Wednesday - January 31, 2024

SCRIPTURE Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Colossians 3:12 WORDS OF HOPE The morning Joyce died a dear friend came to the hospital and would stop at nothing before she wrapped me in her arms and held me while I wept. She stayed with me as I walked through the official leaving of her body, grown cold to my touch, and then followed me home to make toast—the only thing I could eat. Then she cleaned out the refrigerator so that there would be room for casserole-comfort. I know intimately the relationship of loss and kindness of which Naomi Shihab Nye speaks in her poem: “Before you know what kindness really is/ you must lose things,/feel the future dissolve in a moment/like salt in a weakened broth./What you held in your hand,/ what you counted and carefully saved,/ all this must go so you know/how desolate the landscape can be/ between the regions of kindness.”* How desolate a landscape indeed. We are sadly seeing in our country right now cruelty and hatred of a magnitude which still shocks and horrifies, sanctioned even at the highest corridors of power. So, this morning on World Kindness Day let us commit ourselves to an ethic of kindness. Recently, I heard a conservative pastor say that you don’t really have to agree on anything to be kind. If we accept the truth in that assertion, kindness can become one of the paths back to each other. Contrarily, looking at the roots of the word “unkind” are telling. “Uncynde” in Old English means “unnatural, not in accord with the regular course of nature.” Therefore, our unkindness is unnatural, not living in accord with our God given nature. In our unkindness we do not see that “no [person] is alien” to us, to paraphrase John Donne’s famous poem.** Kindness begins when I see you, witness your struggle, discomfort, or pain, and something inside of me stirs in the heart—compassion, empathy, desire to alleviate suffering—and moves me to turn that feeling into action. Kindness, then, whether the simplest act of opening a door for someone on a walker, comforting a young person who has been excluded at school, taking meals to our unhoused neighbors, or committing ourselves to the long faithfulness of a critically ill friend’s care, is the resilient spiritual thread that weaves us together in our humanity, helps create kindred out of strangers, brings heaven closer to earth. To return to our poet: “Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,/you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing./You must wake up with sorrow. /You must speak to it till your voice/catches the thread of all sorrows/and you see the size of the cloth.” When we understand the size of the fabric of world sorrow, or as Fr. Richard Rohr calls it, “the tears of things,” it’s as if we cannot do anything other than take kindness with us every day—“like a shadow or a friend” (Nye). PRAYER God whose steadfast loving kindness transforms our hearts, “For as long as space endures/And for as long as living beings remain/Until then may I, too, abide/To dispel the misery of the world.”*** Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Dr. Pat Saxon *A link to Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem https://poets.org/poem/kindness ** John Donne, “No Man is an Island” *** The quoted part of the prayer is the Dalai Lama’s.

SCRIPTURE Romans 15.1 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. WORDS OF HOPE Although it may not seem very spiritual, I sometimes wonder how certain things smelled back in the days of the Bible. I imagine there were lots of familiar smells such as fires burning while people cooked, anointing oils, wine, and various smells in nature, but for the ancient Bible days, I can pretty much stop there. Recently, somebody asked on a social media page about what they remembered of things and places past while living in Arlington, Texas, the city where I grew up in my teen years. I remembered a little country store called Granny and Granddad’s. Suddenly I was taken back in time and remembering very specifically how that little store smelled when I first walked in. It was the home of old wood, candy, popcorn, and whatever hot foods they were serving that day. My mind then wandered off to other places. Another location I remembered was Wyatt’s cafeteria where I could distinctly pick out the olfactory pleasures of fresh coffee, chocolate cake, roast beef, and brown gravy. If three is a charm, the third place was a toy store in North Dallas called Booth’s Toys. I really don’t know how to describe those smells that were in the store; maybe nothing more than brand new boxes of games and plastic model kits. The smells contributed so much to those treasured few minutes of just walking into a magical place with no intent of doing anything but looking at all those wonderful toys. Those smells created some kind of inspiration deep within me. Maybe it was anticipating the toys of my birthday, the plastic masks of Halloween, the holly and candy canes of Christmas; or just the idea of living in some kind of mystical fantasy paradise. I don’t really know how to label those feelings. What matters is all of these things combined created indelible memories. I was inspired. It’s how we tell our stories, share memories, and reminisce about the days that we have delegated as ideal. Yet, all of this gives context to relate my memories to yours. When I think of those remote people of history who wrote the texts of what we’ve come to call the Bible, I wonder how their familiar smells and dwelling places may have inspired them to write about the things they did. How would we have been affected by writing in the fresh smelling outdoor sunshine? Would we write a Psalm of praise? How about the Apostle Paul breathing damp mold smells in a tiny dark Roman jail cell or David writing while hiding in a cave from the tyrannical King Saul? Would we write about social justice? If they could afford it, did the writers smell burning bee’s wax or favorite foods cooking nearby? Would those fragrances inspire us to write about loving the people we call our families? We’ll never really know, but I’m convinced the fragrances of their world were as influential to them as ours are to us. PRAYER Loving Creator, I’m thankful for the people you inspired to give us a tiny glimpse of their world. It fascinates us and influences us so much that we are still reading and interpreting their messages thousands of years later. Help me to be aware of the sights and smells of the world around me and to be conscious of my own words. Will what I say or do today be worth remembering in a hundred years, let alone next week? May your world live in my words. DEVOTION AUTHOR Charlie C. Rose Order of St. Francis and St. Clare

SCRIPTURE  Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. WORDS OF HOPE Today in the United States we observe Veterans Day and in countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom, Remembrance Day. This day commemorates the end of World War I and honors the services of all military veterans over time. This day has deep meaning to me as my dad served as a Captain in the Navy. As a child, all I knew about my dad’s job was that he “drove ships.” On a hot summer day when I was seven, I said good-bye to him like I did each day having no concept that he was leaving for a year to go to Vietnam Nam and there was a real possibility that he would not come home. By the grace of God, he did return to us…two weeks later than expected as he delayed his return to accompany the remains of my mom’s cousin who lost his life in the service of our country. I wore two POW/MIA bracelets for five years. In 1973, when the POWs from the Vietnam Nam War were released, my dad was stationed in Hawaii. Honolulu was the first American soil that these servicemen set foot on upon their release. I was there to meet each plane as it landed at Hickam Air Force Base. One of the men whose bracelet I wore was on one of those planes. I was able to greet him, welcome him home, and give him his bracelet. I saw this soldier before his own family did. Even with this deeply moving firsthand experience, at eleven I could not fully comprehend the enormity of war and the sacrifices of these servicemen. To this day, I still have the second bracelet on our home alter and pray that one day his family will have closure. I’m not sure it is possible for any civilian to truly grasp the experiences, commitment, and sacrifices made by our service men and women each and every day. Today, Veterans Day, is the day set aside for all of us to think and pray about this. After twenty-six years of service on the seas, my dad retired from the Navy and was blessed to enjoy thirty more years in civilian life, though he was always called “Captain” by those who knew him best. Eleven years ago I stood by his flag-draped casket and listened to the gun volley and Taps played by a young sailor. I felt viscerally the respect being given to him. A few days later, I read the tributes written by friends and those that had served on ships with my dad. Many of them spoke of him as a strong and fair leader and a good example. Those made me proud, but did not surprise me. I also knew my dad as fair and as strong leader. The one note that has stuck with me was the one that simply said, “Thank you, Captain, for getting us home safely.” At home, my dad never talked about the hard and the ugly side of being in the service. To this day, I have no idea the circumstances for which he was awarded The Bronze Star for heroic service. Perhaps that sailor who thanked my dad for getting him home safely does. Dad only talked to us about the places he sailed and, more importantly the people with whom he made those journeys. As I think about my dad on this day, I realize that my way of seeing him and his service is similar to the way I have seen Jesus through my life. As I child, I sang “Jesus Loves Me” but had no concept of the depth of those words. Metaphorically, I think I was seeing Jesus also as “the driver of the ship”, and just as with my dad, I was not cognizant of all that the “job” entailed. And just as I finally understood the depth of my dad’s service as he was being laid to rest, I had a similar moment in my faith journey where I became fully aware of what the promises made by Jesus to the world and to me through his life, death, and resurrection truly mean. As I read and reread the stories of Jesus’s ministry, Jesus, like my dad, focuses on the people he meets more so than the difficulties that he encounters. Now, as I look forward, at the end I want to be able to say to Jesus, “Thank you for getting us home safely.” On this Veterans Day and Day of Remembrance, take time to offer respect, gratitude, thanksgiving, and prayers for all veterans who are serving and have served in the armed forces and for their families. PRAYER Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. From The Book of Common Prayer 1979 DEVOTION AUTHOR Kris Baker

SCRIPTURE James 1.2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. WORDS OF HOPE I have lived most of my life in parts of Texas where there are a lot of non-English speakers or second language English speakers. But this October was the first time I have spent a good bit of time in a country where English was barely spoken. Or maybe in previous times I was in a group and did not interact that much with the locals. It is a very different feeling to be "the foreigner" who does not speak the language. Thankfully, you did not need to speak the language to take Uber in another country! Your travel destination is already loaded for you. Portugal is an amazing and beautiful country. On the day our daughter had to travel to another city for an important meeting, we managed to find an American restaurant with English menus and a waitress who spoke English! They had American hamburgers and 8 ice cubes for my Coke Zero! I am too old at 78 to learn a new complicated language. I can hang freshly washed clothes on an indoor hanging rack! I would be scared to hang them out my window, like a lot of people did. I might drop our underwear onto someone's patio! I could learn to carry salt & pepper for my eggs with me. And I sure could learn to enjoy their coffee, but I think it might add pounds! The only time not speaking the language was a problem was at the airport when we were leaving at 3am! We could not see where Lufthansa airline was and did not see signs. The only English-speaking person was a homeless person hanging out at the airport! He was very aggressive and hung onto Barb but got us to our check-in area. There was no security anywhere in sight, either. I have a different perspective for people who find themselves where they do not speak the local language! I am the old momma who needs her daughter to make sure I get back correct change when I buy something using actual local currency! Those that know me know I will post Thankfulness posts each day in November! This year my thankfulness has broadened! I have traveled to a new country and have a better understanding and care for people who cannot speak the local language! Especially in this time when their citizenship may be challenged by someone speaking a language that may not be their first language. PRAYER God of all people and all languages, thank you for showing me how it feels to be on the other side of the language barrier. Thank you for helping me know that you love me and people of all languages. DEVOTION AUTHOR Jan Nunn CoH Volunteer

SCRIPTURE Jeremiah 2:8  The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols. WORDS OF HOPE There’s a certain kind of rejection that feels more painful, more insidious than others. It’s the kind of rejection that occurs when you pour yourself out for someone and they take advantage of your kindness. It’s that moment where you realize the love and care that you showed in their hard times was selfishly forgotten when things got better for them. God speaks to this deep ache of being a forgotten friend. Being brought of out slavery, through the wilderness, and into a promised land of abundance, God’s people became so accustomed to comfort that they forgot to ask, “Where is the Lord?”. Their hardened hearts wandered, and they sought meaning and security in things that could not sustain them. They chased after empty things and became empty themselves. And God ached for them. How often do we go through the motions of faith and forget to ask, “Where is the Lord in this?” In worship, service, and ministry, we can become so focused on managing outcomes, maintaining institutions, and following our own plans. And yet, God calls us to return, to be grateful, to be humble, and to trust in Her. Jeremiah’s words caution us against finding our worth and security in our own plans—trusting in ourselves or in idols that hold no power. Yet they also extend an invitation: to seek the Lord again and again, not by clinging to the past, but through a renewed and living trust. We are called to release what cannot give life and to place our full confidence in the One who can. Let us pray. PRAYER You are always faithful and loving, Lord Christ, giving gifts even and especially when we need you most. Forgive me when I forget to ask “Where are YOU in this?”. Call me back to your company. Let my work, my worship, and life be a reflection of the abundance that you have given me. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Thomas Riggs