Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Fountains and Cisterns

My heart was drawn to the image of Jeremiah this morning. He spoke the Word of God to a people that had forgotten how to trust in God's saving grace. They turned from the living fountain, preferring instead to dig cisterns. As a former desert dweller I want to say a good word about cisterns. They are the desert dwellers life insurance for times of extended drought. Yet I suppose the problem with cisterns is our reliance upon them. As with anything we build and rely upon, cisterns are subject to decay. If we forget how to travel with God and keep alert for fountains along our path, then we forget the source of life and its purpose.

Monday, March 9, 2009

The Almond Branch

Sometimes rank does not have it's privileges. I needed to make a photocopy of my sermon an hour before worship and asked to interrupt a member's last minute large run to copy my few pages. I was refused and sent to the CE resource room's copier. As I grumbled at the second copier, a friend of the congregation walked in and said, "look at those branches!" There, right before my eyes were necklaces of water beads hanging from delicate branches outside the window just a few feet from my eyes. I had not seen it. Today's reading in Jeremiah shows God posing the question, "what do you see?" Jeremiah saw an almond branch - known as the first to waken in Spring. What a wonderful gift for the world today. Gloom and doom abound, but if we look, we may see the first wakening signs of Spring.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Teach to the children

Verse 19 from Deuteronomy caught my eye this morning. I was reflecting upon the way that we teach, even as we lie down and rise. This coincides with reflecting I have been doing on the concept of "regeneration." How does the Holy Spirit regenerate our lives. Perhaps it is through this kind of constant attention outlined in the Deuteronomy passage.