"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." ~ 2 Corinthians 4:7 The woman smiled as I asked her to tell me about her faith, she then said in very broken English, "Come see my faith room."
Following behind as she maneuvered her walker down the hallway of the home she has lived in for the last seventy years, she took me to a small room. As I entered the room, I couldn't help but notice that every inch of the room was covered with prayer cards and religious icons. In the corner was a small altar where there was a small statue of Jesus hanging on the cross, and a kneeler that was worn from use. "This is my faith room. I love Jesus, and the saints." I felt as if I had drawn into the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies was the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle where God appeared in the Temple. It was as if I was being allowed into her inner sanctuary where she admitted to praying multiple times a day. She especially pointed out the kneeler and how her knees had worn the cover completely down to the wood, and the weight of all those years of body praying for long periods of time had created a place where now her knees simply "fit." She demonstrated, and said, "I'm so comfortable here." I couldn't help but think how the hard kneeler had found a way to conform to her body, a visual illustration of how God is able to eventually shape us after years of being next to us. She then also reminded me of the scripture, "In this world you will have troubles but be brave: I have overcome the world.” She then shared that each day when she prays, she reminds herself, as she looks on all the images in the room of those who lived "selfless lives," and now celebrate Christ's victory over the world, even death and evil. "You may see an old woman with a lot of struggles, but I have real peace about so many things because I know Jesus won over everything." I couldn't help but begin to feel the same peace that she reflected in her words. In many ways, I was being drawn in, and I was reminded of how important our lives lived in Christ becomes to others. For her, she was telling me her "truth," and I was in the presence of someone who many would consider to be a wise woman of faith. When I remarked how I felt about her faith, she just laughed, "I'm just an old woman who loves Jesus." Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2020
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A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, "Don't you care if we drown?" He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" ~ Mark 4: 37-40 That moment when you want God to notice you're struggling and you cry out, "Can't you see I'm struggling here!?!"
"Yes... now be calm." Oh the lessons we learn when we struggle, and to think that God is not aware! I often cringe when I hear someone say, "It's God's plan." I tell you, God must have planning meetings all the time. Our nature is to want to not only give God credit, but sometimes also blame, when things don't turn out as we had expected or hoped. Be still and know that I am God is the part of scripture that we seem to overlook when we are busy crying out for God's help. When we struggle with life, circumstances, or even simply trying to make up our mind, the first thing we should be attempting to do is to be calm and allow God to be present. It's funny, in the boat that day the storm arose, Jesus was resting, and the Disciples were fretting! They didn't even hardly wait for God to have a chance, instead they demanded results now! The presence of God exists always. Our presence of mind and God's power seems to disconnect when we forget to be still. Praying that peace be present so that God's presence may be a real priority. God, You hear what I am saying; You see what I dream. My only hope is for You to keep listening; You're the only One whom I can trust. At dawn I begin to search my soul for words of warmth; when I rise I want to praise You. You are pained by my mistakes, for nothing unloving can reside in You. Ignorance cannot measure up to You. Those who oppress others shall bear Your displeasure. My role shall be that of a worshiper celebrating Your love; in gratitude I will turn my face to the cross and altar. God, lead me in Your steps of goodness; may the road lead me in straight paths. Embark, all who bear witness to the love of God, celebrate with me. Hosanna! Hosanna! You embrace us all; may we all find complete happiness in You. To all those who embrace love, You give happiness. Your love is stronger than tempered steel. Stay in God's Grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2020 The poem written by G. Todd Williams, from the book, "Let Us Pray: Reformed Prayers fro Christian Worship", Martha S. Gilliss, Editor, Geneva Press, Copyright 2002 "Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?" ~ Genesis 3:8 - 9 What was it about Jesus that could get a man to drop his empty fishing nets along the shoreline and to leave everything behind with two words, "Follow me?"
One of the greatest identifiers of Jesus was his ability to touch people in a way that would make them want to begin again. Fishermen, a tax collector, and others would leave everything behind them once they met Jesus. For me, it is the reality that it just wasn't humanity needing a Savior as much as it was also about God needing us. Jesus is the One whom God sent so that we might have life, "more abundantly," but also, that we might have a new means to be in relationship with one another. Jesus is the reminder to us that God is not the Creator who simply created humanity and then looked on us from some lofty heavenly perch. God is also not stationary, expecting all of us to come to God. No, God leaves and comes to us so that we might suddenly realize the importance of the relationship. God doesn't come to us with apologies or promises of change. No, God sends Jesus to us, so that we can hear the words, "Follow me." What we often overlook is that Jesus is the most radical effort God has undertaken so that we can be in relationship with God, pursuing after us, along beaches, crowded street corners, while walking a dusty road, drawing water from a well at midday, and when we stand and cry at the tomb of someone we love who has died. It is when I begin to think of all the ways that God has pursued after me, just so that I can hear the words, "Follow me," that I realize the character of my spiritual journey. Suddenly I realize that I am the one who has been hiding all the time. Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2020 A person’s words can be life-giving water; words of true wisdom are as refreshing as a bubbling brook. ~ Proverbs 18:4 One of the easiest and remarkable things that we can do for others is to simply bless them. To speak kind words about someone, to acknowledge their gifts, and to recognize the times they have blessed your life as well. Years ago my grandmother would say, "The blessed one always blesses others."
She was right. And you know what? People want to be blessed! I don't know of anyone who wants to spend their life being the center of gossip, accusations or being blamed for things that they are not responsible for. The world is full of all kinds of things that draw us away from the blessings that can exist. If we spend our lives finding ways to bless others, it soons becomes an effortless habit. Even for some of the most difficult of people and circumstances! Being blessed while being a blessing to others should come naturally from our hearts. I can remember the first time I heard my own voice on a tape recorder as a young person and asking others, "Is that what I sound like?" None of us have really ever heard our own voice, or for that matter, ever truly seen our face, except for what is reflected in a mirror. When we hear within ourselves the voice of the Beloved calling us by name and blessing us, then the world becomes less of a distraction. It also become a way where people can truly see and hear us as well. Listening to the still small voice will give way to the voice that is ours, and will lead us to a life that is not just a blessing to others, but is one that is blessed as well. Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2020 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into the desert to starve this entire assembly to death." The Lord said to Moses, "I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, 'At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.' " That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat." Each morning everyone gathered as much as was needed and when the sun grew hot, it melted away." ~ Exodus 16: 2-3, 11-15, 21 There is something about mornings like today that seem to draw me to a different place. No clouds in the sky, and the sun illuminating things in a way that I seem to see things more clearly. Dew drenches everything. Autumn leaves, and a few flowers, seem to announce that they have discovered common ground in my back yard. The light of the sun illumines both, and I am reminded once again of how the sun shines in my back yard the same way it does in the yard of a stranger halfway around the world.
My mind drifts, and I wonder if the stranger is thinking similar thoughts? Our connectedness should be intentional. Our understanding of abundance and need, pain and joy, separation and reconciliation, hatred and love, are essentially part of our connectedness. It's generally not until we have forgotten our "commonness," that we stray and turn away from one another. This morning I am reminded that the world contains enough resources for every single person living. There is enough for everyone, more than enough: food, knowledge, love ... everything. If we live with the mindset of abundance, then we suddenly begin to realize the importance of sharing what we have with others. When we see a hungry person on a concrete intersection, we give them food. When we meet someone who has not encountered a problem we have overcome, we share our knowledge. We offer friendship and hospitality when we meet those who need love. When we live in the mindset that the same sun that illuminates my backyard, provides light on the pathway of a stranger on the other side of the world, then I arrive at a place where I begin to understand how we can all live in abundance together, and when we do, there will be more to our lives that we ever expected. Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2020 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war. ~ Psalm 120:7 This morning I am reminded that the world just seems to be in a state of chaos. Fires in California and Australia, earthquakes and volcanoes rumbling, storms raging, and the thought of war on the minds of many. The headlines flash before us, and eight-second sound bytes open with the words, "Breaking News."
While Mary and Joseph did not have CNN broadcasting from the front steps of Herod's palace, they did have an angel that told them that they must flee to Egypt. Herod, in the final years of his life, would order the slaughter of every newborn child in the kingdom. An act that many today, and then, saw as barbaric to the core. It was a painful reality for Mary and Joseph, and this was the world that Jesus was born into. I would like to think that since the birth of Jesus, that peace somehow would find a way to prevail on earth, but here we find ourselves, looking to headlines, and wondering where the next act of violence will occur. Nearly two years ago I sat with a mother in a school where a shooter had killed eight students and two teachers and wounded thirteen others. Her daughter was one of the survivors, but on that day, the extent of her wounds were unknown. I just remember sitting with her, as she rocked back and forth on a bench, waiting for her two other children to be dismissed from school so that she could take them with her, like a mother hen drawing all her chicks to safety, she kept saying, "Why do we keep doing this to one another?" The Psalmist writes, "I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war." The writer of the Psalm, King David, cannot make sense of why it is that the people want war. Even Jesus, the child that Mary and Joseph must protect by becoming refugees in a nation that once held the Hebrew people as slaves, is called the, "Prince of Peace." The inner peace that Jesus offers is the very thing that we all seek. I will agree that there are many situations in the world that can cause us to be frightened, and many people experience anxiety because of the world around us. More than ever our faith must sustain us. The season of Advent and Christmas remind us that the Kingdom of God begins with faith, hope, joy and above all things, peace. Hope is not optimism, and I pray that we all find that we can live hopefully in the midst of what seems to be apocalyptic times, as many of the headlines declare. We must remember God's faithfulness, even when we find ourselves surrounded in doubt and fear. I am reminded that even Paul declares, “Our hope is not deceptive because the Holy Spirit has already been poured into us” (Romans 5:5). Let us not just speak of peace, but let us pray for peace throughout the world today and always. Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2020 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths. ~ Proverbs 3:5 - 6 In our home, even though our children are now adults with only one still living at home, we will often tell them as they are preparing to leave, to "make good choices." Years ago when I was a youth minister I would often tell the kids in the group, "Remember who you are, and who you belong to."
One to the most important things that any of us must realize is that each of us are a child of God and because we are, we must live each day in that identity. I must admit, this is a difficult task at times. Some days we struggle to love others as Jesus asked us to do, but then there is also the part about loving yourself. Reminding ourselves that we are God's beloved should be our primary thought with each new day. I know, I just lost at least half of you who are reading this, including myself! "What is he thinking?" That's just it. What are we thinking? Our choices and the reminder of who we belong to is something that we must address every day of our life. Each day we are tossed about by so many things that leave us open to "respond at will." One thing that I have grown to realize is that none of us are what I, or even others, think about you. Years ago when I suffered a serious illness where I lost my job, home, and everything I identified myself as, I suddenly had to realize that I was really none of the things that I had once thought defined me. Each of us are members of a greater family. The family of God where God knew us while we were being shaped in our mother's womb. In the times when you feel bad about yourself, try to remember the truth of who you really are. Remember that how you often feel about yourself will match your convictions about the things you care about. For each of us, this is an incredible truth that we must decide to experience each day of our life. In doing this, each day we must remind ourselves to not just make "good choices," or "remember who you are, " you must claim and often reclaim the identity that you are a child of God. Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2020 Then Job replied to the Lord, "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.' " ~ Job 42:1 - 3 This morning while out with our dogs I was drawn to the fresh growth on one of our trees. As the tree rests during the winter, already moss has turned bright green with the rain yesterday and warmer temperatures. As I followed the growth of one of the branches, I noticed droplets of water, gathered along the underside of the branch, reflecting both the sky above and the ground below. It was unexpected.
I am reminded that the appearance of Jesus to humble parents and the unplanned place for delivery and the beginning of life, just seems to remind me of how God works. While there was no magnificent light drawing me to search the branch, I still seemed to be invited to look. I wasn't sure what I was looking for, but yet, I was drawn in. The unexpected find reminds me that as one who seeks to discover Jesus, I am constantly being invited to look. The drop of water causes me to remember unexpected events in my life are not necessarily interruptions in my life, but invitations that cause me to recognize and believe. It is encounters like these that constantly bring conversion from one way of life into another. The greatest temptation in life is not necessarily the turning away from God, but never to even try to even look for God. This morning's droplet reminds me of just how paralyzed many of us are in our life. Never able to leave the pathway our own needs have dictated, to follow the way of Jesus who invites us to "follow me." The appearance of the unexpected Jesus is no longer about expectation. It is now about seeking after the One who has come. Our expectation is now about vocation, a deeper understanding, and the invitation to the birthplace of joy! Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2020 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! ~ I John 3:1 It's a very foggy and still morning here today. In fact it is almost completely silent, except for a passing truck off in the distance. There is no air moving at all, and I can nearly capture the fog in my hand because it is so thick and heavy. It is the kind of morning where I just want to sit and listen. Listen for the first birds to stir. Listen as my neighbors begin to awaken. Listen, as I hope to clearly hear God speaking.
This morning I feeling many things, but most of all, I sense the wilderness. Not all wilderness experiences happen silently in the desert. Sometimes the wilderness happens in places where you least expect the experience. Sitting at a stop light in an intersection where there are no cars, but yet, the timing of the light requires you to wait. You look at the light, watch, and your mind begins to drift. So often in seminary the wilderness appeared after eating lunch, and my Old Testament class was held in a warm classroom afterwards, where the two hour lecture seemed to be more of a lullaby. At times I would excuse myself to walk down the hallway so that I wouldn't embarrass myself, or disappoint the professor by falling asleep in the middle of a thought-out lesson plan, the whole time, talking to myself and reminding myself of the importance of staying alert. While John was a voice in the wilderness, announcing the impending arrival of the Kingdom of God, today the wilderness if filled with so many voices. Voices that can monumentally move us forward when we have lost our way, and then those who can cause us to sink deeper into doubt and the unknown. The day that Jesus was baptized in the wilderness by John, the voice of God descended, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). For Jesus, this voice in the wilderness identified Jesus as the beloved. For most of us, we struggle to hear our own voice, nevertheless a voice that confirms who we are, but that is most generally because we are too busy listening to the voices around us, rather than the voice that comes from deeply within. So many of our wilderness experiences occur because we are too busy trying to discern which voice we are to listen to. Jesus, at the end of his life, he said to his disciples, “Listen: the time will come— indeed has come already—when you are going to be scattered, each going his own way and leaving me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me” (John 16:32). Suddenly I realize that voice that spoke to Jesus in the wilderness while he was being baptized are the words already spoken to us, as brothers and sisters. This morning I am reminded in the fog that we all are invited to receive these words fully. In some miraculous melody in the silence, I find that I am set free from the wilderness. Our compulsion to provide some kind of reason for our existence to the world, is met with the realization that I can live in the world without surrendering to belonging to it! The voices in our wilderness experiences cannot match the voice of the One who has already spoken. Once we realize that we are God's "beloved," child, unconditionally loved, then we can go out into the world and fully be who God has created us to be. For each of us, these are the words that we must remind ourselves has been spoken when we find that we are wandering once again. Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2020 Amen. Come Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen. ~ Revelation 22:20b - 21 On this day where we suddenly notice the passing of time as we prepare to write the year 2020. It's normal for us to ask the question, "How much can I still do in the years that are left to me?"
This morning the question has been refocused and now I am asking, "How can I prepare myself for total surrender so my life can be fruitful?" Each day that we are provided holds an unexpected blessing. What I have discovered is that we must be open to that blessing. Only if we expect it, can we see, hear, or feel it when it comes to us. Let's not be afraid to receive each day's blessing. What we must be willing to realize is that blessings can present themselves as joys, as well as sorrows. The life we live possesses both valleys and mountaintops. All these experiences open places in our heart so that we may live our life with compassionate expressions, unconditional moments to experience life, and challenging opportunities to express forgiveness and reconciliation. This blessing offers us the ability to share in God's creation and promote humanity that is full of grace, peace, understanding, charity, and love. These only begin to describe what God has in store for each of us each day. May you seek out and receive the most amazing of blessings that are waiting for you. A New Year's Reflection I watched as the old hands of time made their way to midnight, and like two hands folded in prayer lifted high, I said good-bye to one year and welcomed the next. I can't say that I felt any remorse as Auld Lang Syne flowed from the Times Square television broadcast. Somehow above the sounds of rockets exploding, people cheering and laughing, a somber reminder that peace on earth still has a long way to go. I couldn't help but remember the challenges the prior year had brought, as well as the hopes and dreams crushed, but somewhere, under memories now covered by last season's leaves, I noticed the emergence of a single leaf. The reminder that time marches on. I suppose I'm still a romantic, filled with hope like those who wish upon stars and cross their hearts. Until the new year proves itself, I might actually hold my breath and pray I don't find myself gasping following some act. Like so many others on this journey, I will raise to heaven, with both heart and lips, one more request. "May God bless all humanity, and may peace prevail on earth." For on this day I am but one among nations and city blocks, to proclaim, "May I be healthy and strong. Be surrounded by those I love. May strangers find hospitality, and may I be given the mind to discern Godly answers, when given the choice to answer or be silent." "Teach me to be transparent, even when it seems overwhelmingly vulnerable." "God of this new year, please, may YOU be, present to us always, even when we close our eyes, both when happy and in fear." And with that, I watched as the hands of time, slowly slipped away from one another. In my heart it was clear, I am the one who must now be the vessel that will initiate all these things. Stay in God's grip and Happy New Year... G. Todd Williams, (c) 2020 |
AuthorRev. G. Todd Williams is the author of the book, "Remember Me When..." and is a former hospice chaplain and pastor. Archives
February 2024
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