Rescuing God from the Rubble
Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins, Sunshine Cathedral
Sirach 27.30, 28.3-4, 7; Matthew 18.21-22

Robert and I were living in Western Maryland on September 11th, 2001. We lived an hour from DC, where one of the attacks occurred, and we lived about half an hour from where the plane in rural Pennsylvania went down. We lived 4 hours from New York City and I preached in a New Jersey suburb of Manhattan the very next Sunday. Two years later I was I a resident of Manhattan.

I had friends who were even closer to the catastrophe. A friend of mine in Brooklyn was walking across the bridge to her office in Manhattan and she actually witnessed the terrible event. We had friends who were on the subway on their way to the Trade Center that morning. We had friends who were separated from their spouses for hours without communication and were of course worried sick until they finally found their loved ones.

I had also friends in large cities all over the country, Chicago, LA, Boston, Dallas…wondering and worrying that the places they called home could be next. It was probably the scariest day I remember since the days before there were effective treatments for HIV.

But of course, we got past that terrible day. People from all over the country flocked to New York City to offer help in any way they could. People just showed up with garbage bags and shovels and water bottles, offering to donate blood, volunteering their time and concern in an effort to help our largest city heal.

Stories came out about courageous people confronting their attackers on the airline that went down in Pennsylvania.

We learned about the bravery of Father Mychal Judge, a Fire Department chaplain who lost his life that day.

We heard stories of people being lifted from the debris by anonymous heroes they never saw and were never able to thank.

We saw Broadway and Off-Broadway performers inviting the world to New York with a stubbornness that suggested that in truth, the human spirit is indomitable.

We saw people of many religions coming together to pray together in ways that some of them had not done before.

We saw musicians giving concerts to raise money to help relieve suffering.

We saw signs at barber shops and doughnut shops and auto repair shops invoking blessings upon America.

We saw people helping one another, moving past their fears in the moment of crisis, showing compassion for those who were hurting, and finding ways to face their grief and heal from it.

About an hour from New York City, a group gathered at a coffee shop on 9/11. It was a small group of Christians and members of the Jewish faith. The coffee shop was convenient for them so they stopped by every morning for coffee on their way to work, and they just saw one another so often they learned each other’s names and occupations and one of them was a Protestant minister. The owner of the coffee shop was an immigrant from the Middle East, and he was Muslim. He treated his customers very well and just as this group grew fond of each other they were also fond of him; after all, it was his establishment that had brought them all together. They were friends because of his business.

On 9/11, even though they had already all been to the coffee shop for their morning breakfast on the run, those friends returned to the coffee shop to see about their friend, the owner. They were worried that he would be grieving that people had so misrepresented his religion; that people had done terrible things in the name of the God that is shared by Christians, Muslims, and Jews. They worried that unkind or unthinking people would take out their pain and grief on him, even though he was a friendly neighborhood shopkeeper. Christians and Jews and at least one Muslim gathered that day to support one another, to offer love and friendship and goodwill, and they even, can you believe, prayed together. What a sacred, God-filled moment that must have been.

Hatred struck a blow on 9/11, but the Spirit of Life would not, could not be snuffed out.

The Nazis in World War 2 couldn’t defeat the omnipresent Spirit of Life.

The devastating attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki could not defeat the Spirit of Life.

Jim Crow could not defeat the Spirit of the Life.

The Vietnam War couldn’t defeat the Spirit of Life.

The AIDS crisis couldn’t defeat the Spirit of Life.

Misogyny, violence against women and children, racism, homophobia, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, Alzheimer’s, addictions, economic downturns have all failed to wipe out hope and resilience and the determination to not only survive but to also thrive. Whenever we have been tempted to believe too much in the diabolical, collectively we have time and again corrected that mistake by rising up and proving that the fiercest illusion of evil cannot destroy human dignity or the divine spark from which that dignity shines.

We can and ought to celebrate our resilience. We ought to be filled with reverence and gratitude that even such a terrible tragedy is not beyond the hope of healing. But there are also lessons to learn.

Every Sunday we pray, “May peace prevail on earth.” It’s a powerful and beautiful prayer in its own right. But it is even more incredible when we consider its origin. Masahisa Goi thought of the Peace Pole and the Prayer that is on it, “May peace prevail on earth.” We have such a pole on our front lawn. Masahisa Goi dreamed up the Peace Pole and its prayer in Japan in 1955, just one decade after the nuclear holocaust two cities in his country experienced. He didn’t pray for revenge, or even for safety or healing just for his people, but his prayer was that PEACE would prevail throughout the entire world. There are now over 100,000 peace poles with that prayer on them in almost 200 countries. What a powerful witness; what a powerful prayer. May peace prevail on earth.

That prayer represents a generosity of spirit that absolutely must lead to healing. Jesus tells Peter in the Gospel today that we must try to forgive over and over and over until we actually are able to let go of our rage and our thirst for vengeance. Forgiveness takes work, we may have to attempt it repeatedly, but our own healing is tied to it, so it’s worth the work.

We are given that same lesson in the reading from Sirach. Roman Catholics grew up with Sirach in their canon of scripture. Anglicans grew up with it as instructive if not canonical, as part of a group of texts connecting the Old and New Testaments. For others, Sirach may be new.

Jesus ben Sirach wrote his book of wisdom teachings about 180 BCE. He revealed in his opus the tensions in Jerusalem at the time. In an environment of conflict, which included economic injustice and political intrigue, one might wonder how individuals could experience personal, emotional healing. Sirach suggests that forgiveness is the way. Forgiveness heals personal hurts and strained relationships; in fact, forgiveness is a staple of a just society.

We naturally demand accountability, but we often confuse holding people accountable with exacting revenge. We forget that restorative justice is more healing than retributive justice tends to be. Confrontation without vengeance is possible.

A few hijackers committed odious acts on 9/11/01. They blasphemed their religion when they did; and we blaspheme our own when we use their reprehensible act as an excuse to hate people who had no part in it.

I can promise you that God in no way ordained those attacks, and every cry for help and every moan of agony was heard by God that day and the first tear shed on 9/11 was God’s. But while God’s heart was broken that day, as were ours, that painful moment was not the end of the story.

People helped one another. People grieved their losses and remembered their loved ones. People shared. People hoped. People demonstrated courage and compassion, diligence and dignity. And those moments were resurrection moments where the glory of God was allowed to shine and where healing began to take place. We saw humanity at its worst that day; and we saw humanity at its best. Jesus son of Sirach, and 200 years later, Jesus son of Mary, both tell us how to be our best. We pray, “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” We pray, “may peace prevail on earth.” We pray, “wherever I am, God is, and all is well.” And those prayers will be answered.

The attacks of 9/11 are well behind us now. But there are other sources of pain in our lives, other opportunities to forgive, other opportunities to express generosity, hope, goodwill, compassion; other opportunities to heal from the past and move forward into a glorious future. Are we ready to embrace those opportunities in our lives?

In the Tim McGraw song we heard at the opening of the service, “Live Like You Were Dying,” we heard good advice. When faced with mortality, the character in the song shares how he decided to make the most of the time head, no matter how long that time might be. He says: “I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter and I gave forgiveness I’d been denying.”

Could healing be that simple? Could it be as simple as loving, and giving, and forgiving? If we can rely on the witness of scripture, then such healing really is possible; it’s always possible. No matter what has happened in our lives, we can still turn within and find that God, divine love is with us no matter what is happening around or even to us; and as we express that love we can rescue God from the rubble, and in turn, God can rescue us. And this is the good news. Amen.
© Durrell Watkins 2011

Affirmations
I am loving, giving, and forgiving.
In the name of God,
And by the power of God,
I am experiencing healing now.
Amen.

Final Word

“We’re not about what happened on 9/11. We’re about what happened on 9/12.”
–Jeff Parness, founder of New York Says Thank You

A Golden Gospel for a Golden Life
Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins
Romans 13.8-10; Matthew 18.18-20

Golden Girl clip (1:35)

Everything I ever needed to know I learned from “The Golden Girls.” The Golden Girls offered a sort of corrective for religion gone bad.

First, they formed an ecumenical community. Rose was Lutheran, Blanche was Baptist, and Dorothy and her mother Sophia were Catholic. Sophia practiced a syncretic form of Catholicism that included rural Sicilian folk-magic. Many of their friends were Jewish. They didn’t have to all believe the same things as long as they believed in themselves and in one another.

Secondly, they realized that humanity is diverse and there is something good in all people. And there are all kinds of people in the world of the Golden Girls:

Each of the four women has a healthy attitude about her sexuality and celebrates her the physical experience of life by sharing intimacy with a partner, or in Blanche’s case, a long series of many partners (let the one without a lifetime of tricks cast the first stone!).

Rose has a sister who has lost her sight.
Dorothy has a son who marries an older woman.
Dorothy also has a dear friend who is lesbian and Blanche has a brother who is gay.
And Blanche’s widowed father winds up marrying a much younger woman.
Sometimes these differences cause them to need to examine their attitudes and beliefs, but in the end, their love for their dear ones is always what matters most and differences are finally embraced and often celebrated.

Thirdly, they demonstrate the prospering power of generosity. While Blanche owns property, none of the women make enough money on her own to live alone. Sophia lives on a pension and the other three women work part time, until Rose later becomes a television producer. But their limited incomes don’t mean they have to have a limited experience of life. They live together, sharing the burden of the mortgage and utilities and food, and by sharing they find they have plenty and actually live quite a comfortable lifestyle. Sharing empowers them to prosper, and connects them intimately with one another so that they are never alone in moments of need.

Finally, The Golden Girls demonstrate the need for the Golden Rule. We know the Golden Rule from Matthew 7.12, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you” (I remind our fundamentalist friends of this teaching when they try to deny same-gender loving people equal rights and standing in our society).

In the clip we started with this morning, we see Blanche and Rose sniping at each other, and in their petty personal battle, they wind up insulting and hurting Dorothy. When they behave selfishly, they hurt one another. But eventually they always realize that they their love for one another is more important than the petty issues that try to divide them from time to time, and so they always reconcile, reaffirm their love and commitment to one another, and return to a life of shared joy as a result. They always get back to treating one another with the love and respect with which they would like to be treated themselves.

The Golden Girls ought to be a required course in every seminary and a standard part of every church’s religious education curriculum! At Sunshine Cathedral, it kind of is.

We can find the Golden Girls Gospel in the Gospel reading we heard this morning.

We picked up with verse 18, but if we backed up just there more verses we would see Jesus giving the spiritual community instruction on how to avoid destructive conflict. In verses 15-17 Jesus acknowledges that in communities people will sometimes act out and cause unnecessary trouble. He challenges the community to deal directly with the person who is being cantankerous and if repeated attempts at direct dealing fail, then the community should stop giving energy to the antagonist all together.

After his missive on direct dealing and fair play, Jesus continues with verses 18-20 which we heard this morning, where he says that what we bind will be bound in heaven and what we loose will be loosed in heaven. That is, what we hold onto in consciousness sticks with us, and what we release from our habitual thinking and attitudes can no longer drag us down. Binding and loosing is about forgiving one another. Either by dealing directly with one another and working out our problems, or if that doesn’t work, then moving on and releasing the person who won’t embrace fair play, but one way or the other we have to release our animosities, our grudges, our complaining, and our bitterness because until we release them, loose them, they remain bound in our souls and they keep us bound and unable to thrive.

And then Jesus gives the most encouraging statement. He says when we gather together, in our large, corporate worshiping community or even in small gatherings where there may be just two or three of us…in a class, at lunch or dinner, having coffee or drinks, or chatting in the social hall or on Facebook or on the phone…when we gather together, no matter how small the gathering, when we do it in Jesus’ name, that is, with the integrity and goodwill that Jesus modeled, then all the goodness he represents is present with and in us, and we’ll be stronger as a group, and happier as individuals. “Wherever two or three or gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them.”

Jesus is helping us today build authentic community, an orderly and loving community. When there are disagreements, deal directly with the offending party rather than telling everyone at Scandals and Rosie’s and Starbucks that he or she is Satan’s toe jam. And if you just can’t work it out one on one, and if mediation doesn’t seem to help or if all parties aren’t open to it, then release the relationship so you can find it in your heart to forgive the person and move on with what matters in life. You don’t have to hang out with someone who isn’t nice to you, in fact, you probably shouldn’t! Who wants to be around negative people?! But until you forgive, you are hanging out with them anyway, in your head. You want them out of there…then let them go, loose them…forgive them.

Release the hurt feelings. Release the grudges. Release the temptation to gossip. Release the habit of complaining. Release it; let it go. Loose it, and move back into the light of healing. It’s a process…we all have to work on it – God knows I do; but it’s worth the effort. At times I have resisted forgiving, but I have never once regretted forgiving once I’ve done it.

Until we truly learn to love ourselves, we’ll never have much harmony in our lives. Until we release our fears and anxieties and worries, how could we ever release our hatreds, since they are usually projections of how we feel about ourselves?

Jesus quotes Leviticus 19.18 when he says, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10.27). And the fact is we will never love our neighbor until we love ourselves. Love your neighbor as yourself, because really, that is what we’ve always been doing…loving our neighbor as much, or as little, as we love ourselves. The racist, the homophobe, the sexist, the xenophobe, the anti-Semite…they’ve found a group to attach their hatred to, but their real dissatisfaction is with themselves. You can’t love yourself and hate an entire group of people; it just isn’t possible.

We try to bully our way to importance, or buy our way to importance, or manipulate our way to importance, but none of that ever makes us feel truly good about ourselves. We have to start accepting our innate importance! We are going to have to start believing in ourselves, forgiving ourselves for those silly mistakes we’ve made along the way; we’re going to have to be good to ourselves before we are going to be able to be consistently good to others.

That’s why the bible counsels us over and over to examine and work on our thoughts and feelings and attitudes:

“The worries of this life…come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.” Mark 4.19; “Let the Spirit change your way of thinking…” Ephesians 4.23; “…Do not conform to the unhealthy attitudes you had when you lived in ignorance…” 1 Peter 1.14. We know a better way now, and by practicing what we know, we’ll demonstrate more peace in our lives.

We have to release the fears, the self-condemnation, the anxieties, the sense of not being good enough, because until we do, we will never love ourselves enough to show love to others sufficiently enough to heal our world. How do we start loving ourselves more, feeling better about ourselves, believing in ourselves? A Course in Miracles says a miracle only takes a little willingness. And Dr. Robert Holden said in this morning’s second reading, “Intention rules the world.” We begin with the desire, the willingness, the intention to start loving ourselves more, believing in ourselves more, and demonstrating our divine goodness more and more, starting today.

We’ve been doing a lot of binding in our lives; it’s time to do some loosing…loose the fear and worry and all those other negative attitudes by which we sabotage our relationships and our happiness. As we remove those things from our consciousness, we will begin to develop the life of achievement and joy that we all deserve and desire. We can do it; together we will do it. And this is the good news. Amen.
© Durrell Watkins 2011

Affirmations
I am willing today to love myself. I choose today to believe in myself.
I allow healing to take place in my emotions now.
I am blessed. I am a blessing to others.
Divine light shines through me now.
And so it is.

Final Word
“Light of the world…Shine on us all, set us free. Love is the answer.” England Dan & John Ford Coley

I Am___(& I Get to Fill in the Blank!)
Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins
Sunshine Cathedral (8/28/11)
Ex. 3.1-14; Matt. 16.24-28

I love Will.i.am’s stage name. Of course, he was born with the name William, but has used Will.i.am as one of his stage names for decades now. How clever to convert William to Will.i.am! To use I AM as one’s name! To consciously say every time he gives his name, Will.i.am, I am Will, I know who I am. What a great symbol for us all.

And I also love that short video he did for Sesame Street, where he begins with a powerful statement of truth: “If what I am is what’s in me then I’ll be strong that’s who I’ll be and I will always be the best me I can be.” I wish children heard that in churches more and not just on Sesame Street. If we had internalized that message early in life, how much happier we’d be, and what a blessing to our world we would be. Of course, it’s never too late to learn it.

That entire song is just one empowering affirmative declaration after another. Will.i.am sings, “There’s nothing I can’t achieve because in myself I believe.”

And then he has the muppets practice the power of I AM statements. He has them say:
What I am is –
Thoughtful, Brave, Special, Smart, Super, Magical

If we can get children to believe in themselves in that way, we won’t need anti-bullying campaigns, because children who love and believe in themselves won’t need to tear down others in order to feel better about themselves; neither will adults.
And children who love and believe in themselves won’t grow up to terrorize and demonize people who embrace the fluidity of gender, or who celebrate their love for someone of the same gender, or who know that God could never be limited to a single country, religion, or any group.

Now, the Will.i.am song also shows how the power of I AM can be used negatively. While some are pulling what is wonderful into their I-Am-ness, saying, What I AM is special or smart or magical, there is also Oscar with his trash can consciousness boldly declaring that what he is, is “grouchy.” And he gets to be. I AM works as powerfully in one direction as in another…As long as Oscar thinks of himself as a grouch surrounded by garbage, he will continue to have that very experience. But the Count and Bert and Grover and Big Bird and the others are making more empowering choices that lead to hope and joy, as they affirm, “I AM special, I am brave, I am super”

We see a very similar message in the first reading we heard today.

When Moses left Egypt and settled in Midian, he married Zipporah. In today’s story we see Moses, working for his wife’s father, Jethro, leading a flock of sheep. And he takes the flock to Mount Horeb, where he encounters an angel of God who speaks for God from a burning bush that somehow never burns up.

Now, before we go on, we have to acknowledge that even just this much of the story is filled with symbolism. The story, in addition to imagining how Moses might have felt called to the work of pursuing justice for his people, is also an allegory for our own spiritual journeys.

So far we see Moses leading a flock…so we know he has leadership potential because he is already leading…sheep, instead of people, but still, he must have some kind of organizational skill and he is developing it as he leads sheep.

What do sheep represent? Innocence. There is something innocent, sacred, gentle, divine within all people, and Moses is called to see that quality in his people and call it forth and lead them forward into an experience of liberation.

And where has Moses led these sheep? To Mount Horeb. Mountain tops often symbolize the divine presence, and this mountain in particular represents being in the presence of the Holy. Moses calls forth the innate goodness of people and then leads them into a life-giving experience of God. Isn’t that what we all are seeking as we form and build a worshiping community together?

Next we see that on this mountain Moses experiences God in a dramatic way. He encounters an angel, a messenger of God, speaking for God in a burning bush that never burns up.

Let’s stop again. The angel of God is a messenger of God, or in our experience, perhaps thoughts of God that lead us deeper and deeper into an experience of God. Where is the angel, the symbol of God’s presence? In a burning thorn bush. Moses has fled for his life from Egypt, and gone from being nobility in the empire to working for his father-in-law tending sheep in the outback. He’s had some hard times, some fear, some pain, some disappointments. Where is God when everything is a mess? Where is God when it hurts? God is present! Pain doesn’t chase God away; even in the difficult moment God is there. What could be more uncomfortable than a burning thorn bush in the desert, but that is exactly where Moses finds the angel of God’s presence…in the uncomfortable place. Where is God in our moment of distress? Right there with us.

The bush burns but doesn’t burn up. It experiences heat, but it isn’t destroyed by it. When we feel like we’ve been through the fire, yes it was hot, but we’re still here. The fire burned, but it didn’t destroy. So rather than obsessing on the pain, we can choose to celebrate our survival! God was with us, not causing the trouble but neither abandoning us in it, and on the other side, we survived. Maybe we learned a few things about ourselves along the way. And we have more to accomplish still in our lives!

The voice calls to Moses from the bush, “Moses!” and Moses answers, “Here I am.” I am right here, fully present in this moment…fully present with my innocence (the sheep) and with God (the mountain), present even in my distress (the burning bush). In the moment of mindfulness, we are present, we are here now, we are open to miracles.

Now, the voice from the burning bush tells Moses, “Come no nearer. Take off your sandals; you are on holy ground.” ”Come no nearer.” Why shouldn’t we come nearer to God? Because there is no nearer to be! Right where we are, God is! We don’t need to approach a flaming angel, we’re already on the mountain. Right where we are is holy ground! Begin your worship right where you are, as you are, because that is exactly where God is…you are on holy ground!

Now, we know that God doesn’t cause suffering. And we’ve considered that God is present with us through suffering. But does God do anything to relieve suffering? The story suggests that God does.
The voice from the bush says, “I’ve seen the misery of my people.” God knows. We are in God’s presence, and God is in ours. We are part of God; God is part of us. We are never separated from God. God knows the suffering of God’s people, and God suffers with them, with us. God is infinite compassion. Compassion means “to suffer with.” God is with us in our sufferings, aware, holding us, crying with us, and prompting us to help ourselves and one another.

How does God propose to rescue the suffering people? By calling Moses to lead them! What God does for us, God does through us. We are God’s hands. God is expressed through us, through what we are.
Here I am, God. And that means that I am available for God, through me, to make a difference. My words, my expressions of hope, my goodwill, my generosity, my faithfulness, my courage, my cooperation, those are the ways that divine Love is expressed and through that expression, healing can take place. Here I Am.

Now, not only does Moses say, “Here I am,” but look at the next part of our story. Moses asks, “What shall I say the name of our God is?” And the answer is, “I AM who is…” I AM is one of the names of God! Never say I Am something negative – that is taking God’s name in vain. Always follow the power of the divine name I AM with something positive and wonderful.

God is the Ground of Being, the Substance of all that is, Pure Being made manifest in/through/as creation, the creation that includes us and that is very good. The I AM, through Moses (“Here I am”), speaks out against injustice and for liberation. God is our life, and we are how God is expressed in this life. We need God and God needs us. It’s a partnership, a truly holy UNION. The Great I AM is forever part of all that we are. Here I am, with God, in God, and God in me. “If what I am is what’s in me then I’ll stay strong that’s who I’ll be and I will always be the best me I can be.”

In the gospel reading, Matthew has Jesus suggest that there would be people in that first century audience who would still be alive for the return of Christ; but then later in the gospel, Matthew will have Jesus say that he never left us and never would (“Lo, I am with you always!”). When we allow ourselves to be individually the expression of God, and collectively the body of Christ on earth, then that is how Christ never leaves and also returns. In reality, the Christ spirit never leaves, and in our experience, it is here in a new way for us as we allow ourselves to be fully present in new ways. Here I am.

The I AM is experienced on the mountain, and continues to be experienced in community, the church. We are the on-going story of the Great I AM. And so we get to say I AM…and then we get to fill in the blank. This is the good news! Amen. © Durrell Watkins 2011

Affirmations
In the name of the Great I AM…
I declare that I am hopeful.
I am courageous.
I am magical.
I am loving and loved.
I am receptive to miracles.
And so it is.

Who Are You?
Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins, Sunshine Cathedral
Romans 12.1-2; Matthew 16.13-20 (Aug. 21, 2011)

That’s a list of incredible souls, isn’t it?

Dr. King, President Kennedy, President Mandela, Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Einstein, the student protester in Tiananmen Square, singers, athletes, inventors, peace and justice workers…tough acts to follow, or are they?

Our scripture readings today suggest that these heroes and achievers are expressing what is true of all of us; they are just the ones to show us that it’s possible. They aren’t exceptions to what we are; they are examples of what we really are.

Eric Butterworth taught, “We are human in expression, but divine in creation and limitless in potentiality.” That’s what the Apostle Paul is telling us today. That is what the writer of Matthew’s gospel is telling us today. There is a Power within us, not just some of us but within all of us which is limitless and it seeks to be expressed through us and we honor this divine Presence when we allow it to express through us. We won’t all be president or famous inventors or Olympic athletes, but we can each be happy and loving and generous and hopeful, and as we allow ourselves to express those divine qualities we will be contributing to our healing and the healing of the world.

How, though, do we make contact with these divine qualities within us and then allow them to flow through us into expression?

In our first reading, that ancient sage who learned to be the embodiment of compassion, the Buddha said, “We are formed and molded by our thoughts.” That’s the secret, isn’t it? We express the best by learning to believe the best about ourselves. We express the best by learning to look for the best. We express the best by developing the habit of speaking forth what is good and helpful and hopeful and encouraging.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable…and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Philippians 4.8 (NLT).

Has self-pity, or fear, or gossip, or complaining, or predicting doom, or expecting failure, or looking at every opportunity as a burden, or tearing down others rather than simply being your best ever brought you peace or hope or happiness? Probably not. Which is why St. Paul says try something different: Fix your thoughts on what is good!

Think of circumstances and situations and emotions as little fires. And think of our focused attention as lighter fluid.

There is a fire of dread. There is a fire of failure. There is a fire of self-loathing. There is a fire of fault-finding (there’s lots of those little fires, aren’t there?). There is a fire of perpetual anxiety (I’ve warmed my hands at that fire many times).

And there is a fire of hope. There is a fire of encouragement. There is a fire of goodwill. There is a fire of opportunity. There is a fire of healing. On which fires are we going to pour that lighter fluid? Fire is fire and fuel is fuel…whichever fire we pour the fuel on will get bigger and brighter and hotter. How many times have we developed the habit of pouring our fuel on the wrong fire?

Instead of building the fire of warmth in the fireplace, the fire that cooks delicious food in the stove, the fire that provides light and heat to toast marshmallows and hot dogs on a camping trip, we sometimes, out of sheer habit, build the fires that destroy forests and homes. Which fires are we building? Which fires are we feeding with the fuel of our focus?

Winston Churchill said, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” Which kind of person are we? And which kind will we choose to be from now on? If our first response to opportunity is to talk about how it is likely to fail, or how inconvenient it is that we can’t control every aspect of it, then we may sabotage or miss out entirely on that opportunity. But if we can train our minds to see what is good, to focus on the good, to praise the good, to invite the good, to accept the good, then guess what? Good is much more likely to be what we experience!

The Apostle told the Romans to present their bodies, their physical, lived experience, as a living sacrifice. In ancient times, sacrifices often meant death. You killed a bull or a goat or a ram to sacrifice to the deities. Sacrifice was deadly, bloody, messy, scary. Paul says to make life, not death, but life our sacrifice, our gift to the divine. Death, pain, destruction, negativity…these aren’t worthy sacrifices for the spirit of Life; Life is best praised by living well! You’ve heard that quote that has been attributed to every positive thinker who has ever written anything at all, but it’s true: “What you are is God’s gift to you; what you do with yourself is your gift to God.”

Make your lives the gift you give to Spirit. This more positive way of looking at things may take a change, but it is a transformative, healing, life-giving change. And so Paul says, “Be transformed by the renewing of your minds.”

Of course, Paul is building on the witness of the prophets. Hosea said that God wants us to show mercy, not to destroy life: “I desire mercy and not sacrifice…” Hosea 6.6

The prophet Micah said that instead of negative, destructive, fearful things, God desired more uplifting offerings. He said, “This is what is required of you, only to do justice and love mercy and live humbly with your God.” Micah 6.8

And one of the contributors to the book of Isaiah said that God doesn’t want pain and suffering and despair and fear and heartache from us. Those deadly attitudes are represented by the killing of animals, but in the very first chapter of Isaiah we read the prophet imagining God to say, “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?…I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls or of lambs, or of goats…[Instead of killing, just] cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” Isaiah 1, NIV. Sounds an awful lot like make your lives a living sacrifice.

We may not have slaughtered a lot of animals in our time, but we have killed hope, and we have killed joy, and we have killed the expectation of miracles. Stop the killing the prophets say, and Paul joins them by saying, “Live your lives in such a joyous, generous, optimistic way that your life is an offering of worship to God.” It’s a new way of thinking for some of us, which is why he tells us we’ll need to be transformed by learning to think in more optimistic, joyful, life-giving ways.

Dr. H. Emilie Cady taught, “Deny apparent evil; affirm good. Deny weakness; affirm strength. Deny any condition that is undesirable and affirm the good you desire. That is what Jesus intended when he said, ‘The things you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them.’”

Now, I know that we each bear our own unique pain. Some of us were abused as children. Some of us have been in dysfunctional relationships. Some of us have landed on hard times. Some of us have been betrayed or abandoned by friends. Some of us have been given frightening diagnoses. Some of us have experienced profound grief. But renewed minds can help us recover from the pain; we can learn to give life a new chance to unfold in more joyous ways for us. We must stop sabotaging our opportunities because the past was painful. We have to learn to heal from the past so we can see and seize the opportunities that are before us today.

Have you had difficulty, disappointments, challenges? Good. Then you are the perfect candidate for a renewed mind, in fact, who needs it more? That patron of camp St. Oscar Wilde said, “the basis for optimism is sheer terror.” And it’s true. Because we have known pain, we need and deserve healing, and to experience the healing we deserve and desire we must turn from the pain of the past and toward the hope that Life is always trying to offer.

Dr. King said, “We must accept finite disappointment but we must never lose infinite hope.”

John Updike reminded us, “Dreams come true; without that possibility, Nature would not incite us to have them.”

And Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh counsels, “People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong…Why not try to see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom?”

Jesus asked, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter said, “You are anointed.” That’s what Christ or Messiah means. You are anointed. But the question has two applications. Who do you say that I am, the person Jesus standing before you Peter? And, when you use the words “I AM”, who then do you say, “I AM”? Like the heroes we began with a few moments ago, Jesus is the example, not the exception. He is anointed, chosen, God-filled, and so are we. He demonstrates what is waiting within each of us to be demonstrated. And that understanding is the rock solid foundation against which negativity can have no power.

Jesus also says, “What you bind will be bound and what you loose will be loosed.” The baggage we hold onto, we get to keep; and what we let go of is released into the nothingness from which it came, freeing us to embrace new possibilities. Are you tired of being bound by past mistakes, by past failures, by past disappointments? Release them. Loose them. Let them go, and be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Know that the I AM of your being is blessed, chosen, loved, anointed, and forever one with God. That’s who you really are, and this is the good news! Amen.

© Durrell Watkins 2011

Affirmations
I Am willing to be healed.
I Am ready to be happy.
I Am generous, kind, and hopeful.
I Am anointed.
I Am blessed.
And so it is!

Final Word
“A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.” Herm Albright

Peace Beyond Pain, Hope Beyond Horror
Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins, Sunshine Cathedral
Aug. 14th, 2011
Genesis 43.1-11, 13, 15; Matthew 15.22-28

Beyond our progressive, positive, and practical spiritual community I have friends who don’t understand our relentlessly optimistic approach to life. I think they hear and read our positive affirmations and then remember that old Saturday Night Live character, Stuart Smalley, who was a little nerdy, a little awkward, and a little smug with his lispy affirmations for self-esteem.

Of course, Al Franken was making a caricature of a self-help spiritual seeker and he based the character on people he knew who were involved in Twelve Step programs.

But the truth is, many people in Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous and Overeaters Anonymous and Adult Children of Alcoholics , Codependents Anonymous, Al-Anon and other Twelve Step programs have greatly benefited from the optimism, the support, the accountability, and the positive self-talk that they discovered in the program.

Other helping disciplines have adopted these same practices, Neuro-Linguistic Programming and positive psychology for example.

As a child I heard over and over the story of the Little Engine Who Could. When faced with a daunting task, the little engine encouraged himself with self-talk…I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…and he learned that he could and he did.

The movie “The Help” (based on the book by the same name) has domestic workers in segregated Mississippi tell their stories of what it is like to live under such oppressive conditions. The main character is a housekeeper and nanny who repeatedly tells the little girl she cares for positive things. She tells her throughout the film, “You is kind. You is smart. And you is important.” And she has the child repeat those words after her each time.

The practice of using self-talk to develop positive attitudes has long been embraced and promoted among athletes and sales people. After all, St. Paul said, “faith comes by hearing” and the one sure way to make certain we hear positive messages is to say them to ourselves.

We see this practice in the bible.
“God is my shepherd, my provider; I want for nothing. God makes me to lie down in beautiful green pastures and God leads me beside the calm waters of tranquility. God restores my peace of mind and leads me in the paths of right thinking and right action…Even if mortal danger approaches, I will fear no evil for God is with me. God’s tools are present to comfort me. God has abundance for me that my so-called enemies cannot take away. I am anointed and satisfied. Surely, goodness and mercy will be with me throughout my life and I will dwell in God’s presence forever.” The 23rd Psalm may be the most famous positive affirmation in the world!

This kind of positive self-talk isn’t limited to the Psalter. The anonymous writer whom we have named John affirmed, “Greater is the power within me than the power people believe is in the world.” 1 John 4.4

The Apostle Paul was a believer in affirmations.
“I can do all things through the Christ which strengthens me” (Philippians 4.13). He also said, “We are more than conquerors” (Romans 8.37). Paul went on to affirm, “I am convinced that NOTHING can separate us from the love of God.”

In the first half of the 20th century there was a Divine Science minister named Emmet Fox who was a popular speaker in New York City, drawing enormous crowds every week. He also wrote books and his teachings were popular in the early days of the AA movement. Emmet Fox also influenced a Methodist minister who transferred his credentials to the Reformed Church in America so that he could answer a call to pastor the Marble Collegiate Church in New York…that famous Protestant minister who was influenced by Emmet Fox was of course Norman Vincent Peale who introduced The Power of Positive Thinking into the mainstream of Christianity and into the vocabulary of people all along the spiritual spectrum.

Dr. Peale said, “Plant seeds of expectation in your mind; cultivate thoughts that anticipate achievement. Believe in yourself as being capable of overcoming all obstacles and weaknesses.”

That’s good advice, but how do we do it? We encourage ourselves, we affirm what is true of us even when circumstances don’t seem to verify that truth. We affirm what is spiritually true of us as children of God. “I am kind. I am smart. I am important.” We affirm that good things are possible for us and that we even deserve them. We even affirm that God wants us to be blessed! New Thought teacher Emma Curtis Hopkins had two powerful prayer statements that I use in my own prayer life. She said, “There is good for me and I ought to have it!” And she would also say, “There is no mixture of evil with my good.” Plant positive seeds in your mind; cultivate those positive thoughts. That’s Peale’s advice, and it’s modeled for us in scripture.

Dr. Peale also said, “You become a worrier by practicing worry. You become free of worry by practicing the opposite…” Positive affirmations, optimistic self-talk is the practice of moving beyond fear and worry, it is the bold attempt to develop the habit of going to peace instead of to pieces, of summoning hope rather than fear, of imagining what good is possible rather than what disaster is probable.

No, our affirmations aren’t a silly game, nor are they a diversion from the harsh realities of the world. They are the way we instill hope in our hearts and that we remain focused on the possibilities of life. And that method of positive prayer often yields remarkable results.

That same kind of progressive, positive, and practical spirituality is present in both of our scripture lessons today.

In the book of Genesis, Joseph was his father’s favorite child. Joseph was not only daddy’s little baby, but he was given a special gift…a coat of many colors. And his brothers were annoyed by this. Now, traditionally we have been taught that what frosted their cupcakes about that coat is that only Joseph got one and they felt left out. But bible scholar Mona West tells us that such vibrant, multi-colored cloaks were often worn by young women. If this is true, then Joseph’s brothers aren’t mad that he got a gift and they didn’t; they’re mad that he’s cross-dressing in public! And their father encourages it, he even gave him the darn dress, er, coat of many colors. There’s quite a bit of drag in the bible, but that’s another sermon.

In an unimaginably reprehensible act, Joseph’s brothers abduct him, sell him into slavery, and tell their parents that Joseph was killed. Joseph grows up a slave in a foreign nation, and later he winds up in prison on a false charge. But somehow through all of this, Joseph finds reasons to celebrate life. He shares the gifts he has with others. He’s very good at analyzing dreams, and so he does so freely for whoever asks. His optimistic and generous attitude serves him well and he eventually not only is freed from prison but is elevated to a high government position. He has gone from slave to prisoner to national leader! Even when things look bleak, he is able to see God at work in his life and he trusts that good can come from apparent chaos. When his family comes to his adopted country looking for aid, Joseph is in a position to help them and again, he gladly gives what he can even to people who hurt him. He told his brothers, “What you meant for evil, God used for good.” That is the positive faith that we are trying to develop with positive affirmations.

We see positive spirituality at work in the Gospel story as well. Jesus at first doesn’t want to be bothered by this Canaanite woman who is asking him for help. And, a literalist reading of scripture would not condemn him. Deuteronomy 20.17 says, “You must completely destroy the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, & Jubusites…” If we are meant to take the bible literally, Jesus should have stabbed this woman on the spot! But instead, he simply ignores and insults her; but she won’t take that. Thank God we take the bible seriously rather than literally, and Matthew would say, “well done!”

The Canaanite woman affirms her sacred value, her human dignity. No matter what any scripture says, no matter what any religious person says, in spite of cultural prejudices, she insists that she and her daughter deserve to have the healing opportunities in their lives. She says, “Could you be bothered to show us the kindness or compassion that you would show to a little dog?” And because she affirmed her own sacred value, not only did she get the miracle she was seeking, but she helped Jesus grow and heal too.

Homiletics professor Barbara Lunblad says of this passage, “Jesus was converted that day to a larger vision of the Commonwealth of God.” Isn’t that what we all want?

By affirming God’s presence, by affirming God’s love, by affirming our sacred value, by affirming that possibilities exist beyond what we’ve experienced so far, we can develop the attitude that lets us see miracles riding on the waves of disappointment, healing following heartache, and blessings rising from the ashes of despair. One bad moment may lead to a new possibility and the painful moment then becomes part of a larger narrative that tells of our ultimate healing, success, and joy. But to get there, we have to practice relentless optimism, and we do that with our positive affirmations.

I can’t promise that every problem will be easily solved and I can’t promise that every heartache will be instantly healed, but I can promise that the possibility of peace beyond pain and hope beyond horror is very real, especially as we train ourselves to be more and more optimistic. And we build optimism just the way we established all of our attitudes, by consistent practice. What we think habitually we’ll experience eventually. And we can choose to think optimistically by developing the habit of affirming divine possibilities. And this is the good news! Amen.
© Durrell Watkins 2011

Affirmations
I am kind. I am smart. I am important.
I am a magnet for miracles.
There is good for me and I ought to have it!
And there is no evil mixed with my good.
Thank you God!
And so it is.

Final Word
“Affirm your divine selfhood; look the world in the face and fear nothing.” Emmet Fox

Do Something: Sink, Swim, or Walk on Water!
Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins
Sunshine Cathedral, Aug. 7, 2011

Jesus is walking on the water; he calls out to Peter to come join him. Peter takes a few steps but then begins to sink. Jesus pulls him up and takes him back to the boat. Matthew nudges Phillip and says, “Can you believe what we just saw?” Phillip says, “I know, right? Who knew Jesus couldn’t swim?!”

That sounds silly, but really, religious people can be that ridiculous. We are here to fill up on hope, to have an experience of unfettered joy, to find empowerment for our daily lives, and to share ourselves with the world so that it will be a better place. We are feeding the hungry and working for justice and helping people learn to love themselves and offering people hope in the most difficult moments of life; but sometimes, we find ourselves tempted to focus on all that’s wrong, or on all that isn’t to our personal liking rather than to rejoice in all that ways that we are sharing the light with the world.

If we have developed the habit of looking for the worst, then we may miss the miracles that we actually want and really need.

But our readings today challenge us to take a more positive approach to spirituality and to life, and the challenge seems to come with a promise that if we will look for and celebrate what is possible, we’ll find ourselves actually experiencing miracles along the way.

Notice that Matthew’s story happens during a storm. Storms happen. We try to be optimistic, of course, but optimism doesn’t keep us from knowing that sometimes there are storms in life. Matthew doesn’t tell us that we can make the storms go away; Matthew tells us that how we approach the storms in life can keep us from being dragged under by the raging wind and waves. Storms happen, but we can walk above the turbulence if we develop a positive faith.

Isaiah offers an image of feet on a mountain (and mountains represent the presence of God in scripture). Matthew offers an image of feet on the sea. Both suggest an experience of the Sacred. Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh suggests that any mindful moment is a Sacred moment. Whether Isaiah is speaking of walking on a mountain, or Thich Nhat Hanh speaks of walking on green grass, or Matthew imagines walking on water, they are each challenging their readers and hearers to do something, to step out in faith, to risk failure for the sake of growth and healing. Do we hear the spiritual teachers calling us to step out in faith, to do something whereby we will have to trust a power greater than ourselves, greater than our titles and our resumes and our bank accounts and our politics? Can we just say, as Peter did, “Lord save me!” and then allow the help to come?

Let’s look at some details of Matthew’s story. First, notice that when they see Jesus walking on water, did anyone immediately say, “Hey, look! That’s pretty incredible. I bet it’s something really good or at least pretty interesting.” No, before they even know what it is they assume the worst. Without any facts, and without even trying to gather any reliable information, they just decide that what they are seeing is a ghost.

Our fears (phantoms, ghosts, demons) sabotage our success. If we focus on the perceived monsters, they will seem more real to us than the power of hope, or the presence of Spirit, or the reserves of courage deep within us. The disciples are handling the real threat. They are managing to navigate the storm. The real danger isn’t that upsetting. When we face the facts, even if they are difficult facts, we can usually get through them; sometimes we even wind up better for having gone through the experience.

But what caused their panic was a false assumption, a lie, something they made up and then proceeded to treat as if it were true. The fear of a ghost is what almost did them in. Most fear is False Evidence Appearing Real. There’s no ghost in this story; there’s just Jesus doing something out of the ordinary, something that’s not been done before. It isn’t a tragedy; but the disciples’ negative way of responding to what they didn’t understand was pretty tragic. “Hey, this is new, this is different, it must be bad!” Nope, it’s just Jesus. Their fear was just false evidence appearing real.

Secondly, notice how ridiculous it was for Peter to panic. He shows a bit more courage than the others. He says, “If you are really our friend whom we can trust, then call me out there to do what you are doing.” And then he stepped out, trusting that he could do something amazing. But then he remembered he hadn’t done this before. He remembered this isn’t how things usually work, or how things used to be. He got caught up in the drama and the confusion and the fear and the negative perceptions, and all at once all that negativity overwhelmed him and he began to sink. But so what?

Peter, a commercial fisher, one who made his living from the sea, was undoubtedly an expert swimmer. His friends, also swimmers (with ropes and nets no doubt), were nearby, in a boat! How odd that he would panic when sinking! Why not simply swim back to the boat or call to his friends to throw him a line? OK Peter, you tried something new, and it didn’t work out the way you hoped. Why panic and make such a fuss? You tried walking on water… “A” for effort! And even if you fail at that, you still know how to swim, and if the currents are too powerful for you to swim, you still have friends who can throw you a line. Why be such a drama queen? Why start singing the blues at the first sign of difficulty. You still have options! Nothing about this situation has to be terribly upsetting, unless you choose to let your attitude defeat you. And it almost did.

Of course, the story is probably allegorical rather than historical. If the point of the story was that the laws of physics were arbitrarily broken once a long time ago, that wouldn’t be very meaningful to us in our own lives. But as an allegory for how we can respond to the challenges of life, it becomes a great encouragement. In the story, when Peter moved in faith, he had a measure of success. When he became overwhelmed by his fear, he started to sink.

The metaphor seems to suggest that if we focus on possibilities, more is possible. If we focus on limitations, then we will be limited. The storms don’t disappear, but our attitude toward them determines if we rise above them or start to drown in them. Faith is positive focus; fear is negative focus. Fear is just backward faith. What are we focusing on…the gossip, the drama, the lack and limitation, the perceived doom and gloom; or on hope and possibilities and achievement and joy. We are in charge of our focus…when Peter focused on the possibility of walking on water, he walked. When he focused on the probability of sinking, he sank. That doesn’t have to be historically factual for it to be obviously true for us in our own lives today.

The story borrows imagery from the Hebrew bible. Jesus walking on the water brings to mind images of Yahweh walking on the water. The story of Job says that “Yahweh alone…treads on the waves of the sea” (Job 9.8)
Jesus, filled with the light and power of God, can face the chaotic challenges of life (and thereby show us how we can as well). So we find ourselves encouraged, and we dare to hope, and we dare to find joy in spite of the wind and waves, and rather than drowning in our fears, we are lifted up and find ourselves renewed.

Matthew is writing half a century after Jesus’ execution, and a decade and a half after Rome destroyed Jerusalem and its Temple. It’s a chaotic, troubling time. Turbulent waters represent chaos, troubles, possible destruction. The deep sea could be navigated but not controlled or even predicted. In this instance, it represents danger, but it is a danger than can’t have the last word. Resurrection is the affirmation that chaos and destruction cannot have the last word. This is a resurrection image, Jesus rising above the chaos of the troubled sea. The writer of Revelation continues this theme when he imagines a new heaven and a new earth where “…there no longer was any sea” Revelation 21.1.

Before Matthew 14, we read in Matthew 9 “your faith has made you whole” (v. 22) and “according to your faith it is done to you” (v. 29). Matthew continues to repeat the theme that even when things are difficult, we can trust (have faith) in the power of God even when things are clearly beyond our control.

When Jesus says, “It is me” that Greek phrase can also be translated, “I am.” I AM is a way to understand the name “Yahweh” who walked over the sea at the Exodus (according Job 9.8). The power of God in us/with us is greater than the power of chaos. Matthew began his gospel by calling Jesus Emmanuel, which means “God with us.” Jesus represents the presence of God in our lives. He became so totally aware of that omnipresence that he could trust it no matter what was happening around or even to him. His faith in “God with us” is meant to inspire us to have faith in “God with us.” God is with us and in us, and if we really believe that then what is there to fear?

Peter took a step on the water. Probably not in any real, historical sense, but in the imaginative tale, the allegory that is meant to inspire us to have faith in God to help us with our challenges, we see Peter taking a step of faith into the roaring sea of chaos. When his courage left him, he became overwhelmed. And paralyzed with fear, he thought himself helpless.

But really, he was never helpless. He proved he could do the presumably impossible by taking even a step or two on the water. And even if he couldn’t take another step, he could swim; and even if the waters overpowered him, he had friends who could help him. He was never powerless. When he took a step of faith, he experienced amazing power. When he sank back into fear, he began to sink completely. That’s the lesson. Not that storms won’t happen, but that we can face them with faith. And as we pray faith-fully, contribute faith-fully, worship faith-fully, we find hope, peace, and courage. Faithfulness builds faith, and with faith we can attempt great things. We may sink, swim, or walk on water, but the faith is what will make a difference. And sink, swim, or walk on water, we can be sure that God is with us, and this is the good news. Amen.
© Durrell Watkins 2011

Affirmations
God is with me.
God is in me.
God is bigger than my perceived trouble.
I can trust God to help me face every challenge.
My faith in God sustains me now.
Alleluia!
Amen.

Final Word
“The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly alive.” Thich Nhat Hanh

A Holy Smack Down
Rev. Dr. Durell Watkins
July 31, 2011

The Gospel reading:
Of course some will believe the story is fictional, perhaps to suggest that God’s provision can take place when one doesn’t understand how it might, and/or that such provision is especially likely to be experienced or noticed when people are gathered in community for the purpose of worship or learning (as in the story).

Others will claim to believe the story can be understood literally as something that may have happened in actual history. The point of such an understanding might be that there are spiritual laws or principles (so called “higher” laws) that can be accessed to accomplish incredible things.

The traditional “liberal” interpretation is that as Jesus and his disciples shared what they had, even though it appeared to be much too little for such a large crowd, others may have been inspired to share what they had, and as each contributed what he or she could, then collectively there was enough to provide for everyone. Whether the story is factual or fictional, in either case the point would be that our sharing what we can really does make a difference in people’s lives.

The Gospel reading continued:
What is noticeable about the story, regardless of how the multiplication is understood, is that it begins with Jesus healing people, and the story ends with a possible healing reference as well.

The 12 disciples collect 12 baskets of broken pieces. The disciples had originally wanted to send the hungry people away. But as Jesus challenged them to be more generous than they thought they could be, they witnessed the provision miracle and then collected broken pieces…perhaps the brokenness of their own consciousness was healed/made whole as they learned that sharing accomplishes more than the one who shares might at first imagine possible.

Generosity requires trust (“faith”) which is why it is a spiritual discipline. Such practice can help us pick up the broken pieces of our lives and reintegrate them into a sense of wholeness.

The story, then, illustrates a sense of struggle in our own lives.

We struggle with our sacred texts. We must wrestle with the text to decide for ourselves if we believe it is fictional and yet still true in its moral guidance, or if it is literal and therefore offers us a glimpse into higher laws that we can literally use for our betterment, or if it is an allegory challenging us to move beyond our fear of scarcity so that we can participate in the circulation of divine supply that will bless us and others. We struggle with the text to get the most out of it, and as we bring our honest questions to the text, the text leads us to a sense of hope and empowerment.

Genesis Story: Jacob’s Wrestling Match
This reading is an obvious story about struggling.

This story is the inspiration for the title of my book: Wrestling With God Without Getting Pinned: Old Stories, New Thoughts, & Progressive Spirituality and is discussed in the book.

Some brief points upon which to reflect:
1. Jacob has two wives and two women servants with whom he has sexual relationships. We don’t have to condemn or condone his choices, but it is important to notice that the values and mores of Jacob’s culture differ greatly from our own. Perhaps it is inappropriate to use scripture to justify sexual prejudice when on its own terms, the bible often seems fairly permissive about sexual relationships. People who use the bible to condemn same-gender love or any expression of mutual, adult affection read much more into the scriptures than from them. The bible, on its own terms, is not as prudish as we have been led to believe.

2. Jacob’s spiritual wrestling is on-going…he will not give up until he receives his blessing.
He had stolen Esau’s blessing; but that doesn’t satisfy. He needs his own and now knows he deserves and can have his own. His blessing is to learn who he really is (“Israel”). To learn one’s own truth may be the richest blessing of all. Struggling with our texts, with our traditions, with our preconceived notions, with our prejudices, with our fears…such honest and courageous struggling leads to self-realization, self-awareness, self-actualization, the blessing of knowing oneself as part of God.

3. The story ends with the “sun” (symbolizing light/enlightenment) rising above him. If we’ll dare to struggle with our spirituality, if we’ll risk growing, changing, evolving, the sun of enlightenment will rise above, illuminating our lives, warming our hearts, and guiding us in the ways of fulfillment.

What are you struggling with today?
Have you been reluctant to seek medical treatment rather than trusting that through such treatment there could be healing or insight or comfort or relief?

Have you been reluctant to let yourself love or be loved because the familiarity of loneliness seems less frightening than risking rejection or loss?

Have you been reluctant to learn new things because new insights or new discoveries would almost certainly destroy the comfortable myth of certainty you have been hiding behind?

Have you been reluctant to trust God with your finances, your relationships, your happiness, your health, or any other area of your life? Do we sometimes hide behind tradition rather than saying, “God is omnipresent and within God there is all Good, therefore, nothing good is ever really beyond my reach.” Do we dare pray, “Dear God, I’m willing to give up my anxiety, my prejudice, my privilege, my grievance, my habit…I’m willing to lay down whatever has hindered me from growing spiritually and experiencing more joy in my life. I’m willing for you to heal my fears now and to help me move past whatever has been keeping my blessings from me. I’m willing to receive a miracle, knowing that miracles mean change.”

Whether we are struggling with old religious ideas, old fears, old prejudices, old problems, old hatreds, or new disappointments, new challenges, or new opportunities, the struggle can lead to a breakthrough.

If we will struggle with our fear of lack or scarcity until we hear the voice of Christ say, “give. Share. Feed them,” we might just find that trusting God with what we have to help something beyond ourselves actually heals us and helps us integrate the fragmented parts of our lives into a joyous whole.

If we will struggle with whatever is preventing us from living a Self-realized and God-realized life, then eventually the sun of enlightenment is bound to rise above us and shine rays of hope and healing into our lives. Are you ready for healing? For self-discovery? For a miracle? If you really are ready, then your time of struggle may be coming to an end, and the blessing you’ve longed for may just be at hand. And this is the good news. Amen.
© Durrell Watkins 2011

Affirmations:
I’m ready for a miracle.
I’m ready for healing.
I’m ready for self-discovery.
I’m ready to let God bless me abundantly.
Dear God, I’m ready.
Amen.

Seed Power
Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins (July 24, 2011)

I remember the chorus to a great old camp meeting song:
Oh I believe in miracles, I’ve seen a soul set free/What joy to see one learn to live, in grace abundantly I’ve seen the lily push its way up through the stubborn sod/Oh I believe in miracles for I believe in God.

My grandmother was the world’s best horticulturist. Her family ran a successful farm that suffered much less than many did during the Great Depression.

My grandmother became a teacher, but she always remembered fondly her childhood growing up on a farm and her great joy in life was to make things grow. In her hands common dirt was an invitation to bring forth life, and she did it better than anyone I’ve ever known.

Rose bushes, persimmon trees, grapes, cotton, peanuts, tomatoes, beans, purple hull peas, onions, strawberries, squash, okra, cantaloupes, watermelon, collard greens…if she liked it, she believed she could grow it. And she was right.

She knew that a tiny seed contained great potential. In fact, in a tiny seed there seemed to be almost infinite reserves of life just waiting, longing to come out.

Gardening was a lifestyle for her, a daily practice…it was part of her consciousness; and she was always planting seeds, nurturing her plants, watering them, weeding them, pruning the rose bushes and so on. She was lovingly diligent year after year, and her efforts produced an abundance of fruit, vegetables, and flowers. Life just flourished in her garden.

What makes for good horticulture also makes for good spirituality. If we think spirituality is just coming to church on Sundays, then when we get here, we’ll start looking for how church didn’t fill the void of our lives; rather than receiving the tools we can use throughout the week, we’ll just complain how this one hour didn’t magically make all our problems and unhappiness disappear. Church is an important part of our practice, but if our spiritual practice isn’t a daily event, a lifestyle, a matter of consciousness, then it will not really ever satisfy.

Our words, habitual thoughts, and our choices are the seeds we plant. And as we give of ourselves, like my grandmother gave so much of her time, energy, love and money…strangely, manure ain’t cheap…as we give more and more to the spiritual life, then we find that we reap the benefits of those daily disciplines.

One of the most amazing systematic theologians of the 20th century, Paul Tillich, called God the Ground of Being. He didn’t talk about God existing, but rather of God as existence. God wasn’t a being for Tillich, but was Pure Being, the Source of All Being, the Ground of Being.

Isn’t that a powerful thought? We grow out of divine ground. Our being is part of the Being we call God. We participate in that divine life when we sow good seeds into that holy Ground.

Ralph Waldo Emerson in one his famous essays wrote, “currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part and parcel of God…” Not unlike Mercer University Chancellor and Baptist theologian R. Kirby Godsey who tells us “we have always been and always will be part of God’s presence.”

St. Paul so trusted the accessibility and goodness of the divine Presence that he wrote to the congregation in Rome that the spirit, the presence, the power, the energy that God is, the spirit is present even in our weakness, even when we are overwhelmed by fear or uncertainty and we don’t even know what we want or need, we can barely do more than groan, even still the spirit is with us seeking to express through and as us, always reaching for the best. The spirit is the life that is trying to burst out of the seeds we plant, and that life is always reaching toward what is highest and best.

Sometimes we think we don’t have any spiritual seed to plant. Wrong! We are made in the image and likeness of God, filled with the spirit of God; when we show up a band of angels shows up with us! Our presence matters. We can show up.

The wisdom of 12 Step Meetings tells us, “Keep coming back…it works if you work it!” If all we can do is show up, then for God’s sake let’s do at least that much. Plant that one seed and give it a chance to have its divine life unleashed into manifestation.

Some people won’t let study be part of their spirituality. They think learning is boring, or they think they have nothing else to learn. Let me tell you how you know you have more to learn; because you’re alive. If you’re still living, there’s more for you to learn. Read Spirit & Truth. Take a Samaritan Institute class. Listen carefully to the sermons. Read the educational articles in the Sun Burst. Watch Sharing the Light on our You Tube channel. Learn something new, try on a new idea, dare to embrace a New Thought…you’ll be planting a seed and that seed will eventually bring a great gift back to you.

I remember Anne Atwell’s first religious education class she took with me years ago. She learned some things that she hadn’t planned on learning. But she planted a seed, and today she is a seminarian and a deacon and a future pastor in our denomination. Plant a seed and let it grow! It might just change your life.

At the end of his life, Jesus mused, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how I often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.” In his patriarchal culture, where women were considered secondary to men, how amazing that Jesus compares himself to a mother hen, describes his love for his people as a maternal love.

Can we learn something new? Can we dare to think in new ways? Can we be as courageous as Jesus in expressing the unconditional and all-inclusive love of God in radically new ways? That kind of liberating learning is a seed that will transform our lives, and when we are transformed, we can help transform the world.

Yesterday, there were people here early, and there were still people here late. People gathered at an obscene time in the morning to prepare for a yard sale. Why would people get up at 5 AM to work outside on their day off selling second hand stuff to passersby? Because they love their church, and they have discovered that faithfulness brings great spiritual rewards.

While the yard sale team was engaged in its ministry, others were busy as well. You may notice today that the grass, the hedges, the trees, the plants…the lawn is beautifully manicured, all by volunteers! Why would people spend so much time in the hot sun on their day off to make this place beautiful? Because service is a spiritual discipline and the love they give as service returns to them as joy.

Like the majority of you, I believe in the ministry of this church. I believe we can be a powerful force for justice and healing and change in the world. I believe there are lives that have been touched by the power of hope because we are here today. That’s something to which I can gladly commit.

I pledged 10% of my base salary to this church this year. I was thrilled yesterday when I was looking at my giving record to realize that before July is over, I have fulfilled that pledge already! I give some to other organizations too, but my primary commitment is to my spiritual home. I’m amazed at how good consistent, percentage giving makes me feel. In fact, just because I’ve reached my pledge goal early doesn’t mean I’ll stop giving. I now want to double what I’ve done so far. Why not? It gives me great joy! We took a pay cut this summer but I didn’t stop my giving and my quality of life hasn’t suffered one bit. I’m not complaining, I’m testifying! I’m celebrating! Because I have come to trust that my divine Source is unlimited; if one channel becomes temporarily blocked, that doesn’t diminish the Source, and the Source that provided for me up to now didn’t dry up! So I continue my spiritual practice of tithing to affirm my trust and my gratitude. Giving is an essential part of my worship. If you’re not there yet, don’t despair. I grew into it; you will too. Just keep planting your seed.

I also know that people have lost jobs, homes, insurance…for some people, the gas it takes to get here is almost a sacrifice. We honor your commitment and trust that as you give your best, whatever it is, you will feel good about participating in this amazing ministry. And when your situation improves, you’ll give more which will make it possible for others having a difficult time to benefit from our ministry.

Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” My heart is here, with you, and my time and my intellect and my love and my money will continue to pour into this great ministry because you are worth it and our world needs what we stand for and what we are trying to do in the name of God and for the cause of Christ. I’ll keep planting those seeds and I hope you will too.

We’ve looked at the seeds of worship, of learning, of service, and of generosity which are all important elements in a spiritual life. But there are other seeds to plant as well. What do you need in your life? Hope? Wisdom? Peace? Comfort? Joy? Plant the seed. Even if it seems little, plant it and let the miracle of growth take place. Express hope, right now. Plant that seed. Express gratitude, right now. Express compassion, right now. Affirm possibilities, right now. Plant those seeds, release the power that has been lying dormant within them, and expect that an abundant harvest of blessings is on the way. With words, thoughts, actions, choices, and feelings, we are planting seeds and the seeds will produce abundantly.

The Realm of Heaven is like a mustard seed which is tiny but has within it a big life just waiting to come out once it is planted. A little seed – plant the seed you have…the affirmation, the word of hope, the expression of gratitude, the gift of your presence, or your service…no matter how small it may seem plant the seed you have and trust that God can be expressed through your act of faith. Plant a seed, and know that you are calling for the miracle working power of God. This is the good news! Amen.
© Durrell Watkins 2011

Affirmations
In the Ground of Being, I am sowing seeds of hope.
I am sowing seeds of gratitude.
I am sowing seeds joy.
And I expect a miracle harvest.
Alleluia!
Amen.

Final Word
“The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our disposition, and not our circumstances. We carry the seeds of the one or the other about with us in our minds wherever we go.” Martha Washington

What Good is a Weed?
Sunshine Cathedral Metropolitan Community Church
Rev. Dr. Robert Griffin ~ Sunday, July 17, 2011

One of my early childhood memories of my mom was she and I walking through the garden. Our garden was about the size of this room with some of everything that you can imagine planted. Corn, butterbeans, black-eyed peas, yellow squash, collard greens, mustard greens, turnips greens, tomatoes, okra, and well you get the picture; you name it, we planted it, we grew it, we harvested it and we ate it. After all, raising 14 kids was not easy, but my mom and dad made it seem that way.

Now these walks through our garden were always interesting, because my mother and I would walk each very long row, looking at what was growing; making sure that the produce wasn’t being eaten by bugs or other creatures that would find their way into our patch. And as we walked the garden, if my mother spotted a weed she would make me reach down, because I was closer to the ground, and pull it out of the ground.

One day I surprised my mother by telling her that I had already walked the garden and pulled the weeds; to her shock I had pulled up a whole row of spinach. She asked why I had done that and I said, well they looked like weeds to me. In truth I hated spinach and it was my way of making sure we would not be eating spinach for awhile. My mother knew that I hated spinach so each week when it came time for my $1.25 for good behavior, she made me go to the store and buy a canned of spinach and I now prefer fresh spinach over canned spinach.

As I was reading over the passage for this Sunday my reflection drifted to just about every field or garden imaginable. I thought about English gardens, our own Cathedral Prayer Garden, so wonderful maintained by our volunteers, cotton fields, tobacco fields, back yard gardens, and the tomato planter that grows upside down. As I drove around town this week I paid particular attention to various homes or office buildings with beautiful gardens or landscapes. I also noticed places that were so overgrown that I couldn’t see what was under all the growth.

There were gardens that were striking because I imagined them to fit the design of their creator and all the parts fit together as a perfect picture. Various gardens were noticeable because there were no weeds to detract from the flowers or suck out their life. Seeing all of these beautiful gardens also reminded me that the world in which we live is not always so pretty; weeds are everywhere.

One scholar posed the question. “What makes one plant a weed and another a useful plant?” We know that weeds are wild. Like kudzi vine, weeds can grow and grow and just take everything over if left alone. You don’t have to plant a weed or cultivate a weed. Weeds are prolific. That alone however, does not give us enough evidence to say a plant is a weed. What makes a weed a weed is that, they just take up space! They produce no fruit to eat, no notable flower to speak of. They monopolize space that could be better occupied by a more useful plant. Sometimes, in nature you will find weeds growing when nothing else can grow.

For the sake of this parable today, I want to invite each of you to put on your work clothes with me and let’s go farming! The field that we are going to farm is right here this morning. Now let’s follow the parable this morning. The passage says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a [farmer] who sowed good seed in a field.” Positive, progressive, and practical seeds have been sown right here in our field, the field of Sunshine Cathedral MCC. We have people who have worked long and hard and have planted a field full of good seeds; good seed planting has been taking place for 39 years. But on this day, we’ve come in from a long day of farming, the sun beating down us, we’ve done hard work. So we eat and go to bed knowing that it has to start all over again tomorrow, working in the field. But that’s OK, because its work that we love and the harvest make its all worthwhile.

Next the parable says, “while we were sleeping our enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.” An enemy came and sowed weeds, life killing, beauty choking weeds that only take up space and try to prevent health and beauty from flourishing. What a cowardly act, under the cover of darkness to try to sabotage good work, to sow weeds among the good seeds that were planted so faithfully and with such devotion and hard work.

Sometimes those weeds are sown with anonymous hate-mail or with such exaggerated statements as, “everybody says” or “everybody feels” or “nobody likes”. Sowing discord and discontent, gossip and hatred, misinformation, threats, or insults…the weeds are sown to stifle the growth that the hard and faithful workers are trying to produce.

Some farmers sow seeds of hope and goodwill and unconditional generosity year after year. Some have been sowing seeds of hope and healing for decades, like Bob Horton, one of the longest members of Sunshine Cathedral –organized in the living room of his home. Thank God for people like Bob and others around him who remained faithful so that what they dreamed of and hoped for, a place where God’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgenderd, straight, young and old, multi-cultural, rainbow, queer family, could come to find an opportunity to grow, to practice spiritual discipline, to offer support and be uplifted and challenged and taught and empowered.

Farmer Bob and those like him planted the seeds of Sunshine Cathedral MCC. And I believe that we are the dream that Bob dreamed so long ago and I want to say to Bob and those who started out with him, that those who are now on watch will not let you and others down as we continue to move Sunshine Cathedral MCC boldly into the future. Our senior pastor in partnership with our Cathedral Board of Director has offered us an bold vision and we will stay the course with integrity, respect and due diligence under the grace of God so that this dream will never die! New people, new kinds of people, new programs, new ministries, new ways of Sharing the light with the world…that’s what we are committed to and nothing will prevent us from living the dream that God has given us.

There will also be those who want to throw some weeds in the field, but Jesus shows us how to deal with that so that the wheat continues to thrive. We will honor the dream by remaining positive and joyous and committed and far seeing and far reaching; the weeds will never permanently harm this fertile field of possibilities. The seeds of ministry and spiritual growth and devotion and diversity and justice have been sown, and we will not let anything keep those divine seeds from taking root and bearing fruit!

In all churches, in all families, in all communities, the wheat and weeds grow together. Some plant seeds of love and joy and hope and devotion to God and neighbor, seeds of justice and peace; and others throw in seeds of discontent, hatred, back biting, and jealousy. And sometimes, the weeds may get our attention more than the healthy plants and we may be tempted to ask, as in the parable, “Didn’t you sow good seeds in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?”

It’s just like saying if you had done things the way I told you, this would not have happened. If you had catered to my whims and demands instead of standing on principle and integrity that weed planter might not have tried to mess up your field. But weeds happen; they will always be with us. The trick is not let them overtake the garden, not let them choke the life out of the dream of growth, inclusion, expansion, demonstration, liberation, and healing.

Now what I love about this parable is that those who have worked in the field with the farmer asked, ‘do you want us to go and pull up the weeds. “‘No,’ [the farmer] answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

So what is about this weed in the parable that is so bad? The weed first all is allegorical. For me, the weed represents the injustice in the world. It is symbolic of all the things that hold us back from obtaining our full potential. It stands in the way. For me, weeds are nothing more than joy suckers. They will attempt to suck all joy right out of you. Weeds symbolize the haters, the blamers, the accusers, the attackers…those who try to deny justice to our community from the outside, and those who engage in destructive horizontal violence from the inside. Those who don’t respect women, who aren’t willing to examine and address oppression, who are more concerned about their privilege than for justice for all, who work to keep LBGT people marginalized and in the closet. And weeds are those who want to reduce spirituality to a private club instead of allowing it be an expansive movement that transforms society by transforming individuals. Anyone who resists transformation, who tries to sabotage transformation, who violently tries to keep others stuck in the past rather than allowing them to grow into a glorious future, those are weeds of the world and they are joy suckers not joy givers.

In the book of Proverbs, chapter 6, we read that there are a few things that God finds particularly detestable, including: a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush to evil and people who stir up conflict in a spiritual community. Those are some of the weeds in the divine garden that brings sadness to the heart of God.

So why don’t we do to the weeds what they have tried to do to our field? Our field of justice, or democracy, or spiritual growth, or right relationship, or generosity, or healing. Why not seek to destroy the weeds that tried to destroy the field? Why don’t we just go after them with Ortho or Weed Be Bone and try to destroy them?

One, it isn’t worth the trouble. Two, the Ortho might damage some of the good seeds. So we let it all grow together, and when we sort out who has done what and why, who has contributed joy and hope and healing and who has contributed bitterness, anxiety, and heartache, then we all see the good fruit and the bitter weeds. As scripture tells us, those who sow to the wind will reap the whirlwind. We are not punished for our sins, but we are punished by our sins. If we sow good seed, we reap a good harvest. If we sow weeds, weeds are likely to take over our hearts and our experience of life.

We don’t have act like weeds to overcome weeds; we just have to keep focused on the good seeds, the good plants, the good works, the good intentions, the good desires, the good energy, and at harvest time, the weeds will be separated out without doing too much damage to the overall crop.

The field work that I am calling each of us to today is in the field of Sunshine Cathedral because we’ve got work to do, we’ve got Positive, Progressive and Practical work to do in the field of Sunshine Cathedral. That work includes speaking well of our church, praying for our church, supporting our church with time, talent and treasure, inviting new people to our church, making new people feel welcome when they arrive, and refusing to listen to anything negative that would threaten to keep us from reaching out with the light of the gospel. Let’s get to work because we have a field to plant with good seeds that will never be overcome by weeds, and this the Good News!

Affirmations
Today I will begin planting new seeds in my life.
Today I will focus on what brings me joy.
Today I will focus on what brings me hope.
Today I will focus on what gives me life.
And so it is.
Amen.

Final Word
“Do not be afraid then. Trust in what you believe. Life can not invent a problem that you and God will not solve.” Bishop Steven Charleston

“Planting Gospel Seeds”
by Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins
July 10, 2011 Sunshine Cathedral

I grew up in an agrarian community, so I tend to perk up when scripture uses horticultural imagery. Our sacred texts are full of stories of vineyards and fields and harvest festivals and first fruits and barns of grain and sowing and reaping. Those stories come from rural people who had an intimate relationship with the land.

Before we get to the farming imagery of the gospel, we see Isaiah speaking of our words which become seeds that we plant in consciousness, and those seeds tend produce after their kind.

In the Isaiah pericope we see that words aren’t empty, but can be very powerful and should be used intentionally to achieve hope, healing, empowerment, and joy.

People who are in the habit of complaining, also find something to complain about.
People who are in the habit of gossiping, always find someone to gossip about.
People who expect the worst, are often not disappointed.
Our words and actions and thoughts and attitudes are seeds that we plant, and we water and nurture those seeds with constant repetition and we tend to reap what we sow.

But we can also use our speech to express hope, gratitude, goodwill, and appreciation. And those are also seeds that we nurture with repetition; and those more positive seeds also produce after their kind. Those who are consistently generous, fair, grateful, and optimistic also reap what they sow. The word does not return to us empty.

South African Hebrew Bible Scholar Juliana Claassens says of the Isaiah reading,
“The job description of the prophet [includes]…the ability to speak a life-giving word of hope when all the events seem to point to the contrary.”

We can easily enough see how “a word well spoken is like apples of gold on beds of silver” (Proverbs 25.11)

Are we the ones to sow appreciation, goodwill, optimism? Or are we the ones always trying to sow discord, trouble, discontent, and chaos? What sort of person do we want to be? Scripture would encourage us to plant fields of positive thought, speech, and action…and if we plant it, at least in some measure we are bound to get it back.

Now, in the Matthew passage, seeds are being sown too. The seeds in Matthew are good seeds…they are the seeds of Good News. But how well those seeds flourish depends on what kind of soil they fall on.

The farmer throws seeds on four different kinds of soil, but they can only flourish in the deep, healthy soil. On the footpath, birds eat the seed. On rocky soil, the roots aren’t nourished. In the thorns, the seeds are choked to death. But in the fertile soil, the seeds do well and yield an abundant harvest. The four different soils are really four different attitudes.

In the Matthew reading, the passage includes its own interpretation.

Matthew has Jesus explain the parable to us:
v. 19 – God’s Realm, or “kin-dom” is talked about and some people hear the message but they don’t understand it.

v. 20, 21 – Some hear about the divine kin-dom and love the idea of it but are not yet mature enough in their spiritual development to really “get” it and so they become overwhelmed when troubles come.

v. 22 – Some hear about the kin-dom but are too attached to privilege, pleasure, to habits, or even to conflict and drama to be really be part of the kin-dom.

v. 23 – There are those who hear the kin-dom message and they practice it, grow from it, and remain faithful to its vision. They reap spiritual benefits in abundance.

Other points to consider from the Gospel reading:

1. The word basileia is often translated as “kingdom” but is probably better translated as Rule or Realm. It is used to place God’s rule over against Caesar’s rule. God’s Realm is an anti-empire/a counter-empire. It is a blessed community, an egalitarian society, a “kin-dom.” Such a justice seeking kin-dom is what some have trouble hearing about or fully committing to.

2. The message is delivered in parable form. Parables (like myths) are fictional stories meant to convey spiritual truths. The parable/new creative tale shows the need for new ways of expressing the message so more people can really hear it.

3. Seedtime and harvest is an agrarian image that is frequently used in scripture. Sowing and reaping is never a one time event. EVERY YEAR, the farmer plants again, and reaps again. It is an on-going process. So is kin-dom teaching. As we read in Isaiah, we must continue to send the word of hope, trusting it will accomplish something good.

4. We may not all be able at the same time to make the most of the kin-dom message, and yet it is available to us whenever we are able to embrace it. We at times may be hard headed, hard hearted, or otherwise “thorny” but the seed of hope is constantly spread. If we didn’t “get it” this time, planting season will come around again and our soil/soul may then be more receptive. Grace is never exhausted. God, the ground of being [Tillich], would never/could never stop offering all of us all that It has and all that It is.

And this is the Good News. Amen.

Affirmations
I am sowing seeds of hope today.
I am sowing seeds of joy today.
I am sowing seeds of goodwill today.
I am sowing seeds of abundance today.
May our good seed fall on fertile soil.
And may we receive a 100 fold return.
Amen.

“With every deed you are sowing a seed, though the harvest you may not see.” Ella
Wheeler Wilcox