Continuing the Journey to Hope

I must first apologize for the intermittent nature of my blogging!  My work computer will not allow me to sign in so I cannot post from the office - and I cannot seem to remember it when I get home!  But as we journey toward Holy Week I will make it a priority to get my blogs posted asap.

How is your Lenten journey going?  Have you had time for some introspection as well as time to look at how you are living in connection and community?  It's hard to take time for any of this but I again encourage you to do as much as you can intentionally so that when Easter comes you can take the next step into your future toward living a full, abundant life.

This week in worship we talked about TEMPTATION and how that can derail us from our path.  Temptation comes in the form of alcohol, gambling, smoking, shopping, etc.  Really anything we take to an extreme or anything we use to divert ourselves too often from the pain of life is a temptation that will derail us from our goal.  What in your life is the temptation that when you give in to it takes you in the opposite direction you want to go?  And why do we do that to ourselves?

Well, the world can be a scary, lonely place and when we try to find answers in things instead of in relationships with others and with God we are bound for disappoinment and even destruction.  But the good news of God and Jesus Christ is that even if we get derailed we still have a way back!  God's grace and mercy are always there for us if we will just admit our need and take hold.  And the connections, the strong relationships we have built with family, friends, faith community and even (or especially) God will be there for support and help in bad times and good.

I recommend that you make a space on your phone or carry a card in your wallet that is a list of emergency contacts - for when temptation is leading you away from where you want to be!  List people who you know will listen and be with you - even Jesus needed his friends around him in his hour of need - so keep a list whether they are family, friends, clergy.  And of course put GOD on the list!  God is available 24/7, 365 days a year, just a prayer away.

Want to learn more about God and/or make a stronger connection?  There are so many ways!  Start with prayer, look around you, really look at the people in your life, go to worship, walk along the lake and look at all there is in this world God has created.  And take time to learn about the life of Jesus - he is a huge piece of understanding God.  In fact one professor described the trinity as this: God - the memory, foundation, Jesus the intellect, the understanding, and the Holy Spirit the love which surrounds us.

Peace be with you on the journey...

Who Do You Think You Are?

That was the sermon title from yesterday!  We read from the gospel of Mark about Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem and then looked at it from a new angle!  Jesus rode into Jerusalem not looking for accolades from the crowd to affirm who he was but with the knowledge of exactly who he was and what awaited him!  Jesus knew he was God's child, and God's nature rested within him and even though he knew many would not like what he had to say or do Jesus was at peace with himself because he was sure of who he was and what his role would be.

Even though Jesus knew that pain, suffering and death awaited him, he stayed his course because he knew that was what needed to be done to further God's kingdom in the world and to help all God's children.  He did not have self esteem - he had esteem for self in God.

And this reminds us that we are not only ALL children of  God but if we are all made in God's image then each of us carries a piece of God's nature within us!  And if that is the case then when you look into the face of your child, husband, friend, neighbor, homeless person, the hungy or sick, you are looking into the face of God!!!!

Who do you think you are?  If you let the world help you decide you will get caught in the web of determining who you are by what you drive, what job you have and what clothes you wear.  If you remember you are a child of God and hold within you the nature of God, then you can face anything life throws at you.  It may not be easy, there may be pain and suffering, but in the end you will live a life that is full and abundant as Jesus' life was. 

As we hit this mile marker on our Journey to Hope, take a moment to look in the mirror.  Do you see a person who is hopelessly caught up in what others say and think or do you see the child of God that you are?  I invite you to write down some of the obstacles that keep you from embracing being a child of God - throw them in the fire, take them to church, give them to God in some way, then keep moving forward on this journey.

A thought by Sven Goran Eriksson:  "To wish you were someone else is to waste the person you are."