Claimed, gathered and sent

This morning in lectio divina, we read and prayed with this Sunday's first reading, Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16. Above is what the text looks like when run through Wordle Word clouds are generated from text pasted into Wordle. The larger the words, the more times they appear in a given text. A number of things came to mind while going over the text: God is God almighty, covenant promises, name change and its significance. God names us, calls us God's own, and enters into relationship with us. God is God and does the impossible. After all our sharing, we fell into silence--a prolonged silence. The presence of God was almost tangible. As much as we may know God is with us, it is still wonderful when we sense that nearness. In that quiet time I could only worship and pray that God would move in our lives and in the lives of each of us on this campus--that there would be a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit on each and every one. Gracious God, hear our prayer.

How many of us remember the Kix ad with the tagline, "Kid tested, mother approved ?" I always felt good about getting Kix for my kids because it was basically healthy, low in sugar etc., not because of the cereal's motto, though I did as a mother approve. We see political ads ad nauseum at this time of year and we hear plenty of "My name is [insert your favorite (or least favorite) candidate's name] and I approve of this message." One does get some sense of credibility in hearing that statement. At least the candidate knows what's being said of him/her. One of this morning's lectionary readings was from 1 Thessalonians 2 where Paul is defending his ministry. As I was prayerfully reading this, what particularly struck me was these few words "approved by God." It is God's approval that Paul could look to in defense of his work, his concern: "pleas[ing] God who tests our hearts." And me? I have a rather high need for approval ...

This morning I was doing lectio divina with a reading from Colossians. There is so much in this passage for me personally, for us as a community of faith. I can see numerous blog posts emanating from this. But for today, I got stopped at the first few words of the first verse , " 12 As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved ..." Who am/are I/we? In those times when some may call us fat, forgetful, stupid, whatever...God calls us chosen, holy, beloved. Does it matter what others call us when God calls us chosen and beloved? It can be difficult to keep criticisms in perspective, particularly when they are painful ones. We can take heart with the encouragement of scripture. Paul told the Colossians this and God has this word for us as well, chosen and beloved. Who am I? Everyone has struggled/struggles with this question, particularly in times of uncertainty. Even Dietrich Bonhoeffer expresses this sentiment in his poem entitled "Who Am I?" Bonhoeffer's conclusion t...

Thanks to Clint and his link, I have found a site that is a treasure trove for those interested in spiritual disciplines such as fixed hour prayer, lectio divina, and the daily readings. For quite some time now, I have found such practices along with journaling to be useful in drawing near to God and hearing his voice.

Today's texts are so rich. It was difficult to decide what to meditate on. Here is the link to today's readings: http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=64520793. I was really torn, but did lectio divina with Ezekiel 47:12, " On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.” I meditated on the underlined portion, which brought many thoughts to mind, such as Psalm 1:3, " T hey are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper," refering to the godly in Psalm 1. So if we are being refreshed by God through Word and Sacrament, daily in his presence in prayer and the scriptures, receiving God's watering, we too can have fruitful lives th...