Memorial Day Communion Prayer

Dear God,

Creator, Word, Love,

We give thanks and praise

For your goodness and mercy,

So undeserved.

We thank you for all those

Who, in all times,

Have been brave and true,

For those 

Who gave their lives

In their country's service.

Help us to be worthy

Of their supreme sacrifice.

We thank you, Jesus,

For your sacrifice.

May our faith stay strong,

That your kingdom come

And your will be done.

Amen.

Jerusalem: City of Faith

Jerusalem, City of Faith.

Three great religions

Honor your streets.

After three years of ministry,

Jesus chose to come

To Jerusalem

Where he knew death waited.

Why?

We can only speculate.

To atone?

To experience death?

To fulfill prophecy?

To teach us

What?
We know with certainty
The choice was his.
We know with certainty
He knew what was to come.

When we follow Christ,
We must not turn from
The challenges of life
Nor ignore the death
That always lurks in our future.
His example leads us forward
Through life and beyond.

New Years Resolutions

Photo by eschipul

"Finally, brethren, what ever things are true,

Whatever things are honest,

Whatever things are just,

Whatever things are pure,

Whatever things are lovely,

Whatever things are of good report:

If there be virtue, and if there be any praise,

Think on these things."

Paul speaks through the ages

With his guide to New Year's resolutions.

In 2012,

I will search for truth,

Focus on being honest not only to others

But to myself.
I will support justice
For the least of these brothers of mine.
I will strive to not be harsh or rough
With those around me
And affirm their hopes and dreams.
I will
Focus on the beauty within,
Fill my mind with hope,
Shun that which diminishes others,
Strive to see the good in all.
This election year
I want to see
God's image in everyone.

Gifts of the Magi

"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea

In the days of Herod, the king,

Behold there came wise men from the east..."

The Bible does not count the wise men,

But we do.

Why?

Are we so determine to quantify the world

That we ignore quality?

We look to a person's wealth
To define their standing in the community.
God looks to how a person treats
The least among us.

The wise men brought three gifts:

Gold for virtue and kingship.
Frankincense for prayer and priestship.
Myrrh for suffering and death.

As Christmas comes,

What can we offer God
The author of Creation?
What he most wants:
Love,

Faith,

 Obedience.
My prayer at Advent must be:

Lord, make me a servant in your image,

today, tomorrow and forever.

Jew, Christian, Muslim

Photo by ~Panache

Three great faiths

All share the God of Abraham.

Two share the blood of Abraham.

All share God's promise to Abraham.

Why do the members of each faith not love

Those of the others?

Some do.

Some understand that they share a common God.

So many do not.

Each wishes to be exclusive.

Each wishes to be the only path

To redemption.

Does God only love us

If born in the proper place

In the proper faith?

Would God so easily condemn his creation?

I think not.

God is love.

Love that wants only what is best for us.

Love that wants us close.

As Augustine said:

"He loves each one of us

As if there was only one of us."

Three faiths.

One God.

One God for all humanity,

Not Just for those of the Three,

Not bound by humanity's limits.
Polytheist.

Monotheist.

Atheist.

All are Hers.

My Grandmother

My grandmother's birthday is today.

She would have been 121.

An Impossibility.

She lived a long, fruitful life,

And died at 86,

She taught me so much

And so little.

She had been on her own at 13.

She saw no reason I could not be, too.

So she kept our home,

Fixed our meals,

But let me choose my path.

God has no grandchildren.

The relationship is born anew

For each person.

Far from faith I walked

Through the halls of knowledge.

My grandmother never called me back.

She, both Presbyterian and Christian Scientist,

Trusted God.

She was dead when I stepped once more

Into a Christian church.

Knowledge of other faiths only guided

My steps back to Christ.

Did she know when I knelt to be ordained a deacon?

I am sure she did.

Alone in a New Decade

A new year has come
And a new decade.
I am alone.
I fight depression.
My mind knows that
The Comforter is with me.
My heart wishes that
I could feel God's presence.
My soul cries out in despair.
We know that even
Mother Teresa
Missed God.
Why do those that believe
Lose the sense of that
All encompassing love?
Perhaps because we are human,
Perhaps we cannot hold that love too long.
What is the answer?
Jesus, too, lost that sense of love
On the cross.
"My God, my God,
Why hast thou forsaken me?"
He cried.
God's answer was the Resurrection.
Let me remember this life
Is not the end.

Photo by jamsjoys

For With God Nothing Shall Be Impossible

"For With God Nothing Shall Be Impossible."
An angel speaks these words to Mary.
Do these words speak to me?
Do I believe?
This is the battle within.
Learned as a scientist,
Can I reconcile knowledge and faith?
I must.
I can.
Science tells me how.
Faith tells me why.
God stands outside of time.
All is one for him.
Nothing is impossible.

Photo by carulmare

Life Begins

When does life begin?
This question defines our age.
Do we protect a fertilized egg
With all the might of government?
Do we wait until that egg
Implants in a woman's womb
To provide the protection of the law?
The psalmist tells us
God knit us together in our mother's womb.
If that is true, then life cannot begin in a petri dish.
Science tells half of all fertilized eggs do not implant.
If a soul is present when sperm meets egg,
Then half of all souls are lost before they can live.
I do not believe the Creator is so capricious.
I must believe that life begins within a woman.
Without the union of fertilized egg and womb,
There is only tissue.
When life begins,
Then science and faith must unite
To protect God's most precious gift.

Photo by Clearly Ambiguous

The Pope at St.Patrick's

I am not Catholic, but I watched this morning's Mass at St. Patrick's cathedral.

An elderly man walks slowly
Down the aisle of a majestic cathedral,
Dressed in robes of white.
A miter on his head
Bears a golden cross
Like the one he carries in his hand.
He is stooped with age
Or perhaps responsibility.
He is Pope Benedict XVI.
There is mention of St. Peter.
Suddenly, without premonition,
Tears come
And emotion overwhelms me.
Whether I believe
All his church's doctrines
Or not,
His lineage traces back
Through almost two thousand years,
Back to a fisherman from Galilee
Who knew my Savior.
He is the living embodiment
Of my faith,
A connection to my Lord.
For the moment, he draws me closer
To God.

Photo by Beyond Forgetting

Heralds

Rain comes as a herald of spring
Just as John the Baptist came as
The herald of Jesus.
With spring will come renewal,
Flowers and fruits,
Just as the fruits of the Spirit
Come from faith in God.
Thank God for the rains of spring.
Let us remember that the dreary days
The rain brings
Are simply the cover of a book
That once opened,
Reveals the beauty of nature.
Spring reminds us of creation and that
"In the beginning was the Word."

Photo by dozens

Thomas, the Scientist

The apostle, Thomas,
Did not believe the words
Of his brethren
That Jesus had risen.
Thomas demanded proof,
Proof that he could test,
The wounds left by the crucifixion:
The nail holes,
The spear gash,
Just as today scientists
Do not take the word of another researcher.
Each result must be verified.
Jesus gave Thomas his proof,
But Christ made sure that all understood
That faith is the ultimate proof.

Photo by Robin Hutton

Jerusalem

Jerusalem, City of Faiths.
Three great religions
Honor your streets.
After three years of ministry,
Jesus chose to come
To Jerusalem At Passover,
Even though he knew that
Death waited.
Why?
We can only speculate.
We know with certainty
The choice was his.
We know with certainty
He knew what was to come.
When we follow Christ,
We must not turn from
The challenges of life,
Nor ignore the death
That always lurks in our future.
His example leads us forward
Through life and beyond.

Photo by hoyasmeg

Preface to Eternity

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,the evidence of things not seen.

I think of myself as logical,

Trained in science,

But I am a believer.

When the world around me is filled with shadows,

I pray.

I depend on God.

Reality fills me with fear.

Faith gives me courage.

Today may be full of pain and suffering.

Tomorrow is a promise of eternal peace.

I know with a certainty that I cannot justify,

That God is with me,

That life is but a preface to eternity.