April 1, 2025

SCRIPTURE  Luke 12:22-26 He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? WORDS OF HOPE This passage has always been both one of my favorites and one of the most problematic in scripture. I love the reassurance Jesus gives us that we do not need to worry about tomorrow. However, I always wondered if it didn’t give some folks the impression that we can just sit around and God will provide if we do absolutely nothing. If read carefully, it becomes evident that Jesus is not saying “do nothing”. The ravens may not have a storehouse, but they still fly about searching for food. They don’t concern themselves with worrying about what comes after this life. They live in the moment and enjoy God’s grace and bounty. Perhaps that is Jesus’ message, to live in the moment, for today, and not try to store up our days trying to extend our lives or worrying about what will come after this life. As he says, “which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life?” At some point we have to trust God and get on with living. PRAYER May we use our time here wisely and revel in the grace given us by God, and may we live our lives fully. DEVOTION AUTHOR Hardy Haberman

READING  "At the beginning of each day, after we open our eyes to receive the light of that day; as we listen to the sounds that surround us, we must resolve to treat each hour as the rarest of gifts and be grateful for the consciousness that allows us to experience it." (J. McQuiston from his book, Always We Begin Again) WORDS OF HOPE In the morning, as the alarm clock sounds that awful ring, what's your immediate response to it? Do you try to reach the snooze button on the alarm, or do you smile and say, "Good morning"? Well, I bet it's clear how most people react. Generally, how would you react? If your life is built around a fairly routine pattern or you're going through a difficult patch of hardships, it might be difficult to joyfully greet another day with the same old trials and tribulations. Most people either stagger out of bed trying to wipe the cobwebs from their mind, or they jump out of bed with 1000 thoughts about the day's potential activities racing through their mind. Today, let's develop a better way to awaken and greet a new day. As you awake, pause and open your eyes to receive the light of a new day, open your lungs to receive a deep breath of it, and open your life to receive the new opportunities which will come your way. Greet the new day as a special gift from God with unexpected blessings that will come your way. The new day represents the gift of continued life, and that, life itself, is the rarest gift of all! These suggested responses to awakening represent a pattern of mindfulness by which you can welcome a renewed day of life into your experience. But it does require that you be consciously aware of your greeting to enter this new realm of activities and experiences, and willing to encounter somethings new or at least filled with renewed opportunities and human interactions. Let's start each day with enriched mindfulness about the divine gift of life which it offers to us! Good mornings begin the best of days. PRAYER Lord God, help me to quiet my mind and open wide my heart to your wise voice guiding my life this day. May I surrender myself more to your will and share your loving care with all those I meet today. Be it ever so. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Donald (Luke) Day Order of St. Francis and St. Clare

SCRIPTURE Acts 17. 5-7 But the Temple religious leaders were jealous, and…attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring [Paul and his companions] out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king; Jesus.” WORDS OF HOPE Whenever you meet someone new who has the same name as someone you admire, does an image of that earlier person immediately come to mind? In this narrative from Acts 17, we meet a person with an unusual name for the Bible: Jason. This was certainly not an unusual name in the first century world of the Apostle Paul, but it was inspired by a Greek, not a Hebrew hero. Jason’s fame centered on the quest for the Golden Fleece and afterward many Greek babies shared that name. But the Jason of this Acts story was referred to by Paul as his "countryman" which meant fellow Jew, and he lived up to his Greek "hero’s quest " name through his actions on behalf of the infant Christian community.  Jason was an early follower of "the Way" of Jesus, since that is how the early church defined themselves. He demonstrated his faith by providing shelter and protection for Paul and his companions in their mission travels and by suffering the torture and fines of the oppressive Roman Empire. He was a victim of a culture of state-religion rule, the law recognizing only Caesar as both Emperor and God. This biblical Jason's heroic defiance was reminiscent of his Greek namesake's unwavering faith to his deity, in his case, the goddess Hera. The Jason of Acts never lost his faith, both in this story and in other mentions within the letters of Paul. Early extra-biblical writings continued to follow Jason’s mission, as he underwent continued harassment and imprisonment by Rome, but finally ended his career by becoming a powerful Bishop of the infant church. I have known several Jasons in my life and each of them has shared the same sort of goals and determination as their Greek and Hebrew namesakes. Though there is nothing magical about our names, a review of their origins can be a source of inspiration. We are usually named after admirable people. I was of course named after the Prophet Daniel. What was the origin of your name? Even if our namesake is not one we might admire, we always have the opportunity every day to make ours a name future generations will remember. PRAYER God, of many names, may our own names, either by birth or ones we have chosen, forever honor you. Thank you for Jesus, the name we most admire, and whose way we will always follow. In Your Spirit, Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Dan Peeler Order of St. Francis and St. Clare

SCRIPTURE Romans 11: 33-34 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" WORDS OF HOPE  This beautiful and profound scripture truly outlines the depth of God. It’s overwhelming and exciting to think how God, the creator of ALL has access to and possesses absolutely everything. It is amazing to consider that outside of our love, faith and devotion, nothing is ever expected. God is a vast mystery to our human minds which are always trying to figure out what makes the universe work so well. I remember looking through a telescope at the Milky Way, walking along the edge of the Grand Canyon and seeing a comet for the first time. Each of those held me in awe of the wonder and majesty of how God now possesses and always will, everything. Absolutely nothing is beyond God! Maybe Paul's point in this passage simply reveals that God is truly amazing! So rather than trying to understand "why" or “how” God works, we could simply stand in wonder at the "depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God...His paths are beyond tracing out." Since trying to figure God out is impossible, maybe it would be better to just relax. Give thanks and appreciate what God has done and will always do. God’s wealth is unfathomable, unreachable and beyond human understanding. No matter how far down into God’s wealth or into God’s wisdom or into God’s knowledge you go, you never get above or beneath God. God’s riches, wisdom and knowledge are so far beyond our grasp that we can’t give or tell God anything new. No wonder we are often mystified, perplexed, and amazed by this amazing God of grace. It’s uplifting to know that God doesn’t actually owe us anything but instead, freely gives us everything! PRAYER Creator God of amazing wonder, we give you thanks and praise for the majestic beauty of life and most of all, for the gift of Jesus Christ in whose holy name we pray. Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Donna Jackson

SCRIPTURE  Titus 3:2 To speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy to all people. WORDS OF HOPE Do you remember when the word 'woke" started being used? I don't know the exact date. At first, it seemed innocent enough, maybe even positive. Its origin was in the black community and meant “informed” or “aware”. It didn't take long for it to become a pejorative term, as insults to progressive thinking. Supposedly clever memes popped up reviling it. Other, progressive memes appeared too. "Being WOKE is a natural state of being kind and considerate people" one meme says. All of us think differently about the life and purpose of Jesus. I love the idea that we are welcome at Jesus’ table, which allows for the colorful tapestry of people who are all invited to break bread and be part of the loving God. Was Jesus woke? The radical Jesus was anything but conventional. He was the first to point out hypocrisy in the church, while making the unpopular claim he and God are one and the same. I've come to view this as Jesus' own metaphor for humanity; that we are all the expression of the living Creator, whatever you might think that is. Are we part of natural evolution? Do we have a divine purpose? This brings us back to our discussion of “Woke”. Are you woke? Here is a list of 10 symptoms of what somebody cleverly called "woke mind virus”: 1. You read books and don't burn them. 2. You embrace science. 3. You are willing to change your mind when new information becomes available. 4. You understand most issues aren't black and white. 5. You believe in true equality for all people. 6. You like to share. 7. You embrace cooperation. 8. You respect others' rights. 9. You believe culture and the arts have value. 10. You care for the planet and all of its life. To me these are “Jesus-virtues”. Have you given any thought about which of these you embrace? The reality is whether you consciously practice all or none of these things, the list can be used to divide us; another of those “us and them” lists. The single question I ask myself is what is my divine purpose? PRAYER Creator of All, woke or not, help us to understand love, compassion, cooperation, and empathy which happen to be exactly the values that Jesus taught, and that the first of these is love. Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Charlie C. Rose Order of St. Francis and St. Clare