What we need is near at hand

Morning: Psalm 61, 62; Nehemiah 12:27-31, 42-47; Revelation 11:1-19

Evening: Psalm 68:1-20, 24-36; Matthew 13:44-52

The story is told of a poor Polish rabbi from a rural village who dreams of treasure buried under a bridge in Warsaw, the capital; so he journeys there in search of the treasure.  A soldier sees him under the bridge and asks what he’s doing.  When the rabbi tells him, the soldier laughs and says that he dreamed of treasure hidden behind the chimney of a poor rabbi’s house in a country village.  The rabbi rushes home and finds the treasure. Could it be that what we need is here already?

Graham

Not to understand, but to be understood

Morning: Psalm 56, 57; Nehemiah 6:1-19; Revelation 10:1-11

Evening: Psalm 64, 65; Matthew 13:36-43

Matthew is presumptuous; he puts his own explanation of good and evil on Jesus’ lips.  But I won’t try to fathom the unfathomable.  Good and evil, life and death … these are mysteries; explanations don’t help.  Certainly, a reckoning with evil is required, but the reckoning must occur in the human heart. In the face of mysteries about which I haven’t the foggiest idea, I need an understanding heart.  When you dig deeper in the Gospel, you find that Jesus explains very little, but he understands people.  That’s it really; I don’t need to understand, but to be understood.

Graham

Patience … First things first

Morning: Psalm 24, 29; Nehemiah 5:1-19; Acts 20:7-12

Evening: Psalm 8, 84; Luke 12:22-31

November 5, 1976. A new immigrant sits on his luggage in Toronto airport, wondering, “What now?”  I’m already drawn to Jesus’ words: Do not worry about your life.  (i.e. Make my priorities your own.)  To be honest, I do worry, not chronically.  I am discontented with the world.  To my chagrin, things don’t change quickly enough.  And yet: I do rely on Jesus’ priorities; I trust his promise of a world made new, though it’s going so slowly I won’t see it!  “What now?” Patience, young man!  First things first; then you’ll see.  Now, may I help with your luggage?

Graham

To hurt, or to heal?

Morning: Psalm 55; Revelation 7:9-17; Matthew 13:31-35

Evening: Psalm 138, 139:1-17; Matthew 13:31-35

Each kindness, or meanness, multiplies, so that our actions come to have more significance than we imagine.  Small actions – our own or those of others’ – change things dramatically. Parables invite us to choose the kind of world we want. They pose more or less the same question, using different metaphors: “What kind of seed will you plant – weed or mustard?  What type of ‘leaven’ will you be in the life of the community – malicious, or sincere and true?  Will your spark kindle a fire that warms or one that destroys?”  Always a choice … To hurt, or to heal?

Graham

A legacy of loving-kindness

Morning: Psalm 40,54; Nehemiah 2:1-20; Revelation 6:12-7:4

Evening: Psalm 51; Matthew 13:24-30

Yesterday, All Souls’ Day, Penny, my dear sister-in-law died, too young, too soon.  I took Sophie to the kennel and drove home, weeping, profoundly sad, but not angry.  Above all, I am grateful …  I realize how deeply this good and authentic soul has touched my life, almost without my realizing it, by welcoming me, accepting me. Kindness is a powerful good.  Evil can try to overwhelm you – for cancer is like an evil ‘weed’ in life’s garden.  But nothing will ever overwhelm this woman’s legacy of simple loving-kindness; that is more powerful than death.  Penny is very much alive.

Graham

Jesus: the human face of God

Morning: Psalm 42, 46; Romans 8:14-19, 31-39

Evening: Psalm 116, 121; John 14:1-6

These daily reflections, though inspired by daily Scripture readings, aim to be fairly non-religious. Jesus himself is not warm towards religion’s self-serving tendencies.  Jesus just wants his disciples to know that his is the human face of the divine; know him, and you know God.  The trouble is, religious folk sometimes think, mistakenly, that God plays favourites based on good behavior or who knows what?  They try to make Jesus’ teachings into a set of passwords, a sort of firewall, to keep out riff-raff.  The Jesus of the Scriptures is, instead, an open gate.  God welcomes all; no passwords required.

Graham

Wednesday November 1st – Imagine … A New Heaven and a New Earth

Morning: Psalm 111, 112; Hebrews 11:32-12:2

Evening: Psalm 148, 150; Revelation 21:1-4, 22:1-5

In 1971, I loved John Lennon’s: “Imagine there’s no heaven, it’s easy if you try, no hell below us, above us only sky. Imagine all the people, living for today … You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one; maybe some day you’ll join us, and the world will live as one.”  Why do millions still love this? Perhaps it’s because religion does not reflect faithfully our deeply held dream of a world living as one?  If the old ideas of ‘heaven’ have become disagreeable to you, despair not; a new heaven is in view.

Graham