Along the Maine coast yesterday, the sun was working hard to git ‘ er done while the low tide surf seemed to be replying, “slow down, you move too fast.”
We love the sun. But sometimes, it’s a really good idea to pay attention to the ocean, too.
Solomon was a pretty wise fellow:
“Everything has its own time, and there is a specific time for every activity under Heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
Exhale...
It’s another rainy morning in New Hampshire, and the temptation is huge to complain. “Enough already!” Until I see scenes like this while walking downtown. Lots of rain, yes, but look at the abundance here, and in our rapidly growing veggie gardens. And don’t forget how barren and naked everything feels in winter. The psalmist had it down right:
“God, You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use to bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart.” (Psalm 104:4-5)
Every day, even the rainy kind, “is a day to be thankful,” says author Ralph Marston. “Life's abundance has no limit, and gratitude is what keeps that abundance flowing. In every circumstance there is something for which to be thankful. Even when there seems to be nothing else, there is hope.”
That’s really good, but perhaps without realizing he was following the Master voice, Mark Twain takes it a good step further: “If you want love and abundance in your life, give it away.”
Amen to that. Let it rain…
"Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Freely you received, freely give." (Matthew 10:8)
The almanac says sunrise here was at 5:10 a.m. But down in the village, it’s almost an hour later before the sun peers over the hill. It’s this in-between time that can be priceless and worth getting up for, no matter where you call home. Because except for a jogger and an occasional vehicle likely in search of coffee, the calm and stillness can be more refreshing than last night’s sleep. You see things you don’t see in the heat of the day. You feel the blanketing fog of God and His creation embracing and painting the town before disappearing until another time.
Each step can become an unconscious prayer, when you get a relatable sense of what the psalmist was talking about:
“Cause me to hear Your loving-kindness in the morning, for on You I lean, and in You I trust. Cause me to know the way I should walk, for I lift up my inner self to You.” (Psalm 143:8)
These before-sunrise walks also have a way of awakening purpose for living, or as the great theologian J.I. Packer has put it, “If you’re trying to do something worthwhile, you will find that a great deal of what you’re doing will prove to be fun.” Amen to that.
It’s going to be a steamy day, but while you were snoozing, know that it’s already gotten off to a beautiful start. Just look….
Hardly a day goes by when I don’t miss my dad, especially his wisdom. And I can’t think of him without also remembering his work ethic even when he didn’t feel like it, and his undying passion for family, community and serving others. While listening to the birds sing through the rain this morning, I realized that not only was today Father’s Day, but it’s also June 18 and nearing the halfway point of 2023 already. Good grief time flies!
A couple of timely quotes that dad lived and that I’ll try to hold onto, too…
From the apostle Paul:
“Live life, then, with a due sense of responsibility, not as men who do not know the meaning and purpose of life but as those who do. Make the best use of your time, despite all the difficulties of these days.” (Ephesians 5:16)
And from the late pastor and author Leonard Ravenhill:
"Though you cannot be the salt of the whole earth nor the light of the whole world, you may season your community and lighten your neighborhood.”
So be it, dad, ’til we meet again.
Running will come later but it is hard to beat a before-sunrise walk around town to awaken the senses to each morning’s little miracles…like no rain clouds in sight!
And for each step, wise words from Solomon for a new day:
“Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you toward the path of integrity.
Consider well and watch carefully the path of your feet, and all your ways will be steadfast and sure.” (Proverbs 4:25-27)
Keep looking Up. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Just about everyone knows that Church is not a building, even though that is what most people (even believers) think of when someone says the “C” word. Of course, it’s not really something you go to. Instead, it’s meant to be a gathering of fellow believers who meet with God and encourage one another to keep going on this wonderful, narrow road while sharing Hope with others in word and deed. But sometimes, when the right circumstances come together, a different kind of Church can happen in some unlikely places—where the “called out ones” actually get called out. Even on a Sunday.
Last weekend was such a time. Plans had been made in advance for spending several days on the Maine coast, partly to fulfill an obligation and partly to get a change of scenery. In the back of mind were plans to gather with fellow believers at some local Down East “C” building come Sunday. Instead, I cut all of those plans short and hustled back home in time to participate in a 5K run/walk to benefit teen mental health and suicide awareness.
On a Sunday. A Sunday morning, even, when my body and soul were used to gathering with the saints and were pulling hard in that direction....
...It felt weird. It felt wonderful. It felt a bit like being that salt seasoning and light carrying that Jesus taught His followers to be in Matthew 5:13-16.
I do not know exactly when or how this particular mission grabbed my heart, but when it did, it hit hard. The more I heard and read about it, it crushed my heart to think that many young people felt so alone, so hurt, so isolated by COVID, so unaccepted (by others and themselves), so fearful of world conditions and things in their own little world, that they would think no one really cared. That there seemed to be no hope, no way out. To then keep it all stuffed down inside themselves in silent pain.
A guy’s DNA is to want to fix things, and fix all what was wrong for these young people. But in this case, there are very few fixing options for anyone. Until I remembered that Someone came for all of that, and cared for all of that, and that all that going to the “C” gathering-with-believers experience had stirred up a passion for things I knew I could and wanted to do—to pray, and to listen/“be there” in some way. And that 5K was one small but practical way to “be there” in person and for those providing resources, and to listen to stories, and to try to put names with faces of students who were rallying to do the same for their friends so I could pray. Even make it a habit to pray for the middle and high schools as a whole whenever I drive by.
“Why this mission, and why now?” It’s something many believers ask themselves. Only God knows. Seasons come and go, and so do the eternal things that God will suddenly pour into our heart out of nowhere with a sort of burning. And the only explanation I can come up with is that the more time you take to get to know, and listen to, and seek to follow the greatest Light of the world of all time, the more He becomes the motor that drives your thinking, your passions, your interests, and your everyday interactions—especially with those who find going to the “C” word on Sundays a very foreign idea.
Kind of like, that’s the whole point of the gospel.
Because nearly 900 years before Jesus, there was a prophet named Isaiah who described what His mission would be all about. And in Luke 4, the Light of the world Himself not only confirmed it, but passed the baton of salt and light on to all believers down through the ages to carry for as long as we have life and breath…
To go to church on Sundays, yes, but much more than that— to be church with feet on.
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For vitamins beyond Sunday, see the Day Starter morning devotionals on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/renewchurchhancock
Through years of hurricanes, blizzards, floods, blistering heat, bone-chilling cold, and many joyfully beautiful days stands this familiar, solitary little pine tree on Bourne Avenue on the way to Moody beach. As many times as I pass it, like one morning this week, I marvel that it’s still there.
I think it is still there in the middle of the marsh only because ...
It has grown deep roots under stress Bends but refuses to break And still bears fruit of pine cones as it grows older It never gives in It stands strong even when standing alone …
I think I’ll frame this one.
God’s blessings follow you and await you at every turn:
When you don’t follow the advice of those who delight in wicked schemes,
When you avoid sin’s highway,
When judgment and sarcasm beckon you, but you refuse.
For you, the Word is your happiness.
It is your focus—from dusk to dawn.
You are like a tree,
Planted by flowing, cool streams of water that never run dry.
Your fruit ripens in its time;
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For vitamins beyond Sunday, see the Day Starter morning devotionals on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/renewchurchhancock
An ancient path long the nearby Wheeler Trail. J ust like an early morning walk around downtown can speak amazing things if you’re paying at...
