Tuesday - May 14, 2024

SCRIPTURE 2 Timothy 1:7 For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. WORDS OF HOPE Happy Prep Day! On the ancient Christian Calendar, that is how All Hallow’s Eve was viewed; a preparation evening anticipating the celebration of All Saint’s Day. Except, instead of vacuuming the house, washing the dishes, and polishing the silverware, the evening before November first was spent cleansing the spiritual atmosphere of malevolent ghosts, evil spirits, and whatever other variety of gremlins and goblins the townspeople believed inhabited the dark places of their cities and imaginations. Their goal was to clear the way for the coming of the Saints the next day. They used whatever creatives means available to frighten and discourage the spiritual bad guys from being party crashers on the big day. They cobbled together scary costumes, masquerading as powerful demons themselves, rattling noisemakers made of pots, pans, bells and whistles, staying up late, making sure the terrified intruders were thoroughly cleansed from their netherworld and back alleys. “All Hallows” translates as “All Holies” and “e’en” is the Scots’ pronunciation of “evening”, so, “Halloween” simply means the evening before the day of the holy Saints. Our Fundamentalist friends who avoid even saying the word for fear that it’s a night to worship demons are victims of upside-down superstitions that have distorted the origin of the holiday. When I was a child, I had no idea about the true beginning of the frivolity or that I was supposed to be afraid I might be possessed by evil spirits. I just wanted to dress up like Captain Hook carrying my Tinker Bell doll I had made in a little cage and gather candy from the neighbors. Since those days, the evening as exploded into a whole season, with elaborate yard decorations and sponsored festivals. Halloween parties for adults have become even more popular than trick-or-treating for the kids. The marketing community loves the holiday, rating it second only to Christmas in keeping their economy healthy. If this year is similar to last year, Americans will spend over 12.2 billion dollars on Halloween décor, costumes, parties, and related customs of the season. For many years, some of the more festive members of the LGBTQ+ community have celebrated the holiday with huge street gatherings featuring parades, costume contests, and parties. I think it’s a particularly meaningful celebration for some individuals who, even in our more enlightened times, feel obligated the rest of the year to wear masks of someone they are not in their workplaces. At Halloween, mask wearing is a more joyous occasion. Add to that costumes that reflect both who we as well as who we want to be. So, whether you celebrate today with animatronic cackling eight-foot witches in your yard or festoon all your windows with glowing plastic jack-o-lanterns- or, maybe just read devotions about it, Happy Halloween! PRAYER Understanding God, our world can be crazy and chaotic at times. Thank you for holidays that help us celebrate this aspect of who we are rather than fear it. In assurance of your love, Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Dan Peeler Order of St. Francis and St. Clare

SCRIPTURE Ruth 1:22 So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning. WORDS OF HOPE The story of Ruth and Naomi, daughter-in-law and mother-in-law is one whose message and lessons can be hard to figure out. Naomi and her husband Elimelech had two sons. During a time of famine, the family fled from Judah to Moab, a pagan nation. The two sons married Moabite women. All three men, Elimelech and his two sons, died. The book of Ruth tells the story of their three widows. Despite this book of the Bible being called the Book of Ruth, Naomi is the central character. Or, is she? Naomi decides that she is going to make her way from Moab back to her homeland of Judah. Her two daughters-in-law were determined to accompany her. Naomi does her best to dissuade them, worrying that because they were outsiders they would not find husbands. In the end, Orpah stays in Moab and Ruth accompanies Naomi to Bethlehem in Judah. One can wonder if Naomi’s wishes that her daughters-in law stay behind was about her being overbearing, controlling, manipulating, or perhaps being worried about what it would say about her if she was to bring an outsider, a woman from Moab, with her back to her homeland. Or, did Naomi genuinely care about Ruth’s happiness, wanting her to find a husband and bear children? Perhaps Naomi actually did desire Ruth’s friendship but believed herself to be underserving. Naomi saw herself as a woman for whom “the Almighty has made my life very bitter…has afflicted me…has brought misfortune upon me.” Ruth, on the other hand, remained steadfast in her call to accompany Naomi, despite all the uncertainty that her move to Judah would bring. Ruth moved forward in faith, committed to taking care of her mother-in-law and trusting that they both would be okay. She was the example of faith that Naomi needed in her darkest moments. As she believed they would, things worked out for Ruth. She married Boaz and they had a son, Obed. Boaz was a relative of Naomi’s husband, so her grandson, Obed, perpetuated the lineage of Elimelech. Ruth was welcomed into the community of faith. Ruth is one of the few women mentioned by name in Matthew 1:1-16, which chronicles the genealogy of Jesus. Ruth is the quiet protagonist in the story of these two women. She is a woman of few words, but strong actions, actions that are guided by strong faith. Thus, she becomes the title character for this book of the Bible and an example of faith in action for all of us. PRAYER God of all, as I journey through my days, help me always to act in faith, trusting that you are guiding me and leading me to all that I need to do your work. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR  Kris Baker Order of St. Francis and St. Clare

SCRIPTURE Ephesians 6.18 Do all this in prayer, asking for God’s help. Pray on every occasion, as the Spirit leads. For this reason, keep alert and never give up; prayer always for all God’s people. WORDS OF HOPE [Take a moment to place yourself in the Presence of God. Take a deep breath in your nose and exhale through your mouth. Do it again clearing your mind of distractions.] We have read this passage or heard it many times with the accompanying numbness to its significant meaning. Why has it lost all meaning? We need to ask for God’s help in our own voice and not in the voice of others. God knows all idioms and languages and no languages. Our “language.” God speaks and God hears us every time we speak and even in our silence, especially in our silence where our heart acts as vocal cords. But God never answers me! Have you felt this before? You are not alone. For this reason, keep alert and never give up! How do we pray is answered by how we speak to others every day. BE YOURSELF. Be honest. God wants us to share our lives and our hearts as we are now – not as we have been or how we might be one day. I recommend an author, Brother Joseph Schmidt, FSC, who was a dear friend of mine who published the book, Praying our Experiences. He died from Covid. In this spiritual classic, he gently leads us to recognize that honest reflection before God on the ordinary experiences of our lives is the very means of our spiritual growth. As we speak to God about our personal story, we can explore the significance of our unrest, our joys, our fears, and our hopes. Then the Holy Spirit will lead us to self-knowledge and the freedom to accept and appreciate ourselves and our lives as they are. This book helps us to know the very heart of prayer: intimacy with God. All too often prayer is viewed as a perfunctory task that we go through to communicate with God. Our prayers may consist of flowery words that are not relevant to our lives and sound artificial to our ears. Is it a surprise then that people have such great difficulty with prayer? We suggest breaking the above view by suggesting another alternative in communicating with God. Why not honestly reflect on the daily events of our lives and become aware of God's word and work in them? In other words, pray our experiences which give meaning to life instead of babbling to God about things that don't touch us. If God is the source of our existence, then we can know God through our experiences. Prayer takes on a new meaning and enables us to enter in life more fully and interact intimately with the God who loves us for who and what we are. Such a notion is radical and gives us a new perspective in honestly sharing ourselves with God. Prayer for God’s people all the time in your own words! Praying shows us the process of how we can get to know ourselves as God knows us. Step by step, day by day, prayer by prayer. Brother Joseph introduces us to a way in which we can begin the experience. The author presents to us a guide to enable you to develop a more fully developed prayer life devoid of the barriers which we place in the way of knowing ourselves and God. Such an experience is an excellent guide in helping us to achieve a deeper intimacy of God in our prayer life. PRAYER O Holy One! We come into your presence again today recognizing that all things are done through you. Help us to speak/pray to you in our own words in our own time and in our own mood on whatever day – happy or anxious, confident or full of doubt. Help us remember that we are ultimately praying for your Will in our lives. We are most happy and whole when our will is your Will. We pray these words through your many names, O God! Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Bob Shea Member / Cathedral of Hope: United Church of Christ

SCRIPTURE Psalms 119:105  Your word [is] a lamp to my feet, and a light unto my path. WORDS OF HOPE After 30+ years of studying the Bible, both randomly and focused, I’ve decided that a respectful and thoughtful reading deserves a liberal understanding instead of a literal understanding. In our world of commentaries, there are thousands upon thousands of Bible interpretations. If we were also able to count the the number of people who have picked up and read any of the Bible, we could count those as interpretations as well. Most of us receive what we want to receive from the Bible. My first serious studies of Scripture were in Bible Studies connected to a very conservative church. It was so Bible-centered that it was called a Bible Church. The Bible was dictated by God, immutable, and inerrant. I started this journey believing that I had to take the Bible’s many books at face value, of which I had been told should be literal. I was also told that all of the laws and commandments, though they were written long ago, still apply to us today. As my studies progressed and I actually read the narratives, I’m sure you can guess this opened the door for all kinds of misinterpretation particularly concerning the Hebrew and Greek laws of the day. Taken from a literal point of view would mean it’s OK to cut off somebody’s hand or take an eye of someone who has wronged you. It’s also perfectly acceptable to sell your daughter into slavery in order to pay off a debt or condemn your son to death for disobedience to the patriarch. Most of these cruel and archaic laws were brought to you by everybody’s favorite, the Book of Leviticus, which also contains the Bible’s most comprehensive collection of our daily sins. The list of transgressions seems to have no end, like the sin of wearing clothing woven from both wool and flax or the sin of planting more than one crop in the same field, the sins of wearing makeup or having a tattoo, the sin of touching the skin of a pig, and of course, the sin of eating virtually anything that is appetizing…makes me wonder what they would have said about potato chips or a burrito supreme. When I questioned my Bible study facilitators about how any of this was relevant today, I was told that we need to think about equivalents, such as worshipping a golden calf being the equivalent to watching too much TV. (Especially on Sunday morning) I was not told how much was too much. Leviticus or Exodus didn’t mention airtime. Then one day, I discovered there were different approaches to studying God’s Word and therefore interpreting those ancient Hebrew and Greek texts. The term “literal” was replaced with “liberal” in my understanding of what had seemed to be inexplicable. I was able to separate the world of an ancient desert culture from our own, but also recognize when their truth was also my truth. Some things never change. I am grateful for that. But, in the case of Leviticus, some things change drastically. For that I am even more grateful. PRAYER Thank you for the stories, poetry, wisdom, and histories of your ancient followers and for Jesus’ own interpretation of his world centered on the power of love. Huey Lewis would be proud. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Charlie Rose Order of St Francis and St. Clare

SCRIPTURE Mark 10:13-16 “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. WORDS OF HOPE A friend and I were having quite a serious conversation at my favorite local coffee shop the other day when a child of about 2, with a head full of curly hair, walked up to our table and held out a fat, light green piece of chalk to him. Eyes sparkling, he immediately dropped his professorial tones and engaged Olivia with lightness and grace. After their exchange, Olivia repeated the offering with me and my inner child stepped forth to play. Olivia’s parents got in on the act as well and began telling us that their daughter loved going up to people and meeting them. In a world where parents often feel they need to inoculate their children against danger by counseling caution and fear, it was delightful that morning to revel in the child’s open flow of curiosity and friendliness, and to see the magic of her spell on us. I was reminded of a section of Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” in which a child approaches the poet with a “bouquet” of grass and asks what it is. Though Whitman could have responded in many ways, he spins out a remarkable series of imaginative metaphors. He says that it’s a “flag of [his] disposition,” mirroring his own hopeful soul. Then he compares it to “God’s handkerchief” which the creator “designedly dropped” to make people stop and ask, “Whose?” tuning us toward the designer of all. But the most memorable comparison is that the vibrant green grass grows out of the bodies of the dead—young and old—as confirmation of immortality. “The smallest sprout shows there is really no death, And if ever there was, it led forward life, and does not wait at the end to arrest it, And ceased the moment life appeard. All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses, And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier.” PRAYER Oh God, may we always stay open enough that an encounter with a child can change everything—whether calling forth our tender and playful spirit or evoking the swirls of creative thought. May we bless and protect innocence in all its forms. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Dr. Pat Saxon