Psalm 23 came up in the Revised Common Lectionary cycle for church on Mother’s Day when I was away on study leave and celebrating Mother’s Day with my mom and dad. Psalm 23 is a classic. Maybe the best-known of the Psalms.
 
You may know this trick. Grab any Judeo-Christian Bible. Put your fingers in the middle of the pages in the book and open it. Chances are high, like almost 100%, that you will open the Bible to the Psalms. Right in the middle of the book.
 
It’s a cute little parlor trick, but it’s also nice to know. The Psalms are ancient songs, poems, laments, petitions, praises, amazing prayers—all ways to talk to God. And all ways to listen for God. It’s kind of like a prayer app. Open to the middle and seek God through the Psalms.
 
Psalm 23 is classic. 
 
Sunday School kids for generations have been taught to memorize it and know it by heart. I used to be able to recite the King James Version, but I think my old mind has disconnected from that a little bit over the years. Life, new translations, seminary, and the work have all muddied that water. 
 
I can muddle through it, but not like when I was 10—I had it down.
 
Forgive the patriarchal language—let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water.  Here’s the New Revised Standard Version:
​

A Psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
2     He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters; 
3     he restores my soul. 
He leads me in right paths
    for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, 
    I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff--
    they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    my whole life long.
​

It works better as poetry if it’s centered, doesn’t it?
It definitely works better as prayer.
Centered. 
 
That’s what we do when we pray. Center ourselves in God. 
 
This has been an awful couple weeks for the USA. Two heinous hate crimes of shooting in a Presbyterian Church in southern California just yesterday and at the grocery store in Buffalo on Friday. Racial hate crime. The leak of the Supreme Court opinion that may overturn Roe v. Wade and the Casey case depriving multitudes of women the right to make their own decisions on abortion. 
 
What hurts one of us, hurts us all. Our politics are a mess. Our culture is a mess. Our lives are a mess. 
 
What if our mission, our practice, our culture—yours and mine—were to love God and radically love our neighbors as Jesus teaches us? What if we really did that? What if?
 
Let’s start here. Right here, right now.
I’m gonna ask you to scroll back up and pray Psalm 23 again. 
Just try it, and center yourself here: 
​

What does it look like when
“goodness and mercy follow me”?
​

​I’m just gonna leave that right there in the middle.  
 
Grace & Peace,
Scott

​So, I chuckle as I write that title out because this probably isn’t going in the direction you’re assuming. Not even close. Heaven? Or Hell?
 
Presbyterians. One of the things we don’t do very well, and have never done very well, is talk about our spirituality. We always kinda cache our spirituality in really vague terms. Even when it comes to prayer—the most basic of Christian practices. It’s just not that often you’ll hear someone say, “I need to pray about that.” Or, “I have been praying about…” In practice, it happens for sure. But we don’t hear a lot about it—not that often, anyway.
 
All that said, when it comes to spirituality, I’m actually happy to talk about it. I do talk about it. A lot. It’s kinda my job to talk about it. Promote it. While I’m probably not the gentlest person you know about most things, I do take a gentle approach when it comes to spirituality. 
 
I’m sensitive to “Presbyterian spirituality” which is very chill in most cases. It’s so chill that most Presbyterians can bristle at the first blush. This is one of those things you learn early as a Presbyterian minister. You don’t be shy about it, but you gotta be chill about it. 
 
And personally, I am deliberate, very intentional with my own spirituality, with my practices. By now you know me. I have a daily routine. Never fails. Every day. Time with God. It’s how I start my day. Quiet time. I pray for you. I pray for our church. Every. Day. I read the Daily Lectionary Bible verses. Sometimes Oswald Chambers. Always Phyllis Tickle and J. Phillip Newell. And I read Richard Rohr. 
 
Fr. Richard Rohr is a highly progressive Franciscan priest and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. If you read any progressive theological articles or books at all, Richard Rohr is often quoted and a highly sought-after conversation partner. Just a few years ago, I learned he does a daily devotional and I LOVE HIM! Turns out, a number of my colleagues across the denominational lines love him, too. 
 
Not too long ago, he did this whole series on Heaven and Hell. I have for at least a decade theologically agreed with him on the entire concept of Heaven and Hell and it’s simply this: 
 
Heaven and Hell aren’t places. They are states. Present current states. Heaven and Hell are here and now. In this life, on this Earth, in our lives. Always in all ways. 
 
Here are a couple broad strokes at it:
 
Heaven is heartfelt and found in and among the peaks of light living life as a follower of Jesus Christ. Loving others unconditionally as Jesus loves us. Building community and taking care of our neighbors as described in the early church by actions of the Holy Spirit (in the book of Acts). 
 
Hell, on the other hand, is also heartfelt and found in and among the valleys of darkness that surround us. Evil. Heinous acts. Tough times. Hard life events. Loss. Depression. All that is Hell, obviously. 
 
Heaven and Hell. Sometimes they are of our making!
 
Okay, that’s plenty enough to make your brain hurt. 
 
Right? 
 
So, Fr. Richard turned me on to the poet David Whyte, from his collection Fire in the Earth (Many Rivers Press: 2002). 
 
Just pause and read this. Like, read it and then sit in the Mystery for a while. 
Just sit and be.
Wow!
​

“The Old Wild Place”
 
After the good earth
where the body knows itself to be real
and the mad flight
where it gives itself to the world,
we give ourselves to the rhythm of love
leaving the breath
to know its way home.
 
And after the first pure fall,
the last letting go, and the calm
breath where we go to rest,
we’ll return again to find it
and feel again the body welcomed,
the body held,
the strong arms of the world,
the water, the waking at dawn
and the thankful, almost forgotten,
curling to sleep with the dark.
 
The old wild place beyond all shame. 
​

​Just sit with that for a while. Right?
 
You’re welcome!
 
Grace & Peace,
Scott

Okay Christian person. Let me ask you a question that is enough to make your brain hurt. We’re in the season of Eastertide right now. Alleluia! The Lord is risen. He is risen, indeed. Alleluia! The resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ. So, now what?
 
It was one of our “Worship Questions To Go” this last Sunday. We talked about it at length Monday Night in the Zoom Bible Study--
 
What do we do with the Post-Easter Jesus?
 
That’s literally the age-old question we’ve been struggling with since the women discover the empty tomb. And by “we,” I mean us—Jesus followers. What do we do with him?
 
You start to really feel the struggle in the early Pauline letters. 1 Thessalonians is probably the first of Paul’s letters to emerge and it likely doesn’t come along until mid-1st Century—20 years after the crucifixion. In fact, Paul’s letters emerge before the Gospels. Then Mark comes first and not until at least 60-65. The others much later, and John’s Gospel may not have emerged until as late as the 2nd Century!
 
Even the Didache, which is literally a manual for being a person of “The Way”—basically what they call the lifestyle of following Jesus—They aren’t even known as “Christians” yet! The Didache comes out also mid-1stCentury, and even the Didache doesn’t talk about the resurrection. Not one word!
 
After years of prayer, a lot of thought, and serious study—I think I understand why no resurrection. I think it’s because they are living it. Like, if you put yourself into their context, in the years immediately following Jesus they are mourning, processing, developing love and community around his teaching. They are experiencing and actually becoming the resurrection. They are becoming the resurrection. 
 
This is no “belief structure.”
This is lifestyle. 
This is huge!
 
It’s also important to know that Paul never meets Jesus of Nazareth! Paul’s experience of Jesus comes on the road to Damascus (see Acts 9) post-Easter and he has a serious life-changing confrontation with the risen Christ! He is blinded by the light of Christ! 
 
So, what we get here in 2022 are these glimpses of the Risen Christ through the eyes of the earliest followers. And this is significant! Scholars agree that to best understand the impact of a leader, a movement, or a culture is to examine the lives of the adherents. 
 
What do they do? 
How do they live? 
What do they teach their children?
Hmmmm.
 
That’s enough to make your brain hurt, too! 
What do we do with this Post-Easter Jesus?
And that is it.
 
Are we becoming the resurrection? 
Following Jesus? 
Loving God and loving each other as Jesus loves us? 
Building welcoming community and taking care of our neighbors? 
Yes or no?
 
When we look in the mirror, do we see the face of Jesus? 
 
Sorry to make your brain hurt—I’m just askin’…
 
Grace & Peace,
Scott

Every breath you take
And every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I'll be watching you*
​

Could be God talking through Sting. Not menacing—just present. Holy Spirit. 
Always in all ways.
 
One of the things I learned in yoga is connecting body and Spirit. Focusing on the breath. It helps me, anyway. We don’t do a very good job of connecting body and Spirit in Christianity. Not like yoga does, anyway. 
 
This Sunday we’ll be playing around with the scripture from John when the risen Christ breathes onto the disciples. He breathes the Holy Spirit onto them! Whoa!
 
Back at the beginning. The very beginning—in Genesis, God literally breathes creation onto the face of the Earth—Whoa!
 
So, just focus on the breath.
Your breath.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
Holy Spirit—that’s God. 
Whoa!
 
Every now and then I get something I wish I’d written like this. Barbara Stacey sent me this piece—forgive the patriarchal language—just focus on your breath.
 
There was a moment when Moses had the nerve to ask God what his name is. God was gracious enough to answer, and the name he gave is recorded in the original Hebrew as YHWH.

Over time we’ve arbitrarily added an “a” and an “e” in there to get YaHWeH, presumably because we have a preference for vowels. 

But scholars and Rabi’s have noted that the letters YHWH represent breathing sounds, or aspirated consonants. When pronounced without intervening vowels, it actually sounds like breathing. 

YH (inhale): WH (exhale). 

So a baby’s first cry, his first breath, speaks the name of God. 

A deep sigh calls His name – or a groan or gasp that is too heavy for mere words. 

Even an atheist would speak His name, unaware that their very breathe is giving constant acknowledgment to God. 

Likewise, a person leaves this earth with their last breath, when God’s name is no longer filing their lungs. 

So when I can’t utter anything else, is my cry calling out His name?

Being alive means I speak His name constantly.  
So, is it heard the loudest when I’m the quietest?

In sadness, we breathe heavy sighs. 
In joy, our lungs feel almost like they will burst. 
In fear we hold our breath and have to be told to breathe slowly to help us calm down. 
When we’re about to do something hard, we take a deep breath to find our courage.  

When I think about it, breathing is giving him praise. Even in the hardest moments! 

This is so beautiful and fills me with emotion every time I grasp the thought. God chose to give himself a name that we can’t help but speak every moment we’re alive. 

All of us, always, everywhere. 
Waking, sleeping, breathing, with the name of God on our lips.**

Whoa! Right?
 
Just breathing—sighs too deep for words,
Scott
 
**by  Sandra Thurman Caporale.
*by “Sting” Gordon Sumner.
Graphic artist unknown.
​

Wow, it’s quiet around here this early.  
Very quiet. It’s a quiet week. 
And that’s totally cool with me.
 
Most of you know, I keep my office hours early in the mornings during the week. I don’t think Haytown is on Spring Break, but so far there’s a skeleton crew here this morning. Later the place is teeming with kids and WOW! It’s awesome. Life in the Community House. 
 
The confirmation class is on hiatus right now for their Spring Breaks. We have 3 families represented and all three families live in different school districts with staggered Spring Breaks. 3 separate and consecutive weeks. So, the class isn’t meeting for a month. We’ll resume next week after Easter. 
 
We are not doing a Maundy Thursday service this year, so it’s the quietest Holy Week and Spring Break for me ever. I feel it in my bones, in my flesh. To be honest, it’s a little weird. Just sayin…
 
So, I read Richard Rohr almost every day and it reminds me that a few years ago during Holy Week I think, he was focused on the physicality of our spirituality. Most often mainline church people tend to shy away from the “flesh.” Like, we get too hung up on “the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” from Jesus’ short little soliloquy from the Garden of Gethsemane in Matthew 26.
 
You remember the first Maundy Thursday scene. Jesus has gone to the garden to pray knowing that time is growing short. Judas has gone to summon the authorities, the soldiers are on their way, and the kiss of betrayal is moments away. Jesus expects the disciples to wait with him. They are tired from the wine at dinner, and they nap—until the cops show up.  
 
Anyway, this is probably why we fall into this “dualism” between body and Spirit. We here in mainline Christianity don’t do a very good job of connecting body and Spirit—when in fact it’s all connected. Like, it’s not either/or, but both/and. Always in all ways. 
 
Don’t ever forget that Jesus is fully human and fully God. It’s both/and. Not either/or.
 
And like it or not, I’m getting old. I’ve been paying a lot closer attention to my body these days. Losing weight. Working out. Self-care. Stress relief. Trying to stay loose. That’s my “happy place.” Connected body and Spirit. 
 
All this to get to Spring Break and Holy Week. 
 
I hope you can tune into your body, too. Not just your heart and soul. Not just your Spirit. Both/And. Tune into the flesh and the Spirit. 
 
I hope and pray that you are in a space where you are both Spiritually and physically at peace. That you’re in your happy place. I hope that you feel it in your heart and soul, of course. And I hope you feel it in your bones. Always, in all ways.
 
So, maybe this isn’t just another Holy Week/Spring Break. 
 
Maybe this is the one that gets into the marrow. 
 
Grace & Peace,
Scott

Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride
 
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
 
This turned up on my workout playlist this morning while I was pumping on the indoor bike. What timing!
 
I’ll never forget the first time I heard those U2 lyrics. Who can? It’s from The Unforgettable Fire. Right after the bridge, the final verse. OMG! The passion. The emotion. The indictment, white people!
 
Never mind the historical error.
 
The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior was assassinated on the stoop of his Memphis hotel room right around dusk in the evening of April 4, 1968.  
 
Over 50 years ago. Hard to believe it’s been that long. 
 
Even harder to believe—U2 released The Unforgettable Fire on October 1, 1984 and Pride was the first single released from (what we used to call) the “album.” 
 
Especially if you’re of a certain generation, I’ll be surprised if you don’t remember the song. MTV was still very new, and the video is on YouTube. The YouTube offices were a scene of gun violence a few years ago right around this same time.
 
This week of course, more gun violence. It’s not always racially motivated—and it’s become so de rigueur, so commonplace, according to the website https://www.gunviolencearchive.org, there are 3 pages of incidents of gun violence in the USA just on Monday, April 4, 2022. Whoa! 
 
What continues to hurt even one of us hurts us all.
 
In 1984 this band, U2, was just about to explode across the world. The Joshua Tree was still a couple years in the distance, but they were already well on their way. Live Aid probably pushed them over the top. But this song Pride got everyone’s attention—demanded everyone’s attention.
 
The song still resonates today. Don’t kid yourself that “we’ve come so far” on race in the United States. Clearly, we have not. We’ve barely moved the needle!
 
My whole doctoral project dissertation was about fostering what MLK called “Beloved Community.” If you’re curious, it’s called: Doing Beloved Community: Building Relationships in Public Squares.
 
Dr. King’s words continue to challenge us: the Beloved Community is a vision where “all people can share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood.”
 
I know we think we’re trying, white people, but we’re not even close. Having said that, I have to say that this church, FPC, is pretty “woke.” Some of us describe our church as “traditional” and we are about some things. But not about this. 
 
We are pretty woke, welcoming, aware of the diversity in our community, and aware of our privilege. I brag on you all the time. 
 
Right here from our little corner of the world, it feels like we’re just trying to keep the dream alive. 
 
Grace & Peace,
Scott
 

​So, I jet back to Oklahoma Monday and Tuesday to do a Graveside Life Celebration for the mother of a friend in Oklahoma City. I was in Oklahoma City for only 24 hours and for the first time since I left in May of 2016 to come to New Jersey. It was a quick turn-around! I got to see some old friends from my advertising career. It was great to catch up! 
 
One of my old friends brought me back to the airport for the flight home and on the way there, she’s telling me about her daughter’s fiancé. The guy’s mother used to be Muslim and she converted to Christianity a few years ago and wrote a book about the experience. 
 
Islam is our friend, Christians. Go back in Genesis and read the story of Abraham and Sarah. At first they can’t have kids, so Sarah gives her slave woman, Hagar, to Abraham to produce offspring. Ishmael is born! Later, God opens Sarah and she gives birth to Isaac. Fast forward, Sarah’s got a child of her own now and no longer has any interest in Ishmael and Hagar. 
 
Abraham kicks them out of the house! Now do you remember God’s promise to Abraham that he will make a great nation? That his offspring will be as numerous as the stars in the sky? Yes, that promise. That promise includes Ishmael. God promises Abraham that from Ishmael will descend an entire nation just like from Isaac! 
 
So—from Ishmael comes the nation of Islam. These are our spiritual brothers and sisters—the whole other family descended from Abraham. Judeo-Christians and Muslims are all sons and daughters of Abraham! We worship the same God, but Islam calls our God by the Arabic name—Allah. 
 
This Saturday at sundown marks the beginning of the high Holy Month of Ramadan. 
 
I’ll never forget my first Ramadan Iftar. 
 
I was invited to the breaking of the fast with a friend from college and his Muslim community at Oklahoma State back in the day. So much fun! And great food! Good times!
 
Ramadan falls in the 9th month of the Islamic calendar. Like our Easter and Lent, the date moves around because their calendar is 11 days shorter than ours. 
 
It’s similar in a lot of ways to Lent but their traditions are more strict than ours. For example, for our fast we “give up something for Lent” to be reminded of Jesus’ fasting in the desert for his 40 days. 
 
The Islamic fast is every day, with no food or drink of any kind from sunrise to sunset for the 29 or 30 days of Ramadan. Every day! The symbolism of the fast allows them to understand the suffering of others. They spend their time (just as we might in Lent) focused on spiritual reflection, prayer, good deeds, time with family and friends, and reading the Qur’an. 
 
They wake with the “Suhoor” or morning meal before sunrise. Then, fast all day and break the fast after sunset with the “Iftar” meal. Two meals a day for a month. Typically, the Iftar is a time to celebrate with friends and family and community which they often do during the holiday. 
 
There are exemptions to the fasting ritual. It’s obligatory but there’s slack for children and the elderly, those who are sick, women who are pregnant or nursing babies, and if you’re traveling a long distance. If you’re sick during Ramadan, you’re obligated to make up the fasting at later time. 
 
Just like our Lent, Ramadan is a time for Muslims to commit themselves to their faith and more to God. 
 
The end of the holiday comes at first sight of the new moon in the sky—just like Easter is the first Sunday after the full moon after the Spring Equinox. And, Muslims all over the world observe the end of Ramadan with a big festival called Eid al-Ritr—“The Breaking of the Fast.” Family and friends gather to thank Allah for the blessing, support, and strength during the month of fasting. The custom is to give alms at Eid, that is: donate to the poor and those in the margins. 
 
As we’re making the turn to our final days of Lent, they’re just getting started. These are incredible holidays. And I always try to remember to cut them some slack because they’re not just skipping lunch—they cannot eat or drink anything at all between first light and sunset. That’s a long day!
 
Ramadan Mubarak,
Scott
 
*Happy Ramadan!
 
 
 

This is about the midway point. For Lent. 3 Sundays in, 3 Sundays to go before we’re into Holy Week and Easter Sunday.  
 
This is as good a time as any for the halftime pep-talk. 
 
I’m sure this won’t surprise anybody. I was one of those kids who always had to have something going on. The older I am, I better I get about it.
 
Once I when I was working on my Masters, I was complaining to one of my mentors about the sun not coming up early enough for me to sit outside and study. He says, “Well, what’s wrong with just sitting?” And I’m all like, “these books don’t read themselves.” But, just sitting is hard—even though I’m better about it. 
 
Like, the Richard Foster Celebration of Discipline really informs how I “just sit.” Because I see that time “just sitting” as time with God. Like focused. And very real. Very present.
 
Sometimes it’s meditation. Sometimes it’s prayer. “Just sitting” is a way of submission for me. I’m really trying. I’m really trying to work all this in.
 
But Holy Week is coming. It feels like it’s coming hard and fast: Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday. Pow! It’s coming fast.
 
So how are you doing?
 
It’s halftime.
 
How’s it going for you?
 
I hope and pray that you’re living into your plan, whatever that looks like. I hope and pray you’re living into your fasting or your own set of disciplines or new things you’re trying. I hope that’s working for you.
 
Don’t worry if it’s not. You can always jump back on track or try a new track—try something new if what you’re doing isn’t happening. Setting up new routines is okay. 
 
This is not “law.” Richard Foster cautions about that, actually: “Nothing puts people into bondage like religion.” So, let that go right away. Don’t hold onto to all this so tightly. 
 
Having said that, I have one routine that never gets old. Never! My quiet time in the mornings. Even if I’m not “just sitting,” I don’t ever get tired of spending time with God. Not ever. 
 
Carve out some time for yourself to do the same. Spend a little time with God. Maybe just sitting. Time with God is good time—always in all ways. It saves me.
 
Oswald Chambers puts it this way: 
“We all have those times when there are no flashes of light and no apparent thrill to life, where we experience nothing but the daily routine with its common everyday tasks. The routine of life is actually God’s way of saving us between our times of great inspiration…” 

​Thanks Ozzy!
 
So here we are, looking at halftime. I don’t know what your routine looks like, but I can only testify to my experience. I can encourage you to develop a spiritual routine of your own. Do it for yourself and I promise it won’t feel routine. Not ever.   
 
Whatever you do, it will save you between your times of great inspiration. It will see you through. It gets you to the second half.
 
Grace & Peace,
Scott

​It’s my brother’s birthday (Wednesday). Well, it would have been. Most of you know that John died at the end of August. He’s been gone a little over 6 months. 
 
We all tried to get him to stop. His wife and son, my parents, my siblings, me. We even staged an intervention and got him into treatment. He went through two different 30-day programs and a half-way house. Meetings. All of it. But the addiction was too much. 
 
Even AA, as good as it is, has a success rate of about 6%. It’s hard to break the cycle. It’s probably not as addictive as nicotine, but it’s gotta be close. It’s hard to just “stop.” Obviously, most people can’t do it.   
 
John was a character! John was a force of nature. By the time he was 3 or 4, we were on a first-name basis with the Emergency Room staff at St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa. And when he was about 5, John went up and down our block introducing himself to the neighbors on his birthday. He asked them all if they had a present for him. I know, right? Pretty bold! That’s John!
 
John wore his life on his sleeve. He was unapologetically unfiltered and authentic. He never put on airs or pretense. John was always who he was—the same guy in broad daylight as darkness. 
 
Psalms 25-27 are amazing when you read ‘em together. Each of them stands on its own, but together they are the sum of their parts. All about living into being a child of God. Now John was a very spiritual guy—wandering in and out on his faith journey, just like all of us. And while we all probably don’t always “trust in the Lord without wavering”—John absolutely did not always—but John did always “walk in his integrity.” Authentically John. Always. 
 
And it makes me wonder if we could do that. What if? What if we all tried to live as though we wrote Psalm 26? 

1 Vindicate me, O Lord,
    for I have walked in my integrity,
    and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
2 Prove me, O Lord, and try me;
    test my heart and mind.
3 For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
    and I walk in faithfulness to you.[a]
4 I do not sit with the worthless,
    nor do I consort with hypocrites;
5 I hate the company of evildoers,
    and will not sit with the wicked.
6 I wash my hands in innocence,
    and go around your altar, O Lord,
7 singing aloud a song of thanksgiving,
    and telling all your wondrous deeds.
8 O Lord, I love the house in which you dwell,
    and the place where your glory abides.
9 Do not sweep me away with sinners,
    nor my life with the bloodthirsty,
10 those in whose hands are evil devices,
    and whose right hands are full of bribes.
11 But as for me, I walk in my integrity;
    redeem me, and be gracious to me.
12 My foot stands on level ground;
    in the great congregation I will bless the Lord.*

​What if? 
 
I sure do miss him. 
 
Grace and Peace,
Scott
 
*NRSV

​By now you probably know. I get up early every day and the first thing I do is sit with God and my coffee. Every day. Without fail. Before anything else. It’s what I do. 
 
I read The Bible following the Daily Lectionary.
I read Richard Rohr.
I sometimes read Oswald Chambers.
I pray the Divine Hours with Phyllis Tickle. 
 
I pray for you. Our church. Our congregation. 
 
And, I read J. Philip Newell.  Finally available on Kindle!
 
Today’s Philip Newell prayer speaks to us, you and me, as your Discernment Team works through the “Turning the Page” time of discernment for FPC. Ideally, it’s full of your voice, the voice of our community, and the Holy Spirit! Your joys, your hopes and prayers for our church—hits and misses. All of it.
 
We’re jumping out into the current—feeling, waiting, listening, and watching for God. What is God doing with us? And what’s next?
 
Here’s this morning’s Philip Newell. Breathe it in as I do…

All things come from you, O God,
and to you we return.
All things emerge in your great river of life
and into you we vanish again.
At the beginning of this day
we wake
not as separate streams
but as countless currents in a single flow
the flow of this day’s dawning
the flow of this day’s delight
the flow of this day’s sorrows
your flow, O God,
in the twistings and turnings of this new day.*

You’re in the flow.
I’m in the flow.
Our world is in the flow.
All of us. 

God is always at work with us—always in all ways, as countless currents in a single flow. No matter what.

Come Holy Spirit, come.
Even so, come Lord Jesus!
 
Grace & Peace,
Scott

*from Praying with the Earth: A Prayerbook for Peace 
by J. Philip Newell.