Saturday, February 28, 2026

The Edge of Here and There

 The place where water touches sand,
    rolls upon it and then away,
    is a holy place where worlds collide
    and visions see the sunrise of day.
 
The wavering moving trail down the way
   beckons first the wandering feet,
   but more the wondering soul 
   on a journey filled with unending end.
 
First the step in the cool blue water,
  the next in the white burning sand, 
  both equally a part of the journey
  beginning here, ending in know not where. 
 
Is it the unseen One who beckons 
 to walk the pleasant and perilous shore?
 Or, is the heart which once again
 moves toward the place it knows as home? 

Friday, February 27, 2026

A Core Hindrance to Generosity

One thing not always recognized in the moment is the way the financial decisions of the moment impact our ability to practice the spiritual discipline of generosity. I remember conversations with church members over the years who wanted to be more involved in some missions of the church, but found themselves locked into financial commitments that affected those decisions.  It may seen naive to some, but it is true that an attitude, or spirit of giving can be quenched so easily by some of those decisions.  

Life style choices that we make now impact later.  Keeping up with the Jones', spending above our means, and living with an ever demanding debt leaves many with a boatload of stress and an inability to see how it is possible to be involved in any significant sharing in what God is doing in the world.  Thoreau's word to "Simplify, simplify" is a hard word to embrace in a culture which calls us to clamor for more than we need and more than we can actually afford.  

One thing to remember is that what we have is not our own, but God's.  He is the Giver.  What we have is something entrusted to us for awhile.  It is ours to use, but not hoard, nor use carelessly.  We may not be able to change the rippling affect of past decisions, but we can begin the practice of living more simply.  We may be surprised at where it takes us and how it is a window to seeing what it is that is really important for us and our families. 

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Surplus Giving

The story known as the widow's mite is worth pondering.  There are things about it which scream out, "Slow down and take another look!" but most of us have heard or read the story so many times, it's a word we ignore.  We know all the particulars.  We know Jesus is going to be pleased with the giving of the widow and that we are likely to feel a little guilt at our own.  With all this in mind, we read and run.  

One of the places which calls for slow pondering is found in that section of the story where Jesus speaks of the affluent "contributing out of their abundance."  (Luke 21:4)  The word "abundance" is an important word and one that is often misunderstood.  While few of us are Greek scholars, if we could go back and read this passage in the original language it was written, we would find ourselves looking at a word that carried a different meaning that we give it today.  According to our contemporary understanding, the word creates the image of bulging bank accounts.  The original meaning is more synonymous with our understanding of the word "surplus."  In other words, as Jesus pointed out the giving of the affluent, He was pointing out gifts that were from the surplus.    

The surplus is that which speaks of more than is needed.  It speaks of what is left after all the bills have been paid, the credit card debt has been knocked down a bit, and all the wants and wishes of our extravagant life style have been satisfied.  Out of what is left, the surplus gifts are given.  Surplus giving may or may not be a boatload of money, but it is giving that is not risky.  It does not have within it the component of faith.  Surplus gifts are given after everything else is handled.  Surplus giving does not speak of depending on God to provide which is what the widow's gift illustrated.  It is all about hedging our bets just in case God is not able to provide for us according to what we think is necessary.  

The Working World

The taste of mortality
   gathers on the brow
     with the dust and dirt
       forming a salty stream
        that burns the eyes
         and teases the tongue
with its wet bitterness.
 
The wear and tear of life
   is etched on hands
    bruised and battered
     showing open scars
      made not in a day
       but over hard years
of unrelenting toil.
 
What cannot be seen
   is the broken dreams,
    the beaten down spirit
     that no longer can rise
      to work another day
       yet knows it must
though the will is no more.
 
It is a life unknown
  to the soft handed,
    the white shirted ones
     who sit and earn,
      making what is not seen
       nor touched but only
exists between nine and five.  
 

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Giving Gifts

Among other things, Jesus was a great communicator.  When He spoke, people listened.  He had a gift for making people do their own thinking as He told parable after parable.  He was also good with short stories.  It did not take Him a thousand words to tell a story that drove home an unforgettable truth.  He had a knack for seeing ordinary things like sheep grazing in a pasture, or a farmer sowing seed to drive home a truth as surely as a carpenter uses a hammer to drive home a nail.   

The gospel writer, Luke, tells us of such a moment.  "He (Jesus) looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; He also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, 'Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all that she had.' " (Luke 21:1-4).  It is easy to imagine Jesus offering this word as He overheard His disciples being impressed by the extravagant gifts of some.  The offering receptacles in the Temple were not like our contemporary offering plates, but instead were metal trumpet shaped vessels attached to the wall.  A handful of coins made a noisy offering as they rattled around to their resting place, but two copper coins hardly even made a whimper of a sound.  

The real difference in the offerings, however, was unseen by the disciples. The rich gave out of their abundance meaning that what they gave was from their surplus.  It cost them nothing.  No matter how much they gave, they kept enough to make sure that all their wants and wishes would be satisfied.  On the other hand, the widow gave out of her poverty meaning that she gave trusting God to take care of tomorrow.  One gift spoke of depending on self and another about depending on God.  It makes us wonder what Jesus thinks about our giving.

Monday, February 23, 2026

A Clear Word

It is a Word from God many do not want to hear.  It is a Word that leaves us with no wiggle room.  Only blatant disobedience enables us to live as if though we are out from under it.  While such is true of any Word God speaks, either by the Spirit's presence in our heart, or through the written Word, there is something about this Word written by the Apostle John that demands our attention.  "How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help?  (I John 3:17).  

This letter John wrote to the early church is all about the love of God.  It is also all about loving one another.  This question posed by John offers a litmus test to tell us how seriously we regard the call of Jesus to love one another.  We love one another not by saying we love one another, but by a sacrificial and generous life which counts nothing as ours and everything as His.  When we walk with Jesus as one who has denied all to go after Him, there is no room for excuses, there is no room for rationalizations, there is no room for holding tightly what has been given to us by Him.  The truth that we often want to deny in order to protect and preserve our holdings which give us security is that we are among the affluent.  

We are among those who have the world's goods in such quantity that we have more than enough to meet our own needs.  We have an abundance which is not to say we have boatloads of money, but that we have enough to share with those who are destitute, hungry, and broken.  John reminds us that disciples are not stingy, but generous.  They do not hold tightly, but loosely.  When they see a brother or a sister in need, they do not look for a reason to look away, but look for a way to share the love of Jesus Christ.


Sunday, February 22, 2026

Sunday Pondering

Why I left church asking the question, I do not know.  There was nothing wrong with the service of worship.  Actually, it was uplifting and inspiring in many ways.  When I left, I was glad that I had been present.  Oh, the question?  "Why do I go to church?"  I could just say what is true, "My mother said go" and in those days, no other reason was necessary than the fact that she said to do it.  Or, I could say it is just a habit of mine that has become well ingrained over the last fifty years of life out from under my mother's watchful eye.  As I carried the question around with me through the day, a number of thoughts stopped in my mind for review.  

A few of those thoughts have stuck.  One is that to attend church is to walk on ground which I have come to know as home. It is a place where I have deep roots.  As I become immersed in the experience of worship with others, I sense a belonging to a community.  It is a community of people who share a common heritage, but it is also an unique community in that it is a spiritual community centered on Jesus and given life through the power of the Holy Spirit.  In a mysterious way it is not just a community of those of us who are here, but also one shared with those who are there in the invisible heavenly realm.  If I am not present when the church gathers, it is not diminished; instead, I am the one who is diminished.  

One thing which I think is deeply needed in the lives of those who are caught up in the temporal nature of culture is a place where there is mystery.  It is a good thing to sit still in a place where we are made aware that there are things we do not know, things we cannot understand, and thoughts we never thought to think.  Maybe it was my mother which got me to going to worship each Sunday, but being midst the holy mystery is what keeps taking me back.