Thursday – July 14, 2022

READING  “In indigenous ways of thinking, we don’t call these natural resources. We call them relatives. They are beings, people, which share their gifts with each other and us. When someone shares their gifts with you, your first response is gratitude, and that gratitude cements a response of love.” Robin Wall Kimmerer WORDS OF HOPE I slide my fingers slowly over the inside of her outstretched arm, smooth and brown, learning, as with a lover’s hands, each part of her. A low curved ridge curls over a shallow trough —the sinew and ligament of her limb-- and border the long muscular shape. The word “limb” arcs the synapses of the brain to suggest that we are both limbed beings, kindred, Sisters. Sister crepe myrtle has been rooted in my back yard for years. First planted as a small scrub, she has grown wildly, her crown shaped eastward—as some of the sunlight has been absorbed by a much larger hackberry tree which overshadowed her. Still, her rangy arms stretch in their own design over my yard. She is not “aesthetically pruned”, as some like to do, and tiny scratch marks from 1000s of squirrel journeys cover her trunk, but to me she is beautiful in all seasons with her fushia blossoms in summer, orange-red tinged leaves in fall, and polished bare branches in winter. Though I have always been of Nature’s tribe, stopping to behold the tiniest purple flower in the grass and listening raptly to the joy-song of the wren, I have realized that even this deep appreciation is objectifying in some sense—I the observer, they the other, I the witness, they the witnessed. At this time of my life, I am seeking to learn, pray into, and practice an even deeper spirituality of relationship with the natural world. One of my teachers in this school of relationality is Robin Wall Kimmerer-- plant ecologist, scientist, author of Braiding Sweetgrass , and wisdom-carrier of the Patowatomi people. Kimmerer notes that nowhere in our conservation dogma does the word love appear. And yet for her love based in gratitude is at the heart of things. The task is to invite people to love the world, as we will sacrifice to save what we love. She references an ecopsychologist who asserts that we have a “species loneliness”—separate as most of us are from the living world. And, from the stories that people have shared with her, many are feeling an almost desperate longing for renewed connection. Kimmerer believes that the earth too is lonely for us and yearns to be in loving relationship. Now, in this time she calls the Great Remembering, we are recalling what it was like to hold the earth in love and be held by her. May we learn our lessons well and become not just stewards of the land, but her lovers. PRAYER Oh God, who loved and blessed all creation, animate in us the devotion and love necessary to sacrifice for the preservation and flourishing of the living world. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Dr. Pat Saxon

SCRIPTURE John 11.32-35 When Mary [of Bethany] reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” she replied. Jesus wept. Centering Prayer : Lord God, quiet my thoughts and open my spirit to receive your words into my soul. May they find rich opportunity to grow and nourish my spiritual journey with you. Amen. WORDS OF HOPE We live in a harsh society in which compassion sometimes seems out sync with our daily lives, but hear these words: "God is full of compassion and mercy, come let us adore God." This phrase forms an introductory statement to a Franciscan morning prayer which has been prayed for centuries, and its message represents an essential aspect of the Christian journey. Let’s look at the word compassion . From its Latin origin, it is a compound word: com meaning with and passio meaning sympathy; to be in sympathy with, suffer with, experience the distress or sorrow of others. Referring back to that introductory phrase ("God is full of compassion"), it means that God experiences our suffering alongside us. This is a startling pronouncement about the character of the Absolute Sovereign God of this universe. Earlier humanity viewed God as very distant, up in the heavens and away or out of reach for human beings. However, Jesus revealed to us a God which is close, nearby, whose Spirit can live with and in our daily experiences; a God which also senses our sorrow, pain, loss and even our joy; a God which wants to be a true participant in our full life. God wants to live our daily life, step-by-step, in intimate relationship with us! Jesus is the great revelation of this divine nature as expressed in human form. The Gospel of John (Chapter 11) gives the account of Jesus’ response to the emotional pain experienced by the sisters and friends of Lazarus who had died. When he arrived, Jesus found them in deep sorrow and crying over the loss of this friend who was such a good man. "When Jesus saw them weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved." As he approached the tomb, we read the shortest verse in all the Bible: "Jesus wept". Jesus felt their pain and sorrow. As a human, Jesus genuinely expressed sorrow for the loss of Lazarus' friendship and cried as we might do in that experience. Jesus demonstrated to us in human form the depth of God's compassion at Lazarus' death and the family's grief. As the Franciscan prayer phrase reads: "Our God is full of compassion", let us adore the compassionate God who knows us and who loves us so much and wishes to experience that love in an intimate relationship with our full life. PRAYER God of all, today, may we strive to practice the same compassion for others as you have forever felt for us. Devotion Author Donald (Luke) Day Order of St. Francis and St. Clare

SCRIPTURE Proverbs 8:1-4 Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? At the highest point along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; beside the gate leading into the city, at the entrance, she cries aloud: “To you, O people, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind. WORDS OF HOPE During a recent time of morning prayer and meditation I found myself struggling with how to face the day. On my mind was a laundry list of questions—Why are things in the world the way they are? What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to feel? What information is true? What is real? And the list went on until finally that still small voiced pierced through my chaotic thoughts and whispered, “what one thing do you need right now/?” This one question erased all the others. I sat with it for what seemed like an eternity thinking about an answer…wisdom. The word wisdom rang out clearly in my head and heart. Though my answer was definitive, upon further reflection it came with more questions…what is wisdom and how do I find it? Wisdom is not knowledge. Wisdom is not truth. Wisdom is what leads us to knowledge and truth. Wisdom is a lens though which we experience life. In one of his daily meditations, Franciscan priest Richard Rohr writes: “One of the keys to wisdom is that we must recognize our own biases, our own addictive preoccupations, and those things to which, for some reason, we refused to pay attention. Until we see these patterns (which is early-stage contemplation), we will never be able to see what we do not see. Without such critical awareness of the small self, there is little chance that any individual will produce truly great knowing or enduring wisdom.” “To you, O people, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind” writes Solomon about wisdom in the above passage in Proverbs. It struck me when reading this and then thinking about the words of Richard Rohr that it is not wisdom itself that we seek; she is there before us at all times. But rather, we must seek to find a space for wisdom to dwell within. Those biases that we carry, the judgement that we harbor, the meaningless distractions that we allow to punctuate our days, the false sense of comfort we seek in worldly things all take away from the place where wisdom desires to live and grow. In Chapter 3 of Proverbs, Solomon writes, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge God, and God will make straighter your paths.” This is where I find myself right now, learning to trust in a bigger way. Amidst all that is going on around us, we must maintain our trust in God remembering that our thoughts are not God’s thoughts and God’s thoughts are not ours. PRAYER Loving God, help me to navigate my days not relying solely on my own limited understanding, but trusting in your infinite wisdom. Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Kris Baker Order of St. Francis and St. Clare

SCRIPTURE I Corinthians 1:27-29 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. WORDS OF HOPE Being a fan of the works of Aaron Sorkin (think The West Wing, A Few Good Men, Moneyball, The Newsroom), I find myself wishing I could wake up one morning with the rapid-fire dialogue plus the witty and intellectual banter of one of his characters. Particularly in academic situations, I want to have the banter of President Josiah Bartlett or Anchorman Will McAvoy. Instead, I wake up as the same old me. Writing better than I speak, I can’t recall names when I want to and struggle to put together coherent sentences in the moment. If scripture ever had an Aaron Sorkin character, it would be the Apostle Paul. He is classically trained, a citizen of Rome, well-traveled, and able to debate among the Greeks and in the Synagogue. Yet here, in 1 Corinthians, Paul makes the assertion that the message of the cross is “foolishness” and “a stumbling block” and “a weakness”. He offers a radical redefinition of value and meaning. While human wisdom often seeks logical explanations and strength, Paul insists that God's plan operates on a different plane, one that subverts worldly expectations. Paul asks rhetorically, “Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law?” and argues that God has made the wisdom of the world foolish. This is not a rejection of intellect, but rather a critique of pride and self-reliance. The Jews want miraculous signs, the Greeks want solid philosophic thought. Instead, Paul presents a “Christ crucified” which makes no sense to either group. This inversion is intentional. God does not conform to human categories or expectations but acts through ‘foolish’ means to fulfill God’s purposes. While human wisdom often seeks logical explanations and strength, Paul insists that God's plan operates on a different plane, one that subverts worldly expectations.  I still want to wake up one morning with the witty banter of an Aaron Sorkin character. But even more so, I wake up every morning knowing of God’s good grace and humbly accepting that God’s wisdom is greater than anything I could imagine. PRAYER Lord, help me to trust in the wisdom of Your cross, even when it seems foolish to the world. Teach me to boast only in You, knowing that my strength and salvation come from Your grace alone. Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Thomas Riggs

SCRIPTURE Habakkuk 1: 1-3 How long oh Lord, must I cry out for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you “VIOLENCE” but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife and conflicts abound. WORDS OF HOPE One evening after watching a news report where folks were being arrested at a peaceful demonstration, I literally said out loud, “Really God, where are you during this absolute insanity of injustice? Are you just going to idly sit by and let the destruction happen?” I wondered if I could stay where I am, keep the faith and maintain my calm. While researching the Bible for the answers, I discovered it’s full of folks who felt the same way and found this current situation in our world is really nothing new.  In my quest for biblical support, I found solidarity and optimism in the story of Habakkuk. He wrestled with this problem as all around him injustice and fear were running rampant. He too was infuriated by how the wicked always seemed to prosper. He felt like God was just hanging out, doing nothing about all the evil happening around him, and after all, wasn’t that God’s job! So, he cried out as well and petitioned God to do something and stop the chaos. It’s a remarkable story about faith, patience, and God’s timing. In the end, God declares he will deal with evil and restore justice. Habakkuk learns to trust God and live by faith, even in the face of adversity. His experience reminds us though the world may be filled with evil and suffering, God's ultimate plan of justice will triumph even when things seem uncertain or difficult. This includes both the punishment of the wicked and the restoration of the righteous. While I unequivocally believe God will prevail, I am just wondering…..God, could you please hurry? PRAYER Creator God of ALL, give us the stamina to maintain our faith, the courage to stand up to adversity and the wisdom to know your word will prevail! In Jesus name, Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Donna Jackson