A Lenten Pilgrimage 2023

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March 19, 2023

Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever. This is such a good psalm. I understand some people probably overlook it, or just move past it because it is read and re read over and over. But it is such a reassuring poem. "He makes me lie down in green pastures" it just calms me down. It also reminds me that he protects me. I'm not aware of any people that I would consider my "enemies." But

March 18, 2023

2 Samuel, chapter seven verses 4 and 8-16 recounts the story of The Lord speaking to a man named Nathan, a prophet, about the home he will build for Nathan. While he explains the house will be built for him in Israel, he goes on to talk about a messiah. A son of God who will be full of the love of God, and will likewise share in his grace and glory, but The Lord also warns of the wrath of man against this son, “the rod of man, and the blow of mortals.” While the bible quotes God using the word “discipline”, we can interpret this section to be an allegory for our harsh and sometimes unwise judgement, prejudices, and disciplinary or punishing actions we sometimes award those in our life unfairly. I know for me personally, it can be hard to have patience with the people in my life on bad or busy days when I am stressed, but we all are equals experiencing different but valid problems. This passage offers us peace of mind, as we can see Jesus as our home, our place of shelter and rest whe

March 17, 2023

Our readings today are mostly about repentance and our Father’s forgiveness. Our gospel are the two commandments of Christ which complete us after our repentance. How loving and forgiving is our Father of all my mistakes. I spent so many years depending totally on myself… a perfectionist. I thought I had achieved everything I ever wanted or could have needed. Over the next 18 months, I lost everything… illusions slipping through my fingers. Professional loss, financial losses, my home and even some family. Only after I registered my losses did I realize I was holding it up as my idols. It was shocking to realize that all the material possessions were actually idols to me… all my time, my money, all my focus led me completely astray. My mother used to say when your hands are full, you can’t receive anything. Wise woman. God has healed my waywardness. There is so much freedom in learning to trust in him. I will never amass all that I once had but it never brought me happin

March 15, 2023

Sometimes I go to church, pray and then assume that this will be enough to demonstrate and/or sustain my faith in God. Then in my daily life, I am willing to endure a certain amount of suffering, knowing that it builds my character and allows me to tell myself that I am faithful because I am enduring this hardship. But in those circumstances where I cannot see an end to my daily struggles or experience a major setback or crisis in my life, I wonder if I will still be able to call upon my faith in God to sustain me. How much more so for those who have lost homes, and families suffering through terrible, pointless wars. When we stumble and fall in our faith because the burden seems just too much to handle, God’s love, protection and strength is always there for us to call upon, even if it seems nowhere to be found. No matter how many times we fall, God will always be there to pick us up. This is not something that we can earn or have earned, it is a gif

March 14, 2023

One thing I know is that there is nobody that does not love to be respected. There are things we put limits to or set boundaries and guard jealously with any trespasser having a share of our anger when breaking the rules; some go way too far to be mean in reacting. To err is human was Jesus’ message to his disciples in Matthew 18:15a, brothers shall trespass against thee though used with the conditional word ‘if’. In the actual sense, brothers and sisters do offend themselves. Jesus gave his disciples ways conflicts should be resolved among them and how they can agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by God in heaven (Matthew 18:19). Who could have thought that after listening to such great teaching, Peter still had unresolved matters in his heart? The word ‘then’ in verse 21 struck me deeply. How often do we either read the word of God or listen to sermons that we “then” get to the point of asking Jesus questions?

March 13, 2023

Death and Miracles 2 Kings 5:1-15 and Luke 4:24-30 Lent is a time of thinking about death. We contemplate the sin and suffering in the world and our own inescapable mortality; we prepare for the betrayal and death of Jesus Christ. Yet it is also a time of thinking about miracles. We approach Good Friday knowing that Easter Sunday awaits. Contrary to the evidence of science and our own experience, we proclaim that Jesus was dead and yet now is alive forever. This is a pretty great deal. Yet the two passages for today suggest that we humans can become volatile indeed when brought face-to-face with death and miracles. In the Old Testament, the Syrian commander Naaman has what can only be described as a temper tantrum when the prophet Elisha does not perform any dramatic flourishes to heal him from leprosy, but instead commands him to bathe in the Jordan River. Centuries later, Jesus informs his synagogue that he is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, but