For Such A Time as This July 14, 2020 – Dennis Lohr

To the Good Folk of the Palmyra Church of the Brethren,

Joys and Concerns

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.

Prayer Request

From Lori Walmer: Please pray for Rich and Kathy Nornhold and family. Their 16-year-old son Seth was in a terrible automobile accident on July 3rd and passed away on July 10th. The Norholds are members of Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren where Seth was a very active tech crew member as well as an amazing drummer. Let's hold this church family in our prayers as well. Some of our young adults may remember Rich as a workcamp advisor at the Springfield, Illinois workcamp in 2012. As Seth was a well-respected student at Donegal High School and member of the marching band, please also keep this community in your prayers. I will always remember Seth's kind heart and give thanks for his choice to be an organ donor when he became a licensed driver just a few weeks ago. As someone else said, "someone has gained a beautiful heart."

Thank You: 

To all who call others to check in on them and share our emails and devotions.

Today’s Devotion:

I have written today’s devotion. I hope you find it helpful.      

Shalom, Dennis

Scripture – Romans 8:37-39

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Thoughts

Do you ever feel as if you are “going batty?”  It’s an expression based on how bats fly, darting here and there, almost as if they are flying blind.  In fact, there is another expression, “blind as a bat.”  I’ve had numerous moments in the past months where I wondered if I was “going batty.”  Perhaps you have too.  We are in a confusing and disorienting time.

I wondered if “bats” are mentioned in the scriptures.  They are, but only three times.  Twice in lists of “unclean” foods, and once in a text telling us that trying to hide from God is like crawling into a rock crevasse where bats live.  It didn’t sound like a good place to go.

But here’s the thing about bats.  They are not blind.  Some species of bats have excellent eyesight.  Those that don’t use sound to navigate.  They have a built-in sonar system that sends out waves of sound that bounce off surrounding objects, helping the bats to hear (or see in a different way) what is around them.  This way of hearing (or seeing) is so developed that a bat can locate up to a thousand mosquitoes an hour for its dinner.

Maybe we are a bit like bats.  We have come to depend on our interactions with others to keep us oriented.  The time we spend seeing one another, talking together, giving handshakes and hugs, all help us to know how things are going in our lives and our world.  We have a built-in sonar system for our thoughts and feelings, constantly sharing them and getting feedback in order to function and navigate our lives.  Safe distancing, quarantines, the shutdown of business, social, educational, and religious gatherings, no touching policies, restricted travel are leaving us all a bit disoriented.  So life, our schedules, our relationships, our emotions are like the seemingly erratic flight of bats.  We wonder if we are “going batty.”  But I doubt we are, at least not permanently.  We are learning new ways and building new skill sets for connecting with each other, for figuring out who and where we are in any given moment.  But we are still flying, maybe a bit crazy or uncertain at times, but we are still flying.

I just wanted to point that out.

As we continue on this journey, when so much seems to be changing, find your anchor in what remains the same, God’s abiding presence and unchanging love. 

Prayer

Gracious God, who made the bat and equipped it to find its way, be my guide in all things and at all times.  Amen.