Thursday - June 4, 2026
Dan Peeler
SCRIPTURE
ļ»æ
2 Peter 2.17-22
These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”
WORDS OF HOPE
The Apostle Peter, who the Roman Catholics honor as their first Pope, did not sugar coat his evaluations of people who called themselves Christians, but whose words and actions were anything but Christlike. This letter to the early church, written either by Peter or in the spirit of the man Jesus called his Rock, comes across as more of a modern social media rant than the words we would expect from a Holy Apostle.
Jesus knew what role each of his disciples would play as he designated each one an apostle and sent them out to spread his message of love and peace. He immediately changed the name of the one called Simon to Peter, which literally meant “the rock”, the foundation of a movement that would change the world with the radically liberal teachings of the Christ.
This letter of Peter shows us that Jesus was right in predicting the future of his most trusted followers. In the first and second centuries, as now, there were people who labeled themselves the followers of the Way of the Christ, yet who preached and acted in ways that were anything but Christ-like. He bluntly compares their actions to habits of dogs and sows whose natural habits never change. They have turned their backs on the sacred commandment of love to pursue one of corruption.
They do not follow Christ, but worship those who ‘promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”’ Today, we have similar Prophets of profit among us, labeling themselves as Christian leaders, holding rallies in the Nation’s Capital; profiteers of hatred and the weapons of war. Their disillusioned followers have lost sight of Prophet of Peace. But the Rock remains solid. The spirit of Peter still stands tall among those of us who thank God daily for the eternal love of Christ that inspires and informs us. May we always have the courage to be the rocks of our time in history, knowing Christ’s truth shall make us (and everybody else) free.
PRAYER
May we be the springs of your water as our prayers include the people who are slaves to whatever has mastered them as we give thanks for the sustaining love of Christ in our troubled world. Amen
DEVOTION AUTHOR
Dan Peeler
Order of St. Francis and St. Clare
Need Some Inspiration? Read our Daily Devotions
READING Genesis 11: 1-8 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and fire them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. And the Lord said, “Look, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. WORDS OF HOPE At first glance, my thought was, “seems like God is feeling threatened?” Since the people of what was later called Babel thought they could do absolutely anything. But on consideration and a bit of pondering, I think the takeaway from the story is the dangers of hubris. The people of Babel thought they could do anything. Though it’s a good aphorism, it’s not usually true. Speaking the same language is important, but it’s not the same as having the humility to know when to take a breath and consider all the consequences of your actions. I am reminded of another tall tower, this one in New York City. 161 Maiden Lane, also know as One Seaport is a residential tower in the burgeoning Seaport neighborhood. It was designed to rise 60 floors and is on a very small footprint. Other tall towers have and are being built in NYC, but this one was build on the unstable soil of the seaport district; land that was reclaimed centuries ago by dumping trash, debris and rock into the harbor. That meant to give it a stable foundation engineers would have to drill down to bedrock, 155 feet below the surface. Here is where the hubris comes in. The developers opted for a technique on “Soil improvement” where concrete is pumped into the loose soil to stabilize it and give the building a firm foundation. It was cheaper than excavating and building the conventional way. The result is that as the building grew taller, the foundation shifted and the tower began to lean. Contractors tried to mitigate the lean by pouring thicker concrete on one side of the building to bring it back into plumb. After the structure topped out, it still had a 3-inch lean, which doesn’t sound like much but prevented elevators from being installed and glass windows from properly fitting. Today, the multi-million dollar skyscraper sits unoccupied, unsellable, and unfixable. Even tearing it down would cost hundreds of millions. Many residents who put deposits down on apartments are now tied up in legal troubles, and the situation may drag on for years. Hubris and a failure to speak the same language, the language of science and sound engineering. PRAYER Though the people of the world speak many languages, may we find unity in the language of God’s love. Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Hardy Haberman
SCRIPTURE Psalm 69.1-3 Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me. I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. ļ»æ Psalm 119:105 O God, Your word is a lantern to my feet and a light upon my path. WORDS OF HOPE We live in precarious times and the words of despair in Psalm 69 express how a lot of people feel these days. However, there is hope in today’s follow-up Psalm, the famous words that rejoice in God’s guidance. I’m sure, in our association with members of our faith community, we have known people who refer to their spiritual journey as their walk with God. Is that a metaphor that works for you? Do you sometimes feel God’s presence beside you, especially in uncertain times, as you would the loving support of a good friend? The question leads us to evaluate how we interpret our walk with God in our daily lifestyle. Does God lead the way in some of our excursions? How do we keep our contact fresh in our relationship with the Divine? It has been my experience to first seek God's "word" to find our life's path in harmony with the divine desire for our journey. Fortunately, God has not hidden these desired principles in some dark and obscure corner of reality. This verse tells us that we have been provided a searchlight to successfully find them... "a lantern for my feet and light upon my path". Just as the sun provides all the light we need, illumination from God will guide our steps along life's path. In a large city, where many of us live, illuminated with ambient light, sometimes it’s hard to visualize what true darkness is really like. A walk in the forest can be an entirely different experience. If you've ever been surrounded by the profound darkness of a moonless night while camping in the woods, you know the value that a lantern can be. This was the world of the Psalmist. The lantern doesn't illuminate the whole scene in front of you, but it shines enough light on your feet that you don't trip on something and fall down. It will guide you through the little, moment-by-moment steps of life. This verse continues and tells us that the word (desires) of God, which have been disclosed by Scripture and the life example of Jesus, will light up our whole path throughout life, not just step-by-step, but the whole trajectory of our life. One day at a time, as Jesus eloquently phrased it. This Divine wisdom and teaching will be like airport landing lights which are seen at a distance and lead us straight ahead to land safely at our life's desired terminus; comfort along the way to an eternity with Christ. PRAYER O God, your desires for my life, expressed by your word, are all the light I need. I seek your desires for my life, and I offer to you my praise for gifting me with your words of guidance and hope. As I study and apply them, I know they will give light to your path and allow me to be in harmony with you. For you are my comfort and peace divine. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Donald (Luke) Day Order of St. Francis and St. Clare
SCRIPTURE Romans 8.9a “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. WORDS OF HOPE Today’s weird holiday is Superman Day. (commemorating the superhero’s birthday in one of the comics) If my friends know anything about me at all, they know I’ve been a Superman fan nearly all my life. It started when I was two or three years old watching the old 1950s TV show starring George Reeves. The program felt magical because even though I didn’t understand much of the storyline, I loved watching Superman leap out of windows to fly or duck behind a boulder to change from Superman into Clark Kent. It wasn’t until years later that I realized Superman had been created in the 1930s, long before television. Oddly enough, an early version of the character wasn’t even a hero, but a villain bent on world domination. I also discovered Superman’s creators were Jewish, and that the character carried parallels to Moses being sent down the river in a basket to escape death — much like young Kal-El being sent away from the doomed planet Krypton in a rocket. The metaphors don’t stop there. Like Jesus, Superman was initially misunderstood — an outsider observing humanity while trying to guide and protect it. Even Jesus was careful about revealing His true nature to everyone around Him. That mirrors Superman’s earliest stories, where he guarded his identity from Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and Perry White. Of course, modern audiences can no longer pretend a pair of glasses would fool Lois Lane. Superman is the real identity, while mild-mannered Clark Kent is the disguise. Both Jesus and Superman are described as possessing powers beyond mortal men. Yet even Superman cannot change water into wine or restore sight to the blind. Jesus changed the course of human history, though many interpretations religion itself still seems to divide humanity as much as unite it. And despite all our wars, suffering, and confusion, often neither Superman nor Jesus appears able — or willing — to save us from ourselves. That is the human conundrum. Even if Superman were real, he couldn’t be everywhere at once. That kind of omniscience belongs only to the Almighty Creator. So why do we sometimes act as though God selectively saves a chosen few while ignoring the rest? At times, that almost makes God seem like a supervillain Himself — strangely enough, much like Superman originally began. In one episode of I Love Lucy, George Reeves appears as Superman and asks the children, “Any of you kids want to wrestle?” On the surface that would make God the greatest Joker of them all. In our frustrating and confusing world, sometimes it feels as if God asks us the same question every day. But remember the Jewish roots of our superhero’s origins. When Jacob wrestled with God, he was truly wrestling with his own self-created conflicts. The result? He not only saved his nation; he became the nation. Jacob discovered that his secret identity all along had been Israel. How about you? Are you ready to take off those glasses and discover your Super Self? PRAYER Help us to understand that waiting for mythic heroes or gods to save the day is futile when we realize that the Spirit of God has been living inside us all along. Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Charlie Rose Order of St. Francis and St. Clare
SCRIPTURE Job 38.12-13 Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it? WORDS OF HOPE In the 38 th Chapter of the book of Job, after so much has happened, God finally speaks, not with easy answers, but with questions. “Have you commanded the morning since your days began?” God asks Job. “Have you entered the storehouses of light?” These are not questions meant to humiliate. They are questions meant to humble. They remind Job that the world is larger, deeper, and more mysterious than his suffering alone. And yet, something is striking in today’s passage. God speaks about dawn, about light breaking into darkness, about the edges of the earth being shaken awake. Even in the midst of pain, God points toward the possibility of a new day. Today is also the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, a day that honors those who stand in fragile places around the world trying to hold back chaos, violence, and despair. Peacekeepers are not perfect. Institutions are not perfect. But the work of peace itself remains sacred. To stand between violence and vulnerability is holy work. Job reminds us that we are not God. We cannot control the morning. But we can decide whether we will participate in the coming of the light. Every act of justice, every word of compassion, every refusal to surrender to cynicism becomes part of God’s dawn breaking into the world. Peace is not passive. It is built—sometimes painfully, sometimes imperfectly—by people willing to believe that another world is still possible. In a time when fear dominates headlines and cruelty is too often normalized, people of faith must resist the temptation to withdraw into silence or despair. The voice of God in Job calls us outward again: toward awe, toward humility, and toward responsibility. We may not command the morning. But we can help welcome it. PRAYER God of light and justice, when the world feels heavy with violence and division, remind us that dawn still comes. Give us courage to be makers of peace, protectors of dignity, and bearers of hope. Keep us from surrendering to despair or indifference. And where darkness seems strongest, help us trust that Your light is already breaking through. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Rev Dr. Neil G Thomas Senior Pastor Cathedral of Hope United Church of Christ
SCRIPTURE ļ»æ Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it unto me. Matthew 25:40 WORDS OF HOPE Many a moon ago I was a faculty sponsor for our Human Rights group on campus. One year the student leadership decided to engage in an Amnesty International Write for Rights event. In the undertaking leading up to International Human Rights Day on December 10, the young women from our student body joined people from hundreds of countries writing millions of letters to “pressure governments to end torture, halt executions, and free individuals who have been unjustly detained.” (amnestyusa.org) As well, letters to the affected individuals were vessels of hope helping sustain them and their families in terribly dark times. The project was both educational and for some a first step into political activism. Today is the 65 th anniversary of Founders Day for Amnesty International. Begun by Peter Berenson, a labor lawyer in London, with a goal of freeing prisoners of conscience around the world, it has grown to over 10 million members from countries across the globe—from Afghanistan and Angola to Zambia and Zimbabwe. Among the high-water marks for the organization is having the Nobel Peace Prize conferred upon them in 1977. The Nobel committee commended the organization by saying that “the defense of human dignity against torture, violence, and degradation constitutes a very real contribution to the peace of this world.” Since 1977 the abolition of the death penalty has also been an important goal. When the work began, only 16 countries had ceased the practice, but today 113 countries have abolished it. A current campaign urges Gov. Gavin Newsome to commute all death sentences in California before his term is up. Disturbingly, there was a 78% surge in state sanctioned death in 2025, with 5 countries accounting for most of those, the United States being one. (The video link here gives an overview of the increase as well as some signs of hope. https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/death-penalty/ ) The scope and depth of the work of this organization is truly admirable, and even to list the causes on which members expend time and heart is too much for this short format. Some of the current campaigns supported in the US are stopping authoritarian practices in our country, protesting and turning back the mass deportation and detention machine, protecting student power from the crackdowns on free speech and peaceful protest, stopping genocide in Gaza, participating in Banned Books week, and advocating for women’s rights. In LGBT+ rights, Amnesty presses for decriminalization in the 60 countries that still have laws against homosexuality and advocates for full and equal access to health care and protections from discrimination in policing, housing, employment and all other areas. https://www.amnestyusa.org/issues/gender-sexuality/lgbtqi/ As I write I keep hearing the words of a favorite hymn: Having heard God’s pain at the plight of their people and the call for compassionate service, the faithful one replies: “Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go, Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart.” That is the response God asks for today and every day from us. May our heartful response be Yes. (“Here I Am, Lord” by Dan Schultz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W4gABkEGHA ) PRAYER God of all creation, We hear the pain and distress of so many people all over the planet today. May organizations like Amnesty International help us find outlets for fostering justice and peace. Bless the work of our hands and hearts this day. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Dr. Pat Saxon
SCRIPTURE John 7:37–39 Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever trusts in me, as the scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. WORDS OF HOPE World Otter Day There are moments when the sacred does not arrive through arguments, systems, or carefully managed theology, but through something far more alive—playful, slightly chaotic, and full of unexpected joy. World Otter Day feels like one of those moments, when creation itself seems to pause and remind us that holiness is not only found in seriousness or certainty, but also in laughter, splashing, and delight that refuses to be contained. Because sometimes the truest theology does not come as an explanation. It comes as laughter. As splashing. As otters sliding into rivers like joy itself decided to become visible—without permission, without apology, and without needing to prove anything at all. When I think of otters, I think of creatures moving through water as if they were made for joy itself—tumbling, floating, playing, holding hands so they do not drift apart. They do not seem driven by anxiety, control, or performance. They simply live—present, relational, and free in a way that feels like a quiet interruption to a world that constantly trains individuals to be guarded, hurried, and afraid. Creation keeps whispering another way. Whales sing across oceans like connection has no borders. Giraffes stretch into the sky like curiosity is built into existence. Birds cut through air like freedom refuses containment. Cats rest in sunbeams like peace is sacred… then suddenly sprint through the house at 3 a.m. like mystery itself just knocked on the door. And otters turn rivers into play, reminding us that joy is not extra—it is part of being alive. None of this looks like fear. It looks like an abundance. And it raises a deeper question that quietly unsettles and invites reflection: what if, instead of us being made in the image of God, we have sometimes tried to remake God in our image—shrinking the Divine into something shaped by fear, control, and the limits of what we can comfortably understand? Because when God is reduced that way, love becomes narrower, belonging becomes conditional, and individuals—especially those already pushed to the margins—are measured instead of welcomed. Difference becomes suspicion. Mercy becomes rationed. And fear begins to sound like wisdom. But creation refuses that smallness. We see galaxies beyond counting, oceans still more mysterious than space, and life overflowing with difference at every level. Nothing in the natural world suggests a God threatened by variety. Instead, everything suggests creativity without fear—an imagination too vast to be contained by any single category. That includes humanity. Across race, ethnicity, nationality, culture, language, ability, neurodiversity, gender, sexuality, identity, age, and class—every individual is part of that same overflowing creativity. LGBTQIA+ individuals are not outside divine imagination, but within it. Immigrants and refugees are not interruptions to compassion, but beloved neighbors carrying dignity, grief, memory, courage, and hope across borders that do not limit God’s care. Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Indigenous communities, seekers, doubters, and those with no label at all are not outside grace—the Sacred has never been confined to one language or one expression of truth. A God who creates without repetition is not threatened by difference. A God who says “it is good” does not revoke that goodness when life looks unfamiliar or diverse. It is good. It is good. It is very good. Not “if it fits.” Not “if it conforms.” No conditions. No exclusions. No fear attached. Just good. And very good. And when that truth is taken seriously, it begins to widen how we see everything. It widens how we see immigrants seeking safety and dignity, refugees rebuilding life after loss, LGBTQIA+ individuals living truthfully and beautifully, and every individual who has ever been told they are too much, too different, or not enough. It widens compassion, softens certainty, and challenges us to see that belonging was never meant to be conditional. It also calls us back to what God requires: to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly. Because repeatedly, the sacred story bends toward the widow, the orphan, the stranger, the excluded, the wounded, the prisoner, and those denied dignity. That is where God keeps showing up—not at the center of power, but at the edges where care is most needed. And it saddens me when Scripture is used as a weapon instead of a bridge—used to exclude immigrants, LGBTQIA+ individuals, or other faith communities rather than to expand love and justice. Because God is still speaking through many voices, many traditions, and through creation itself. Still speaking through prayer, through resistance, through compassion, through science, through art, through communities of care, and through individuals who refuse to let fear have the final word. So maybe World Otter Day is more than whimsy. Maybe it is a reminder that God is not tightening the world. God is widening it. Still creating. Still delighting. Still speaking. More life. More color. More love. PRAYER God of laughter and rivers, Thank You for creatures that remind us not to take ourselves too seriously. Thank You for otters, for joy, for play, for creativity, and for the holy freedom found in delight. Teach us to hold on to love, to rest without shame, to laugh without fear, and to live with wonder. When life feels heavy, remind us that creation still knows how to dance. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Reed Kirkman