Presby-Musings

We're continuing our devotional series on things Jesus never said, and that can't be found in the Bible, but we've always assumed he did, and they are.   Remember when vending machines were everywhere?  Back in the day, you could get just about any kind of food from vending machines.  They aren't as ubiquitous as they once were, but you can still find them here and there.  I always hated it when the vending machine I'd chosen to use malfunctioned and got my candy bar stuck. Or worse, the vending machine would inexplicably drop the wrong candy bar.  I'd order a Snickers or a Baby Ruth, and out would come an Almond Joy.  I can't stand coconut candy bars.   I'm thinking about vending machines this morning because I think that a lot of us treat God like some sort of divine vending machine.  We put our coins in and expect a reward.  And we despair to no end when an Almond Joy comes out instead of what we wanted.  (You can substitute...

Today we'll continue our series on things Jesus never said by examining a phrase many people probably think comes straight from the Bible.   “God helps those who help themselves.” It sounds biblical. In fact, many people are surprised to discover that it isn't in the Bible at all. It actually comes from Ancient Greece, some four centuries before Jesus, coined by playwrights and philosophers and even found in Aesop's famous fables.  And there's another problem, which is even more important to point out. It doesn't sound much like Jesus. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus encounters people who cannot help themselves. Blind Bartimaeus sits beside the road crying out for mercy. A paralyzed man has to be carried to Jesus by his friends. Lepers approach Jesus because they cannot heal themselves. Hungry crowds have no food. A woman caught in adultery has no defense. Even the disciples find themselves in a storm they cannot control. Again and again, Jesus meets people at the lim...

Today, we are going to start a new devotional series for the week about things we say or assume came from the Bible, particularly from the Gospels, and from the mouth of Jesus himself, that he simply never said.  To be fair, there are more than five days' worth of things people assume are in the Bible but aren't, but we'll focus on just five, starting with a doozy:  "Everything happens for a reason."   Let's start by reading what is arguably the shortest verse in the Bible.   “Jesus wept.” — John 11:35 When something terrible happens, we want an explanation. Maybe that is why we reach so quickly for the phrase, “Everything happens for a reason.” We mean well. We want to reassure someone that their pain has a purpose—that somewhere behind the tragedy, God has a plan. It's easy to make that assumption when you read some of what Jesus says in John's Gospel.  Out of the four Gospels, it's the one where Jesus most often seems to have a plan.  But somet...

“Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” — Mary Oliver I couldn't help myself; I had to include the above quote from poet Mary Oliver, even though I used one of her lines this week.   There is a difference between being awake and being awake to life . We can move through an entire day barely noticing it. Wake up. Check the phone. Drink the coffee. Drive the familiar route. Complete the tasks. Answer the messages. Watch something. Go to bed. Repeat. Nothing is necessarily wrong with any of it. In fact, some routines and rituals are life-giving and comforting. But if we go through our routines without being alert and awake to the world around us, we miss out on living more fully.   Jesus repeatedly tells his disciples to pay attention. “Consider the lilies of the field” (Matthew 6:28). Look at them. Notice them. Jesus saw things other people hurried past: birds, flowers, children, widows, beggars, farmers, seeds, bread, vineyards...

Today we continue our devotional series on what it means to live fully alive by exploring what it means to fully embrace the one precious life we have been given.   Every morning, as part of my own devotional time, I read a poem from Mary Oliver's collection of poems entitled "Devotion."  Her poetry truly gives me something to ponder every single day.  Her favorite subject is nature, and she sees divine beauty in Creation and the lessons that beauty teaches us.   I'm always amazed by the depth of her poetry, and how even the simplest things she observes in nature hold the most profound truths.   Take, for instance, this line from her poem "The Summer Day."   “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Oliver's question is both beautiful and unsettling. This is your one life. Not the life you might have lived if you'd made different decisions. Not the life you'll begin someday when circumstances finally coop...