Wednesday - August 20, 2025

SCRIPTURE John 5.3-9  In Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate at the pool, a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. WORDS OF HOPE It’s August, the month in Texas when many of us look to a refreshing dip in the pool as our savior from the heat! The Savior’s pool mentioned in today’s scripture lesson was thought to have genuinely miraculous healing powers by the people of Jerusalem. It was visited often by the infirm. The man who was not able to walk would have been a typical visitor. His exchange with Jesus is interesting on several levels and inspires some questions. Had the man actually been coming to the pool for thirty-eight years? If so, who had been bringing him there since he could not walk? Couldn’t they also have carried him into the pool and not just deposited him there beside it? When Jesus asks if he wants to get well, instead of enthusiastically saying “yes”, he immediately starts making excuses about why he has not been able to get into the water, saying that no one will help him in and besides, everyone else breaks in line ahead of him. All in all, it’s simply not his fault. Everyone else is to blame. I’m sure you are not one of them, but I have known a lot of people throughout the years who are masters at making excuses. I could list a few politicians. George Washington Carver once said, “Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.” You probably know a few expert excuse-makers, too. They are usually people who, consciously or subconsciously, want to fail. Failure requires a great deal less work than success. Jesus’ reply to the invalid is succinct. “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk!” He didn’t waste time commiserating with the man about the cruel fate that surrounds him or condemning the selfish attitudes of the other pool patrons. He didn’t give the man a chance to elaborate on his excuses. It would seem that the man was shocked into action because not only was he immediately cured, but he also didn’t need any magic water to do it. Are you prepared to let Jesus shock you into action today? Are you ready to share the priceless gift of encouragement with someone who is discouraged, despondent, and down to their last excuse? Jesus didn’t judge or care about excuses. He just did what needed to be done. Considering the amounts of circumstances in all of our lives that are catalysts for excuses, you’ll probably have the opportunity soon to give someone a helpful nudge, too. PRAYER May we always follow the example of Jesus, being healers and never contributors to the adverse circumstances of life. As your followers, we have no excuses. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Dan Peeler Order of St. Francis and St. Clare

SCRIPTURE  Acts 7: 44-53 Our ancestors had the tent of testimony in the wilderness, as God directed when he spoke to Moses, ordering him to make it according to the pattern he had seen. Our ancestors in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors. And it was there until the time of David, who found favor with God and asked that he might find a dwelling-place for the house of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a house for him. Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says, “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?” ‘You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it.’ WORDS OF HOPE Sometimes we have a propensity for seeing God as very small. We wish to shrink God into a box that fits our biases and prejudices. We all heard this said in sermons and teachings before. And I will admit that sometimes I do this still. And even though the passage above talks about the Israelites shrinking God into a temple, it is still tiny compared to the size of what God has made. At least that seems to be the meaning of the first part of this quotation. The juxtaposition of words about fitting God into a small space directly before a rebuke for not listening to the Holy Spirit is not accidental, I think. Just saying that the listeners are uncircumcised in heart and ears is a clear message. Circumcision was a sign of belonging in the Jewish tradition. Being uncircumcised in heart and ear is a metaphor for not understanding or not truly accepting the teachings of Jesus. It is a greater rebuke because it implies, to me, that not accepting or living by the example of Jesus is the same as murdering him. Just as the prophets of more ancient times were betrayed and murdered. Indeed, although not specifically mentioned here one would throw in John the baptizer as a prophet or contemporary to the writer of this passage and those listening. So perhaps trying to fit God into a little box whether that box is as large as a temple or a small as our own imagination, has more to do with putting ourselves in a box, and thinking that the box has God in it with us. PRAYER Gracious God, the universe that You have made is vast, and yet we know in our hearts that even that cannot contain You. Break us out of the boxes that we put ourselves in when we try to restrain you to a world of our making. DEVOTION AUTHOR Weber Baker. Order of Saint Francis in Saint Clare

SCRIPTURE Proverbs 4:17-18 But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know what makes them stumble. WORDS OF HOPE As an adverb, the word “just” is one of my least favorite words: You’re not hurt… It’s just a scratch. Why are you upset? I was just making a joke. It’s just four easy payments of $49.99. Can you just wait a minute? While the adjective form of the word just can mean exactly (as in “That’s just what I needed”) or recently (“She just left the room”), it drives me crazy when it's used to mean only or merely. In this usage, the word just is minimizing and deceitful. Whether is shows up in everyday speech or in advertising, when the word just is included, I tend to feel defensive or put on notice. As an adjective, however, the word just is one of my most favorite words: She is a just leader who treats everyone fairly. This was a just judgement that brought equity to the situation. The path of the just is like the shining sun. In these two verses from Proverbs, the writer paints a picture of the life of a just or righteous person as a journey that grows clearer, brighter, and better over time—just like the sun rising from dawn to full daylight. It suggests spiritual growth, clarity, and increasing blessing for those who walk in God's ways. Whereas verse 19 shows the life of the wicked: one of stumbling, confusion, and distance from truth, often without awareness. It’s a vivid metaphor—light vs. darkness, clarity vs. confusion, and wisdom vs. folly. I’m struck by the divergent paths in these verses: One filled with the growing light of a sunrise and the other shrouded in deep darkness. As we walk with God, She makes our path clearer and clearer, like dawn to noontime. When we walk apart from God, it’s total and utter darkness, stumbling and disconnected. If we would but just seek wisdom, clarity, and purpose, God invites you to walk the path of the righteous. It doesn’t mean perfection—but direction. It’s about walking toward the light, trusting that it will grow brighter with each step. PRAYER Lord, lead me on the path of righteousness, where Your light shines ever brighter and guides my every step. Keep me from the darkness that causes confusion and stumbling and help me walk in the clarity of Your truth. DEVOTION AUTHOR Thomas Riggs

SCRIPTURE Hebrews 10:39 (NRSVUE) But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but among those who have faith and so preserve our souls. WORDS OF HOPE “Curiosity and Friendship” I met them both when I was six years old in first grade. My family had just moved to Fort Worth over two months after the school year had started. Not only was I a newcomer, but almost everyone in my class had attended Kindergarten together and so knew each other well. I was an outsider. Two boys made a difference. The first I met on my first day. He approached me with a friendly smile, offered his hand to shake mine and said, “I’m Chad Davis.” It was a warm welcome on a cold November day in first grade. The following Sunday, my family went to the local Methodist Church to see if it was a fit for our family. To my surprise, Chad was in my Sunday School class. He even invited me to his house for lunch! Sitting with him was his friend and neighbor, Jesse Cockerell. Chad introduced us. Jesse was friendly, shook my hand, and welcomed me to the church. He also offered that his father was a dentist if I needed one. I didn’t, but it was good to know. Chad and I became fast friends. We rode bikes, played at his house, and his parents took us out on their boat and taught us to waterski. Jesse’s parents moved across town years later and he went to a different high school. 23 years after I met him, he was the best man at my wedding and years after that I officiated his wedding. Chad would have likely been a part of all that, but he was killed our senior year in an auto-pedestrian accident. Today is Best Friends Day. At a time when there is much tension and combative conversation on social media, in politics, and in society at large, may we be curious to listen to others and learn about them. May we welcome strangers, extend a hand of greeting, show compassion, live with empathy and strive for good will. Curiosity is the antithesis of judgmentalism. Curiosity opens us to consider people as they are rather than judging them with a preconceived expectation or bias. When we choose to be curious, we bypass criticism and negativity and consider what possibilities and opportunities may be at hand in any given moment. I am striving to cultivate greater curiosity in my life and relationships. Who knows what good may yet come of such a practice? PRAYER Dear Jesus who loves us, help us we pray, to be curious people, who follow your Way. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Rev. Dr. Gary Kindley, LPC Pastoral Psychotherapist drgk.org

READING In Celebration of the Life of Andrea Gibson (8/13/75-7/14/25) Lines from their words of inspiration: “When nothing softens grief, may grief soften me.” “When I realized the storm was inevitable, I made it my medicine.” “In the end, I want my heart to be covered in stretch marks.” WORDS OF HOPE Many years ago a student introduced me to Andrea Gibson—a queer spoken word poet and eventually poet laureate of Boulder, Colorado. Like so many who were drawn to them, I found power in their wrestling with LGBT+ issues in a language that was bold, fresh, achingly sensitive, and vulnerable. They deplored customary binaries of all sorts and once said they thought their gender would be changing up until the time of their death. Several months ago I was re-introduced to Andrea via their Substack posts with poetry and the most stunning photographs of the Colorado landscape where they live with their wife Megan and three well-loved dogs. Several years ago, Andrea was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, the disease which would claim their earthly life. They speak openly of having feared cancer all their life, but once the bell had tolled, they experienced a spiritual transformation, seeing through the eyes of love and gratitude even the smallest things. During their treatment, part of them wanted to keep the pain from readers, but with characteristic courage, they stepped through the door of silence to voice their truth. One compelling poem during this time is “MAGA Hat in the Chemo Room.” The work begins with anger that MAGA man has violated the rules of the chemo room forbidding clothing with political slogans—a rule Andrea adheres to though almost everything she owns signals her values. Their honoring “clothes neutrality” is in part an acknowledgement that everyone in the room is struggling for their lives. In the course of the poem, anger gets transformed into compassion for each person in the acute awareness of shared mortality. Andrea also imagines that the Holy Trinity reveals God’s nonbinary nature and that in heaven gays will enter first. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCX-0zJTEbk After Gibson’s death, tributes poured in from all kinds of people—artists and poets, collaborators and friends, the Governor or Colorado and readers who have been impacted by their work. Linda Williams Stay tells how her son Aiden once took her to see Andrea in an amazing performance and how he continued to share their poetry as a way of helping her understand his experience as a young transgender man. The morning of Andrea’s death, Aiden called to tell her and together they grieved this loss. He sobbed, “Andrea saved my life, mom.” Linda responded, “I know.” Months before her death, Andrea wrote a moving poem to their wife Meg called “Love Letter from the Afterlife,” in which they assert: “Dying is the opposite of leaving. When I left my body, I did not go away. That portal of light was not a portal to elsewhere, but a portal to here. I am more here than I ever was before.” Oh, that each grieving person could know such intimate resurrection. https://stephaniecarney.substack.com/p/love-letter-from-the-afterlife (text) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmZHLvq-gDg (spoken) A documentary of Andrea’s life “Come See Me in the Good Light” showed at the Sundance Festival this year and garnered the Festival Favorite prize. It will be shown on Apple TV+ this fall. Rest in power, Radiant Spirit. PRAYER God of Expansive Love, Before [we] die, [may we] be somebody’s favorite hiding place, the place they can put everything they know they need to survive, every secret, every solitude, every nervous prayer, and be absolutely certain [we] will keep it safe. [We] will keep it safe. Amen. (Prayer adapted from Adrea Gibson’s words.) DEVOTION AUTHOR Dr. Pat Saxon