My summertime church sometimes has a penitential prayer at the beginning of the Sunday service. It is called “The Collect for Purity.” It is a short prayer with an interesting request to the Lord. Here it is:   

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets 
are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your 
Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your 
holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

It is recited by the congregation and is seen as preparation for receiving the Eucharist. While it is called the Collect for Purity, the word purity is not mentioned in the prayer. However, the words of the prayer set the example for purity in our lives with of goal of loving God perfectly and bringing Christ’s holy Name to the world.  

Purity seems a little old-fashioned in today’s world; we don’t hear about it very often. No one makes a big deal about it anymore. We talk about pure food and pure water and are these forms of purity are important for our well-being. However, we don’t think about purity in our actions, our thoughts and our speech. Would my life be different if I began to practice purity in my thoughts, words, and deeds. You bet! 

We might think about purity in relation to sexual behaviors, but not necessarily in the car when someone cuts you off and you respond with a line of abominable words. Or at the supermarket when Mom and three kids are struggling to get through the checkout line and she has to write a check. And you roll your eyes and sigh. There are a number of ways that I can practice purity (or not). 

But why do I want to practice purity. Purity assists me to have a right relationship with God. I need purity to have that relationship. Sin of any kind interrupts the relationship. I know that I cannot be perfect; you cannot be perfect, sorry to tell you. Only God is perfect, but the practice of purity puts us on the right track to a wonderful working relationship with God.  

When I was a child, I put a great deal of effort into keeping my speech pure. Okay, I went to a catholic school and had diligent nuns who helped with that practice. My mother and father and grandparents helped with that practice. I wanted to be good for them and for God, so I tried to keep my language pure. 

I did a pretty good job until I grew older and away from the concept of purity. I didn’t need that old-fashioned value. I wanted to be cool and fit in with others who used whatever words they wanted. It started on the golf course, when I missed an easy shot. It grew as people were not shocked or didn’t correct me. It continued to grow until I became aware that my language was an affront to God and embarrassing to me. I’m working on it, but I don’t always succeed.  

I think that I will tack this little Collect for Purity on my bulletin board and say it every day as a reminder that God loves me unconditionally all the time (just like He loves you!) and I want to please Him! He is my Father, and I want to demonstrate my love and thanksgiving for all He has sent my way. Amen! 

Terri 

Sometimes you get overcome by something your read. Johannes Tauler (1300-1361)  was a German Dominican preacher. Reading his sermons had a tremendous impact on Martin Luther. This is a quotation from a sermon of his on Holy Communion.

Those “who find the depth of their soul and their intentions pure and whose aspirations are directed wholly toward God will receive the greatest fruits for the Blessed Sacrament; nothing will put them off, nothing will shatter their trust in God, no matter what He sends them or takes away from them. . . . It is God they love, and it is Him they have in mind. They sink into Him, seeking not His gifts but Him only . . . In such people the Blessed Sacrament affects a noble and glorious transformation.”

Reading that made me think. When was the last time I went to Communion with the expectation that God would transform me. I go to Communion, of course, for the forgiveness of sins as I was taught in the Small Catechism. But is that all I should expect? Shouldn’t I expect to come from the altar made into a new person? I should expect that, but I don’t. I sadly expect life to go on pretty much the same after I commune as before. And that’s wrong.

The sign of change in me lies, I think, in Tauler’s words, “they sink into [God] seeking not His gifts but Him only.” To desire  God, not what God can give me or do for me, but desiring only God. This is the fruit of the sacrament.

Read John 6:56 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne

We had been promised rain – for weeks. It hadn’t come. Lawns are brown and crispy. Flowers are limp and lifeless. The lake level is dropping drastically.

Saturday morning dawned sunny and bright. The temperature was hot. The atmosphere was humid. No rain last night. However, as I looked across the lake, I could see dramatic storm clouds over the Adirondacks. I could hear the thunder’s low roll. I could see the darkening sky. I knew what that meant. The storm was coming.

Watching a thunderstorm roll in across the lake is quite an event. The sky turns from bright and clear to dark and ominous. The temperature drops by about 20 degrees. The wind increases its velocity. White caps appear in the water and boats race for shelter. You can watch the storm clouds and accompanying rain move majestically across the bay. The clouds are dark gray; the rain appears as a solid curtain of white.

It’s a big bay. This storm allowed me plenty of time to prepare for the onslaught and to appreciate the power and majesty of the Creator’s work. I am in awe of thunderstorms and the ferocity of the wind. Only a Power much, much greater than mere man could design and produce such an event.

Storms contribute to my relationship with God as another element in my wonder list. For me, there is no small storm, no insignificant rainfall, no meaningless wind, no routine sunny day. The weather that occurs each day is another cause for wonder and gratitude for me. I cannot and will not take them for granted.

The storm did, indeed, make its way across the lake and bay, bringing with it some needed, but not enough rain to the Champlain Valley. It was not a violent disruptive storm, but one of gentle rain and moderate wind. I am still waiting for the deluge.

While I wait, I remind myself that although I am not privy to the why’s of the weather, it does not matter. The only thing that matters is that I am loved by my Creator. Just as you are loved – unconditionally.

Terri

In May 1992, having just graduated from the Enlisted Bandleader Course, I was sent to
Navy Band New Orleans. I was delighted that one of my best mates from Navy Band San
Francisco was there, along with others I knew after ten-plus years as an MU (Musician). Sadly,
Gary and his wife were being transferred to Italy. But he had brokered a little deal with the
detailer, that after 2-3 years, he could come back to New Orleans to finish his Naval career.
They also didn’t want to sell their house, so they asked if we would like to be
caretakers/renters of their home. It was the biggest place, an actual house, that the three of
us had lived in to date
.
Now, there was an interesting…quirk to their home. You see, Gary had painted their
backyard fence in three colors: green, purple, and yellow. Mardi Gras colors. It just so
happened that their house was on the incoming landing pattern for planes flying into Naval
Air Station Belle Chasse. You guessed it. Pilots used the fence as a reference point. A
navigational beacon.

There have been many in my life. Remember when we got to where we were going by
identifying landmarks? Whether traveling by water using lighthouses, buoys, and channel
markers; by air using Mardi Gras-colored fences, or by highway using road signs and buildings,
we would be quite lost without navigational beacons. Each of us has a spiritual North Star,
connected with an emotional place of safe harbor. With all of the craziness a-stir in this post-
modern society, it is crucial to our mental well-being to have a higher power, a compass, a
GPS (God’s Positioning System) to guide us to our true home. That is with the blessed Trinity.
A creating Parent, a guiding Spirit, and a befriending Son, the combination of which will never
lead us astray. Unconditional love is the tailwind, the downstream, the gas in the engine for
our journey.

Pastor Art

A friend has entrusted her Peace Plant to me for the summer, while she is away.  Now I must confess that my green thumb is suspect.  Some of my plants have thrived, some, not so much.  But now, I feel a sense of responsibility.  I must return it in the fall in good condition.  I don’t have the option of saying, oh it’s just a plant, as I toss the withered remains away. 

What to do?   I put it in a good light window with no harsh sunshine.  I check the soil regularly for moisture.  I even talk to it; someone told me plants thrive on carbon dioxide.  Who knows? I’ve never had a Peace Plant, so I don’t know about its idiosyncrasies.  Apparently, it is a tropical plant, so it likes moisture on its leaves.  Aha, I need a spray bottle.  And it seems that brown tips on the leaves reflect overwatering.  Oops, better be careful.  This is a challenge.

I’m beginning to appreciate all that my Lord needs to do to take care of me.  When do a need a boost?  When do I need comfort?  When do I need to be redirected to my Bible for a generous portion of spiritual food?  Fortunately, my all-knowing Savior knows just what to do and when.

Care comes in all forms.  Whether it’s the care we give to each other, the care our Lord generously gives to us, or the simple care of a small plant.  Our Lord gives the perfect care, his ready and unconditional love.  Caring for each other always works best when it’s accompanied by our love.  As for the Peace plant, we’ll see.  I’ll keep you posted.

Judy

Ok, think sphere, bubble, globe,…perhaps even “bubble boy” from the Seinfeld show. Hoping you get the picture of an even more enormous sphere and now see yourself floating inside of it. The sphere, of course, is God.  He has chosen you and you are His. You can feel safe with Him surrounding you in your “sphere of Him.”  You have free will.  You can make poor decisions. You are human and definitely not perfect, BUT you are surrounded by the “sphere of Him.” As I have yet again, visualized myself floating around in His care, I realize I am loved unconditionally by Him.  I am within His realm of healing and forgiveness in this sphere.  I can freely choose to accept these bountiful gifts of His grace, or I can waste my time checking out the scenery and looking for the escape hatch.

Psalm 139: 1-6 “God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand. I’m an open book to you; even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking. You know when I leave and when I get back; I’m never out of your sight. You know everything I’m going to say before I start the first sentence.
I look behind me and you’re there, then up ahead and you’re there, too—your reassuring presence, coming and going. This is too much, too wonderful—I can’t take it all in!”

God is real! He has created you and knows you inside and out.

Jill

Most television commercials are pretty boring, but once in a while an entertaining one comes along. In one of my favorites, which you may have seen (it can be found on YouTube), a groundskeeper is painting the end zone of a professional football stadium. He stands up, looks at his handiwork, and in shocked disbelief says, “Kansas City Chefs?” In case you’re not a football fan, very few behemoth football players would like playing on a team called the “Chefs”, and the name of the Kansas City team is the “Chiefs”. The groundskeeper then utters one of the best expletives of all time, “Great Googly Moogly.” In case you think this could only happen in a commercial, students at a mid-western university recently looked up at their newly painted water tower only to find that they were now attending “Wichita Staty University.”

The problem is that by overly concentrating on details and failing to look at the big picture, we can easily make errors; ironically those errors are often in the details. Sometimes the details even prevent us from addressing bigger issues. As that great philosopher Pogo said, “It’s hard to drain the swamp when you’re up to your waist in alligators.”

In our religious life it is also easy to focus on little details instead of enjoying the wonder of God’s grace. For example, the differences between denominations are often little details (some now forgotten) that hinder the bigger New Testament message. The same can happen to us in our personal religious lives, and it can lead to hypocrisy. Jesus pointed this out in Matthew 23:24 when he said, “You strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.” He was speaking to the Pharisees who paid tithes of mint, dill and cumin, but forgot to practice justice, mercy and faithfulness. Please look at the big picture and remember that God loves YOU unconditionally.

By the way, I think the commercial failed in its bigger purpose. Can you remember what was being sold? It was Snickers candy bars.

Jim

Here is a simple explanation of my ongoing conflict between my will and God’s will for me. I don’t think that any more needs to be said. 

Do you feel a conflict with God’s will? Trust in the God who loves you unconditionally and have a good week! 

Terri 

I am by nature naughty. Not evil, but mischievous. Every year I write a report to the Bishop about what I did as a retired pastor the past year. Since I question whether anyone reads my drivel, I  answer one question in Latin. No one has noticed this naughty peculiarity of mine.

Though I have been taught Greek, Hebrew and a smattering of French and German, I am almost illiterate in these languages. I am a tad better at Latin. I was reading a sermon with the Scripture text given in both English and the Vulgate Latin. It was 1 Peter 3:9, “Beloved, be you all of one mind in prayers” or, in Latin, “Carissimi, estote unanimes in oratione.” Carissimi, beloved, got to me. I would have translated it, “Dearest Ones.” So St. Peter addressed his flock as Dearest Ones. What if  I started my blogs that way?

It’s hard to translate things. In his Christmas hymn “From Heaven Above,” Martin Luther prays to Jesus as “mein herzliebes Jesulein” usually translated “my dearest little Jesus.” But “mein herzliebes” is more like “my heart’s love” or “my dear heart.”  It has overtones of affection and tenderness. How many people today would address God as “my dear heart”?

I don’t know if it is being American or living in the 21st century that has caused us to shudder at the intimate language that Christians once used to address God and each other. Do you find it a loss or an improvement? Or am I being naughty even bringing up the subject?

Read Philippians 2:1-2 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne

I’m feeling sentimental this week. You see, tomorrow marks a special day in our family. Our first-born son arrived on Sunday, August the 14th in 1966. It was still the wee hours of the morning when I woke my hubby to say that the time had come. It was exciting. It was overwhelming. We knew absolutely nothing about caring for a baby. What an adventure it would be!

God was good. He took two naïve parents and one small infant, and molded us into a family. We didn’t always get it right, but He picked up the pieces and helped us on our journey.

Now, 59 years later, I am amazed at the wonderful man whom I am honored to call son. I’m proud of his accomplishments, fulfilled to watch him wisely raise his own family, and gratified to see the compassion that guides his decisions.

God has blessed us more than we could begin to imagine. Day by day, year by year, He has taken our weakness and ineptitude and strengthened us with His wisdom and love. There is no word for thank you that is strong enough to express the gratitude we feel.

His love has been unconditional every day! His love is still unconditional! Don’t ever underestimate the power of His unconditional love for You!

Judy

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” Titus 3:4-5