The alarm went off this morning and immediately I thought, "Today is the last day of the year."  It's not uncommon for us to dwell on the past, while wondering about the future on a day like today.  My feet touched the floor, and I was thankful that at the end of the year I am still able to rise, and begin my day.  The dogs began their morning ritual, although slower today because it is cold outside, but yet, they know that as soon as their morning outing is done, they will be rewarded with a treat before they head back to bed, as I prepare to head out the door.

Today I am realizing that New Year's is about taking the time to imagine what you could be, do, or create in the next year.  It's amazing how the tearing off of one calendar month, and looking to the next, has so much power in our life.  It makes the previous eleven look less important, however, every day should be met with as much expectation as the one we have been provided today.

This morning should actually be a lesson about living each day.  Not just imagining a different life, but a different world, where all the people are focused on peace and mending fences.

A world where there is no poverty, and where crimes and wars are only found in literature.

Just imagine a world where there is no longer fear, doubt, or pain.  No longer terrible divisions, revenge-seekers, hostility, bitterness, or rage.

Just imagine a world where every person, created in the image of God, realizes the image, is moved to act as vessels of the living Christ, and takes the time to allow God's Spirit to be known among us all.

It is what we should imagine for us each and every day.

Happy New Year, and Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

This morning a friend shared that she was going to be moving five hours away to, "start over," after suffering a significant loss over the past year.  While I haven't been as close to her in the recent past as I once was, it is still about change.  As I affirmed her decision to move, I was reminded of the words from Jeremiah, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

With the new year starting this week, I know that there are many of us who will be reflecting and evaluating our lives, coming up with the notorious "New Year's Resolutions."  

I am reminded years ago that one of my children instead inserted the word, "New Year's Restitution," and it has stuck ever since.  

For most of us, change is something that we encounter, sometimes with grace.  Other times with, "Wait a minute!"   While we dwell on the fateful list that others are expecting from us as we gather to celebrate the end of a decade, I am reminded that any list that we embark upon must begin with asking for God's guidance, and for the way to be filled with many moments of grace.

Every new resolution needs to include the "should have," clause.  That we don't find in three months saying, "I should have done this instead."

If there is one thing that I hope that we all will remember it is this, "The will of God will never lead to where God's grace will not sustain us."  

Be kind to yourself as you think about what you would like to change in your life.  Is it a reasonable goal, and will it help your own personal growth?

In all of these things, may each of us remain in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

One thing that is for sure, relationships whether good or bad take work.

The prayer that I lifted on Christmas Eve to seek peace, and for the experience of real peace in the world, is hard work. Individually, it is much harder than I could ever imagine it to be.

There always seems to be SOMETHING that challenges that prayer. The news updates on my phone, standing in line at the store and listening to someone describe what happened with a relationship, getting stuck in traffic.  The list goes on and on!  

There is not a moment in our lives without the need for actions of peace. When we dare to look at the myriad of hostile feelings and thoughts in our hearts and minds, we will immediately recognize the many little and big wars in which we take part.

The participants in this unrest can take the shape of all kinds of people.

The reality is that there is no "them." There is truly only all of "us."  The desire to love one another touches the most hidden parts of our souls. God gave us the need to love one another and to seek peace. It is truly something we all continue to seek.

Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

Have you ever had something that you just avoided doing because you didn't want to do it, but knew that it had to be done?  We've all been there.  As a kid, "take out the trash," turns into the adult, "you need to pay for trash pick up!"

I have realized that for some, having a relationship with God has turned into something that is like a "have to," rather than, "want to."  

Faithfulness is the most important "have to," that we can encounter in our life.  Taking the steps to faithfulness in our thinking, speaking and acting can make the long trip with little steps.  With God, God's voice seems to get louder and we end up where we belong.

Now don't get me wrong, it's not always easy.  

Somehow we need to discover and trust that all the steps we need to take are close at hand.  Again I am reminded that the steps that God directs will never lead us to a place where God will not sustain us!

Taking the first step to listen, and the second step away from "self," we then slowly move away from a faithfulness that seems to be more "have to" to "want to."

This morning I am reminded that each step should be one of love to the One who is Love.  When we examine the road before us, it is always easier to head towards something that we love.  

I am reminded how much I loved walking into my great-grandmother's back porch, being embraced by her arms, smelling what she had cooking, and being told, "How wonderful it is to see you!"  Those moments made me quickly forget the hours that it took for me to drive to her home.

Living in the love of God is always worth all the "have to's" and "want to's" when it comes to the moment our faith is realized.

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

Helen Keller wrote, "When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”

At the end of the year, it is easy to once again find yourself reflecting upon disappointments, or considered failures from the past twelve months. This is often what prompts New Year's resolutions. To try to change something, or make something new, because you feel that if you make this change, somehow, your life will change and things will become better.

Striking out, to try to make things better, or perhaps, to change a current trend in your life, is often difficult. Not just because it may be something completely foreign to you, but because the powers which bring about doubt or worry can be overwhelmingly strong. Often in these times the presence of God seems to be barely noticeable.

Like many people, I will often make resolutions that at the end of the next year are merely a memory.   Making the changes that we need in our life are not always easy.  One thing that I try to think about is how God will be present in that change.  That God will never lead me where I cannot find the means, the gifts, or be surrounded by people who are willing to share in the change so that when I do begin to fall away, or lose sight of who I am, or what God would require of me, only then can I truly move beyond.  As Gandhi would reflect, "Be the change that you wish to see."

If we are faithful to what God is calling us to do, a new hunger will make itself known. This new hunger is the first sign of God's presence. When we remain attentive to this divine presence, we will discover that all things are being made new, and that will make a difference.

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

This morning I awoke early, thinking about the candlelight service we had at church last night, and those who came to worship.  There is something about the moment that all the lights are turned off and all that remains is the light from the candles, being held by those present, their faces reflecting the light, and knowing that just for a moment the world seems to be far away.

Among those who came last night was a woman I had never met before.  She was escorted into the building with the help of those who brought her.  It was obvious that she was blind as she was directed to "take two more steps and then you will be at the front door.  There is a small threshold, but you are here."

I found myself thinking of what the church would look like as people held their candles.  I thought of the first time I witnessed Christmas Eve as a new pastor, suddenly realizing that I had the "best seat in the house."  But on this night, I began to think of the one in the crowd that would be present, and how her view would be different.

During our time of communion, just prior to the lighting of the candles, all those present came forward to receive the Eucharist.  It's our tradition that once everyone who has been served has come forward, we then go to those who could not come forward.  This person was among those present who would need to be served where she sat.  As her friend helped to take the bread, representing the body of the broken Christ, and dipping it into the cup, the reminder of the blood that Christ would shed for us, she then took it into her hands and received communion.

As I watched I was suddenly taken to another place.  An intimate Christmas encounter.  I was standing before Jesus, the infant child, who came into the world for small, intimate moments like these.  I was overwhelmed.  For just a moment I could not move, as I watched, realizing that everyone surrounding this moment would probably not realize the infant Jesus among us in the way that I was now encountering him.

I have often wondered just how many people of Bethlehem knew of the child that was born among them?  How they went about their daily lives, while God's son was taking his first breath, experiencing God's creation completely, feeling hunger for the first time, being held by the hands that God had fashioned from clay, a soft kiss on the cheek and to hear the words, "It will be okay.  I love you."  To be wrapped tightly in a blanket, then being laid down with his mother  next to him, while Joseph kept watch.

This morning I am reminded that Jesus continues to find ways to reach into the places where we do not expect him.  Even for one who was blind, Jesus made his way into her hands, where she could then take, taste, and take in his presence.  

I was reminded of the words, "I was blind, but now I see," and it has became the hymn of my heart this Christmas.

While we look for Christ in the candle, in the light of the Christmas tree, and even perhaps, in the songs that we sing... Jesus dwells within and he is simply waiting to be known.

Merry Christmas and Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

Years ago I wrote a Christmas song while I was still in college.  I have struggled to remember all the words, as the text has long since gone missing and time has taken over my memory.  I do remember the chorus went something like this, "It's another Christmas, but this one is all new.  We are all together, a family of love, that's true.  A stocking filled with best wishes, is what I give to you.  The hopes of this Christmas, will come shining through."

I know that with most things written, they sometimes get lost, or changed.  Sometimes adapted, or simply  their meaning seems to have lost something with the next generation.  

When I read of the birth of Jesus, I can still hear the voices of some of the very first people who read to me the scriptures.  Over time many of these voices have been silenced, as they are no longer with us, but in my mind, they are still present.

Like the melody of the chorus from the song I wrote years ago, the Christmas story lives like a song in my heart.  Angels announcing the birth, while shepherds tend their sheep.  A star rises high in the sky, and inn keepers have no room.  Stable walls echoe the cry of a woman giving birth, and unto the world, a child takes his first breath.  God becomes fully present among the creation as part of the creation.  Seeing the world as we do for the very first time.

As time has marched on, and I find myself now being the bearer of this story, I recognize that the voice that will retell of this birth is mine.  But not just mine, it will be told and heard by millions around the world.  A new generation will hear it for the first time, and an old one, for the last.  The reminder to us that a Savior is born, and he is Jesus Christ, the Lord!

May the story be made new in our minds, as our voices retell the events of this day.  When Jesus was born in the city of Bethlehem to a Hebrew woman named Mary, loved by Joseph, who came so that we all might know life more abundantly.  Let the story be told!  Let the world listen and rejoice!

Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

It's funny how words shared during a sermon can overwhelm me at times.  Yesterday was the fourth Sunday of Advent where we were reminded of how God loves each of us.  The reminder that, "God so loved us..." involves the life of a young Hebrew girl, the challenge of a relationship between she and the man she was to marry, and then the emergence of a vulnerable child in the makeshift delivery room of a stable.  The great lengths that God will go to ensure we know we are loved are beyond words.

I shared with the folks at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Galveston where I serve as their pastor, that I had a hospice patient recently, that when we met we both looked at one another he said, "I know you!"

As I looked at him, his gentle smile and facial expressions reminded me of someone as well.  "Yes, we do know one another, but how?"

For the next month when we would see one another we would always find ourselves laughing because we were drawn back to the task of trying to remember where we might have met.

On Friday I spent a few hours with his daughter as he lay dying.  I think I had hoped that somehow we would have been able to "figure out," this mystery.  She looked at me and smiled with his same smile, "I guess I'm no help at all."

During the night he completed his journey.  I called and shared with his daughter on Saturday, "I guess we will never know, now will we?"  I surrendered the thought, until I got a call just about an hour later.  It was his daughter, along with her sister.  "We figured it out!  You were the chaplain when our mom was sick years ago at the hospital where she was a patient."

Suddenly it all made sense.  Including the year that she was ill, and where I was serving at the time.  They had solved the mystery.

The face that I knew then brought me back to the man who I had prayed with as his wife was ill and his telling me that he, "didn't know," what he would do without her.

I realized I was part of their story.  God had brought us all together.  

Once again, another reminder to the extent that God will go to bring us together.  The love of God knows no boundary of time, circumstances, or challenges that we may face.  As we light candles in darkened sanctuaries on Christmas Eve, we suddenly come face to face with a small flicker of light, that when shared by many becomes a beacon, casting shadows on walls, and outlines of the very vessels that God now embodies as bearers of that love into the world.

Today I am reminded that "God so loved us," that we now are the vessels of that love into the world.

Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

Still one of my favorite photos of my two children when they were both home for Christmas a few years ago and we went out to the Texas City Dike.  The seagulls, soaring above, while the kids were just standing, together, looking out over the Galveston Bay.

I treasure this uncommon moment.  They have always been busy with activities, but for this one moment, they were standing still, together, and as a father, seeing them like this, I realized how much they actually cared for one another.  While I don't know what their conversation might have been at the time, I do recognize a moment of peace when I see it!

Christmas seems to be the season of "busyness."  Everyone hopes to find that "perfect," gift, arrive fashionably late or early for parties, while all along I am reminded that we are to, "Sing a new song unto the Lord!"

This captured moment of with my kids is a reminder to me that we are to remain present in the moment as we move through the season.  I would even go so far as to say that being in the moment through the season invites God to be present with us as well!

Just like this photo, each moment we encounter with God is to be lived fully with one another.

The Psalmist reminds us to keep our relationship strong with God by sharing our lives with God.

God knows us. How can we celebrate when we are sad? Or how can we be remorseful for something when we haven't forgiven someone?

God wants us to remain honest with God in our thoughts, words and deeds, including our praise!

Each day is a new day, full of opportunities for new experiences. May our song to the Lord be that of our heart each day. "Sing a new song unto the Lord!"

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

One of the things that I realize about the story of the nativity is that no one is outside looking in.   It's as if from the very beginning Jesus' whole life has been lived in vulnerability.  No where do we read about people standing outside the barn where he is born.  It is a mother, her child, the man who loves the mother, with a monumental assignment by God.  A star above, shining, with angelic proclamations, leading the way.  A light.  Signifying the life that is now present that will lead many out from the darkness.

The story begins with a small child in Bethlehem, who will become the unknown man of Nazareth, the rejected preacher, and finally the naked man on the cross.  Jesus is born into a world that continues to shout, scream and overwhelm us with its claims and promises.  The promise is not necessarily hidden.  Nor are those who arrive to see the child turned away.  It is always about seeing Jesus for who he is.

For us today, this story remains about hope.  John writes that in the beginning there was the word, and the word became flesh.  Jesus is that word, spoken into existence just as the light was called out of the darkness.

Jesus is the written word of divine hope.  Today Jesus is still the divine word of hope in the midst of our dark world.

Behold, a child is born!  His name is Jesus!  Come and behold him.

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

There is something very healing when spending time with someone who is dying and they are able to share that they are, "at peace."

Being able to tell someone that they don't "have to" have everything worked out by the time that they die also opens the door for forgiveness to enter.  What I have discovered along the way is that any one of us can be compassionate, as we point the way to the possibility of forgiveness, allowing the person to free themselves from the chains of their own restrictive shame, while restoring hope and receiving love.

Sometimes I meet people who have created a "Bucket List," of the things that they hope to complete before their life ends.  I will never forget meeting a person who literally had a list taped to his wall next to his bed.  As we began to talk he kept pointing to this list.  The list for him had become more than just a vision.  The list had also become a source of pain, as he looked at the things he "had not," completed versus what "he had" experienced.  Disappointment had overwhelmed the things he had managed to check off the list.  Unfortunately, this seems to be a common response among those who have created lists like these when they have learned that their life is limited in some way.  "I guess I never will," has in some way become the person's mantra.

Probably the greatest thing that any of us can accomplish in our life is knowing that we have unconditionally loved and been unconditionally loved in return.  Time and time again, among the people that I meet, those who have loved and known love seem to be more at peace about many things.  As well as, those who have been forgiven, and offered forgiveness.  

So often I have to remind people that the place where they are is solid.  That the things that we have so carefully "boxed away," for later cannot hurt us, because much of what is within that box we have already lived through it and it can no longer harm us.

The place I hope that we all can reach involves knowing the love that God has for us, even when we do not feel it.  For each of us, God's love is enough!  The place where each of us stand is holy, and we are the sacred place where God has chosen to dwell.  We are the reason that God so loved the world, that a child was born...

Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

Frost has visited us this morning, and some of our flowers seem to have folded themselves in to remain warm.  It's mornings like these that I am drawn to remember those that I used to care for who lived under bridges.  Cold concrete just seems to hold the memory of winter longer.  A couple of layers of cardboard, then a blanket, seem to help, but for those who are homeless, the thought of cold, dark nights, seem to overwhelm even those persons with the best resources.

Years ago I used to hand out bus tokens on Montrose in Houston to many of the homeless teens that we helped.  Back then a person could ride the Metro for up to eight hours, the length of a cold night.  I would encourage the person to get on the bus, obey the driver, and "don't bother anyone."  Not always advise taken, but for some, I knew it was the only shelter that they would have that would be both warm and safe.

During one Christmas, I was invited to visit a couple that lived up under a bridge near the bayou.  They had managed to create a shelter, made from some pieces of plywood from a work site, and tarps.  Just inside there was an old mattress, sitting on the angle of the concrete under the bridge.  A steel grate revealed the street above, and the sounds of trucks and cars would echo along the waterway as they passed above.

On a shelf, made of where the concrete met the beams of the bridge, a candle and three small figures stood.  As the light from the candle danced in the wind, shadows on the wall reflected the primitive scene.  A woman, man, and a baby laying on some grass.  No eyes, no ears, no mouths, just the shadows.  They were happy that I pointed out how the shadows brought them to life.

The light, shining in the darkness, in the small space, cast a greater vision.  Just as the smallness of Jesus, born in barn, brought forth the greatest light humanity has ever known.  

Within the lines on the wall, I could almost hear the words, "Behold, I bring you great tidings!"

Within the smallness, I experienced God's greatness.  While being moved by the simple scene, I found myself awed by the immense greatness of God's love appearing in my world.  Without the small flicker of the candle, shining in the darkness, there is little to be seen.

While the cars continued to rush above, the drivers completely unaware of what was below, like simple people who continue to walk in darkness, I realized how everything changes with the light.

The light that exists still today.  

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

This morning the wind is from the north, and the air is crisp.  Our neighbor's oak has all but held onto the last of it's leaves, but it's apparent that it will only take a few more gusts, and the tree will have lost the battle.  Winter is approaching.  It becomes darker sooner in the evening.  A new season and chapter is about to begin.

"I know the plans I have for you," from Jeremiah seems to be reminding me that with the new season, hope still remains.  If there was ever a scripture so filled with hope and love, it may very well be this one.

God knows each of us. When I consider all the things that happens in the world, God still has a plan for each of us.

While we seem to get caught up in the trappings of the world, and perhaps the loss of one season as another emerges, God still has a plan full of hope and peace.

Even when there doesn't seem to be an answer for the "why's," God still has a future.  

Yesterday I spent time with a woman who shared that the "only thing," she seems to be able to do is get out of bed long enough to change her clothes.  As we shared, I reminded her that even in what used to be a small task, great things are happening now.  She is still moving forward.

While I am not a huge believer that everything that happens to us is part of God's plan, simply because I am surrounded by people, including myself, who make choices that effect me each day, I do however, believe that within each moment there is the choice for us to believe in God for the plans we may have.

For this, I am always grateful.  May this knowledge bring comfort to each of us.

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2019