Devotions Week of Sept. 11

Sunday, Sept 11-this is a new generation’s date that will live in infamy.The psalm for today is 114. Words like this make me wish fervently for a miracle that would have moved the two towers, would have turned a plane in its tracks, would have allowed the plane in Pennsylvania to land safely. In the psalm, the land is called god’s sanctuary. Could not our land, any land, be called God’s sanctuary, God’s holy place? If so, should we not treat each other as holy people?

Monday-When we are a bit distant from someone, we may say, “keep in touch.” Are our prayers in that realm? How often is keep in touch? is it a card at Christmas, a phone call, e-mail streams? May I suggest that we should more carefully monitor how and when we keep in touch with God? All relationships require care and attention, and spiritual ones may well require more.

Tuesday A Hindu scripture (can you tell I’m teaching a comparative religions class?) speaks of the perfect as being an obstacle to us fining our right path in life. If we compare an effort to perfection then we may well be sorely tempted not to even try to to give into failure.”Better to do a thing imperfectly” it says than to wait to do the perfect thing. Imperfect people do imperfect things, but if is our best, they are to be respected and admired..

Wednesday-We are working on Romans in the morning class. It is so hard for us hard-working Americans to get it through our heads that God is a god of grace, of gift, and not judged merit or efforts. A gift comes from love, esteem, or basic kindness, but it it not a contract for services. A gift does not have strings attached, or it is no longer a gift. It is difficult for a lot of us to receive instead of give, especially to receive care. God’s grace is god’s gift. Life is a gift. Jesus is a divine gift. every day is therefore Christmas in a spiritual sense.

Thursday-A Hindu Scripture speaks of looking at a dirty mirror but then seeing it cleansed. paul sticks with the dirty reflection, “we see as in a mirror dimly.” In both instances, basic human insight is distorted, like my hazy vision after my eye was cut up after surgery. John Calvin famously said that our spiritual sight is strengthened through frequent use of, praying with, and meditation on scripture as ‘spectacles.” Indeed a Scriptural imagination helps us to see ourselves and each other through the stained glass eyes that could well be the way God sees us, always through eyes of love.

Friday-Time slips away from us so easily, especially, it seems, when we are feeling stressed or ill, but we still feel he pressure of a project or an engagement. Since we are mortal, isn;t time a scarce resource? Shouldn’t we treat it with respect towards efficient use of it? Yet, time is a gift for all of us, as life is a gift.It is also a relative gift, in that it does seem to flow at different speeds with different activities. Does time ever seem to go quickly at church?

Saturday-Some weeks, the weekend cannot come fast enough. We crave some recreation and some rest. We feel as if we need to refuel our empty reserve tanks. Maybe that is the angle we need to begin with the Sabbath.The sabbath rest is made for us to refuel and recharge across the board, spiritually, mentally, emotionally. it is a good time for recreation, in the sense of play but also to re-create the enjoyment of God at the culmination of creation, its enjoyment.