What do you want to tell your Father today?

But God knows March 14, 2022

Matthew 10:29-31 But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

Matthew cites Jesus calling God his Father 45 times (Mark only 5; Luke 18 times). Why do you think Matthew paid so much attention to this? I would love to know your thoughts—you can write them in the Comments.

Most often, Jesus calls God “your Father,” as he does here. Read the verse again and then close your eyes for a moment. Can you imagine Jesus coming to you, right now, today, and saying these words to you?

Don’t be afraid. You are valuable to God. Don’t be afraid. Your Father knows. You matter to him. He notes even the smallest details of your life.

What do you want to tell your Father? What are you afraid of? Can you offer your fears to your Father, and then be still, receiving his peace?

“I cannot clutch this peace,” wrote Karis in one of her poems.* No, this is a daily transaction with our Father, clearing our souls of fear, letting his Presence touch and comfort us, re-centering into his peace. A transaction of trust. Imagine yourself as a small child, burrowing into the comfort of your Father’s lap.

Peace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW6xcmqfiY4

A song for Ukraine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duOnmlJuNJQ

Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul (Matthew 10:28).

*The poem “Caçula,” which means in Portuguese the youngest child of a family.

A strong and comforting word

But God says to the Son, “You remain forever” March 6, 2022

Hebrews 1:10-12 God also says to the Son, “In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth and made the heavens with your hands. They will perish, but you remain forever. They will wear out like old clothing. You will fold them up like a cloak and discard them like old clothing. But you are always the same; you will live forever.”

This is a strong and comforting word for these days of chaos and fear and violence and tragedy and death in Ukraine and other places around planet Earth. No matter what happens, Jesus is the same. Everything else may change, but he does not. He still yearns over us with love. He still longs for us to experience abundant life. He still sustains our world by the mighty power of his command (v. 3). He still cleanses us from our sins and intercedes for us at the Father’s right hand (v. 3). He will still return to set everything right and rule with a scepter of justice (v. 8). He still hates evil (v. 9). He still pours out the oil of joy to the extent we can receive it.

A few days ago, a friend’s parents’ house burned. One day they woke up in peace and the next they woke up in a neighbor’s home, trying to make sense of what had happened to their world. Each of you can immediately think of examples in your own sphere of the fragility and unpredictability of life.

But God says, Jesus will remain forever, and he is always the same. We can anchor our souls to him.

Eternal God, unchanging, mysterious and unknown.
Your boundless love unfailing, in grace and mercy shown…

FYI: Our church is calling for a different type of fast each week of Lent. This week we are fasting from social media. So I’ll start catching up a week or so from now.

What are you “no” to?

But Jesus said “No!”

Matthew 4:1-4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Matthew 5:37 Just say a simple, “Yes I will,” or “No, I won’t.”

In her book Saving Grace (Convergent, 2021), Kirsten Powers tells her painful story of trauma recovery and ways she is learning to live by grace. In her chapter about boundaries, she says “I am a ‘no’ to contempt, cruelty, disrespect, shaming, judging, bad-faith accusations, bullying, gaslighting, demonizing, dehumanizing, lying, both-sides-ism (creating false equivalency between the behavior of different people or groups), and any and all forms of bigotry. I am a no to having conversations with people who are committed to misunderstanding me.” She continues by identifying practical ways she has learned to say “no,” so she has space in her life to say “yes” to grace.

Saying “no” can be painful. And we love avoiding or minimizing pain—at least I do. But in her wonderful Transfiguration sermon on Sunday, Jess Bennett linked suffering with glory, inviting us to explore that connection during this season of Lent. And Jonathan Millard in his Ash Wednesday sermon told us fasting (saying “no” to whatever enthralls us) intentionally creates space for us to draw close to God and to discover he is kind and gracious, not angry and vindictive. Jonathan challenged us to let the cravings we feel when we say “no” stir in us our longing for our Father. Most of all, fasting in secret challenges our “approval addiction,” setting us free from our desperate need for the approval and affirmation of others.

I’m working on my “no” list. Then I’ll move on to my “yes” list. Will you join me? And then use this Lent to explore ways to make your “no’s” stick?

During these forty days, I’m deep-diving into Matthew and Hebrews. So I’ll close with this encouragement from Hebrews 12:10-12:

Our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.

The Kingdom is yours

But Jesus said, “Let the children come”

Matthew 19:13-15 One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could lay his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him. But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” And he placed his hands on their heads and blessed them.

For anyone suffering today, especially the children of Ukraine.

Blessed are the ones who do not bury all the broken pieces of their heart

Blessed are the tears of all the weary, pouring like a sky of falling stars.

Blessed are the wounded ones in mourning, brave enough to show the Lord their scars

Blessed are the hurts that are not hidden, open to the healing touch of God.

Blessed are the one who walk in kindness, even in the face of great abuse

Blessed are the deeds that go unnoticed, serving with unguarded gratitude.

Blessed are the ones who fight for justice, longing for the coming day of peace

Blessed is the soul that thirst for righteousness, welcoming the last, the lost, the least.

Blessed are the ones who suffer violence, and still have strength to love their enemies

Blessed is the faith of those who persevere, tho they fall, they’ll never know defeat.

The kingdom is yours, the kingdom is yours.

Hold on a little more, this is not the end.

Hope is in the Lord, keep your eyes on him.

By Dee Wilson, Brittney Spencer, Micah Massey and Aaron Keyes

A Wordle prayer for Ukraine

But God hears

Psalm 18:6 In my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears.

S H O C K

C R U E L

B L I T Z

C E A S E

L E A V E

P E A C E

Are you listening?

But God is our helper and shield

Psalm 115:1, 9-11 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness! … O Israel, trust the Lord! He is your helper and your shield. O priests, descendants of Aaron, trust the Lord! He is your helper and your shield. All you who fear the Lord, trust the Lord! He is your helper and your shield.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.

After we heard Alex preach on Jeremiah 17:1-8 last Sunday, my friend Rhonda challenged me and another friend to listen for the Lord to speak personally to us through these verses.

Tuesday the sun shone bright, and the temperature soared to 34 degrees F, so I took Caleb and Talita to Riverview Park. We all ended up muddy, but that’s a story for another day.

Talita, who turned two yesterday, seems fearless. She whizzed down the biggest slides and begged four-year-old Caleb to join her. He chose a small slide instead. But at one point he yelled, “Grammy, catch me!” and launched himself from a platform above my head. Thank God, I was close enough to do so. He laughed and clambered up to do it again. And again.

What would motivate a timid, risk-averse child to do such a thing? He doesn’t see it as a risk, I realized. Justified or not, he has complete confidence that I will be there for him.

Aha.

I’m listening, Lord.

Yesterday morning I read Psalm 115. I heard God say, echoing Karis’s words from the last blog post, “You worry too much, especially about the people you love. O Debbie, trust me! I am your helper and your shield! I am their helper and their shield.”

I looked up the Hebrew word translated “helper” in these verses. It is ezer, the same word used to describe Eve in relation to Adam in Genesis 2:18. In fact, most of the many times ezer appears in Scripture, it refers to God, the one who can protect and rescue us, the one we can trust to be there for us, the one upon whom we can cast our worries and cares, for ourselves and for others, for he cares about us (1 Peter 5:7).

Is the Father with us?
He is.

Is Christ among us?
He is.

Is the Spirit here?
He is.

This is our God.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We are his people.
We are redeemed.

…

All our problems
We send to the cross of Christ.

All our difficulties
We send to the cross of Christ.

All the devil’s works
We send to the cross of Christ.

All our hopes
We set on the risen Christ.

(From the Eucharistic service of the Anglican Church of Kenya)

Can you see angels?

But God’s world includes angels

Matthew 18:1-10 About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” Jesus called a little child to him and said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven … Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.”

“An artist is one still able to see angels,” Madeleine L’Engle tells me in Walking on Water. “To be visited by an angel is to be visited by God. To be touched by an angel is to be touched by God.”

Immediately, of course, I think of Karis. Dave joked as she was growing up that she needed two guardian angels, not just one, to keep her safe through all her adventuring and exploits. But in reading her journals, I discovered she had three, and often saw them and took comfort and guidance from them.

Those of us around her, intent on keeping Karis safe and alive, tried to limit her, because she seemed to have missed out on common sense. Where is the line between fearlessness and stupidity?

We thought, silly us, looking at all we had invested in her life, that she “owed” us this: to walk within boundaries of safety, to not risk her costly life on (to us) frivolous pleasures. I placed value on what it took for me and others to support her in her extravagant ideas.

But for Karis, every day of life was Gift. So many times, doctors had said her broken body could no longer support life, yet she lived on. This made her careless, or overconfident, or too trusting, from the point of view of us who did not see her guardian angels or accept her absolute conviction that she would live “not one minute more or less than God has planned for me.”

“Where is the line between responsible faith and reckless presumption?” I would ask her.

“Ah, Mama, you worry too much. No one has ever solved the dilemma of free will vs. predestination. You need to embrace the both-and, not try to reduce it to either-or.” A deflection. I was not comforted. I did not worry less.

So if an artist is one still able to see angels, in what ways was Karis an artist? I remember her economics professor at Notre Dame telling me that after he graded Karis badly on an essay filled with her customary multi-hued imagery and made her rewrite it in proper academic diction, she thereafter submitted two essays for every assignment: one she wrote for herself, and one she wrote for him. “Economics is about Life,” she told him. “I can only understand it in that context. Then I translate it for you into the language that makes sense to you.” His view of his subject was transformed.

And that’s what she did for all of us who paid attention. She taught us to listen, to see, to go deeper. To embrace mystery, rather than try to tame it. To touch Joy. And Freedom.

Ah, Karis. I’m so glad James sees you dancing. With the angels. With Jesus.

Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, who for ever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your Name: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory.

The cost of kindness, by Meredith Dobson

But God is right beside me

Psalm 18:8 I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.

The gardener had shoveled a path from the curb to the front door. However, sun had melted a piece by the curb that froze and created “black ice.” I had loaded my arms and begun a walk to the house when, without warning, my feet went out from under me and I was flat on my back, head on the pavement looking at clear blue sky.

Stunned, I couldn’t breathe for a moment. But I was vaguely aware I had seen a man walking on the sidewalk toward me. Now he was beside me trying to lift me up. Suddenly a woman appeared saying “don’t lift her, she might be hurt.” Somehow, I got to my feet, feeling a little dazed, but I felt no pain.

A second woman appeared. My knees were shaky, but they supported me. “Is this your house?” someone asked. It was in my head to explain the long, complicated story of why I was there and whose house it was, but it seemed like too much. All I could say was a quiet “Yes.”

The man who had been walking asked if I needed things from the trunk that was open. I said, “Yes I do – bags from Target and” … my mind went completely blank. In my mind I could see the Staples store, but my head felt full of mush, and I couldn’t find the word. It occurred to me that I had hit my head on the pavement, and I needed to hold on and not faint or say or do anything stupid. “Staples!” I shouted. These kind angels brought the bags into the house for me. Before I could say “God Bless” they were off into the morning sunshine warning me of the black ice.

I felt a miracle of sorts going through me. Nothing hurt. Maybe my hip would have a bruise. Nothing broken. I stood there in this living room belonging to a woman I felt deep affection for and whose final years and now months or weeks or whatever kind of time God had planned for her are mine to watch over. I took off my puffy coat and was thankful for the soft cushioning I had landed on when I fell. I said a direct and sincere “Thank You” to God for no injuries. Then I “heard” Him say, “Ok, Meredith, get to work.”

Throughout these weeks and months that I have been Power of Attorney on behalf of this dear woman, I have often questioned the extent and manner in which my choices and decisions for her needed to be taken. I have asked for advice. I have talked to God. I have asked for guidance. People have offered opinions. People have said what they would or would not do, but at the end of the day, the choices and decisions were mine to make and to live with.

On that day, when I was flat on my back, looking at the sky and minutes later scanning my body for injury, there was no doubt in my mind that God was with me and guiding me. God will help me with mistakes, and he will guide me whenever I ask. My only job is to be honest, truthful and keep my friend’s best interest at the top of the list right underneath God’s. Amen.

Proverbs 3: 3 – Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart.

The only scars in Heaven …

But Jesus stands with us February 5, 2022

John 20:24-28 One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.” Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.

A surprising thing happened as Dave and I listened to Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in E minor this morning, as we always do on February 5^th. I lit several candles, thinking not only of Karis but of Mary and so many other beloved friends who joined the company of Heaven this last year. The flame of one of the candles danced wildly the entire time, while the other flames held steady. I wish you could have seen it! What a gift, bringing smiles to our lips and joy to our hearts.

We also listened to “The Only Scars in Heaven” by Casting Crowns, a wonderful tribute to the One who bore our sin and our sorrow so we could be healed. The lyrics are there, but I suggest the second time you close your eyes and imagine the joy and peace our loved ones enjoy in his presence.

One day we too will dance and celebrate with them. No more tears. No more sorrow.

Don’t you long to see the blooms and fruit?

But God’s righteousness will be like a garden in early spring

Isaiah 61:11 The Sovereign Lord will show his justice to the nations of the world. Everyone will praise him! His righteousness will be like a garden in early spring, with plants springing up everywhere.

*Crocuses by our front steps last spring*

It’s a gorgeous sunny day in Pittsburgh, so I’m not surprised to read that Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow and predicts six more weeks of winter. In fact, along with a wide swath of middle and northeast America, a winter storm warning flashes on my screen for tomorrow and Friday, while United warns me our flight to Houston Friday may be cancelled. What a wise groundhog! Haha. To be fair, Phil has only been right 40% of the time since he began making weather predictions in 1887. (Yes—according to Groundhog Day lore, this very same huge groundhog has been alive and prophesying since the 19^th century!)

Though spring may (or may not) take a little longer to show itself this year, we know it will come. Once again, we’ll be able to walk out the doors of our homes without the fuss of snow boots, hats and scarves, heavy coats and thick gloves. Our cars will no longer slide on the ice. We’ll no longer fight the temptation to huddle up at home instead of going out to exercise when the temperatures are in the teens. We’ll no longer lament the beautiful snow turning dirty and icky from traffic and snowplows.

Instead, multi-hued crocuses, snowdrops and hyacinths will pop their heads through the snow and perfume the warming air. We know this will happen in our city.

So, reading much-loved Isaiah 61 this morning, I was struck by the verse quoted above, and the word “will” repeated three times: The Lord will show his justice to the world. Everyone will praise him. His righteousness will be like a garden in early spring.

The plants springing up everywhere will come from seeds and bulbs planted before the winter, I muse. They will be stronger, their blooms brighter, because winter gave their roots time to grow deep. Suddenly I don’t mind the idea of six more weeks of winter. I want my perennials to have time to grow stronger before they pour their resources into blooms and fruit.

And then I wonder what God may be growing inside me through the “winter” of Covid. No, I don’t want it to last one second longer! But, as long as it’s with us, I’m asking the Lord to grow my emotional and spiritual roots deep. To surprise me with “plants springing up everywhere” when we’re through and out the other side of this long trial, and all the others the world faces now.

What good seeds have been planted in your life—their blooms and fruit not yet visible? Can you picture their roots growing strong in this season of “winter” around the world, no matter the external and internal weather where you live? Don’t you long to see the Lord’s justice and righteousness?

What is my part?

God of justice, fill us up, send us out.