Daily Lesson for June 30, 2017

Today's Daily Lesson is a personal reflection from the life of our congregation:

I have a friend at church who, though he walks a little hunched over a cane, is nevertheless one of the funniest and most alive men I know.  

David Pinson is a great encourager.  On occasions he has written me some of the kindest and most affirming I have ever received.  And they have come at important times, which tells me the Spirit is upon David and uses him. 

David is also funny as all get out. He's a retired pharmacist, but his famous line about his personal relationship to his profession is, "Drugs are for selling, not for taking."

A few weeks back on Pentecost David was the Scripture reader during worship. He hunched on his cane over to the Bible and then carried it over and set it down upon the lectern. Then he looked up at the congregation. The day's reading was from Exodus, where Moses needed help so he appointed 70 others for the Spirit of the LORD to fall on. The 70 came out to the Tent of Meeting, the Spirit fell upon them, and they began to prophesy. But not them only. It also fell on two others who were back in the Israelite camp and they too began to prophesy.  Joshua, Moses' Lieutenant, would have stopped them; but Moses said, "Would that all of Israel were prophets."  Looking over the congregation David prefaced his reading with a brief comment as he sometimes does.  In a loud serious tone which struck a perfect balance with the twinkle in his eye, David said, "This story is about a bunch of do-gooders and a couple of ordinary Joes."  Everyone laughed. 

Lately David has been busy around the church. Turns out David is handy with metals and has been making and giving away some of the most beautiful decorative iron and stainless steel crosses. I have one hanging proudly in my study; and as I go around visiting people in their homes I look up on their walls and recognize David's work. On Monday, I was at Helen Mosses. She was turning 90 years old, and lol and behold she had a new cross hanging on the wall along with the pictures of her children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. "How wonderful," I thought, "how wonderful is this woman and that man."

And then I got home and received a text from my mom. On Sunday, I had told a story from her childhood and something of its struggle and hardship. The text read: 

"David Pinson gave me a beautiful cross yesterday. I hung it in entry. Blessed friend."

I don't know if David Pinson is a do-gooder or just an ordinary Joe; but I can tell you the Spirit is in him and I am glad. I am exceedingly glad and honored to be his pastor. 

Daily Lesson for June 29, 2017

Today's Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 22 verses 24 through 27:

24 A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. ²⁵But he said to them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. ²⁶But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. ²⁷For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

When I was in seminary we had a professor in church history who on the first day of class each semester would pull out one of those large hanging maps of the world and then turned it upside down. Her intent was obvious.  She wanted us to see the world differently.  She wanted us to look at church history from another perspective -- an upside down perspective.

In today's Lesson Jesus turns the world upside down. He tells his disciples they need to think from another perspective. They need to see the world from another perspective.  Specifically, they need to look on whatever they think it means to be "great" with totally new perspective. They need to turn it upside down. For the one who is great, Jesus told them, is not the one who rules from the top but the one who serves from the bottom.

Here's an experiment for today. What if we were to go through the day thinking about all those who serve us as great, as people on top, as royalty. How would we treat the man who shines our shoes?  How would we talk to the woman who takes our breakfast order?  How much time would we give to the blue collar guys on the ladder in the hall or the ladies making the copies for the staff meeting?

What would it be like to turn our world upside down today?

Daily Lesson for June 28, 2017

Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 101 verse 3a:

"I will set no worthless thing before my eyes."

I don't know about the wisdom of a devotional about the harmful effects of technology and social media whose readership is 100% comprised of people using technology and social media. Nevertheless, I think it's true; technology and social media are wonderful but they can also suck us, rewire our brains, and absorb our days. In other words, they can become all-demanding gods. 

If sociologists from another planet were to come and observe earthlings in the 21st century, they would note how much time we spend on our phones and computers. In their report they would conclude that we are a very religious people and in their interviews with us what we say would confirm that. "We take our religion very serious."  And then, in the report the sociologists would describe our religion: how much time and energy we "devote" to gods called Apple and iPhone.  We are so devoted to these gods, they would conclude, that we're even willing to give up everything else: our relationships with nature, and neighbors, and family. How religious we are. 

"I will set no worthless thing before me," the Psalmist says. There's a lot of good stuff on social media.  But there's also a lot of worthless consumption -- hours and hours of it. It can take over our whole lives. 

It really can be a religion -- a bad religion. 

Daily Lesson for June 27, 2017

Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 100 verse 4:

For the Lord is good;

his mercy is everlasting; 

and his faithfulness endures from age to age.

Yesterday I went to a party at an assisted living community for one of the great ladies of our church, Helen Moss -- or "Saint Helen" as I like to call her. We gathered with the other residents and had ice cream and cake and sang songs from days gone by and hymns eternal. We sang songs Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire danced to along with the Yellow Rose of Texas. The hymns included "The Little Brown Church" and "Swing Lo Sweet Chariot".  Our song leader refused to say goodbye to the residents but insisted we end with Roy Rogers's and Dale Evans "Happy Trails" instead. Helen and I then went back to her room and visited awhile. She was turning 90 years old. 

And today I will go to hear one of the great ladies in my life my great aunt Opal speak about her experience as a part of the Navy WAVES, Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, the first group of women to serve in the Armed Services during WWII.  She is 95, the matriarch, graceful as a bird and stronger than onions. She is the one I go and visit when I am worried or afraid or uncertain about anything. She is the rock from where the water  of wisdom can always be drawn. 

These women remind me that the LORD is good, that the LORD is true, and that amidst all the struggle and change and conflict of this world the LORD is faithful.

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest, great is God's faithfulness. 

Daily Lesson for June 26, 2017

Today's Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 21 verses 29 through 36:

29 Then he told them a parable: ‘Look at the fig tree and all the trees; 30as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. 31So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. 33Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.34 ‘Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly,35like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.’

The kingdom of God cannot be hastened, rushed, or pulled into our presence. It has come and is always coming, but it's arrival is always like a thief in the night. We do not know when it will all happen in our lives; so the most we can do is be ready and be present in the moment we are in. 

Jesus said the leaves of the fig tree tell us summer is upon us. It's arrival is a surprise. "I can't believe it's already summer again," we say.

The kingdom of God is like that, Jesus says. Without the shooting of a starter pistol or the ringing of a bell, here it is out of nowhere. A small child asks us, "Where is God?"  A young person asks where we think his dad is now. An old woman in a nursing home asks us to help comb her hair.

There it is, upon us, without any warning.  And when we see these things we know that the kingdom of God is near.  Here and now. Today.  A total surprise. 

Daily Lesson for June 23, 2017

Today's Daily Lesson comes from Acts chapter 2 verse 42:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

What was true in the beginning to make church work is still true today. It's not gimmickry or false promises about prosperity or some universal formula for doing church that is being peddled at the next big conference. 

It's simple.  It's basic. It's fundamental. It's a small group of people doing life together in such a compelling way that they end up attracting others to come and take part also. 

The group is authentic, its self-sacrificing, and its faithful.  And, it's dedicated to those same shared practices that the early church started with: to study, to shared time and mutual belonging, to eating and drinking and genuinely being in one another's presence, and to praying for and over one another and one another's families. 

This community isn't perfect or ideal; I know.  My former pastor and good friend Charlie Johnson used to say, "This ain't heaven; it's church."  And as Bonhoeffer said, those who idealize the church will end up destroying it. 

It's not heaven. But it is that place and that people that God has chosen to bring the kingdom to earth as it is in heaven. It's church. And it needs you.

Daily Lesson for June 22, 2017

Today's Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 21 verses 1 through 4:

He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; ²he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins.³He said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; ⁴for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.’

If you pastor for long enough you know the widow. You see her Sunday by Sunday. You get a glimpse of her checks coming in faithfully week by week, month by month, and year by year. The amount of any one check is not impressive; but the amount year by year is. And so is the steadfastness.  It's her consistency that stuns and honors and humbles.

Because I am her pastor I know what the widow gives up and does without. She still drives the same old car. She still lives in the same old house. She does not take lavish vacations. She lives meagerly; she walks humbly.  She is a model faithfulness. 

The widow will never have a building named after her. She will never be honored with an endowment in her name. She gave all her money to the church and because it's church we didn't trumpet it. We weren't willing to let the left hand know what the right hand was doing.

But there is one who does know. He knows.  He sees. And one day, maybe not too far away, she'll receive her reward. 

Daily Lesson for June 21, 2017

Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 82 verses 6 and 7:

6 Now I say to you, 'You are gods, 

and all of you children of the Most High;

7 Nevertheless, you shall die like mortals, 

and fall like any prince.

Now here is a proper perspective on what it means to be human. 

We are made in the image of God, God-breathed, and God-blessed and so like God that we might be said to be gods.

And yet, we are also dust and to dust we shall return. We are mortals. We fall and get up. We fall again and can't help ourselves. We are not God. I am not God.  I know I am not God. 

Somewhere along the spiritual (human) journey, it is important to come to terms with who we are, to see ourselves as gods and also not God.  For the Scylla and Charybdis which can destroy any human soul is to think either too highly or too lowly of oneself. 

We are gods; but we are not God. Getting that in proper perspective will save us from hubris and also from timidity.

Daily Lesson for June 20, 2017

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 78 verses 15 and 16:

15 He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them water as abundant as the seas; 16 he brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers.

 Hidden beneath the surface of the heart, deep within the human soul, is a reservoir which some call Resilience and some Survivor and others simply call Strength. 

This is deep water which, unfortunately, can only be discovered by the way of the wilderness. Success cannot find this water. Prosperity and affluence and ease of life will never drink from it. These will never discover it. They will never thirst enough to find it out.  This water can only be found in the stone. And the stone is hard -- hard like Flint, like the Wailing Wall, or like the Rock of Ages. 

Only struggle and pain and the harshness of the journey are strong enough to break the Rock.  But strike the Rock and God's living water streams out. The River of Life streams out. The Glad River streams out. 

Daily Lesson for June 19, 2017

Today's Daily Lesson comes from 1 Samuel chapter 1 verse 20:

"In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, ‘I have asked him of the Lord.’"

and Acts chapter 1 verses 6 and 7:

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ 7He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.

The Bible speaks about two different conceptions of time.  One is Chronos, or chronological time. This is predictable time, time measured by clock and calendar. This time as winter, spring, summer, and fall.  This is time we can count on and by.

The other time the Bible speaks of is Kairos, sometimes translated as "in the fullness of time" or "in due season".  This is unpredictable time. This is unknown time. This is the time when a rose blossoms or a baby is conceived. This is God's time -- time hidden in the mystery of God. 

There are times we can count on. It's mid-June and so the days are growing long -- count on it. But then there are also times we can't predict, times which are hidden in mystery, times we cannot hasten or hurry, times which belong only to the LORD.  For these times we can only wait.

Wait. And hope . . .

Daily Lesson for June 16, 2017

Today's Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 19 verse 41a:

"As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it."

Maybe you know the shortest verse in the Bible: "Jesus wept."  That is found in the book of John chapter 11 verse 35 and the occasion was the death of Jesus' friend Lazarus. 

But today's Lesson is a lesser know occasion of Jesus weeping. It is the time Jesus wept over not only his closest friend, but over the whole city.  Before he wept over the city, however, he first saw the city.

Do you see the city that is around you?  Do you know it's streets, it's schools, it's "lonely islands of poverty" in the midst of its "ocean of material prosperity"?  Do you know where the men stand as they wait in line to see if they'll be hired for today?  Do you know where he will stand in line again this evening for a free, hot meal served along with things just as necessary to life as bread -- a warm smile and a gentle hug?  Do you know the bar where the insurance agent will go yet again tonight to try to drown another kind of poverty -- the poverty of spirit? Do you see and know it enough to weep over it?

Jesus saw the city. He did not close his eyes but opened them. He gazed upon the city. He beheld it in all its strength and sorrow. And because he did, Jesus wept. 

Daily Lesson for June 15, 2017

Today's Daily Lesson comes from 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verses 7b through 10:

Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated.8Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me,9but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

The only authentic spirituality is the spirituality of imperfection. This is the spirituality that does not make the perfect the enemy of the good and and does not view weakness as something to be shunned or denied but rather included and embraced. It is the rejection of weakness which is the driving force in the false spiritualities of authoritarianism and domination.

The late philosopher Harald Ofstad wrote an important book titled "Our Contempt for Weakness" in which he examined the origin of Nazism, whose authoritarianism drew its strength from the rejection of all that is weak in the quest for the strong ("supermann").  In Ofstad's words:

"If we examine ourselves in the mirror of Nazism we see our own traits—enlarged but so revealing for that very reason. Anti-Semitism is not the essence Nazism. Its essence is the doctrine that the ‘strong’ shall rule over the ‘weak,’ and that the ‘weak’ are contemptible because they are ‘weak.’ Nazism did not originate in the Germany of the 1930s and did not disappear in 1945."

We fear our own weakness and it is this fear that drives us to reject the weakness of others. This is exactly the opposite of what Christ was and did and in strict terms is the spirituality of the anti-Christ. Ofstad is right; this spirituality of contempt did not begin or end with Nazism and remains with us now today. It is the spiritual root of the rise of white nationalism and neo-fascism today. These are glaring manifestations; but the seed of the spirituality of contempt is within us all.

The only way to break free from the spirituality of contempt is to seek to love the weak and the broken -- the weak and broken in ourselves and also in others. True, Christian spirituality is the love and embrace of the fragile and vulnerable and flawed. It is the love of frail and aging bodies and the embrace of different handicapped minds. 

Paul pleaded with God to remove his flaw, whatever the flaw was -- some believe it was physical blindness. But then he began to truly see that God's power is made perfect in and through our flaws. When Paul was begging for his thorn to be taken, he was in fact asking to be relieved from his humanity -- his vulnerable, skin-covered, flesh and blood and sometimes bleeding humanity.  But it is this humanity that Christ loved -- the broken parts. And it's in and through the weakness of this humanity that his power to transform and transfigure is perfected.

His power is made perfect in our weakness, in our imperfection. Therefore, Paul says, we must learn to love and embrace and even boast in our imperfections. And it is there that we see the beautiful wonder of God's grace.  

Daily Lesson for June 14, 2017

Today's Daily Lesson comes from 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verses 32 and 33:

32In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas set a guard on the city of Damascus in order to seize me,33but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands.

There is an old saying, "When all the doors close on us, God opens a window."

It's true. 

When the whole city was looking for Paul and all the gates had been closed to pin him in, then God opened a window and he was lowered out of a window in a basket -- just like baby Moses.  And when Rahab was harboring the Israelite spies, she let them down and out through her window before the Jericho watchmen could find them. Maybe, as a prostitute she had lowered many a visitor out of that same window beforehand; the LORD works in mischievous ways!  And when the whole world seemed lost, drowned in the flood of its own sin, the God opened a window for the dove to go out and find dry land. 

When the doors are shut and there seems like there's no escape, try the windows. Look for windows of opportunity.  

Look for the God of windows. 

Daily Lesson for July 13, 2017

Today's Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 19 verses 1 through 10:

He entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich.3He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycomore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’6So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ 8Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ 9Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’

"Zacchaeus was a wee little man,

A wee little man was he . . ."

Zacchaeus was a strong and domineering person in town whose power made many cower.  But deep down he was full of his own insecurities, self-doubts, and shame. Deep down he really was a wee little man.

Jesus saw the insecurity, the fear, the loneliness; he reached out. 

My great-aunt Anita used to say Jesus came not only for the down and out, but for the up and out also. When Zacchaeus was up in the tree and completely out of the community, Jesus reached out his hand to him. For Zacchaeus too was a son of Abraham.

We may know someone just like him. 

Daily Lesson for June 12, 2017

Today's Daily Lesson is from 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 8:

 8Now, even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it.

Godly authority is for building up and not for tearing down. Too much damage has been done by authority figures abusing their power with belittling and demeaning language and insulting attacks. The personhood of a child ridiculed or a subordinate overly chastised may never recover.  The damage can be serious and permanent. 

"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me."  We all know that's not true. Words can hurt -- and do. 

Admonishment and correction are necessary and often helpful. But exhortation is given for building a person up, never for tearing them down. If you are in an abusive situation with a demeaning authority figure you need to know it's neither normal nor ok. If you can get out you should. If, on the other hand, you're the person in authority and you have abused that authority you need to repent and change your ways.  Remember, you too will one day have to answer to an even higher authority. 

"And the measure we give shall be the measure we get."

Daily Lesson for June 9, 2017

Today's Daily Lesson comes from Deuteronomy chapter 26 verses 1 through 10:

When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, 2you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name.3You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, ‘Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.’ 4When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lordyour God, 5you shall make this response before the Lord your God: ‘A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous.6When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labour on us, 7we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; 9and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.’

It is established it that a tenth of what the LORD has given to us we are to give back. These "first fruits" are our perpetual reminder that we've come along way, made it through some lean times, and have much to be thankful for. A "tithe" means a tenth and it's the way the LORD's people remember to be grateful. The tithe is God's way of keeping us humble.

Who should tithe? A little history helps us to discern.

The tithe goes all the way back to Abraham, who tithed a tenth of the spoils of battle to the priest Melchizedek. The tithe was then later ordained by God as the Israelites were coming into the Promised Land and preparing to establish the nation. From the beginning, the tithe was an acknowledgment that all good things come from the LORD.

We live now in a culture and, sadly, also even a church that has largely forgotten the tithe. Families, once established, build or buy big houses whose mortgages eat up the tithe. It's another 20 years -- when the student loans are paid off -- before anything of significance can be given. That's all backwards.

I know I'm beginning to sound like a Baptist preacher here; but the tithe has things to teach us. It's how we learn humility and how we keep everything in perspective. The tithe was meant to be a reminder that it all could have gone a different way and we and our families could be back in Egypt -- wherever our Egypt is.

There's an old saying, "The LORD's people don't just keep the tithe; the tithe also keeps the LORD's people."

I think that's still true.

Daily Lesson for June 8, 2017

Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 8:

1 O Lord our Governor, 

how exalted is your Name in all the world!

2 Out of the mouths of infants and children 

your majesty is praised above the heavens.

3 You have set up a stronghold against your adversaries, 

to quell the enemy and the avenger.

4 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, 

the moon and the stars you have set in their courses,

5 What is man that you should be mindful of him? 

the son of man that you should seek him out?

6 You have made him but little lower than the angels; 

you adorn him with glory and honor;

7 You give him mastery over the works of your hands; 

you put all things under his feet:

8 All sheep and oxen, 

even the wild beasts of the field,

9 The birds of the air, the fish of the sea, 

and whatsoever walks in the paths of the sea.

10 O Lord our Governor, 

how exalted is your Name in all the world!

We're having a great week at camp, swimming in the lake, baking in the sun, and doing our best to watch out for chiggers.  Yikes!  It's all better than it sounds.  Trust me!  And by the way, we're already looking for next year's adult sponsors. 

The theme for this year is "Creation" and there is no better place to reflect on creation than summertime Athens, Texas.

Yesterday, we talked about all the various parts of the ecosystem around us and we drew a comparison of each individual plant or animal making its own contribution to Paul's metaphor of the Body of Christ, with each individual member having his own role and make her own contribution. 

I have been teaching the third graders all week.  I have discovered that third graders are serious theologians for about 2 minutes and then their legs and arms and torsos turn to spaghetti. Anyway, during the 2 minutes of serious theological talk yesterday, I looked out the window and saw the great big, beautiful magnolia tree that is outside the dining room table.  I remembered all the bees that has been busy pollinating its flowers yesterday morning around breakfast time. There were dozens of bees in each of the magnolia's big, white flowers. 

"The great big trees," I told the children, "depend on the little bitty bees -- and so everything in creation has to play it's own part to play."

These children are given to us with all shapes and sizes and varieties of gifts. Some will grow up to be steel magnolias, others mighty oaks, and others little worker bees.  I pray they grow up to accept and love who they are and what they're called to do. Every single one of them is vital and if even a single one of them were missing the world would be a lesser place. 

Even chiggers -- I suppose.

Daily Lesson for June 7, 2017

Today's Daily Lesson comes from 2 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 10:

10For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death.

Dwelling on things past, imprisoned by things done and things left undone -- that's really no way to live. The way of salvation does not end us stuck in a place of grief. God's promise is the grace of another day today, and in the end the hope for a whole new world yet to come tomorrow. 

We all make mistakes, fall short, and fail to live up. None of us is as good as we want to be nor as good as we want others to think we are. Parenthood is a prime example.  None of us lives up to perfect parenting. We're mortal. 

When we fail, we need to learn to be gentle and kind with ourselves. Judging ourselves by the letter of the law just kills us. "For the letter killeth."

Thank God there is grace, there is mercy, and there is a new sunrise every single morning. This helps us to learn to accept responsibility for our shortcomings; but not to be paralyzed by them. 

Niebuhr's Serenity Prayer is a good one, maybe the best:

"LORD, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

Daily Lesson for June 2, 2017

Today's Daily Lesson comes from Ezekiel chapter 34 verses 17 through 19:

17 As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats: 18Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture? When you drink of clear water, must you foul the rest with your feet? 19And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have fouled with your feet?

In today's Daily Lesson the prophet Ezekiel speaks of what we know today as environmental pollution and degradation. For these things, the nations shall be subject to judgment. 

Note how the prophet ties Ezekiel environmental destruction to the harm of the most vulnerable and powerless. The water of the meek sheep is sullied by the goats and rams of the world.

We have to protect our planet because it's the only one we've got. And, we need to know that what we have done with and in our world and its effect on our neighbors will all be part of the judgment when the nations are gathered before God and we realize the things we've done and the things we've left undone. 

Daily Lesson for June 1, 2017

Today's Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 10 verses 25 through 37:

25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’26He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’27He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’ 28And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’

29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ 30Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.33But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.” 36Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ 37He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’

A Baptist preacher had an appendectomy and his wife lost her aunt in the same week. A kind Muslim family got wind and brought over enough Abuelo's Mexican food to feed an army -- enchiladas, fajitas, bags of chips and salsa.

And here's the real kicker: its Ramadan and the Muslims themselves are fasting. 

Don't you think that sounds like what a good neighbor would do?

Now go and do likewise.