All In A Days Grace

The small girl sat on her mothers bed, twisting the tiny statue in her hands.   It was bedtime which meant time for prayers.  This night was different though, because instead of her mother sitting on the edge of her bed, she now sat on her mothers bed, eager to start their bedtime ritual.   Her mother had become suddenly ill a few hours before.  She wasn't feeling well and the small girl sensed her discomfort as she squirmed to find a comfortable place in the bed beside her.   The tiny statue she held in her hand was a statue of praying hands.  It was something her grandfather had given her and it usually sat on top of her dresser. She loved that statue because it held such strength and hope.   It seemed the perfect gift for someone who didn't feel well.  She handed it to her mother with a hug.  "This is for you so you'll feel better" she said. Her mother could barely open her eyes because of the horrible headache, but smiled weakly and said ...

  When we sit on the beach and look out into the ocean do we ponder the waves? Any wave, no matter what size, has a crest, a trough and a wavelength.  A wave’s height is the distance from the bottom of the trough to the top of the crest. A wave’s “period” is the time it takes for a complete wave, from crest to crest, to pass a point. This, of course, depends on the wave’s length and its speed; but I tend to doubt we think about this as we soak in the sun and sooth ourselves in the sound of the waves on the shoreline. Waves also have another feature. They have a beginning. The wind causes ripples that grow. Many of the large waves we observe started out with a tiny ripple of wind. Those tiny ripples of wind can grow into mighty waves. Why are we talking about waves and ripples? Because too many times we believe that we can never do enough to make a difference in the world. We often live in the understanding that our tiny ripples aren’t worth anything. Not only is this wrong...

  We’ve heard the phrase “Turn the other cheek”.  It comes from the scripture Matthew 5:38-40 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth. ‘But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.   And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. ” If we’re honest with ourselves I don’t think we like this scripture very much. That’s not the world we live in. We live in a world of retaliation. Sometimes I think this scripture strikes a frustrated cord in our hearts. We find ourselves saying “But you don’t understand!” Jesus spoke these words during his sermon on the mount. People from all over Syria, Judea, Galilee, the Decapolis, and areas beyond the Jordan River came to hear Jesus speak. These were important words expressed to a people who felt oppressed, misunderstood and beaten down. They probably weren’t words they wanted to hear. The thing...

We’re always talking about understanding scripture in context. That means the context in which it relates to the verses and chapters leading up to and following a particular verse. It also means understanding scripture in the context of other scriptures. We can look at Genesis and see a connection in Psalms and Matthew. They seem like pretty different parts of the bible, don’t they? They are…but yet they aren’t. There are scriptures that if read in isolation make God look unforgiving or angry. There are scriptures that if read alone, show us only the hopelessness of the human spirit. There are scriptures that if read in only the context of themselves seem to have no restorative nature what so ever. Many times, we avoid these parts of the bible. Genesis is one of those places we tend to not go back to all that often. The story of how humankind messed up. We don’t like to rehash that. We like the gospels with the love of Jesus. We like the Sermon on the Mount and the Feeding of the...