer