Jesus and Me ... and the Cats

Jeremiah 8:18-21 Matthew 9:35-38 With tears of compassion and sorrow, a woman weeps as she apologizes for the pain caused by her son's brutal acts of violence.  She has accepted that justice has been served and her son must be held accountable for his actions. For years, she has tried to reach to him, but time and again, he rejected her love.  Yet for him, she cries out in agony.  His violent crime cannot negate a mother's love for her child. And if a mother's heart grieves, will not our Father's heart grieve as well? "Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness."  (Matthew 9:35, NRSV )   As he looked out at the people crowding around him, he had compassion for them.  He felt the heart of God that is saddened by the human condition, and he grieved for them for "they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd...

" Do this in remembrance of me." I Samuel 7:7-12 I Corinthians 11:23-26 There's a lot of different ways we use to help us remember things.  Some people use mnemonic devises, like this one to remember the order of the planets -- " M y V ery E ducated M other S erved U s N achos," There's the old trick of tying a string around a finger, or maybe like me, you make lists.  Sometimes, an object, a stone, a cup of wine or grape juice or a loaf of bread, helps us to remember something important. As we receive the bread and the cup of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper,"  we'll be reminded of Jesus' word, "Do this in remembrance of me."   I think we all get the meaning of that, but what does it mean to "Do remembrance?" Just outside of a little town in Michigan, Riverdale, near the banks of the Pine River, is a little cemetery.  In it are buried at least four generations of my family along ...

The prodigal daughter came home from a distant country, a reality created by mental illness and alcohol abuse.  There was no ring to assure she was and always will be part of our family, no fattened calf and no party.  Instead, we sat at her bedside in an ICU, surrounded by beeps and the sound of the ventilator, IV bags and lines and a feeding tube.  She was unable to respond to us, and after years of estrangement, she seemed like a stranger to me. I have counseled many who sat at the bed sides of their loved ones to share memories with them through stories. So, that's what I did -- I told her the stories of of our growing up together, recounting the adventures of our childhood.  Through those stories, I reunited with the sister I grew up with.  Paula, perky Paula, making friends wherever she went; always on the go, ready for anything and willing to try anything, at least twice; seldom ever silent, talking a mile a minute. Anger melted away as I r...

Ephesians 2:1-10 I Corinthians 12:1-11 There are two parts to thriving.  The first is to deeply root ourselves in our faith in God through Jesus Christ.  The second is reaching out high and wide into the world and producing fruits of witness and mission.  Thriving is having a relationship with God that results in us impacting the lives of others in life-giving and life-changing ways. And we who are in the Body of Christ, we have each been uniquely gifted to do that. "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar Man, Thief" Traditional English Nursery and Fortune-telling Rhyme, 15th Century When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?  When I was in third grade, we were given the assignment to write about just one occupation we aspired to.  I couldn't narrow it down to one thing.  I loved to read and write stories and draw.  Becoming a teacher appealed to me, and I even thought being a minister lik...

Ephesians 1:7-10 Matthew 28:18-20 We continue our exploration of what it means to thrive as Christians and the church.  We've learned that thriving begins with sending our roots deep into our relationship with God through Christ.  Now, our thoughts turn to reaching out our branches high and wide, but before we do that, we should be clear on our purpose for doing so. "We're on a mission from God." In the movie, "The Blues Brothers," Jake and Elwood Blues are divinely inspired to take up the mission of saving the orphanage where they grew up.  All they have to do is raise $5,000 in a very short amount of time, and they're going to do that by "getting the band back together." Having a mission or purpose is a good thing.  It's part of human thriving.  In the article "The 4 Step Path to Human Thriving" by Joe Brewer and Michel de Kemmeter (October 12, 2013, Environment, Political Mind, Social Movement), " Every human b...

Acts 2:42-47 Hebrews 10:19-25 In the past two weeks, we've learned about Angel Oak Tree on Johns Island in South Carolina. It is thought to be one of the oldest living things in the country, estimated to be in excess of 400-500 years old. We've learned that one of the keys to it's long-life and continued thriving is that there is as much tree underground in it's root system as there is above ground. Another key element that has been added over the last last twenty-six years is that it has become a part of the Charleston, South Carolina, community. In 1991, The City of Charleston bought the tree and the surrounding park. The Angel Oak Tree has come to symbolize Charleston. In 2012, plans to build a 500-unit apartment complex 160 yards from Angel Oak were challenged in court by community conservation groups. By December, 2013, 17 acres adjacent to this majestic tree were set aside as a nature preserve. We were created to be in community with God an...

We're continuing to explore the concept of "Striving to Thrive" as individual Christians and the Church.  My inspiration for this series came from the song, "Thrive" by Casting Crowns, and the guiding metaphor of the tree is from the book, Thrive , by Mark Hall. John 15:1-8 I Thessalonians 5:16-24 When a person joins a local congregation of the United Methodist Church, they promise to participate in the ministries of that church by their prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness.  For me, it's like a vow to thrive, both as a member in the community of the local church, by rooting ourselves in our faith in God through Christ and reaching out to the world like the branches of a great tree.   We're going to dive deep into what God has for us by "Praying to Thrive." “No prayer, no power.  Little prayer, little power.  Much prayer, much power!”   Bishop  Calvin Trimble, Bishop for the Iowa Conference UMC. What do you call a tree ...