Daily Devotions
Meditation, Prayers, and Assorted Stuff for July 7, 2020
Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey, “How Time Heals”
“Time heals,” people often say. This is not true when it means that we will eventually forget the wounds inflicted on us and be able to live on as if nothing happened. That is not really healing; it is simply ignoring reality. But when the expression “time heals” means that faithfulness in a difficult relationship can lead us to a deeper understanding of the ways we have hurt each other, then there is much truth in it. “Time heals” implies not passively waiting but actively working with our pain and trusting in the possibility of forgiveness and reconciliation.
Today’s prayer is from “Awed to Heaven, Rooted to Earth,” a collection of prayers by Walter Brueggemann.
Not At Our Beck and Call
We call out your name in as many ways as we can. We fix your role towards us in the ways we need. We approach you from the particular angle of our life. We do all that, not because you need to be identified, but because of our deep need, our deep wound, our deep hope. And then, we are astonished that while our names for you serve for a moment, you break beyond them in your freedom, you show yourself yet fresh beyond our utterance, you retreat into your splendor beyond our grasp. We are – by your freedom and your hiddenness – made sure yet again that you are God … beyond us, for us, but beyond us, not at our beck and call, but always in your own way. We stammer about your identity, only to learn that it is our own unsettling before you that wants naming. Beyond all our explaining and capturing and fixing you … . . we give you praise, we thank you for your fleshed presence in suffering love, and for our names that you give us. Amen.
Dad Jokes
What do you call a herd of sheep falling down a hill? A Lambslide.
I tried to organize a hide and seek tournament, but I had to give up. Good players are so hard to find.
What do you call a sad cup of coffee? Depresso.
Today’s links!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/Read how a man helped out his favorite restaurant and hospital workers at the same time.
https://www.chron.com/lifestyle/article/She-was-furloughed-So-she-became-Lasagna-Lady-15363157.phpAfter getting laid off thanks to COVID, Michelle Bremmer used her stimulus check to buy ingredients and started cooking pan after pan of homemade lasagna, giving them away to any who asked. Nearly three months and 1,200 pans later, Brenner is still at it, feeding people in her community—from hospital workers and first responders to single parents struggling without paychecks.
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/first-commercial-pilot-diabetes/index.html I know that we have several active and retired pilots in the congregation. Read how Bob Halicky became the first US airline pilot with diabetes to captain a commercial flight.
https://www.kptv.com/news/police-man-in-stolen-vehicle-flees-officers-crashes-into-woman-in-separate-stolen-vehicle-in/article_ad35b336-bfa5-11ea-b60c-efe6f50c24dc.htmlWe all know that crime doesn’t pay. Some days, though, it REALLY doesn’t pay—like when an Oregon man in a stolen vehicle fleeing police crashed into a woman driving another stolen vehicle. Police arrested both of them.
https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/3/21312701/mrbeast-finger-app-competition-stream-winner-final-four-prize-youtube-mschfAfter watching contestants keep their fingers attached to a phone screen for more than 70 hours, YouTube creator Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson called an early end to a massive competition originally designed with one winner and a $25,000 prize in mind. The result? Four winners, each walking away with $20,000 in hand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6iDmqOft04See (and hear) what happens when a boogie-woogie piano player wanders into a staid English hotel that was once a pub and lets loose on an unused grand piano.
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 this Sunday! 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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In-Person worship resumes, July 19! Watch for more details. (Zoom church will continue to be offered as well.) **************************************************
Stay safe and stay well!