Challenge!

The aim of devotion and prayer is to develop love for everyone. ~ Amma

In her book, Unbinding the Gospel, Martha Reese talks about a church that was interested in exploring reaching out to the un-churched, i.e. evangelism,. Martha invited the focus group to do nothing other than to pray. They were to gather and pray for three months, they were to not make any plans, not strategize, not set an agenda…they were simply to pray. To pray for one another, to pray for the church, pray for the congregation, to pray! The group was skeptical at first but at the end of three months there was a renewed sense of passion and compassion. The group continues to meet and to pray and others in the congregation have been invited into the same practice of prayer for one another.

On Sunday Jason gave the congregation a challenge to give a smile to everyone we encounter, because we can never underestimate the power of a smile, of human connection. This past week that challenged has been broadened by asking groups of folks to enter into a covenant of prayer, to pray for one another daily. As on Sunday when we can not leave worship until we had prayed for one another, we can not truly become the Body of Christ until we hold one another in prayer. So our challenge lets us take time each day to be in prayer, to pray for our congregation, our sisters and brothers in Christ, the brokenness in our world, pray for ourselves, pray for our leadership, pray for ______, pray!

Let us take seriously the challenge of our faith, to smile and recognize the full humanity of all, to pray without ceasing, to be a people whose faith is alive. May our prayer life and devotion, to our creating God, to Christ’s call for justice, lead us to love one another. And may that love, grounded in the power of the Holy Spirit, call us deeper into our faith.

Harmony

May all I say and all I think

be in harmony with Thee,

God within me, God beyond me,

Maker of the Trees.
North American Indian - Chinook

Harmony! As many of you know though I enjoy singing, I am not a singer. One of the things I enjoy pretending to do is sing harmony. There is a beauty to singing the tension of singing along with and yet alone.

One definition of harmony is “any simultaneous combination of tones”. It is the combination of tones that speaks to me. What it says to me is that harmony is not about loosing one’s tone or voice or perspective rather it is about listening to others around us and responding in ways that allow our differences to join together. This joining together can create a different a song that is at once both new and familiar.

How is God calling you to listen to the song being sung to you? How is god asking you to respond to that song? What is the harmony that the Spirit is working you that needs to be sung?

Peace

If there is to be peace in the world, There must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations, There must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities, There must be peace between neighbors.
If there is to be peace between neighbors, There must be peace in the home.
If there is to be peace in the home, There must be peace in the heart.
Chinese Philosopher - Lao-Tse - 6th Century BCE

PEACE. Peace seems to be an allusive concept in our world today where we cling and fight to protect our differences, our territory and our understandings. We pray for peace in the world and yet find it difficult to have peace in our own circle of knowing.

This prayer/reflection reminds me that peace, true deep peace, must start within me. If I am not at peace in my heart then how can I be part of building peace? If I am unable to experience peace how can I call for peace?

We, who find ourselves in the heart of God through Christ, know that peace comes from that relationship. We know that peace comes from first being loved as a child of God. Peace is possible because we have heard the voice of Jesus the Christ calling us from the tumult! We hold to the vision of peace even when all around us is unrest, even when the vision of peace is not clear…we non-the-less hold onto the Peace of Christ.

Where is God calling you to go today to proclaim peace? What is the peace that Christ Jesus extends to you? How are you called to be peace?

Millennium Resolution

Let there be respect for the earth,

Peace for its people,

Love in our lives,

Delight in the good,

Forgiveness for past wrongs

And from now on, a new start.
- Rev. Peter Trow - 1999

This simple prayer cuts right through to the heart! With the simplicity of words the images of peace, love, respect and forgiveness stand as central themes and hope. This is a resolution not a prayer, this is a guiding statement, a core purpose if you will for those who desire to make respect, peace and love the central themes in their lives.

As people of God we are called:
to live in peace -- Isaiah 55:11-13
to live the commandment of Christ to love one another -- Mark 12:30-32
to forgive and we have been forgiven -- Matthew 6:11-13
and to stand firm in the ways that through Christ we may live in new ways. -- Romans 6:3-5



How can this resolution become a prayer for us this day? In what ways are you called to live into being a person of respect, peace, love and forgiveness?

God speaks to mortals - essene gospel of peace

I speak to you. Be still Know I am God.
I spoke to you when you were born. Be still Know I am God.
I spoke to you at your first sight. Be still Know I am God.
I spoke to you at your first word. Be still Know I am God.
I spoke to you at your first thought. Be still Know I am God.
I spoke to you at your first love. Be still Know I am God.
I spoke to you at your first song. Be still Know I am God.
I speak to you through the grass of the meadows. Be still Know I am God.
I speak to you through the trees of the forests. Be still Know I am God.
I speak to you through the valleys and the hills. Be still Know I am God.
I speak to you through the Holy Mountains. Be still Know I am God.
I speak to you through the rain and snow. Be still Know I am God.
I speak to you through the waves of the sea. Be still Know I am God.
I speak to you through the dew of the morning. Be still Know I am God.
I speak to you through the peace of the evening. Be still Know I am God.
I speak to you through the splendour of the sun. Be still Know I am God.
I speak to you through the brilliant stars. Be still Know I am God.
I speak to you through the storm and the clouds. Be still Know I am God.
I speak to you through the thunder and lightening. Be still Know I am God.
I speak to you through the mysterious rainbow. Be still Know I am God.
I will speak to you when you are alone Be still Know I am God.
I will speak to you through the Wisdom of the Ancients. Be still Know I am God.
I will speak to you at the end of time. Be still Know I am God.
I will speak to you when you have seen my Angels. Be still Know I am God.
I will speak to you throughout Eternity. Be still Know I am God.
I speak to you. Be still Know I am God.

God speaks to us and the world speaks to us. One calls us to be still and to know the deep presence of love, mercy and grace. The other speaks and calls us to get busy with a thousand things that seem never to fully satisfy. One of my favorite communion hymns speaks to God saying "You satisfy the hungry heart." Through all of our existence God speaks, to all the hunger of our hearts God speaks and satisfies the deep empty places. But we must do our part...we must slow down...be still and know God. We must turn from that which does not satisfy so that we might feast at the banquet that God calls us to.

How is God calling to you in the midst of your busy life? What are the ways that God is saying to you "Be still and know I am God"? How is God asking you to call others to stillness that they might know God?