For Such A Time As This 041620 – Marti Shaak
To the Good Folk of the Palmyra Church of the Brethren,
“Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.”
Pope John Paul II
For Our Prayers:
If you have a joy or concern you would like us to share and pray about, please call, text or email it to me. If you would like it included in our Sunday Worship sharing and prayer time, please share it with me that week by Friday morning.
Let’s Do the Wave Video Extended Invitation:
Contact Bethany at bhoffer@palmyracob.org or call/text 937-417-5938 if want to be included in an updated video that will be released in about two weeks. We would love to see you! Join the fun!!
Reminder:
If you know someone who does not have email, please call them, and offer to read this email to them and share this devotion with them. And, check in on how they are doing.
Today’s Devotion:
I am thankful to Marti Shaak for providing today’s devotion. Marti invites us to live in the moment of each day. If you wish to respond to Marti directly, her email address is mjshaak@gmail.com.
Shalom,
Dennis
Scripture - Genesis 1:1-4
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
Thoughts:
As a choir director, I had often suggested to choir members that they should look at the director. A discussion usually followed about the speed of light compared to the slower speed of sound, along with the admonition that if a singer or ringer waited until they heard it was the right time to sing or ring, their entrance was already too late. Choir members knew that in the context of musical performance the speed of light and timing were integrally related in the natural order of things.
You are invited today into a contemplative moment about light and time. It is suggested that time is a construct of the human mind - in our humanness, we need to assign a beginning and an end to things. Where and when did the virus begin? When will its impact end?
Imagine if you could hop on board a vehicle that would travel the same speed as light. From this perspective, light travels no distance and it takes zero time to do so. There is no before and after, there is only the here and now. While a physicist could explain this better than a musician, we can all use our spiritual imaginations to consider how we might come to value the present moment for what it is rather than focusing exclusively on the idea of when it might end. The Mystics of East and West have written extensively about this idea helping us to live each moment as a gift in the great mystery of both the universe and our own spirits.
Take some time this week to watch a sunrise, observing how the sun moves throughout the day, and how the moon reflects the sun’s light even when we can no longer see the sun beyond the horizon. Live in the light of the moment, looking for the small things that bring deep meaning to that moment. Name those things with gratitude and enfold them into your heart.
Prayer:
Creator God,
Make our worlds into safe places for living, interacting with one another and contemplating the universe at our fingertips. Help us continue to find ways to be our sisters’ and brothers’ keepers. Let us hold each other “up to the Light” in each moment as we go through these days.
Amen
“Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.”
Pope John Paul II
For Our Prayers:
- The uncle of Cindy Weatherholtz, a brother to Ruth Ann Heisey, who tested positive for COVID-19, and has been on a ventilator and dialysis in intensive care, is now off the ventilator, is breathing on his own, is sleepy but alert, and (thanks to his nurse) will be Facetiming with his wife yet today. Let us lift prayers for thanksgiving and continued healing!
- Deb (and Scot) Blouch ask for prayers for the family of Deb’s maternal uncle Arthur Sanborn, who passed away on Saturday. Also, prayers for the family of Deb’s sister’s brother-in-law, Denny Hetrick, who passed away on Wednesday. Denny is survived by his wife, son and four stepchildren. Neither death was COVID-19 related.
- Joy and Randy Derck ask for prayers for their friend, Tania Wilforth, who was taken to a hospital in Pittsburgh due to septic shock. Tania visited PCOB twice with them this past autumn.
- Paul and Pat Miller want to “thank our loving church family for the beautiful cards and phone calls we received in celebration or our 65th wedding anniversary. It really made the "Stay at Home" day special. Thanks to all and May God Bless.”
If you have a joy or concern you would like us to share and pray about, please call, text or email it to me. If you would like it included in our Sunday Worship sharing and prayer time, please share it with me that week by Friday morning.
Let’s Do the Wave Video Extended Invitation:
Contact Bethany at bhoffer@palmyracob.org or call/text 937-417-5938 if want to be included in an updated video that will be released in about two weeks. We would love to see you! Join the fun!!
Reminder:
If you know someone who does not have email, please call them, and offer to read this email to them and share this devotion with them. And, check in on how they are doing.
Today’s Devotion:
I am thankful to Marti Shaak for providing today’s devotion. Marti invites us to live in the moment of each day. If you wish to respond to Marti directly, her email address is mjshaak@gmail.com.
Shalom,
Dennis
Scripture - Genesis 1:1-4
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
Thoughts:
As a choir director, I had often suggested to choir members that they should look at the director. A discussion usually followed about the speed of light compared to the slower speed of sound, along with the admonition that if a singer or ringer waited until they heard it was the right time to sing or ring, their entrance was already too late. Choir members knew that in the context of musical performance the speed of light and timing were integrally related in the natural order of things.
You are invited today into a contemplative moment about light and time. It is suggested that time is a construct of the human mind - in our humanness, we need to assign a beginning and an end to things. Where and when did the virus begin? When will its impact end?
Imagine if you could hop on board a vehicle that would travel the same speed as light. From this perspective, light travels no distance and it takes zero time to do so. There is no before and after, there is only the here and now. While a physicist could explain this better than a musician, we can all use our spiritual imaginations to consider how we might come to value the present moment for what it is rather than focusing exclusively on the idea of when it might end. The Mystics of East and West have written extensively about this idea helping us to live each moment as a gift in the great mystery of both the universe and our own spirits.
Take some time this week to watch a sunrise, observing how the sun moves throughout the day, and how the moon reflects the sun’s light even when we can no longer see the sun beyond the horizon. Live in the light of the moment, looking for the small things that bring deep meaning to that moment. Name those things with gratitude and enfold them into your heart.
Prayer:
Creator God,
Make our worlds into safe places for living, interacting with one another and contemplating the universe at our fingertips. Help us continue to find ways to be our sisters’ and brothers’ keepers. Let us hold each other “up to the Light” in each moment as we go through these days.
Amen
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