Monday, January 28, 2013

by
Dr. Gary G. Kindley
Pastoral Counselor
www.drgk.org

Scripture
Be glad in the Lord always! Again I say, be glad! Let your gentleness show in your treatment of all people. The Lord is near. Philippians 3:4-5 (Common English Bible)

A Word of Hope
“National Fun at Work Day”
I enjoy my work, though I don’t associate “National Fun at Work Day” with counseling persons struggling from depression! I don’t know how morticians observe “Fun at Work Day,” but since I have never seen a clown costume or “fuzzy puss” glasses on a casketed body lying in repose, I assume that they are discrete and appropriate.

Some of us have careers and callings that are one and the same, while others make a living at a job so that they can fulfill their true calling in other ways. These may be gifted Bible class teachers, volunteers who work with children and youth programs, or those who patiently and lovingly care for aging parents. There are, indeed, saints among us!

If you are employed, celebrate your labor today. If you are seeking employment, keep a cheerful heart and continue your search with trust and eyes open to new possibilities. The Career Assistance Ministry here at Cathedral of Hope is a good place to start.

Give thanks for those who labor on your behalf. Personally, I thank God for the dependable sanitation worker who empties my dumpster, the skilled mechanic who keeps my car running, the hard-working waiter who brings my food, the cheerful driver who keeps the bus on schedule, the diligent clerk who dutifully records my payment, and the efficient receptionist who schedules my appointment.

Call these workers by name, if you can. Honor them by thanking them for their service. Then have a little fun and put on some “fuzzy puss” glasses before you go out the door!

Prayer
Holy God, whose handiwork is love, give me new eyes today to see and appreciate all that is at hand. Help me to cultivate a grateful, kind and cheerful heart and to celebrate life each day for the amazing gift that it is! Amen.

Friday, January 25, 2013

by
Dr. Pat Saxon
Prayer Ministry Volunteer

Reading for Reflection

A Word of Hope
The melody and lyrics flood my brain, music about change—deep, significant life-change. Likely it started with a devotional reading last Monday about Paul’s account of his own transformation as he defends himself before King Agrippa. He recounts the history of his zealous fury in the service of persecuting the followers of the Nazarene and then how, on the Damascus road, he had a powerful mystical experience. -A light more brilliant than the sun and the voice of Jesus claiming him as his own. Claiming him for service to others, who, like him, need their eyes opened, need to be turned from darkness to the light, need to learn the lesson of forgiveness (Acts 26 2-20) All that energy of hate changed for good.

On Wednesday nights we often sing, “I’ve been changed, healed, freed, delivered….”And when we do, there’s always someone who must call out his “YES, LORD” and others who tear up. There’s something about a person who knows she’s been changed by the grace of God—delivered from the bondage of addiction or bitterness or shame or excessive grief or isolating pride. Because once you’ve been changed—even though you know you are far from perfect and you still have farther to go on the path of Jesus—you feel fervently that you “won’t go back—can’t go back-- to where you were “before Christ’s presence came to change” you. And there’s this deep sense of tearful gratitude or joy welling up to overflowing and a fire, an ardor that fills you and commits you, marries you to our crazy-loving God forever.

The Benedictines speak of the holy way as “ongoing conversion.” So whether you are deep in mystery about where God is leading or in the throes of a vision filled with light or in passionate service of the Gospel, be assured: Once God’s got a hold of you, you are indeed “changed for Good.”

Prayer
God of Transformation, We give you thanks for the love that will not let us go, the love that changes us for Good. Amen.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

by
Dan Peeler
Order of St. Francis and St. Clare
Minister for Children and Families

Scripture
From the fullness of God’s grace we have all received one blessing after another. John 1.16

A Word of Hope
Theologians have been dissecting the meaning of God’s grace for many years. They have defined Prevenient Grace as God’s anticipation of any movement of humanity toward God, and Efficacious Grace as God’s offer to which Humankind responds. But the terms don’t stop there. There is Uncreated Grace, God’s grace to the divine self; Created Grace, that first basic awareness that begins the transformation of human nature; Sanctifying Grace, when we grow to accept that created grace is a permanent principle of a new life; Actual Grace, the examination of the effectiveness of that new life; Elevating Grace, the discovery that, as the Body of Christ, we are not just recipients, but the participants in the divine nature, and finally, Healing Grace which is the result of God’s healing the effects of hurts done to us or caused by us.

In seminary, I always marveled at the lengths we take in clarifying our relationships with God. Of grace, God says, “Here’s my gift to you. The gift is simply that I have always and will always love you regardless of who you are. You will always be my child.” Intellectually we know that earning grace is not possible, that we can’t pay for it through ritual or recitation or work. But, if we can’t pay for it, how can we actually own it? I suppose one way is by trying to restrict it with our own complicated labels. But God’s grace has no limits.

I just returned from a short trip near Abilene, Texas where the stark landscape allows for an unobstructed 180 degree view of the sky. The red dust in that area contributes to some of the most spectacular sunsets on the globe. While gazing in awe at that panorama of glowing magenta and vermillion, grace came to mind. It’s always there for us, for every person on earth, whether or not we look to it, are awed by it or even acknowledge it. Regardless of how we feel it or see it or try to label grace, it just is.

Prayer
Thank you for what is, God; that through your grace, I am now, have always been, and will always be your child.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

by
Dan Peeler
Order of St. Francis and St. Clare
Minister for Children and Families

Scripture
“ I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.” Philippians 4:2-3

A Word of Hope
How do you know when someone is your best friend? It’s that person who always supports you and with whom you never disagree, right? Not likely…best friends have differences of opinions all the time as they should. How else can we sort out what’s important in our lives? My mother used to say that if two people in a room are exactly alike, one of them is unnecessary. Two of the Apostle Paul’s co-workers, Eudoria and Syntyche, sort of the Lucy and Ethel of Scripture, were best friends with differences.

Paul reminds them how the founder of their faith had emptied himself and taken on the form of a servant, even to death on the cross. The example of Jesus’ humility in his trials had served them well when Paul had been among them and are continuing to nurture them at the time of this letter.

The letter to the Philippians reminds us that friends who have experienced hardships, prejudices, and have even seen their whole world shaken will most likely develop durable bonds of love that grow triumphantly out of these common seeds of suffering. But, it’s always the dramas we remember best, and from which we learn the most. This letter of friendship also reminds us that God is always perfecting those good works which had been started in us and that the dramas will never all pass. At the time of its writing, Euodia and Syntyche are experiencing some ideological differences, but Paul knows the hearts of these two women and lifts them up in prayer instead of scolding them. He writes:

“And this I pray: that your love may grow even more and more to its fullest development in knowledge and keen insight so that you may surely learn to sense what is vital, and approve and prize what is excellent and of real value… to the honor and the praise of God.”

What better prayer for any friend? May it be our prayer for one another and especially for our best friends today.

Prayer
May our behavior toward one another bring you honor and praise .