A Living Hope

I have not written for a couple of days.  First, I had my birthday Sunday and it was a great one - isn't that a surprise?  My daughter Marnie came over in the morning with Donuts, Audrey later with groceries and wine, friends dropped off wine, and Kacey provided a wonderful door dash meal from Cheesecake Factory.  My favorite part of my birthday was the "Open House" Zoom meeting with cousins, brothers, kids and my friend Susan.  We talked for 2 hours and I was just so happy to see and interact with everyone.

One of the blessings of the pandemic is this unique closeness that I feel with my family that is in North Caroline, New Hampshire, Washington State and Virginia.  We have never had a conversation like this that was so easy to do and it really was only because of the miracle (!!!) of zoom.  Wow.

I continue with Bible studies for the church and today we spent time with the first chapter of 1 Peter.  This was part of the daily lectionary for today.  One of the commentaries said that Peter was writtenfor " real people facing real crises."  I guess you could say that it is very timely - because this pandemic has certainly been a real crisis. 

The first part of the chapter was titled " A Living Hope" and it describes God's activity in claiming us as his children.  Within these verses there is an assurance of "being protected by the power of God"  and also that we will "suffer various trials."  Our conversation this morning was around times of experiencing the protection as well as times of knowing that we were tested.  The point is that those times end up strengthening our faith in God's presence and goodness.

The truth is, however, that when we are in it - in the midst of the trial - as we are now in this pandemic, we may not really see or feel God's presence.  Our faith means that we trust it in dark times.  I had a dream this week that I was driving a car and had to make a left turn and literally could not see anything because it was so dark.  I had to just keep going and trust that I would not get hit.  I think it expressed how I sometimes feel these days.  I don't know what is going to happen - whether I will stay in my house or move.  I don't know what will happen with the church and my place in the church.  It is very difficult to see what is going on.

The second part of the chapter is titled "A Call to Holy Living."  It is really living into the consequences of our relationship with God - "prepare your minds for action, discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed."  What I realize as I prepare for a Bible study is how important it is to me to spend time with God's word.  It is one way of "preparing my mind"  or what I would call looking up.  The human tendancy is for us to stay engaged in our own story and get lost in the wonder and worry of what is going to happen next.  It is when I turn back to God - remember God's present and promise - that I am able to just trust that all will be well, all will be well.

There is one other word that is used in this text - Peter is writing to people who are "exiles" which means that we live in the world but that is not really our home.  We are "strangers in a strange land" as we take seriously following Jesus and this way of trust, love, and faith.  It is very different from the consumer culture that encourages us to seek security through achievement and accumulation.

One of the commentaries included this quotation which is supposedly a famous unwritten saying of Jesus (I had neverheard of it before)
The world is a bridge.
The wise man will pass over it,
but will not build his house upon it."

That is food for thought on this Thursday afternoon.

Here's a blessing by Maxine Shonk

May you be blessed with  the WISDOM of God who fills your heart with vision
so that you may see all things with the eyes of God.
May you have the wisdom and knowledge to discern God's desire.
May you be drawn to a deeper awareness of God's activity in your life.
May you give voice to that wisdom as you enter into communion with all God's people.
May the God of WISDOM  bless you.