Thursday - June 15, 2023

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

SCRIPTURE Exodus 14:1-8  Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall camp opposite it, by the sea. Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has closed in on them.’ I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, so that I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so. When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the minds of Pharaoh and his officials were changed toward the people, and they said, “What have we done, letting Israel leave our service?” So, he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him; he took six hundred elite chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the Israelites, who were going out boldly. WORDS OF HOPE Today is the 25 th anniversary of the attacks on New York, the Pentagon, and what would have been an attack on the capital that ended in the field in Pennsylvania. In response to that event, this day was unofficially declared Remember Freedom Day. And while we remember those lost a quarter of a century ago; it is a good time to stop and remember freedom. We find today that there are many places in the world where freedom either never existed or has been lost. We stand in Hope today that we will not lose the freedom that we have enjoyed here. But it is incumbent upon us to recall that 250 years ago, freedom was not a guarantee. And not just for the politically dominant white males of the time, but for hundreds of thousands of slaves who were held in all 13 of the original colonies. Freedom for those in bondage at that time was a long time coming. Indeed, it took too long; and still is not manifest in so many ways. The passage above gives us an insight into how long humankind has struggled with the concept of freedom. There seems to be a belief that many people hold that freedom for some must involve the loss of freedom for others. They see freedom as a limited commodity that must be held onto before some of it is lost. It seems that there have always been those who feel they must enhance their own freedom through the control and servitude of others. Pharaoh realizes that he has lost control of the Israelites. He wants that control back. We see the same thing today. There are those who feel that allowing people who do not worship or love or celebrate the same way they do somehow or another reduces their personal freedom. And so, they feel the only way to maintain their own freedom is to restrict the freedom of others. And it is unfortunate that those who believe that way cannot seem to understand that this is not the case. This is especially the case with those who feel like they have found ultimate truth. It is only when we realize that each individual, singly or corporately must be allowed to seek and find truth in their own way that we will truly have freedom. We need to understand that “our” freedom is not restricted by “their” freedom. PRAYER God of love, free us from our narrow-mindedness that causes us not to be free and not to enjoy the freedom that we have. Free us from our narrow-mindedness that keeps us in bondage to the belief that our freedom rests on the restrictions of the freedom of others. DEVOTION AUTHOR Weber Baker Order of Saint Francis and Saint Clare

SCRIPTURE John 11: 25 I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, even though they die, will live. WORDS OF HOPE I had gone for a jog that August morning in East Texas, the last week before school started again. As I approached the yard, sweaty and out of breath, I saw Joyce standing at the back gate. With both gravity and love, she said, “Patti, we’ve received the call we’ve long dreaded. Doug has taken his life.” I fell into the strength of her arms and began to cry, but soon had to collect myself and some belongings to head back to Dallas to be with my mother. Doug was living with her at the time, and she had found her beloved son and had to deal with the official inquiry about his death. Driving the three hours back, my mind was awash with voices and memories of my brother, a gifted musician who lived with what we then called manic-depression. In his highs he envisioned grand dreams and schemes and once gave away all of his money to people who needed it. But the darkness which overtook him was so deep “even a father could not find [him].” (Theodore Roethke) He hated the side effects of the medication the doctors prescribed because it muddled his creative process—and so sometimes he skipped it. It was only after his death, when I read the torment in his journals, that I had any real insight into his pain. Like most families, we experienced some guilt: could we have done more? And we were left with some unanswerable questions in the midst of our grief. My mother’s pastor who officiated Doug’s memorial service didn’t know him, for Doug had become a member of a conservative spiritual community. But he did come to mom’s condo and sat with us and invited our stories to bring him to life. One thing I still appreciate is that in his remarks he said that we have come so far in many areas of medicine, but we still did not understand the mysteries of mental illness. Today we lift up September as Suicide Prevention Month, and I follow those who tell the truth of a beloved one’s suicide—pushing back the curtain of shame that some would close around him. Thankfully, many people no longer call suicide a “sin,” nor would many churches deny the body of one who took their own life burial in sacramental ground. Though even one death is too many, there were 48, 824 suicide-related deaths in this country in 2024--the death of someone’s husband, friend, student, nephew, father, and more. Men take their lives 4 times more often than women. And guns account for more than 50% of the losses. The internet has many good resources for suicide prevention suggestions and programs, and I would encourage your checking into them. Please memorize or put in your contact list the number 988 and Talk 741741 for emergency hotlines if you or someone else is experiencing a wave of suicidal thoughts.  Once my mother told me that she wished Doug had found his way to our church—with its more progressive theology. And I sometimes imagine him in the orchestra on Sunday mornings in the flute section (though Saxophone was his main instrument). In the grief that can still surface, a story told by a friend of Doug’s comes to me this morning. They were at a church retreat, sailing on a nearby lake at sunset in two boats, coming from different directions. As the last rays of color spread across the sky, the friend heard the strains of “Amazing Grace” floating over the waters and looked up to see Doug playing his flute—the clear, plaintive tones calling to the other boat like the mercy of Grace itself. I pray that his own homecoming welcomed him with such beauty. PRAYER God of Mercy, gather us into a community which attends to the suffering with care and helps them get professional help if needed. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Dr. Pat Saxon