Devotional Pts. Week of Sept 1

Sunday-Ps. 81 has a few noteworthy points. it ends with the lovely phrase of sweet honey from the rock., appropriate for a festal hymn. It also is a song of comfort and help as God lifts the burden from shoulders and hands. (when have you felt that?) Even so, God worries that the people seem deaf to the pleas of the path toward god and happiness, but God is a god of freedom and “lets them go to follow their stubborn hearts.” (Again, when have you felt so?)The psalms are so realistic that they realize that festive occasions may well occasion their own pain. 

Monday-“A friend is someone/Who knows where you've been,/Accepts you as you are, 
And still invites you to grow.” (Kent Ira Groff (adapting Ralph Waldo Emerson) I like this quote as it strikes me as combining loyalty but still seeing a friend as having potential to be better, to see them more clearly, perhaps, than they see themselves. Do you, or have you known, a friend such as this? Does Jesus sound like a friend such as this for you?

Tuesday-Every gift we give breaks the barrier between the sacred and the mundane and floods the mundane with the sacred-Miroslav Volf. Anything holy is thought to be kept separate form the everyday. yet, the vehicle for the holy is often everyday material set to a new purpose or meaning. when do you get religious meaning out of secular material? (I often get religious meaning from Springsteen songs, for instance).

Wednesday-We are working on Hosea in the Wednesday class. To get at the depth of god’s fidelity to us, it chooses the image of parent and spouse. Both images are employed to introduce us to the wounds of sin in the heart of God. What other relationships help or cause an obstacle in your understanding of the depth of the divine relationship with humanity?

Thursday-Last week, humility was the theme for worship for a group of visiting clergy. Few people are need of it more than clergy, perhaps. We talk a good game on humility, but then make it a matter of pride. for me, humility refers to its root, being a grounded person. it means being aware of limitations and abilities but keeping them both within balance. who have been models of humilty for you in life or in the arts, such as Attiucs Finch?

Friday-I’ve returned from Yellowstone with a renewed appreciation for the wonders of creation, apart from human utility. Not only the vistas remain with me, but all of the bubbling little thermal features and the springs iwht different colored water that seems to be beauty for its own abundant sake. If you haven’t been there, please consider looking at some photographs of this remarkable place of wonders. Where are some of your favorite natural environments?

Saturday-Summer ended with a lot of activity with festivals in St Louis, from music, to a Greek festival to a Japanese festival. The Bible is filled with references to festival time. Festivals help us to mark time from one season, form one memory to another. they break up the monotony of the everyday. We mark time well with festivals. What are some of your favorites or least favorites?