Presby-Musings

Some days, it's just hard to get out of bed.   Granted, the older I get, the more difficult it is to get my limbs to cooperate when I first rise.  Everything pops and cracks like the floor of an old house when you walk on it.   But it's more than just the discomfort of joints and aching muscles that makes me want to stay in bed some days---it's a sense of dread or of feeling overwhelmed by the day ahead.   Sometimes, it's the lingering effects of whatever kept me up the night before, too.  Over the past months, I have had more than a few nights when my thoughts were spinning, ideas forming, plans swirling, and worries abounding, and I lay awake, knowing that sleep wouldn't happen for a while.   I think too much... I think.   I'm not alone in this. I'm certain that more than a few of you are reading this Devo today who resonate entirely with what I'm saying.   I read a beautiful prayer the other day by Kate Bowler (who...

Recently, the language tutoring company Preply conducted a survey asking some interesting questions.  The first question was how often they shared words of support and affirmation with others.   Of those polled, 42% said they share words of support with others daily.  I found that number fascinating because it could have been much lower, considering the lack of civility in our current culture.   The other question that sparked my attention was, "What words or phrases of support or affirmation do you like to hear the most?"   Overall, three simple phrases topped the list of words they like to hear: “I’m proud of you,” “You’ve got this,” and “I believe in you.” Following up in fourth, fifth, and sixth place were “You’re doing great,” “I’m here for you,” and “You can do it,” respectively.  Some readers might recall the book and course accompanying "The 5 Love Languages." The "languages" included Physical Touch, Words of Affirmation, Deeds of Ser...

One of the many issues that have emerged in our post-pandemic culture is that in our eagerness to put all of the trauma of the pandemic behind us, we've never really taken stock of the collateral damage that still exists in our society.  One such area of concern for sociologists and psychologists is the lack of meaningful connections between people, which can result in ever-increasing isolation, loneliness, and a deterioration of mental health.  We live in an age of anxiety.  More people are walking around with low-grade depression than at any other time in U.S. history.   And for Jesus-followers this presents a unique opportunity to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world, if we are willing to embrace it.   Recently, I read a remarkable passage from a book by Kate Bowler, who addressed this very thing:  Our neighbors are expressing an aching desire to feel less alone, needing language for the pain they've experienced, searching for meaning a...

The Season of Lent  The Scriptures help us paint a picture of Lent that is filled with signs and wonders for those who are willing to see them.  They help tell the story of just how far God is willing to go to rescue those whom God loves.   Today Is The Third Sunday of Lent  We’re going to glimpse one of the central points of the Apostle Paul’s understanding of the Gospel and discover a new way of seeing the Cross.  First, let me ask you a question.  Is The Cross More Than A Symbol? I'm sure that most of us in here today would answer an emphatic "Of course!" but practically speaking, I wonder if we truly see it that way.   There are crosses everywhere in our culture, and sometimes they are found in the most unlikely places.   Strangest places to see a Cross  What is behind the use of the Cross in so many different ways? Why do people who don't even really buy into Christianity find something compelling about them?  Use the...

I posted a verse in my notes a couple of years ago, and I have glanced at it scores of times but never felt the urge to reflect on it until today.  Here it is:  "Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out from their distress; he made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed." Psalm 107:28-29 There's something about that verse that is both troubling and comforting at the same time.  First, let me address the comforting part.  We all want to know that when the storms of life are bearing down on us, and the waves of trouble and challenge keep crashing and sending us spinning and gasping for air, God isn't here to calm the storm and lift us to safety.  But what about when we cried out to God in our trouble, and the storm didn't let up?  What about the moments when we felt like we were drowning and the waves didn't relent?   So the troubling aspect of this verse is that there are storms, which don't often abat...

We are often our own worst critics when it comes to the way we see ourselves.  I know that I am.   A cinema reel plays in my imagination of everything I have messed up or done wrong on any given day.  And this is often accompanied by a chorus of voices telling me I'm not enough.  The chorus seems like a combination of my voice but at different stages of my life.  You might wonder about my sanity, but I've talked to enough people to know that I'm not alone in how I critique myself.  We all have our own methods, both real and imagined.  I've read enough of the letters of the Apostle Paul in the New Testament to know that he struggled with the same kind of inner criticism that many of us do.   Even though he seemed confident in most of his writing about himself, his purpose, and his faith, Paul also admitted to having doubts, fears, struggles, and a need to "die" to himself daily.  This resonates with me because there are days when I n...

  I'm getting weary of bad news.   I'm also weary of how much bad news there is lately.   When you peruse the headlines and significant stories that are making the rounds every day, it's easy to recall the wisdom of Don Henley from his 1980s hit "Dirty Laundry:"  We got the bubble-headed bleached-blonde,   comes on at five She can tell you 'bout the plane crash with a gleam in her eye It's interesting when people die Give us dirty laundry And then there is the fake outrage that permeates the cable news channels as people square off in their little boxes on the TV screen, shouting over one another, ratcheting up the rhetoric, and doing their dead-level best to retain viewers by ensuring them they have a right to be anxious and outraged over one damn thing or another.  The problem is if all you are getting is a steady diet of phony outrage, manipulated facts, and deeply partisan politics, you can rightly assume that the world is going to hell and a ...