Tomorrow I go in for surgery and I'm not sure when I will get back to these devotions. Today I want to comment on the following verse - they are not complete but the stopping point spoke to me: 1 Peter 3:13-15a 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. Since people will be meddling with my heart this part of 1 Peter stopped me in my tracks as I read this and planned to move into a few more verses. From the very center of our lives - from the core of life that activates all things, we are each invited to be ones whose very presence opens up the view of the Lord of love who is the one we follow in and through all things. It is my prayer that as the hospital staff opens me up and does their work and then closes me up to send me on my way - my life will be sanctified - transformed by their touch. In and through all things, I find that this Lord of Love is the operative power in the healing of all things. Therefore, yes, the staff that cares for my body and sees to my recovery becomes the face of God that brings peace, healing, and transformation. No matter what goes on, blessed are we - all of us. That is all that comes from the one we call Lord. Death does not come from this Lord - life comes - always transformative life - even life as we never expected it. How we get from here to there is a mystery to me - but it is also a promise. I'm not good at solving mysteries. I am able to trust a promise because even promises by our God are nurtured among us by the very God who promise life. That is pretty wild if you ask me. Connection: Remember that even as we walk in the valley of death - or darkness - or fear - or great anxiety, God is working to change us - in the twinkling of a eye - and to sanctify our lives in the face of the whole world. That is quite powerful In the middle of what is so common, O God, your image resides and we are thankful. Amen. |
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