As we make our journeys of life and faith, we grow and change. Very few of us see things exactly as we did a decade ago. As we learn more things, we develop new understandings, and we come to new ways of seeing things.
“I used to pray that God would feed the hungry, or do this or that,” said Mother Teresa, “but now I pray that God will guide me to do whatever I’m supposed to do. I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us and we change things.”
Her words speak to me in helpful ways. These last few years have been difficult for many of us, perhaps for all of us. Life just isn’t like it used to be; so much new information has come to light; so many things we’ve always accepted have been challenged; there’s so much happening in every area of life – it’s a struggle to keep up with it all.
I find myself asking God to help me see things in new ways, and one of God’s promises to us is that he will do just that! God is always at work making things new, redeeming, restoring and transforming. If God promises to be about doing that in all of life, surely he can help us to see things in our own individual lives - to see things in new ways- so that we can be a part of renewing all creation, instead of being stumbling blocks for one another along the way.
My prayer is that God will do that in your life and in mine and in the life of faith we share together – opening us to see things in new ways. Perhaps with God’s help we can come to see in new ways all that separates us from one another, and find some common ground in the differences that divide us. Remember Mother Teresa’s words: “I pray that God will guide me to do whatever I’m supposed to do … Prayer changes us and we change things.”
In every age, we see human resistance to new things, including the gospel that everything has become new. Years ago, when I was a beginning teacher, I had a little plaque on my desk of a little boy, with his head down on his desk, peeking up, and the words: “Be patient with me, God’s not finished with me yet.” I believe that can be said of each of us. May God help us to be patient with one another, because God’s not finished with any one of us just yet.
Some days we just cannot see things ever being better than they are; some days God’s promises seem too far away ever to be realized; some days we’re ready to give in and to give up, to sink into the struggles of this world around us. On those such days, let us rest in the assurance that God is always at work making all things new, and helping us to see things in new ways. Let us ask God to show us what we need to be doing in our own lives, to be a part of the new things God is doing in all of life.
Elizabeth
A Prayer for Ukraine, by Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett, Presbyterian Mission Agency: God of Peace and Justice, You love all your children who dwell on earth. Have mercy we pray, on those who now suffer the miseries of a war not of their own making. Have compassion on the wounded and dying; comfort the broken-hearted, confound the hatred of those who make war; guide our governments, bring war to an end, bring peace across the world. We hold before you all who live close to the war and conflict – soldiers in battle. Mothers in despair. Fathers in disarray. Children in dread of the sirens and sounds that signal violence and destruction. Young adults. Older citizens. Families members. Friends. Co-workers. Colleagues – counsel them. Speak to them in the way that only you can, comfort them with the hope of peace, guide them towards justice. We pray for leaders of all countries involved in this war, we ask you to transform the mind and touch their hearts. Cause all those who govern, especially those in Russia and Ukraine, to seek to lead in the way of peace. Amen.
Giving thanks for those streams of mercy, never ceasing.
Elizabeth
There’s a wonderful article in this week’s Presbyterian Outlook – “Big Lessons from Little Churches,” by Katy Shevel. She reminds us that small worshiping communities have been the primary means for the body of Christ to gather and worship throughout history. “Members of small churches are imaginative, scrappy survivors … not a problem to be solved, but instead a part of God’s solution.”
Shevel celebrates small churches as resourceful and creative problem solvers, knowing how to adjust and think quickly and prioritize the needs of the community. Small churches empower strong lay leaders. In churches with few members, essentially everyone has an opportunity to assume a leading role in the daily operations of congregational life. Small churches prioritize relationships. Shevel observes that a small congregation is like an “extended family.“
“Small-church saints make it their personal responsibility to celebrate milestones with you, and they show up for you in your darkest moments with a casserole. Prayer requests and community announcements in small churches go on and on and on. The church family as a whole takes time to listen to what each person is saying, often asking each announcement to be repeated at least once because everyone knows that Gladys sits in the back, and can’t hear well.”
At their best, small churches are models of Paul’s exhortation to the Ephesians 4:2 to bear “with one another in love.”
Shevel celebrates the fact that small churches live into the reality of loss.
“Small-church wisdom teaches us to find hope even in our losses, to see that God’s grace prevails in and through all the empty spaces in our pews. After all, each space in every pew reminds us that we are a part of something so much larger than ourselves, that we are all members of the eternal family of God that stretches far beyond the limits of this lifetime.”
Giving thanks for Jackson Springs Presbyterian Church and for those streams of mercy never ceasing, carrying us through this life to the life to come.
Elizabeth