 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.” ~ Jeremiah 48:12 All across the world there seems to be a frenzy of parades and celebrations. It is one last "Hurrah!" before tomorrow's gathering and the dispensing of ashes, reminding us that "from dust you were created, and to dust you shall return." I guess over the years the pancake suppers, King Cakes, and traditional beads have become distractions for what is really happening. Don't get me wrong! I love a good party and celebration! And I have been known to toss some mean pancakes on the grill, but in the back of my mind, especially since my ordination, I also know that those celebrations will soon be silent. Have you noticed that within our Christian faith there never seems to be an easy transition from one season to the next. Within the lectionary, I find it ironic that the church calls the majority of the year "ordinary time." Frankly, nothing I have witnessed in the church is ever quite "ordinary." Even while things may seem "ordinary" there is always another season preparing to make an impact. The season of Advent prepares us for the Christ child, while the season of Lent reminds us that unto us a child who was born, was now making his way to the cross to die. And then there is Easter when we can't wait to resurrect the Savior and work our way to Pentecost, where once again we find ourselves with the rush of wind, and fire glowing. While we join in one last day of celebrations, already I am starting to see posts by friends of what they are "giving up" for Lent, and I can assure you that somewhere in the world, someone is burning palms from last year's Palm Sunday, applying sacred oils, and thinking about the words that will be repeated time and time again as the ash from those palms will be applied to the foreheads of the faithful. For me, Lent is the period in which I empty myself. It is a time when I try to focus not on my own will, but God's will, being done, while attempting to release the things that seem to prevent me from a closer relationship with God. Lent for most of us requires a willingness not to be in control; a willingness to let something new and unexpected happen. It requires trust, surrender, and openness to guidance. It is in that willingness that God is able to dwell more freely. As long as we fill our lives with so many "other" things, the ability for God to not just dwell, but to LIVE within each of us, becomes very difficult. Today while we revel in one more party, eat one more pancake, or throw one more strand of beads at a parade, may we also prepare ourselves for tomorrow, when we receive ashes, and are reminded of our own mortality and the need to be more open to the indwelling presence of the living God. Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2017 Lord, prepare us for Lent...
The Immortal Creator (Based on Psalm 90) Lord, we know our history and look forward in time, but You remain our constant. Before the labor pangs of the mountains, before the first cosmic particle even back before the beginning, You were God. From the very dust of the earth You cry, “Go back oh mortals.” In Your eyes a thousand years are like yesterday, or like an hour’s sleep in the night. You remove people, just as the plains’ tornado wipes a home from its foundation. We are as winter grass in the Guadeloupe Valley – In the winter it bursts with green life, Yet by summer it is quickened and burnt in the scorching heat. So it is with our life, consumed by Your discipline, and by Your insight we are removed. Our inequities are evident to You, our guilt disclosed to You in a solitary glance. Each day surrenders each second to Your might. Our life ends as sudden as a short story. Our life span may measure seventy-five years – If we persevere, perhaps, ninety. If our life is full of struggles and sadness; Soon it is over and our soul takes wing. But, do we take a moment to think of Your love? Where else may we find respect even remotely close to your amazing power? Treasure each day is a lesson You try to teach each of us, stretching forth before us Your words of wisdom. By our side, stand Lord, through the long hours of each day; Show us your mercy. Fill us with your gift of love, so that we may know joy, laughing and singing like children. Give to us Your grace, so that we may find ways to dilute the pains of life with happiness. Help us to see You more clearly, working and ever re-creating within us, so that others may recognize Your glory. We want so much for God’s beauty to be upon us, until our hands find their way to Yours, and we share in Your eternal purpose.  While I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight... He instructed me and said to me, "Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore consider the message and understand the vision." ~ Daniel 9: 21-23
Lions and tigers and bears, Oh my! Okay, wrong story. Daniel's story is often our story. Perhaps without the drama of the dark den filled with lions, but we sometimes find that our life is filled with darkness, and let's face it, anyone who has taken one step out of their home, well, let's just say, there are some big ole lions out there! With such characters like Daniel, comes new understandings of how God works. While we know that Daniel faces lions who suddenly weren't hungry. A man Jonah get's swallowed by a fish and is not digested. Three men are tossed into a fiery furnace and walk away without as much as a tan. All of these situations are not just hard to wrap our minds around, but the fact that they survived leaves us asking ourselves, "What just happened?" I am reminded that God does not protect them from the situation happening. God doesn't sweep in and destroy everyone who seems to have a problem with these Biblical greats. Instead, they become Biblical greats because God protects them in the situation. So it is with us. As the angel Gabriel shares with Daniel, "An answer has already been given before you even begin to pray." For each of us, God has provided us with the answer to a situation long before it happens. It's just that we often will end up in a situation that finally gets our attention to realize what the answer is. I lovingly refer to these as life's "speed bumps." Events that happen in our lives that cause us to slow down, or to stop what we are doing so that we may take time to listen. While many of us have begun the new week, trying to be part of the "rat race," what have asked God to help you with, and in doing so, did you wait, or even hear the answer? So often when we do ask God about a situation, we are so quick on the "Amen" that we miss the answer. Praying that we all may learn to listen when we ask God for advice. Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2017  Transfiguration Sunday, February 26, 2017 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid." And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead." ~ Matthew 17:1-9 What is it about keeping up appearances? All throughout our lives we have moments when we don't look, or act, or seem like ourselves.
For Christ, he has just told the disciples, those that have seen him at his best and worst at this point, that he is going to die. And now everyone seems to be looking at him in a different way. I can remember the first time that I told someone that I had cancer. I'm not sure exactly what went through the person's mind, but I remember the look, and then I remember how I felt. It was as if I had just walked onto the pity bus route, and this was my first stop. I felt "different." Obviously I must have "looked" different. I was now seen as someone with something uniquely strange going on within and somehow, I was no longer the person I once was. The transfiguration of Christ is one that we find in three accounts within the Gospels. For that many writers to include the event in their own book, "something" definitely happened. Christ takes Peter, John and James and decides to go pray on the mountain. That seems pretty ordinary for this group. It must have been, because we don't hear of other disciples asking if they can come along, and no one seems to be worried about where or what they are doing. At least nothing is recorded. The mountaintop experience this time, however, is climatic because as they pray, Christ seems to take on a new look, begins to shine brightly, and is joined by two of the greats within Biblical history. I'm unsure when I first noticed the first "change" in me when I began treatment. I don't know if it was how pale I became because I was no longer able to really be in the sun, or how my face began to draw in, as I continued to experience weight loss. I don't really remember, but it was several events that pointed to several differences occurring all at once in my life. Christ's change was nearly instantaneous. Although it doesn't say exactly how long the event lasted, it was as if this event not only changed Christ, but prepared those present to identify Christ in a new way. This friend, and Rabbi, or teacher, leader of this group of men, was suddenly different in some way. He shared in a moment with Moses and Elijah, two greats that every Hebrew man learned about beginning at an early age. And they saw them all! It is not recorded what the conversation was like between these greats, however, from the clouds above a voice is overheard and a proclamation of "This is my son whom I am proud of" is linked to the occasion. Things were suddenly different. For Peter, James and John, their lives would be different because they were the front row audience to this mountaintop experience. However, they are asked not to share of the experience until after Christ had died. What? For any of us, our mountaintop experiences, no matter how public or private, are experiences that change us. Do you honestly believe that these people looked and acted the same after this encounter? Would the other disciples who have spent hours walking dusty roads together and sleeping next to one another next to fires that provided warmth, didn't have a clue that "something" had happened? Do you really believe that our family doesn't recognize when we have had an event in our life that has effected us, emotionally, spiritually, or physically? The transfiguration of Christ effected everyone! It was as if the birth of the baby was marked by a star that now as the man, seemed to radiate from within for others to see! Remember generations earlier when Moses returned from spending time with God on the mountain. The people had to cover his face because it effected others who looked upon Moses! Our encounter with God changes us! "Don't tell anyone about this..." Right! Sometimes I think that this is part of the problem with these encounters. I understand that there always seems to be a reason why these events seem to be masked by the caution not to share. For us today, it makes us wonder "why" as the generations who know the "rest of the story." But for those who have these experiences today, where the living God meets and changes lives, the need for sharing needs to be the stories that we share with one another. These are not shameful! These are moments when God is being realized in the world! In a world where hope seems to be overwhelmed by hopelessness. The encounters can get a person labeled as "radical" and cause a person to refrain from sharing. I'm grateful for life narratives like that of Martin Luther King, Jr. who proclaimed that he had "been to the mountaintop!" Our ability to behold a living God is not just a promise, it is a reality for any of us! Being bold in our encounter, and bolder in our sharing! This is what makes us all different, and the world a different place. Praying that today and always we encounter a living God who changes us, while remaining in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2017  And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows;he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” ~ Mark 4:26 - 29
Occasionally along the Gulf we can see the bottom. Because so much of the water is still considered part of the Mississippi Delta run off, our water will often be cloudy, or somewhat brown in color. So when the tide rolls out, and exposes the beach, there will be miles of shoreline that one can finally see. With the water drawn back,one can finally see clearly what the waves often hide. We are so like this shoreline. We develop layers, like the waves upon the sand, that prevent others from seeing us clearly. Only when we reveal, or become vulnerable, can others truly see what is happening in our life. The ability to become vulnerable can be frightening for some. For others it can be time-consuming finding ways to avoid being transparent to others. While there are those who are comfortable in their own shoes, and don't mind sharing openly. The Gospel writer, Mark, attempts to share that our maturation is a normal process. Like the grass in the field, we grow as blades of grass, maturing, and then at some point we reach full maturity and are harvested. I love to watch a field of wheat in the summer sun as the wind creates waves like that of the Gulf. The current is reflected over the countryside, as golden shafts move in cadence with God as the orchestrator. Then the field is left in stubble once the harvest is complete, exposing what is below. So it is with us. We react and move to God's unceasing call to each of us. Our ability to react often is tempered by our own ability to shift and change. While some have built up thick outer layers, making it difficult to adapt and move, there are those who find comfort in being surrounded by community, so that when the storm comes, all are sustained by holding one another upright. Fields and beaches are funny like that, and so are human beings, but all are God's creation. And for that, I am grateful. Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2017  "O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord." ~ Psalm 139: 1-4
We all have secrets. There are a number of television shows out there that expose secrets. Marvel Comics is full of secret identities. The term "skeletons in the closet" refers to secrets that one might have in a person's past. Secrets are real: thoughts, memories, feelings that we keep to ourselves. Often we think, "If people knew what I feel or think, they would not love me." These carefully kept secrets can do us much harm. They can make us feel guilty or ashamed and may lead us to self-rejection, depression, and in extreme instances, even suicidal thoughts and actions. One of the most important things we can do with our secrets is to share them in a safe place, with people we trust. When we have a good way to bring our secrets into the light and can look at them with others, we will quickly discover that we are not alone with our secrets and that our trusting friends will love us more deeply and more intimately than before. Bringing our secrets into the light creates community and inner healing. As a result of sharing secrets, not only will others love us better but we will love ourselves more fully. Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2017  Moses said to the Lord, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." The Lord said to him, "Who gave man his mouth?... Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it." ~ Exodus 4: 10-13
We plant flowers so that they may provide beauty. And like the flower, others see us in good times and in bad times. As I have often shared with others, "What you see is what you get." It is too hard for me personally to not be who I am, always. Jesus says, "No one lights a lamp to put it under a basket; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house" ~ (Matthew 5:14-15). There is even a children's song that shares for us to let our light shine. We would like to think that our private and public life were two different things, but if we are seeking ways to live a more spiritual life, then these two must somehow become one. Anyone trying to live a spiritual life will soon discover that the most personal is the most universal, the most hidden is the most public, and the most solitary is the most communal. Can you imagine the world that we live if our vulnerabilties were present and known? That our inner most places of our own being was not masked, but transparent for all to witness? How different would the world be if our inner most motives were out in the open and all could see? I had someone tell me recently, "If you knew what I was thinking you would think I was crazy." I have yet to truly hear someone share from the heart and not be moved in some way. That is why our inner lives are lives for others. That is why our solitude is a gift to our community, and that is why our most secret thoughts affect our common life. The most inner light is a light for the world. Let's not have "double lives"; let us allow what we live in private to be known in public. Your light must be given a place to shine, so that the world might become a brighter place. Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2017  A few years ago on Ash Wednesday, while serving the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Texas City, Texas, I created a labrynth that parishioners would enter once they received their ashes. It represented the beginning of their Lenten journey. I'm writing a sermon for this coming Sunday, as I will be sharing in worship with a dear friend and colleague. Although it is Transfiguration Sunday, remembering the experience upon the mountain that caused the Disciples to fall to their knees, and then being told, "By the way, you can't say anything about what you have seen here today until the Son of Man is raised from the dead."
Where is the "happily ever after?" It seems that Christ's whole life is leading to the importance of his death and the resurrection. Although I attempt to embrace the idea of eternity and the here after, I wish that I could understand it all better. "Happily ever after" for Christ was no fairy tale. God is just simply amazing. If you've been my friend for any period of time, you know the struggles I have experienced. The times I have shared joys, but of times where my heart has been hurt, because I have felt somehow shorted, or that I just felt like I should have been treated differently. I think that we all experience moments where we look around and wonder why God blessed someone else. Why did God bless them and not me? The longer I live (which is part of my happily ever after) I am learning that God leads and we must remain faithful while following. Easier written than done. I remember back nearly 30 years now, when a Roman Catholic Priest shared with me that if I was going down a one way street the wrong way. God would literally turn the world around under my feet in order to plant my steps in the right direction. I know that some of you are walking among dark shadows. I understand that life is simply not fair at times. However, happily ever after is a fact, not a writer's dim wit ending because the writer ran out of story lines, unless you're the character in a Shonda Rhimes television show, then that's the risk you face! It's the realization that each of us are living it now, and if not, the question is, "why not?" The sweet by and by is here. The Kingdom of God is here. The Christ who is the Messiah is here. And if there's any question of that, then poor life choices, or the presence of doubt, or the question and images of what we are fed by others has simply made it impossible to move forward and find that your path, or journey, is what God desires for you. I understand that pain, sacrifice, and sometimes, suffering can consume any thought of happiness. I understand that loneliness can drive you to consider choices in your life that are unwise to help mask those times. I understand that life at times is completely and radically unfair. I understand that anger, and bullying can dismantle every hope and dream, and finally, I understand what it feels like when a door shuts in your face. Let me just share this, I believe in happy endings, and whatever villain, choice, life-condition, or simply what belief system you live, somebody is believing that God has a happy ending for you. Enough preaching. Just know you are loved, and that I hope you are living the happily ever after and thanking God. Stay in God's grip!  The day I took this photo I nearly had to jump in after my shoe! One thing I try to do with my photos is to take a look at the world from a different level. Often getting down to eye-level of a two-year-old gives the viewer a whole different perspective. On this day I decided to set my shoes on the edge of the jetty and imagine the scene if Jesus had said, "Follow me." "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ~ Matthew 14:29
Peter stepping out of the boat to walk on water is recorded in three of the Gospels. In exegetical terms, that's a very real account of something happening. When there has been an accident, the investigating officer will gather all the witnesses to get a better understanding of what happened by gathering each eye-witness account. It helps to build the case through each person's sharing. This story being shared in three Gospels confirms that something did happen. I have to admit, I wouldn't mind watching someone walk on water, I'm unsure if I would want to be that person. It's not that I don't have faith, what I know I do possess is doubt and fear. (I am actually afraid to dive into water that I can't see the bottom!) I don't believe that God would allow me to drown. And for the sake of the Gospel, I believe God would reach out and pull me from the dark seas, just as Jesus did with Peter. It's the whole idea of the process. Each day we are challenged to step out of our comfort zones. Each day we are given the opportunity to experience the voice of God, calling us to "Come." God's call to us is not always to step out onto the water. It may be to stop and assist a stranger. Perhaps to strike up a conversation with someone you sit near on the bus. Or to sign up to assist your community. There are many ways we can step outside the boat. Finding courage is half the struggle. What was it within Peter that made him take that first step? Keeping focused when we have been called can be challenging enough. Accepting that call can make a difference, not just in your life, but the lives of others as well. Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2017  "Be still and know that I am God!" ~ Psalm 46:10
The Scriptures provide us with all kinds of examples of how God is present in the word. Often I have wondered what it must have been like to have been in the synagogue the day the boy, Jesus, walked in and began to tell the story that he had helped inspire. There he read from Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, for he has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives, sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim a year of favor from the Lord. (Luke 4:18-19) After he read from scripture, he then looked around and said, "This text is being fulfilled today even while you are listening." Imagine the look that people had on their faces! It becomes clear that the afflicted, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed are not people somewhere outside of the synagogue who, someday, will be liberated; they are the people who are listening. It's like John walking in again and proclaiming "The Kingdom of God is at hand" and it is here! In the hearing of Jesus speaking the word, God becomes present and heals! The Word of God is not a word to apply in our daily lives at some later date; it is a word to heal us through, and in, our listening here and now. The sacrament of the word becomes real and powerful. Utilizing the strength of scripture takes the word of God to a whole different level. We are reminded to hide the words within our hearts. In doing so, the word continues to become flesh and lives and breathes new life each day through each of us! May the words of our mouth and the meditations of our heart be living and real in the world today and always. Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2017  "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." ~ Matthew 13:44
To be able to enjoy fully the many good things the world has to offer, we must be detached from them. To be detached does not mean to be indifferent or uninterested. It means to be nonpossessive. Life is a gift to be grateful for and not a property to cling to. To declare freedom means that we have been a possessed by something or someone. It's funny how we long for freedom, but in order to discover real freedom, we must search for a deeper meaning, and one that involves belonging. We belong to God, and the God to whom we belong has sent us into the world to proclaim in his Name that all of creation is created in and by love and calls us to gratitude and joy. That is what freedom appears to look like when we have finally managed to "detach" ourselves. What is it in your life that prevents you from living the life that God has promised each of us? May you find freedom in the love of Christ that is free of all things... and is yours! Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2017  [The one] who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust." ~ Psalm 91:1-2
In a world that is always changing, where is it that we find security? When we start thinking about that question, we may give many answers: success, money, friends, property, popularity, family, connections, insurance, and so on. We may not always think that any of these forms the basis of our security, but our actions or feelings may tell us otherwise. When we start losing our money, our friends, or our popularity, our anxiety often reveals how deeply our sense of security is rooted in these things. The temporary world is connected to all of these things, but the spiritual life that lends itself to the Kingdom of God is not. It is fulfilled with the love that God has for each of us. Security in God's love is the one thing we can always rely on. "You cannot be the slave both of God and of money" (Luke 16:13)  The road leading back through "Rattlesnake Holler" where I traveled to seek out my inner child, only to discover an aging man... "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an [adult], I put childish ways behind me." ~ I Corinthians 13:11
Just the other day someone was sharing a memory with me, and for the life of me, I could not remember the event. "Are you sure you don't remember this?" the person asked. "Honestly," I responded, "I can't remember this." Our memories are something that hold many things. Meals around the table at Christmas or Thanksgiving often hold a special place. Special events, children being born, and moments where your heart skips a beat, are memories that we seem to treasure, and like a treasure, we tuck them away in a special place. We remember moments that fill us with joy and gratitude or with sadness and anger. Some memories remind us of the peace that existed in our homes or the conflicts that never seemed to get resolved. These moments stand out as vivid reminders of the quality of our lives together. I remember my first trip back to Indiana after having been ill. I told folks that I had hoped to journey back and rediscover the inner child that walked the hills and hollers and still knew how to dream. When I returned back, friends asked if I had found that child. My response, "No, I didn't. Instead I found an aging man who struggled to climb those hills, and found the hollers to be a place that could really confine someone." The perspective had changed. The child had grown up, but there were still memories that would remain. Growing older, and keeping our memories alive, is something that we all experience. While we are reminded that God remains the same, we on the other hand, do not. As we continue our own life journey, our turning inward and reflections take on a deeper meaning, filled with maturation and memories. Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2017  "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." ~ Colossians 4:6
As I read this scripture this morning I chuckled out loud thinking, "Now this is a value from the Bible I wish our politicians would practice." My politics are often polarized with my family, and so I keep my opinions to myself so that we experience a level of harmony we all enjoy. Often in America, at some point a politician will proclaim, "Let's restore the family values of the Bible." It truly makes me laugh and wonder whether they have truly read it from cover to cover, and what some of their comments would truly be of they actually had. Although God's table can be a place for intimacy and conversation, it can also be a place where we experience many other things besides love. Years ago in his book, "Can You Drink the Cup?" Henri Nouwen discusses how when we decide to pick up the cup of Christ we not only drink in love, but great suffering as well. It is as if every emotion and all of the experiences are sipped in and we experience them. Our experience is then joined with the gospel and what we then experience is without words. Grace is not only a noun but then becomes a verb that must be experienced. There are many things that can leave a bad taste in our mouths, starting with the remnants of the original taste of the forbidden fruit of the Garden, but for humanity the experience has left us changed forever. Practicing grace and listening to one another with love is something God does each day, and is what we should try to live as well. Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2017   "Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again." ~ Ecclesiastes 11: 1
When does one finally succumb to the challenges and give up? Even the home team of the football game begins to acknowledge loss when three touchdowns behind. The thought turns from, "We still have a chance," to, "If I leave now we will beat the traffic." In today's society the idea of loss or failure, can have a lasting impact on a person's well-being and can ultimately paralyze the ability to succeed. It's not something that is planned for. No one sets out to fail, but failure is a part of life. One of the most difficult things to deal with is when there is deliberate acts by others who ultimately want to see you fail. Unfortunately that can and does happen. Even while serving congregations, I have witnessed what I call, "parking lot conversations" that have brought harm to not only the church, but others. While Christ struggled to help usher in the Kingdom of God, one of his own disciples sold him out, and yet, he looked into the man's eyes and said, "Go and do what you must." Ultimately the death of Christ made it possible for the empty tomb, but for many, the thought of death was seen as the end. The good news is that there is always eternity. The Kingdom of God doesn't spend eternity concerned with our failures, whether self-created, or due to the choices of others. We were created by God to do God's will. Even when the words, "It is finished" filled the air above the crowd, God still had a plan. Stay in God's grip! God of My Wandering... God of discovery and re-creation, help me to know that there will indeed be times of wandering, but in my wandering lead me to green meadows; I understand that there are times of darkness but while in that darkness, I know that there will also be the dawn; that in my heart which seeks You through my whole being will begin to flow a river washing over the valleys of my soul; and that I will journey wet from the experience when again I find that I am wandering. G. Todd Williams (c) 2017  "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." ~ Hebrews 13: 5
In today's world we all know a little something about being, or feeling, abandoned. It seems that it has become part of the human condition. We begin conversations via a text, and then find it excusable when the other party stops responding without even so much as a, "talk to you later," or, "I have to go now." It's acceptable behavior, and it has become the expected end to a conversation between two people. What is it about our inability to complete a conversation? Even in the time of Jesus there were times when he felt abandoned. Not just because there seemed to be issues communicating with the disciples, but even in their actions. He asks the disciples to remain alert in the garden while he goes off to pray, only to return and find them sleeping. The disciples get tossed about by the storm and feel abandoned when Jesus doesn't awake until they find they are fearful of drowning. Time and time again the disciples and Jesus tend to have their moments! The real question is how do we overcome such feelings? Understanding the feeling of abandonment and how we react to the feeling can have lasting effects. Realizing that with God, the presence is real and always, will help to bring peace to us when we feel like we have been left out. Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2017 |
AuthorRev. G. Todd Williams is the author of the book, "Remember Me When..." and is a former hospice chaplain and pastor. Archives
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