Holy Week

This week we commemorate the passion of Jesus Christ, who died on Good Friday
and rose on Easter Sunday. For Christians, it is a spiritually weighty time
characterized by deep emotions of grief and joy. Good Friday reminds us of the worst in us while Easter reminds us of the best in God. So as we reflect on the
importance of this week for the world, I encourage each of us to take stock of
its meaning for our spiritual journey.

Prayer….

Father of love help us to know the gravity of this season that we might know
what is the length, height and depth of life. Amen!

 Pastor Richard Douglass

Advertisement

Blind Faith

On days when I seem to lapse into ‘future worry mode” I have to remind myself of the loving care given to me by God. While I intellectually “know’ this is true and even have the evidence to show for it, I am still human and there are those momentary lapses in which I remind myself, “relax, God’s got this.”

This became crystal clear to me the day I was hanging out with my granddaughter. During the summer, I would encourage her to get outside and go for walks with me just to examine nature, talk, share, check out the neighborhood. The bonus was always if there were sprinklers to run through.  These rituals were just as important for me as they were fun for her because they connected me to the mind of a child and the unabashed joy of experiencing and encountering simplicity.

On this day, just to shake things up a bit, I suggested we go on a “blind man’s walk.”  When she asked me what that was, I explained that we must each close our eyes for part of the walk and allow the other person to be our guide – much the way a guide dog functions (mind you, I was making this up as I went along so I was not really sure how it would all work out – me, at a ripe old age and her at age 7). She thought this was great fun and eagerly volunteered to go first.

As I led her, she walked with full confidence holding my hand with a huge grin on her face. We walked for a full block and she took note of the sounds around her- ever careful to follow my directions and avoid barriers along the way. When it was my turn, I walked tentatively and even fearfully – afraid to trust my path (and life!) to this 7 year old. I admit to peeking and trying to trust my own judgment as I inched forward. While walking, it crossed my mind that this is what it is like when we doubt and do not trust fully in God’s divine care for our direction. We move haltingly and tentatively through life without the joyful confidence of one who is protected at all costs by one who loves and protects us.  I also realized that in that state, hearing the voice of God is imperative as He sees around corners and can protect us from barriers to our own physical and spiritual safety as well – but we must trust and be attuned to His voice.

I vowed that day to be more like my sweet granddaughter who so fully trusted despite not knowing what was in front of her and joyfully and purposefully strode forward. Metaphorically, blind faith was revealed to me as having the faith of a joyful child experiencing the world through loving guidance and trust. While we may experience challenges, they can be overcome by hearing the voice of God and moving in His direction. Our journey may follow a well-trod path or may have twists and turns but it is the path prepared for us and God will lead.

It doesn’t hurt to occasionally run through the sprinklers either.

Presence of the Lord

Greetings fellow bloggers, sisters and brothers,

I was asked to make an entry on zionhill blog. I am completely ignorant when it comes to blogging.  It took me one hundred years to negogiate my way to this point, so, I hope i am understanding the process.  anyway, here goes.

a friend of mine called me one day and said that the Spirit of the Lord spoke to her and told her to call me and tell me to write about the Presence of the Lord.  She explained to me the God would give me what to say.  I did write a brief passage and thought it would be a good idea to share it here.

When she hung up, the first thing that came to mind was the song that says:

The presence of the Lord is here, the presence of the Lord is here. I feel it in the atmosphere; the presence of the Lord is here.  The presence of the Lord is here.

I can feel the presence of the Lord and I’m going to get my blessing right now.

After the song, the following thoughts came to mind:

The presence of the Lord is power.  The presence of the Lord is glory.  The presence of the Lord is light.  As the presence of the Lord manifested in a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night, in the days of Israel in the wilderness, so does his presence go before us today.  Let us open our eyes and see it.

As the glorious presence of the Lord rested upon the tabernacle in the wilderness, it rests upon the house of the Lord today.  Yet, only the true man or woman of God can commune with Him at the entrance and within the house.

The presence of the Lord is in the air that we breathe because it is His breath, His wind.  He blows on us and covers us with His righteousness each day.  When we take in each breath, we breathe in His presence.  The presence of the Lord is with us in our dark days.  When we feel hope in the midst of the darkness and despair, that is His presence.

Hello world!

This is my first blog. Hello World!