PRESENCE

ANTICIPATION.... (d365.org - Sarah Councell Turner)
It's not what someone does for us that matters most; it's the very fact that they are with us when we need them that's important.

In moments of struggle and suffering - and in times of celebration and joy - we want another alongside us to share our experience.

The overriding message of Christmas is that God has come to be with us. And God is with you now.

SUNDAY, January 5     Leadership

Psalm 72:1-7  MSG

Give the gift of wise rule to the king, O God,
    the gift of just rule to the crown prince.
May he judge your people rightly,
    be honorable to your meek and lowly.
Let the mountains give exuberant witness;
    shape the hills with the contours of right living.
Please stand up for the poor,
    help the children of the needy,
    come down hard on the cruel tyrants.
Outlast the sun, outlive the moon—
    age after age after age.
Be rainfall on cut grass,
    earth-refreshing rain showers.
Let righteousness burst into blossom
    and peace abound until the moon fades to nothing.

      What more can we pray for that the gift of wise rule to the leaders of our world?  Today is a good reminder that we can be a part of that gift.  Our prayers for our politicians matter.  How often do I include them in my daily devotions?  More than not I utter some words of discouragement about their objectives and goals, perhaps their lack of conscience, and then ask for God to remain present in MY life!  May my prayers include those who rule, that God's presence with them will guide for justice and peace. 
     Luke flies out tonight with the Peace Fellowship delegation to Palestine and Israel.  May God's presence comfort and assure this group as they seek to "see, listen, support, and act" all sides in this troubled part of the Holy Land.  May the leadership of these lands rule wisely as they welcome these young people.  

SATURDAY, January 4    

John 1:14 GNT

The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father's only Son.
     It is probably a 'cop-out', but I thought Sarah Turner Councell's remarks on today's passage were right on.  God came to us in a form we could recognize and identify.  Until then we ran away.  We continue to run at times because we fail to recognize that God still appears in those around us.  The dog lovers in my family will appreciate Councell's analogy:

Two years ago my dog Rosie went missing. She was gone for a terrible 20 days. One day I got a call from a teacher who had seen Rosie near a school. Several people had tried to get close to her, with no luck. Even though Rosie was exhausted and starving, she ran away from every stranger she saw.

Finally, a volunteer brought her own dog to join the search. As soon as Rosie saw them she went right over, touched noses with the dog, and wagged her tail. That's when she stopped running and came home.

No one has ever seen God. Jesus became flesh so that we would see someone who looks, sounds, and smells human. Just like Rosie, we need one of our own kind to come find us and bring us home.

Are we tired and weary, but still running from God?  We needn't be.  God is present and with us.  

FRIDAY, January 3        God-Light

John 1:10 CEB

The light was in the world,
    and the world came into being through the light,
        but the world didn’t recognize the light.
How can we be sure?
What proof do we have?
Is God for real?
Is God truly present?
Give me a sign! 
Grant me a miracle!

Are you kidding?
Take a look around!!  
Look beyond the mortal doings,
Look beyond mankind's mistakes,
All Creation radiates God! 
The earth is ablaze with God-Light!
Sunsets! Alpine glow!
Mountain peaks! Red-rock Canyons!
Waterfalls, crashing waves. 
Minute wildflowers, blue orchids,
Hummingbirds and dragonflies.
The world is alive with God-presence. 

Are you kidding?
Take a look around!
Every healing hug or handshake,
Every act of compassion,
Every moment of mercy,
That's God! God at work!
The Light is in the world!
The Light is present!  
Recognize the Light!
Be part of the God-Light!
We can be sure!!!

THURSDAY, January 2    Life-Light

John 1:1-5 (Mixed)

In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 From the very beginning the Word was with God.  (GNT)
Everything was created through him;
    nothing—not one thing!—
    came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
    and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
    the darkness couldn’t put it out.  (MSG)

     I love the simplicity of the Good News in the first verses, but Life-Light blazing out of the darkness also sounds so great in Peterson's The Message!  So today?  Two translations!  

     Today is a day of departures.  Jack is flying back to Denver.  This could easily have been the last Christmas Jack spends in the States and hence, with us.  I don't think I gave enough thought to that, or perhaps paid enough attention to Jack.  Did I take his presence for granted?  Do I take God's presence for granted as well?  

      Luke also is leaving today - for an extended trip to Palestine and Israel.  I am excited for his opportunity; but naturally worried for his safety.  This is not the most secure area in the world.  Perhaps I will have MORE empathy now for the mothers who say goodbye to their sons traveling to Iraq or Afghanistan! 

      So,.... I find today's scripture comforting.  God is present with both Jack and Luke, wherever they may be.  Life-Light is blazing out to surround them.  God is present and at work in and through them.  Prayers will be heard on their behalf.  Safe travels my boys.  

WEDNESDAY, January 1

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 GNT

Everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses.

2 He sets the time for birth and the time for death,
the time for planting and the time for pulling up,
3 the time for killing and the time for healing,
the time for tearing down and the time for building.
4 He sets the time for sorrow and the time for joy,
the time for mourning and the time for dancing,
5 the time for making love and the time for not making love,
the time for kissing and the time for not kissing.
6 He sets the time for finding and the time for losing,
the time for saving and the time for throwing away,
7 the time for tearing and the time for mending,
the time for silence and the time for talk.
8 He sets the time for love and the time for hate,
the time for war and the time for peace.

     I just finished reading a light little romantic novel about a couple and the three angels who brought them together.  The angels were in trouble from God because the couple met BEFORE God had planned.  The angels had messed things up.  Is there chance encounter, or is our life controlled as to God's choosing?  I think both!  We have free will!  We can mess up God's plan.  But I honestly believe God will just choose another opportunity to place before us.  Over and over.  We ignore the clues so often, but eventually we take heed and notice!  

     God is present in our lives.  God is at work in both the good and the bad.  We have lessons to learn in both the celebration and sorrow, in each 'season' before us.  May we recognize God's presence and live in and through it in the year ahead. 

TUESDAY, December 31

Psalm 8:3-9  MSG

I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,
    your handmade sky-jewelry,
Moon and stars mounted in their settings.
    Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
Why do you bother with us?
    Why take a second look our way?

Yet we’ve so narrowly missed being gods,
    bright with Eden’s dawn light.
You put us in charge of your handcrafted world,
    repeated to us your Genesis-charge,
Made us lords of sheep and cattle,
    even animals out in the wild,
Birds flying and fish swimming,
    whales singing in the ocean deeps.

 God, brilliant Lord,
    your name echoes around the world.

     'Oh, Lord, my Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!'  

The words to a popular praise song echo in my heart whenever I read this passage from Psalms, a song which puts the psalm to music.  And then....when I read through one of Jed's books on the universe or ponder the vastness of the night sky, when we visit an observatory and are given a scale model of the SIZE of God's realm, we can feel very small and insignificant.  And that is the marvelous majesty of it all:  The God of infinity cares and dwells about ME, personally.  The thought can blow you away.  David has the same reaction as he writes his psalm.  Why do you bother with us, God?  Why do you care?

     Why?  The power of LOVE.  God loves us.  He is present to help us experience and extend that love to others, to live in love.  May I take the time and seek the opportunities in the coming year to revel in, and share, such powerful love.  

       

MONDAY, December 30

Psalm 8:1

God, brilliant Lord,
    yours is a household name.  (MSG)

Lord, our Lord, how majestic
    is your name throughout the earth!
    You made your glory higher than heaven! (CEB)

O Lord, our Lord,
    your greatness is seen in all the world!
Your praise reaches up to the heavens.  (GNT)

Household name.  Ever present.  Majestic.  Seen everywhere.  That's our God.  That's the God that has come to live WITH us, IN us.  That's the God who is by our side in our triumphs, our celebrations, our sorrows, our trials.  May we spend time with our God, may we talk with the One who is ever with us, may we KNOW the God who lives in us.  Amen!  

BLESSING.... (d365.org - Sarah Councell Turner)

Now go with the assurance that
God is present in you at your strongest and weakest.
God is present in all creation, including you.
God is present in every moment and in a single word.
God is present, recognized or not.
And God is present in the flesh – like our flesh – to bring us home.