Well, sometimes a surgery needs to be put off because of the greater needs of others. Therefore, I out here for another day - surgery will be Wednesday. So continuing: 1 Peter 3:13-15 Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify the Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect. We all know that the day will come when - well - it is all over. We don't like to think about that day as we look at others and as we consider our own mortality. With that understood, we come to this day. In the middle of this day there is a promise that surrounds us and coaches us. The promise is that in and through all things our God loves us and that love will be a healing presence that makes us ready to face all things. Yes, things around us will fall a part and we may even fall apart - but then we have this voice deep within our hearts that encourages us to consider what is next. Yes - what is next! In the dumps and we look and wonder - what is next! Unsure of the future and anxious about what might jump into our way to make us stumble and grumble and fumble and yet there it is - what is next! Since we know that in the end of all things we are the beloved of God - because that is what our God calls us - that means that even as we lay exposed and vulnerable and in the hands of others, we can rest in God alone and say: What is next! We live in hope. The day at hand does not control because outside of the day at hand our God has already assured us of who we are - the beloved. That is what points the way into and through whatever is ahead of us. This way is a simple movement. We get us and look out and are able to wonder and expect - what is next! Life! Connection: There is a part of a setting to one of the psalms that I love. I cannot remember all the words but the ones I do remember are easy: Rest in God alone my soul, O rest in God my soul. Those are words of hope - a treasure ready for the way no matter where the way takes us. Once they serve you the first dose of that 'twilight' juice in the pre-op area, all any of us can do is Rest in God. That is a overwhelming leap and yet it is a leap into a promised place - the heart of our God. In the middle of what is so common, O God, you heal and deliver and liberate and we your people come alive again. Amen. |
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