June 23 2020

Daily Devotions


Meditation, Prayers, and Assorted Stuff for June 23020

Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey, “Words That Come from the Heart”

Words are important. Without them our actions lose meaning. And without meaning we cannot live. Words can offer perspective, insight, understanding, and vision. Words can bring consolation, comfort, encouragement, and hope. Words can take away fear, isolation, shame, and guilt. Words can reconcile, unite, forgive, and heal. Words can bring peace and joy, inner freedom, and deep gratitude. Words, in short, can carry love on their wings. A word of love can be one of the greatest acts of love. That is because when our words become flesh in our own lives and the lives of others, we can change the world.

Jesus is the word made flesh. In him speaking and acting were one.

Today’s prayer is from ‘Awed to Heaven, Rooted to Earth,” a collection of prayers by Walter Brueggemann.

The Threats Do Not Wane

The threats do not wane, The dangers are not imagined, The power to undo is on the loose … And in the midst, you speak your word. It is your word that cuts the threat, that siphons off the danger, that tames the powers. You speak and all is made new. You speak your true self of abiding faithfulness, of durable presence, of long-standing reliability. You give yourself in the utterance of “fear not,” and we do not fear. We do not fear, because you are with us, with us, and so safe, with us, and so free, with us, and so joyous. We diminish our lives in our feeble anxiety … and you veto our anxiety; We cheapen our neighbor with our frantic greed … and you nullify our greed with your satiation; We pollute our world in our lust for safety … and you detoxify our mess. Now come here and Override the fickleness of it all, And give us faith commensurate with your true, abiding self. Amen.

Dad Jokes

I used to have a job at a calendar factor, But I got fired because I took a couple days off.

Why did the crab never share? Because he’s shellfish

What do you call a factory that makes passable products? A satisfactory

Today’s links! 


https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-malala/sleep-and-netflix-ahead-for-malala-as-she-finishes-oxford-degree-idUSKBN23Q2LVNobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has finished her degree at Oxford University.


https://pudding.cool/ Ilia Blinderman from the website The Pudding compiled a concise, travel-like-a-local guide to 74,762 attractions, according to 9,526,193 reviews.https://pudding.cool/2020/05/travel-local/

https://admin-preview.thrillist.com/drink/nation/beers-that-changed-america-influential-beers-and-breweriesHere they are: thirty beers and breweries that changed America.


https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2020/06/joerg-daiber-flower-power/Every other August, dozens of volunteers gather near the Grand Place in Brussels to compose a floral rug woven with one million begonias. Watch this time-lapse of the 2018 creation.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D_agY4LlTI Last but by no means least, two videos of choirs with a purpose, one from “Australia’s Got Talent,” the other from “America’s Got Talent.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvSRZNtnMQk

Sunday worship at 9 AM, with “Doughnut room” time starting at 8:30 AM. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/815064120, Meeting ID: 815 064 120 Dial in to participate at +1 312 626 6799.

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Copies of “Our Daily Bread” have arrived in the church office. Feel free to stop by and pick up a copy, or help distribute them to others.

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Don’t forget communion at Zoom church on July 12! Stop by the church office to get a prefilled cup and wafer set. Help distributing them is much appreciated as well.

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Bible study resumes this Wednesday, June 24. We will cover chapters 14 and 15 in the Acts of the Apostles. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84557340979, Meeting ID: 815 5734 0979 Dial in to participate at +1 312 626 6799.

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The Church Council meets tonight to consider when and how to return to worshiping in our sanctuary. You can fill out a survey here. https://us19.list-manage.com/survey?u=1529ae2605c18ca51130627bf&id=337a395a54 **************************************************

Stay safe and stay well! 

Bob