Amy Carmichael wrote: “Can you find a promise that if we follow the Lord Jesus Christ, life is going to be fairly easy? I do not think we shall find even one. But we shall find ever so many promises assuring us that however things are, we may count on strength to make us brave, and peace to keep our hearts at rest. “Because this is so, our Lord and Captain expects us to be “sons of valor,” as the word translated “valiant” in the Old Testament means. And He is saying to each of us what King David said long ago to his friends: “Now let your hands be strengthened and be ye valiant, be ye sons (and daughters) of valor.”
So many misguided Christians thinking life with Jesus will be easy. Not one single verse to support that. One Pastor used to say “There are no rainbows and unicorns in the Kingdom walk.” We do not go skipping like faux-princes and faux-princesses through life.
“Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.” Hebrews 12:12-13 NRSVUE
The verse does not say God will make straight paths; we are told to make them. LIFE IS HARD. We are told to lift our drooping hands and strengthen our weak knees. And (especially when we cannot do it ourselves), we are told to ALWAYS cry out to the Lord of heaven and earth for help.
God gives strength to make us brave, and peace to keep our hearts at rest. Are you willing to receive that? Will you cry out to God for help?
So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 2 Timothy 2:22 ESV
How would it be if we applied the song below to our love for Christ? Paul wrote about it in Colossians.
2 Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth, 3 for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. 7 These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. 8 But now you must get rid of all such things: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices 10 and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. Colossians 3:2-10
Can you set your mind on things above for more than a few minutes? How about an hour? Think you could handle an hour? Part of my spiritual discipline is to adopt the mindset of Brother Lawrence. He conversed with God all day long. It is not an easy task, but it can be done, even in our strange too-busy society. This song sparkled when I thought of this concept in terms of this love song! The lyrics follow the YouTube song.
The very thought of you And I forget to do The little ordinary things That everyone ought to do
I’m living in a kind of daydream I’m happy as a King And foolish though it may seem To me, that’s everything
The mere idea of you The longing here for you You never know how slow the moments go ‘Til I’m near to you
I see your face in every flower Your eyes in stars above It’s just the thought of you The very thought of you My love
The mere idea of you The longing here for you You never know how slow the moments go ‘Til I’m near to you
I see your face in every flower Your eyes in stars above It’s just the thought of you The very thought of you My love
Written by: Ray Noble, Maxime Le Forestier
When I set my mind on Christ, instead of forgetting the things I ought to do there seems to be more time made available for the ordinary things! Somehow the chronos time of the clock is overridden by the kairos impact of the moment.
In Romans we are told to offer to God our very bodies as living sacrifice. Your brain indeed is part of your body. Would you offer God your thought processes, ask God to occupy you body, MIND and spirit? The Holy One would be delighted to do so.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2 NRSVUE
I was playing music in my car from my favorite songs on a data stick. The next day I kept hearing a melody. Then a few words. Finally, I realized I was hearing the bridge from a song by a group called the Newsboys. The song is entitled We Believe.
The following are the words from the bridge:
So, let our faith be more than anthems Greater than the songs we sing And in our weakness and temptations We believe We believe
Anthem: 1. A hymn of praise or loyalty. 2. A choral composition having a sacred or moralizing text in English.
"Our faith greater than the songs we sing", so necessary if we are to push through our difficulties and struggles. Songs help, but there are times when there are no songs. There are times I am hard pressed to even remember a melody!
Here are the lyrics of the song followed by a music video. [Verse 1] In this time of desperation When all we know is doubt and fear There is only one foundation We believe, we believe
[Verse 2] In this broken generation When all is dark, You help us see There is only one salvation We believe, we believe
[Chorus] We believe in God the Father We believe in Jesus Christ We believe in the Holy Spirit And He's given us new life We believe in the Crucifixion We believe that He conquered death We believe in the Resurrection And He's comin' back again We believe
[Verse 3] (I called it the bridge) So, let our faith be more than anthems Greater than the songs we sing And in our weakness and temptations We believe, we believe Here is a video of the song.
Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23 NRSVUE
Quiet my soul in your silent presence Gentle my soul in your stillness and peace Tender my soul in your beauty and grace God of this moment Here in this place
Quiet my soul Gentle my soul Tender my soul God this moment Here in this place
Recently this song was set to play on repeat on my speaker. I tend to panic and get fearful when health matters arise and I know there might be a potentially bad outcome.
The retreat when I learned this song was years ago. There is still a power in this song to center and bring me to stillness.
Psalm 131 has been a great help to me over the years. This is taken from Psalms in Inclusive Language, Joseph J. Arackal, Translator.
O Yahweh, my heart is not arrogant nor are my eyes raised too high. I have taken no part in great affairs, nor in wonders beyond my grasp.
I have kept my whole being quiet and silent, like a infant at its mother's breast; like an infant quieted is my whole being.
Let Israel hope in Yahweh henceforth for all eternity.
The New Living Translation offers this:
Lord, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I don’t concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp. 2 Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk. Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3 O Israel, put your hope in the Lord— now and always.
I have always said that if we occupy ourselves with what the Bible says to do regarding our own personal behaviors we need not worry about the “Thou shalt nots.”
Here is my favorite rendition of Psalm 131. I love that John Michael specifically says we are to be like a child at rest on its Mother’s knee and then like a child at rest on its Daddy’s knee. Yes. God is both mother and father to us!
May these versions of Psalm 131 and these songs bring you to a place of peace and trust.
We are made to tell the world that there are no outsiders.
ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU
During the communion prayers we sometimes pray, “Jesus taught us that the liberation of the whole world will not be in the brutality of violence. Rather, it will be in showing kindness to our neighbor, in standing up against injustice, in returning hate with love, in transforming one heart at a time. It will be in the simple but holy task of dining together, sharing bread and wine, truly seeing one another as beloved by you.”
One of our favorite lines in the Communion service is when the priest declares. “This is God’s table, not ours. All are welcome.”
Oh Father, we have such a long way to go to bring you delight. Purify our hearts we pray that we might not sin against you. Open our eyes to see our fellow humans as made in your likeness. Help us to esteem others as better than ourselves. (Philippians 2:3)
We have also been learning a song by Michael Stillwater that goes, “One by one everyone comes to remember, we’re healing the world one heart at a time.”
This is a German speaking group. We also sing it in rounds at church. I found myself singing it one day last week and had to stop to remember where I had heard it!!
May your eyes be opened and your heart know that there are no outsiders. Just humans walking each other home.
Lectio 365 wrote this quote from Nouwen on his feast day:
The love that often leaves us doubtful, frustrated, angry, and resentful is the second love, that is to say, the affirmation, affection, sympathy, encouragement, and support we receive from our parents, teachers, spouses, and friends. We all know how limited, broken, and very fragile that love is… The radical good news is that the second love is only a broken reflection of the first love and that the first love is offered to us by a God in whom there are no shadows… The knowledge of Jesus’ heart is a knowledge of the heart. And when we live in the world with that knowledge, we cannot do other than bring healing, reconciliation, new life, and hope wherever we go. https://lectio365.24-7prayer.com/share/devotionals/2026-09-21/morning?locale=en
It has at times been difficult to offer the love God gives us to those around us. We knew for more than six months that both Chuck and Ginny had fatal diseases. We made an effort to take them meals, visit them when hospitalized, send texts, cut flower arrangements, anything we could think of to cheer them. It was not always easy to extend our hands and hearts to them, but we felt the Lord was asking us to do it. So we did, even when our own hearts were reluctant.
Now Chuck is dead. Ginny is dead. Our local restaurant keeps this sticker on the counter for anyone who wishes to take it home. It has been on our kitchen counter for many months urging us into obedience to God. John Wesley is reported as having said,
“Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can.”
Our time for doing good for Chuck and Ginny is over. He sent us a basket of African violets and philodendron vines just before he died. He had no idea that Bob had recently told me he would like to have another African violet! It is such a gift of love. The card on the flowers reads: “Thank you guys for your compassion, prayers, and most of all for your love. We love you, Chuck and Ginny” I see the flowers and miss them both.
The house across the street where they lived is empty now. The sons have all gone home to prepare for another funeral or celebration of life, this time for Chuck. I keep getting startled when I realize there is no one there.
Icon of Henri Nouwen by Kelly Lattimore
I hope our efforts reflected what Henri Nouwen wrote. This is not to brag to you, but to show that we never really know what the outcome of our loving, our extending the hands of Jesus to another … we never quite know what the impact will be upon the other person. All we can do is try to follow the example Jesus gives us and obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit. May the God and Father of us all be pleased. (Ephesians 4:6)
Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:15-17 NIV
The hummingbird is flitting from one jewelweed flower to the next, and there are hundreds of flowers out there. I read they know every flower they visit. How do they remember all of those flowers? So tiny, pausing only a short moment to drink from each, how do they keep track?
Flash of green darting among the green leaves and orange flowers, you are a marvel.
It has been reported they can recognize humans!
Hummingbirds have excellent memory and pattern recognition skills. There is evidence that they can remember and recognize individual humans, particularly if that person frequently interacts with them or feeds them. However, more research is needed to fully understand the extent of hummingbirds’ ability to differentiate between people. https://www.hummingbird101.com/do-hummingbirds-recognize-individual-people/
What?!? Those tiny creatures who migrate thousands of miles can know me? We have seen them come to the kitchen window and look in as if to find us or remind us to refill their feeder.
Hummingbirds remember every flower they visit and when it will have fresh nectar again!?!
Perhaps even more impressive than their spatial memory is hummingbirds’ temporal memory—their ability to track when flowers replenish their nectar. Studies by Dr. Susan Healy and colleagues revealed that wild hummingbirds can remember the refill schedules of hundreds of individual flowers, returning to them just as the nectar reaches optimal levels.https://www.animalsaroundtheglobe.com/hummingbirds-remember-every-flower-7-326678/
They report that the hummingbird’s brain is roughly the size of a grain of rice. I want to know if that is cooked or uncooked rice? Imagine their ability in contrast to ours! I can walk from the office to the bedroom and forget why I was going to the bedroom. Remember every flower? Human faces? What an amazing creature!
Each time I think I am finished blogging about these amazing birds who frequent the late summer jewelweed I find even more reasons to marvel over them.
They were His idea from the beginning!
And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” 21 So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” Genesis 1:20-22
Thank you God for the blessing of birds and flowers!
Such devastation from floods, fire, drought, scorching heat?
“Scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is unequivocal. The number of record high temperature events in the United States has been increasing, while the number of record low temperature events has been decreasing, since 1950. The U.S. has also witnessed increasing numbers of intense rainfall events.” https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change/evidence/
Floods from a portion of glacier breaking off, sending water and mud to wipe out people and towns? Total devastation and enormous loss of life. Earlier no one in my generation would have thought this was even possible as a result of climate change. Yet, here we are.
Water from tremendous thunderstorms inundating portions of America. Cars, homes, towns underwater. Wind and storms continue with hurricane season arriving earlier each year.
Prayer certainly helps as people face the loss of everything they own. Some even suffer the loss of loved ones.
As I watch a goldfinch hang upside down on a “volunteer” sunflower in our flower bed, I am reminded that we are given the responsibility to be keepers of the earth. For the most part we have done a lousy job through our greed and overall disregard as to the effects our consumerism has on the planet. Lord God Almighty, forgive us and help us mend our ways I pray.
Look at shells on sidewalk. Then focus above the shells to see the bright yellow bird! (I could not capture the image of the bird upside down.)
This report in the L A Times says: In the Rocky Mountains, years of extreme heat and drought have baked the landscape, drying up streams that feed the Colorado River and desiccating pastures where cattle graze.
The unrelenting dryness has brought hardship upon cattle ranchers, who say their livelihoods increasingly are under threat.
As the U.S. Supreme Court considers a case in which major oil companies are being sued for the effects of global warming, a group of Colorado ranchers is voicing support for the the idea that the fossil fuel industry should be held to account.
The ranchers depend on snowmelt that feeds the Colorado River and its tributaries to nourish grasses and hay pastures for their herds. But this year the Rockies had the least snow on record, and they’ve watched springs dry up and creeks dwindle.
The lack of water has ravaged grasslands and left ranchers unable to grow enough hay, forcing them to buy feed for their cows at high prices.
It’s been so dry that Valdez no longer can get water in his irrigation system for his animals to drink. He has turned to buying water and hauling it with a tanker truck to fill troughs for the cows.
Floods, drought, storms,record high temperatures, wars and rumors of wars … Lord, deliver us and forgive us we pray. Help us to recognize our part in this massive destruction. Show us each how to amend our ways and live with an awareness of our responsibility for the calamity.
Book of Common Prayer Page 827, Prayer 41. For the Conservation of Natural Resources
Almighty God, in giving us dominion over things on earth, you made us fellow workers in your creation: Give us wisdom and reverence so to use the resources of nature, that no one may suffer from our abuse of them, and that generations yet to come may continue to praise you for your bounty; though Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
This morning my meditation sites seemed to all converge. Don’t you just love when that happens? God uses all the sources around us to point to the Divine will for us.
Challenge to me is can I stay right here in the present moments as they unfold this day? Not worry about if I can attend the book discussion group this evening. Having no fret about completing my writing so I can teach a new pattern to someone tomorrow morning. No concern about something I said or did yesterday. Just right here. Right now. This present moment, enjoy this gift.
Then the Scripture meditation on another app:
12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal, but I press on to lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have laid hold of it, but one thing I have laid hold of: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us, then, who are mature think this way, and if you think differently about anything, this, too, God will reveal to you. 16 Only let us hold fast to what we have attained. Philippians 3:13-16 NRSVUE
Paul urges us to turn loose of the past, anything we have already laid hold of we should keep, but not dwell there in that past accomplishment. Press on toward “the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” Right here I want to embrace You Lord and Your will for me.
It has been said that if you do not know what God is asking you to do right now then obey the last thing that you heard. In other words, if I do not have new marching orders, do the last thing I heard. How do you accomplish that? Are you obedient to what you have been told or are you always seeking for something else, some new thing you might like better?
Trying to find artwork to illustrate this blog entry I found runners and then more runners (that does not apply to me as I barely walk right now) then even worse, a guy walking a tightrope over the Grand Canyon (I fear heights). For me to ‘press on toward’ means do not stop where you are for more than this moment. On toward the goal.
Along with Paul I do not consider this a done deal. It requires my discipline and obedience daily, at times hourly. “Let those of us, then, who are mature think this way.” Ouch that could hurt on days when I am stuck in some other kind of thinking! The good Lord does not leave us to ourselves. Paul goes on to write “and if you think differently about anything, this, too, God will reveal to you.”
Holy Spirit come please, correct my wrong thinking and help me to follow hard after the thoughts of the Lord God Almighty. Deliver me from brain habits and flesh habits and world habits. Help me recognize and cling to Christ-like habits. Make me wholly Yours. Amen.
This series of books written by Sharon Garlough Brown features 4 women on their spiritual journey, ending with Book 4, entitled An Extra Mile. I finally started reading book 4 and have been staying awake longer at night due to the story. Brown is a terrific author! Once a librarian told me you know it is a good book when you wonder what the characters are doing when you are not reading.
In part 2 of this book, Page 166, a couple of the women are experiencing an experiential prayer journey to the cross on Holy Saturday. The fourth prayer station is described as follows:
Three dead trees were secured in five-gallon buckets with duct tape and rocks. Draped through the bare branches of the trees was a long black cloth, at the top of which was painted the silhouette of a weeping woman. Blue beads and crystals representing tears hung from the branches, and at the base of one of the trees was a puddle fashioned from turquoise tulle.
“Jesus Speaks to Weeping Women”, the sign read. Beside it was the Scripture text from Luke 23:27-31
A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then
“‘They will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’
31 For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
I have read the Bible through several times and studied particular books many times. I did not recall this passage at all. See why I like her writing? The image of the dead trees, the way the woman’s tears were depicted; certainly her church must have had this display once?
Two characters stop at this prayer station. The author writes out their experiences. These two paragraphs drew me enough to turn down the page in my book (rather than look for a pen or pencil as I read into the night). Page 170
But I can’t fake joy, Lord. What I have right now to offer you is sorrow. Gratitude, too, but also sorrow. I miss ___ _____.I miss my work. I miss my space. I grieve what was. I grieve what will never be. I grieve.
But I’m not the only one who grieves. I sit and stare at these dead trees watered by tears and find myself strangely comforted at the thought of being part of a community of the brokenhearted and the disappointed who keep watch for redemption. For resurrection. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Let that be true, Lord! Not just for me. For all of us.
This has been a difficult summer in our household. Recovery from the foot surgery. Storms. Multiple deaths in our neighborhood. Storms. Bob got really sick and is on multiple inhalers and treatments for his lungs. Another death looming. Garden going to seed despite the efforts of friends and both myself and Bob .
I know you invite me to trust you as Redeemer, Lord. Not to expect you to be the God who fixes broken things or prevent brokenness from happening but to trust you to be the One who redeems broken things, makes your presence known in the midst of all that is broken, and keeps us company as we grieve. You do make all things well. Like Julian of Norwich’s prayer. All shall be well. And all shall be well. And all manner of things shall be well. Someday. No matter what.
God is with us in anything and everything that happens to us in this life. Somehow everything that happens to us in this life can form and shape and prepare us for life beyond this world as well.
If you have never read this series of books I cannot urge you enough to look into them! Book 1 is entitled Sensible Shoes and introduces you to the four main characters. Those characters are developed through the all four books and certainly worth the read.
