Category: First Steps

I have always enjoyed the writings of Henri Nouwen. During this Lenten Season, I’m rereading different selections from his corpus. In Sabbatical Journey, he wrote: Precisely where we feel most present to each other, we experience deeply the absence of those we love.  And precisely at moments of great loss, we can discover a new sense of closeness and intimacy. This is also what the Eucharist is about. We announce the presence of Christ among us until he comes again! There is both presence and absence, closeness and distance, an experience of at-homeness on the way home. I was struck again by the paradox that loving someone deeply means opening yourself to the pain of her or his absence. Lent is a time to get in touch with our experience of absence, emptiness, unfulfillment so that in the midst of our overcrowded lives we can remind ourselves that we are still waiting for the One who has promised to fulfill our deepest desires. During this season of Lent, I hope you will afford yourself some time for contemplation where you reflect on the experience of emptiness. In doing so, see yourself being filled by God’s Spirit leading you home.    This Week’s Readings: * Monday – Mark 9 * Tuesday – Mark 10 * Wednesday- Mark 11 * Thursday – Mark 12 * Friday- Mark 13 Prayer Requests: *An immediate end to the crisis in Ukraine. *Heal those who are sick and protect those who are not. *Comfort those who are grieving and in distress. *Give our leaders extra wisdom as they navigate this pandemic and economic uncertainty. *Help for those seeking to find their way. *Continued Growth Inside and Outside the Walls of St. Paul UMC.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.” – Philippians 4:6

Are you a perfectionist?  If so, then you are normally loyal, hardworking, love routines and finite outcomes.  Often, you are a systematic rule follower, very ethical, and reliable.  At the same time, you have a strong moral code that sees the world in black and white, rights and wrongs. However, there is a strong inner voice that speaks in tones of criticism and judgment.  When a perfectionist makes a misstep, normally self-hatred isn’t far away.  Similarly, when others don’t perform or see the world as you do, anger is a quick emotion.   If you are a perfectionist, I hope you will do two things: Embrace Sabbath this week.  There will always be something more to do.  Equally important, there is a need to stop and just be.  Allow God to calm that inner voice so that God’s Spirit can say to you, “You are my beloved.”  Say the phrase, “Done is better than Perfect.”  Some things won’t be perfect.  The good news is they don’t have to be.  Done is better than perfect.   Here is the gospel lesson, Christ’s Righteousness is Our Righteousness.  One will never be perfect enough to merit God’s love.  God loves because He is love.  My prayer for you is that you will know that you are both a sinner and a saint and God’s grace is sufficient today.     This Week’s Readings: * Monday – Mark 4 * Tuesday – Mark 5 * Wednesday- Mark 6 * Thursday – Mark 7 * Friday- Mark 8 Prayer Requests: *An immediate end to the crisis in Ukraine. *Heal those who are sick and protect those who are not. *Comfort those who are grieving and in distress. *Give our leaders extra wisdom as they navigate this pandemic and economic uncertainty. *Help for those seeking to find their way. *Continued Growth Inside and Outside the Walls of St. Paul UMC.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.” – Philippians 4:6

It seems that human beings cannot see what they are not readied to see, and they cannot hear what we have not been prepared to hear—A Christian Mystic.    When it comes to certain parts of my identity and life—the good parts—I want to hear them.  I’m ready to hear them.  Actually, can’t wait to hear them or see them.  But the parts that I keep hidden, the parts of my identity that I want to keep under lock-and-key, I definitely want no part of them.  In essence, I practice denial.  If I acknowledge that it is there, then I have to confront it and address it.  Frankly, it is easier to lock it away and the longer I do, the easier it is to forget it.   Yet, it is exactly in those broken and deprived areas that the Holy Spirit wants to work. Strange as it may sound, the more I try to stuff it in a box, the more the Holy Spirit wants to get it out, in the open, to redeem it.  As I think about it, a willingness to accept God’s grace, plant my feet firmly on the hope of resurrection, requires courage–vulnerability.  It is not the courage to pretend I’ve got it all together which is really a sacred weakness.  It is the courage to stand before God knowing I’m in desperate need of God, and if there is transformation, it is an act from his hand.   So, before I do anything, I need to come to grips with what I cannot see nor hear.  Therefore, my prayer is: “Dear Lord, I’m open to seeing and hearing what you want to say.  Scary as it may be, revealing as it may be, I’m ready.  Trembling but ready and trusting in your Spirit to make all things well.  O God, please begin.  Amen.”   This Week’s Readings: * Monday – Acts 27 * Tuesday – Acts 28 * Wednesday- Mark 1 * Thursday – Mark 2 * Friday- Mark 3 Prayer Requests: *An immediate end to the crisis in Ukraine. *Heal those who are sick and protect those who are not. *Comfort those who are grieving and in distress. *Give our leaders extra wisdom as they navigate this pandemic and economic uncertainty. *Help for those seeking to find their way. *Continued Growth Inside and Outside the Walls of St. Paul UMC.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.” – Philippians 4:6

For many, their greatest motivation in life is to avoid conflict and experience some type of inner peace, yet the road to peace is filled with conflict, disharmony, and even pain.  One cannot find peace by avoiding life.  Therefore, many oscillate between two sides of a dichotomy:  playing the peacemaker (avoidance) or playing the perfectionist (control).   As the peacemaker, one loses their voice and acquiesces to whatever the situation is at the present time.  As the perfectionist, one overly criticizes, judges, and micromanages. Both approaches carry a heavy dose of anger if things aren’t controllable. The rub is that life isn’t controllable, and when one’s focus is on the external, other people, normally it ends poorly.  Therefore, the hard but fruitful work is an inward journey where the work of the Holy Spirit is most efficacious. If you are reading this devotional and things seem chaotic, don’t focus on all that is going on around you.  Focus on your own heart, your own motivations, your own desires.  Ask God to form a heart anchored in his grace, covered in his mercy, and formed by the heart of Christ.  Seek a place where one is content, fulfilled, on the inside even if nothing around you changes.  Be filled with the joy of salvation and the hope that God is redeeming all things.  Trust that you rest in God’s hand even if tumultuous waves crash around.  Listen for the voice of God that says, “one can’t find peace by avoiding life but I can give you peace in the midst of life.”     This Week’s Readings: * Monday – Acts 22 * Tuesday – Acts 23 * Wednesday- Acts 24 * Thursday – Acts 25 * Friday- Acts 26 Prayer Requests: * Continued Growth Inside and Outside the Walls of St. Paul UMC. * Strengthen our Country and Leaders, here and abroad. * Heal those who are sick and protect those who are not. * Comfort those who are grieving and in distress. * Give our leaders extra wisdom as they navigate this pandemic and economic uncertainty. * Help those seeking to find their way.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.” – Philippians 4:6

As long as we stay in the dark about how we see the world and the wounds and beliefs that have shaped who we are, we’re prisoners of our history.  We’ll continue going through life on autopilot doing things that hurt and confuse ourselves and everyone around us.  Eventually, we become so accustomed to making the same mistakes over and over in our lives that they lull us to sleep (Ian Morgan Cron—The Road Back to You). Accepting oneself does not preclude an attempt to become better—Flannery O’Connor. Recently I shared these two quotes with my staff.  Inside the human condition is always a tug-a-war between who we are, what we project to others, and the person we desire to be.  If I had to guess, at different stages of one’s life, one of the above three is more dominant.  Carl Jung’s teachings on self-actualization and the interplay between the self and the shadow are perfect examples of this tug-a-war.  It is a universal struggle for every person.   It is here that I think Christianity has a powerful voice in proclaiming a path to wholeness (salvation in New Testament).  The path begins with an honest acceptance of who one is.  Granted, there are various ways the New Testament illustrates this beginning step from examples of people who saw the Old Testament Law (10 Commandments) as a mirror revealing the nature of a person, gospels examples where people are confronted with Jesus only to realize their disposition of the heart (Zacchaeus), to another experiencing the resurrected Christ where all pretense is stripped away.  The path for each person begins with the same first step of identity, “I really am this type of person.”   Thankfully, and this is the really good part, Christ is never content to leave a person where He meets him or her.  The objective is for the person’s nature to become like the nature of the Resurrected Lord.  Equally comforting, God is not a sadistic gym teacher that sets a bar too high to reach only to watch a person go crazy and burn.  The secret of God is that God joins the person through the mystical union of faith so that together, as a new creation (1 Cor 5:17), infused with the Holy Spirit, the person begins the path to wholeness.  A person might begin with an honest acceptance of who he or she is but that is not what they ultimately become.  Thanks be to God for his rich glory and grace. Amen.     This Week’s Readings: * Monday – Acts 17 * Tuesday – Acts 18 * Wednesday- Acts 19 * Thursday – Acts 20 * Friday- Acts 21 Prayer Requests: * Continued Growth Inside and Outside the Walls of St. Paul UMC. * Strengthen our Country and Leaders, here and abroad. * Heal those who are sick and protect those who are not. * Comfort those who are grieving and in distress. * Give our leaders extra wisdom as they navigate this pandemic and economic uncertainty. * Help those seeking to find their way.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.” – Philippians 4:6

The Truth will set you free, but not until it is done with you.   I don’t know who the first person was to coin this phrase, nor its context; however, it definitely echoes Jesus’ thoughts in John’s Gospel—Chapter 8 to be precise. When Jesus said the truth will set you free, it was in the context of those who abide by his words. The freedom that the gospels describe is not a life free from struggle, temptation, or pain.  It is a freedom that one experiences in the midst of their struggle, temptation, or pain. There is a world of difference between the two. I liken it to the difference between swimming with the current and swimming against the current. The current is there, it won’t go away…one doesn’t have to be controlled by it, but can actually thrive in the face of it. Over my years of following Christ, I’m comforted and have drawn strength from how God is never satisfied until his nature is formed inside the follower. God won’t quit, won’t stop, but will continue until it is done, in this life or the life to come. His work will involve conviction, empowerment, comfort, or encouragement depending on what is needed to bring about his purpose. But, he won’t stop.   I’m glad the truth will continue its work in me until the work is completed—that is real freedom.  Thanks be to God.     This Week’s Readings: * Monday – Acts 11 * Tuesday – Acts 12 * Wednesday- Acts 13 * Thursday – Acts 14 * Friday- Acts 15 | Acts 16 Prayer Requests: * Continued Growth Inside and Outside the Walls of St. Paul UMC. * Strengthen our Country and Leaders, here and abroad. * Heal those who are sick and protect those who are not. * Give our leaders extra wisdom as they navigate this pandemic and economic uncertainty. * Help those seeking to find their way.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.” – Philippians 4:6