Wednesday - January 15, 2025

SCRIPTURE Psalm 119:105 O God, "Your word is a lantern to my feet and a light upon my path."  WORDS OF HOPE Today's reading leads us to evaluate how we walk with God in our daily lives. We must seek God's "word" to find our life's path in harmony with the divine desire for our life. Fortunately, God has not hidden these desired principles in some dark and obscure corner of reality. This verse tells us that we have been provided a searchlight to successfully find them... "a lantern for my feet and light upon my path". If you've ever been surrounded by the profound darkness of a moonless night while camping in the woods, you know the value that a lantern can be for your walk to the outdoor privy. It doesn't illuminate the whole scene in front of you, but it shines enough light on your feet that you don't trip on something and fall down. It will guide you through the little, moment-by-moment steps of life. This verse continues and tells us that the word (desires) of God will light up our whole path throughout life, not just step-by-step, but the whole trajectory of our life. Divine wisdom and teaching will be like airport landing lights which are seen at a distance and lead us straight ahead. Psalm 119: 111 tells us: O God, "your decrees are my inheritance forever; truly, they are the joy of my heart." The God-given principles for a life in harmony with divine desire are a gift to the Christian, just like an inheritance in the life of a family's heir. These divine instructions become a treasure to guide a healthy and contented life of inner peace and joy. By following this guidance, an individual can live in harmony with God today, through all future tomorrow's and into an eternal presence with the Divine One. However, like a family inheritance, the Christian can't pick and choose among the gifts (divine principles) of the inheritance and still expect to live in peaceful harmony with God. In life, walking with God means walking in step with God! PRAYER Lord God, may your Spirit teach me to develop a more vibrant spiritual life which is surrendered to you. And may I walk hand-in-hand with you this day. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Donald (Luke) Day

SCRIPTURE 2 Timothy 2. 22-25 So, flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting all opponents with gentleness. WORDS OF HOPE Feeling any youthful passions lately? Before images of The Blue Lagoon come to mind, the author of the pastoral letter addressed to Timothy was probably not writing about teenage love in a 1980 movie. Sometimes attributed to the Apostle Paul, 2 Timothy’s wise teacher is more likely using “youthful” in the context of “immature.” Regardless of our chronological ages, none of us is immune to immature behavior occasionally. This is true of myself anyway, because immature behavior is usually born of anger, and we live in a time when anger, outrage, and disgust are not strangers. That is the best reason to always have today’s Scripture’s brief words of advice on call in our cellphone notes, or even better, in our memories. We live in a Nation when politics and religion are frequently discussed, sometimes combined into one package, and anyone with definite viewpoints about either is usually labeled an extremist. It’s an atmosphere that “breeds quarrels” where opponents are immediately labeled pure evil and facts are often of no consequence, producing those “foolish, ignorant controversies” Timothy is warned to avoid. As much as most of us, and I am one, would prefer to completely avoid such confrontations, our commitment to the faith, love, and peace of Jesus should and must be voiced. But that is the point at which those “youthful passions” must be left behind in favor of an internal prayer prior to speaking: PRAYER Lord, remind me that I am your servant. Before I speak I. must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, and correcting my opponents with gentleness. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Dan Peeler Order of St. Francis and St. Clare

SCRIPTURE James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. WORDS OF HOPE A person I admire and model, Albert Einstein, always dared to imagine, think out of the box and view life with openness. His innate curious nature led him to ask “why” and challenge the norm on many levels. He was indisputably brilliant yet demonstrated a deep humanitarian desire to help others. During his life he witnessed immense poverty and injustice yet genuinely believed that a conscious person of value will give more than they receive. At a young age he challenged the rigid expectations of school where he refused to accept conventional wisdom. He famously said, “Blind respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.” I can identify with Einstein! In high school when I would ask “why” regarding an injustice I witnessed, or questioned control from religious leaders, I was told to mind my tongue. They said my life would be challenging if I continued to ask questions and think out of the box. I vowed right then to constantly think “out” of the box and always maintain the courage to ask “why.” Einstein understood the laws of the universe though he also believed in a God beyond comprehension and valued the interplay of science and ethics. Jesus’ spoke of the divine reality that while accessible, still remained a mystery. Einstein used his influence to advance causes beyond physics, such as speaking out against racism in the United States, advocating for peace, and guiding generations of younger scientists through his teaching. His desire to expand humanities’ understanding of the universe was never driven by his need for personal acclaim. Jesus challenged religious authority, hypocrisy, social norms and confronted religious legalistic interpretations to stop oppression. Einstein, who vocally condemned militarism, and nationalism, believed questioning authority was more about choosing truth over tradition than rebelliousness for its own sake. He believed authority may demand obedience, but progress happens when someone dares to ask “why”. PRAYER God of ALL creation, as followers of Christ, let us continue to ask “why” and then be still to hear you answer. In Jesus name, Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Donna Jackson

SCRIPTURE  Matthew 10:5-8 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. = As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. WORDS OF HOPE When I went to Baylor University, it was still a very Southern Baptist School. I was the only Jew on campus that first year and immediately became the target for every divinity student who was working on their “witnessing” assignments. I wish I had read this passage in the New Testament back then, I could have diffused their ardent efforts by claiming I was a Samarian. Today, as a Christian, I read this exhortation by Jesus through Jewish eyes and it is certainly not about making converts, it is about preaching and healing and doing good works. I think Jesus was not trying to build a church, but bring the kingdom of heaven to earth. That is a much bigger assignment than making converts or as the divinity students said, to “accept Jesus as my own personal savior.” I might have been more amenable to their message had they spoken about activism and benevolence, much like Jesus did. It took finding a church where Jesus words were taken as assignments to go out and make the world a better place before I considered converting. Strangely enough, the Rabbi who taught me as a young Jew, urged me to go out and make the world better, protest wars, end inequality and seek peace and reconciliation. It’s important to remember Jesus was speaking as a Jew, not a Gentile or Samarian. PRAYER May we hear the words of Jesus ring in my ears as we go forth to make our world better for everyone. Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Hardy Haberman

MODERN READING  "God is not a Christian. God is not a Jew or a Muslim or a Hindu or a Buddhist. All of those are human systems which human beings have created to try to help us walk into the mystery of God." "I experience God as the source of life calling me to live fully, the source of love calling me to love wastefully, and the ground of being calling me to be all that I can be." - John Shelby Spong. - A New Christianity for a New World WORDS OF HOPE Recently in our small groups we have discussed how in the Rob Bell book “Velvet Elvis”, the idea of there being only one path to God might not be truth. The small group in which I participate has had this discussion on and off since we first started meeting. The late Bishop John Spong, who I sometimes referred to as a patriarch of progressive Christianity, has hit the nail in the head. God wants people live fully. God gave people life that they might live life abundantly as Jesus says in the Gospel of John. God is a mystery and we must walk towards an understanding of that mystery down a path that we can follow. And we need to be mindful of the fact that the path is of our choosing and in many ways of our making. We create systems to help us understand the way to God. All of them are valid if they lead to God‘s love. Any of them may have ways of proceeding to God that any of us might make of use on our journey to God. Instead of criticizing someone else’s path, perhaps we should look at it and say to ourselves that seems to be valid and say “I will try that”. So, if you find the rituals of liturgical churches bring you to God; follow that path. If in addition, you find that five specified times a day for prayer as in Islam; follow that path. And nothing and no one should tell you that you can’t do both. The three Abrahamic religions and Buddhism and Sikhism and Hinduism all have some provision for the ones who are less fortunate, those in need, those who hurt. That part of the path is not distinct, but is a commonality that could be a place for community. Prayer beads are used in many faith traditions; not just the Roman Catholic rosary that so many people think of when they think of praying with the string of beads. Buddhist, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, and many branches of Christianity have some form of prayer beads available to them. And while they are all used somewhat differently and take different forms, there is again a common practice. So, I invite you to take a moment and look into some of the practices of other faith traditions; even of other Christian traditions. You may find something in there that speaks to you in a way that you had not thought possible. Search for the thing that helps you live life, fully and abundantly, as the Bible says Jesus meant for us to do. Whatever path you have chosen to follow to God, do not be so narrow-sighted that you cannot see and take advantage of the lights that others use to illuminate their path. PRAYER God of hope God of love, God of mercy God of light; help us on our path to reach You. Help us to understand that others may have a different path, but they too, are searching and working their way to You. And bless all of those who in peace and love are reaching out to You. DEVOTION AUTHOR Weber Baker Order of Saint Francis and Saint Clar