Hi Church-
i am on my way home to you from a journey spanning 5000 years of history, having witnessed God’s hand in all of it- through the rise and fall of empires, loss and regain of technologies and knowledge, rerouting of rivers and quaking of mountains, civilizations built and forgotten, ancient stories of human might, evil, kindness, ingenuity, apathy and faith, with ripples into our own lives, imaginations and understandings of the world.
I stood where tradition says Moses was pulled from the Nile by the Pharaoh’s daughter, touched the stone of a room where the refugees Mary, Joseph and young Jesus lived for three months of their four year journey into Egypt after saying goodbye to the visiting Magi and being warned in a dream of Herod’s wrath, and saw the 3500 year old mummy of (possibly) Joseph, buried among the Pharaohs after God saved Egypt and the surrounding nations from famine through his dreams and courage.
We learned of ancient calendars with 36 ten day weeks and annual five day end of year celebrations, shaped around three annual seasons based on soil: Inundation-Nile flooding, Planting and Harvesting, and ate dinner serenaded by residual carols amidst remaining decorations from Christmas which, in that part of the world, is not December 25, but January 7.
All this to say - human experience ebbs and flows, shapes and reshapes.
But in all things, God is still God.
In all things humans are still human.
The story we belong to is a long one, and it's deep and sure.
And, as Lisa reminds us in the sermon below, we participate by loving one another and watching for God's invitations in ordinary life.
In love, hope and gratitude to be in this together with you,
Kara
Prayer for Today
God, as our county's leadership once again shifts
from one administration to the next,
pause us here
within the scope of history and future,
to receive your presence
with us now.
Thank you for the ways healing and world-shaping
comes through ordinary people,
in everyday ways:
the flower planters and soul tenders,
the music makers and bread bakers,
the heart holders and art creators,
the food growers and poem weavers,
the child raisers and story cherishers,
the learners and leaders,
the witnesses and the wise,
young and old,
the neighbors who neighbor each other,
every day, come what may.
God-with-us, Love Incarnate,
may we trust in you.
Keep us open-hearted, brave and kind,
with deep roots and a wide horizon,
able to see this world and all in it,
as your beloved,
and to live that way,
which is to say:
In all things may we remain
guided by your Spirit,
grounded in your love,
and buoyed by Christ's joy.
Amen
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