Piloting Faith: Does this mirror make my life look shallow?
A Word for the Day...
"Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it." - Matthew 10:16-17
The problem with mirrors is that they never tell the whole truth. They tell a two-demensional story. They reflect, not represent. If they are warped, they tell a warped story. If they are scratched, they show a world with a line drawn through. They can't tell the whole truth because they are designed to show you a copy.
Most of us live reflective lives. We reflect the people we admire. We reflect achievements others reward. We reflect the behaviors we see in our friends. We act as mirrors. It shocks us, then, when we see people who are unique in the world. We call them trailblazers, mavericks, iconoclasts, crazy. But if we look more closely, we discover that they are the most real. Let's be more like them.
- Rev. Cameron Trimble, author of Piloting Church: Helping Your Congregation Take Flight
Prayer for the Week
Holy One,
How confused and disappointed the disciples must've been when they learned that Jesus would suffer and die at the hands of unseeing, unknowing men. That wasn't how they imagined their journey with him would end.
We, too, are often surprised by pain and suffering. It feels somehow wrong–a terrible mistake. We feel born for another life.
In our times of sorrow, loss, and pain, we look to you, who has promised to be with us always. Thank you that you understand when we balk, want to turn back, escape, find another way.
Teach us how to struggle well. Fill us with courage and grant us the strength to take the bitter with the sweet. Strengthen all of your people to face what lies ahead today: health problems, financial hardships, broken relationships, fear, and want–whatever life brings. And, especially, be a refuge and solace for those around the world who face imprisonment, persecution, violence, and death.
For the gift of your love and your promise that we are never alone, we give thanks.
Amen.
(adapted from The Prayer Wheel by Patton Dodd, Jana Riess, and David Van Biema)
