Wednesday, February 29

Genesis 37:25-36

Psalms 49, 53, 119:49-72

1 Corinthians 2:1-13

Mark 1:29-45

This passage from Psalm 119 speaks a lot about the many blessings we receive from God, and about giving thanks to Him for his laws that help us live good lives.  We all receive so many blessings in just our everyday lives, but somehow in all the stress and rushing around, we don’t notice them until something goes wrong.  Once we return to “normalcy,” we appreciate all the blessings, even little things, which God gives to us every single day.

I, like others, have had several medical issues in the past couple of years, and when the pain subsides, I then realize the many blessings that go unnoticed in our day-to-day living.  When we complain of a sore foot, back pain, or other non-life threatening malady, we often turn the corner to come upon a person who is paralyzed, blind, or has some other non-curable affliction, like the lepers we hear of in the Gospel readings.  When we feel down because of the desire for some out of reach luxury material item, all we have to do is turn on our flat screen TV (“luxury material item” for many in the U.S. and certainly for millions in third world countries).  We see in the news and in advertisements the lack of food, clean water, and medicine that so many fellow human beings endure. 

Verses 65 and 66 state, “Lord, I am overflowing with your blessings, just as you promised.  Now teach me good judgment as well as knowledge.  For your laws are my guide.”  David stresses the pleasure he receives from following the laws set forth by the Lord.  This psalm is a testament to David’s undying faith in and love for God.  As we go through our daily routines, we need to slow down and appreciate all the blessings we receive every minute of every day. 

Anne Vachon

Tuesday, February 28

Genesis 37:12-24

Psalms 45, 47, 48

1 Corinthians 1:20-31

Mark 1:14-28

Each time I participate in this wonderful Holy Spirit Episcopal tradition, I look forward with great anticipation, to see what scripture I receive. 

This time, as I read from my Life Application Bible, the New King James Version, many things spoke to me, but the word “immediately” jumped out.  Do you know this word is written at least twelve times in the first three chapters of Mark?

Mark 1:10 “And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and coming Spirit descend on Him like a dove.”

Mark 1:12 “They immediately left their nets and followed Him.”

Mark 1:18 “And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servant, and went after Him.”

Mark 2:2 “Immediately many gathered together.”

And in the Psalms I read of singing and shouting praise to God with joy and rejoicing and are told to teach the next generation, “I will make Your name to be remembered in all generations.”  And, “Tell it to the generation following.”

As a mother of two young children, it is very important that my children learn that “knowing Christ personally is the greatest wisdom anyone could have.”

Gracious and loving God, help us to spread Your word with joy, and sing Your praises in loud voices and tell it to the next generations.  Not just on Sundays, but in our work and in our play.  Every day.  And immediately!  We ask this in Jesus name.  Amen.

Julieanne Mani

Monday, February 27

Genesis 37:1-11

Psalms 41, 44, 52

1 Corinthians 1:1-19

Mark 1:1-13

God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

1 Corinthians 1:9

Watching the evening news can make me nuts; stories of murder, war, gang violence and economic struggles are frightening.  But they are overshadowed by the media circus that swirls around politics.  Fighting, name calling, scandals and empty promises fill TV screens every night.  It’s hard to know who to trust. 

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul discussed the problems of division, corruption and immortality that challenged the followers of Christ.  He recognized the conflicts early Christians faced and his words taught the Church to remain strong as they settled their differences.

Words that apply today!

Paul’s words encourage the Church to live in unity and put aside petty problems.  We are reminded that through Grace we have been given every spiritual tool needed to live a life set apart, even when it’s difficult. 

God promises to keep us strong as we wait for Jesus to return.  He calls us into fellowship and gives us the gifts we need.  He is faithful.

In Christ,

Juli Browning

FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT

Sunday, February 26

Daniel 9:3-10

Psalm 63:1-8, 98, 103

Hebrews 2:10-18

John 12:44-50

It’s been just a few days now since the Ash Wednesday service, a service I’ve always felt inspires us to consider as humans our very short lived existence here on Earth.  In looking over today’s readings, one of them explores that very idea.  Since our children were very young, we have had a Children’s Devotional Bible in our home that I sometimes read as an alternative to mine.  I often enjoy the simplicity of its message as compared to other bibles.  Today is no exception, as I open to Psalm 103, verses 15 and 16:

“People’s lives are like grass.  People grow like the flowers in the field.  When the wind blows on them, they are gone.  No one can tell that they had ever been there.”

 Think about that for a moment…much of what we put our time and energy toward will just disappear with us, leaving barely any evidence that we were even here.  The things we’ve acquired, our worries, our dreams, just gone like the fuzzy seeds of a dandelion carried away with the breeze.  If I were to remind myself of this each day, I think I might live life a little differently.  My desire to serve might be less apt to be pushed aside and replaced by less meaningful obligations.  My focus on the relationships I’m fortunate to have in my life might be even stronger.  I might be more skilled in sorting out what is important and what is not.

Though we may not last forever, Psalm 103, verse 17 goes on to tell us what does: 

“But the Lord’s love for those who have respect for him

lasts forever and ever.”

It’s LOVE that lives on…God’s love for us and our love for Him, when our actions here on Earth glorify his name.  So it is when we choose to be a reflection of God’s love in all that we do, that our time here on Earth becomes significant.  Then, like dandelion seeds drifting and settling softly nearby to bloom next season, perhaps we will not be forgotten as well.

Beth McGee

Saturday, February 25

Ezekiel 39:21-29

Psalms 30, 32, 42, 43

Philippians 4:10-20

John 17:20-26

Did you ever find yourself stuck?  Like, in a rut.  Kind of directionless, lost. Most of us have.

When I was younger, at a time when I was sort of taking a vacation from church, I felt that way sometimes.  What pulled me out was being in Southeast Asia in 1970-71.  The reality of maybe not returning home pushed me into “having faith.”  I realized my situation was pretty much out of my control, and that the military’s training would go only so far.  It helped that my office, for a time, was close to the chapel.  Two of my softball teammates were chaplains.  Our initial bond might have been sports, but more than hits and home runs rub off when you’re around folks like that.  I found faith – believing – came easily.  If I didn’t try to fight the concept.

Long before the term became fashionable, I learned to go with the flow. My emerging faith helped turn fear into something easier to live with.

I’m still struck by those who say, “I’d believe in God if I just had some proof.”  That’s the point of faith – you won’t find the science to prove it. You either suspend some of the control we try to instill in our lives, or you don’t.  If you can bend on the idea of control, faith comes more easily.

That’s what came across to me as I looked at two of today’s readings.  My Bible labels Psalms 42 and 43 as “Prayer of a Man in Exile.”  What I get is that the writer is lost; he’s searching.  Both Psalms end on a positive note. In Psalm 42: “I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise him.” Psalm 43 ends the same way.  Good ending, I think.

 Ed Spaulding

Friday, February 24

Ezekiel 18:1-4,25-32

Psalms 31, 35, 95

Philippians 4:1-9

John 17:9-19

Oh Lent; the dark side of the church calendar.  I have been writing for the Lenten and Advent meditations since we started them at Holy Spirit.  Where they both call for soul searching and thoughtfulness, Advent is filled with wonderful anticipation.  Advent, for me, shows the profound and beautiful connections between the Old and New Testaments.  Lent certainly shows connections but it is also filled with the pains, sorrows and accountability of Holy Week.

As I look up the scripture readings assigned to me each February I wonder if I will get something so heavy I could never understand it.  Will it be so profound that I shouldn’t try and interpret it?  Or will my readings stab me in the heart with the pain of my own shortcomings?

Well in today’s readings, very early in this penitential season, Paul brings us in his letter to the Philippians the most beautiful word in the bible, “rejoice.” 

Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice!

Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:1-9

All of our lives have pains, sorrows and dark sides.  God is just waiting to fill us with his amazing peace.  Rejoice!

Jennie Perry

Thursday, February 23
Habakkuk 3:1-18

Psalm 37

Philippians 3:12-21

John 17:1-8

Psalm 37

(in particular the evening part verses 19-40)

I was tired and hungry.  We were walking between decaying offices, derelict buildings.  The ground was strewn with debris cast to the ground either by time or vandal.  I said to myself “Make sure you pick your feet up over those metal rods.”  I forgot.  I did not pick up my feet.  I stumbled, I fell, headlong. I broke my elbow.  God was not holding my hand.

Or was it that I had not been holding his hand.  My concentration was on my hunger, not where my feet were treading.  My feelings, not my actions were uppermost in my mind.  So much so that I forgot to listen to the words in my head that would have prevented the fall.  Yes I do believe that God is involved in the whole of our life but we do have to listen and obey.

Jane Brown

ASH WEDNESDAY

Wednesday, February 22
Amos 5:6-15

Psalms 32, 95, 102, 130, 143

Hebrews 12:1-14

Luke 18:9-14

It is called normalcy bias and it can be dangerous, even deadly.  Normalcy bias is the assumption that things will continue to be normal… that tomorrow will be pretty much like today… which was pretty much like yesterday. 

We all probably have this to some degree.  It becomes a problem, however, when people underestimate the possibility of disaster and fail to prepare for it.  An example might be those who fail to evacuate beachfront homes prior to a hurricane.  They have been through hurricanes before.  They can do it again. 

Ash Wednesday serves as a warning against normalcy bias.  "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return," we are reminded. 

No one wants to contemplate his or her own death.  So we don't. 

Then, along come Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent.  The themes of self examination and repentance; prayer, fasting and denial; reading and meditating on the Scriptures… these break our complacency and remind us that life is a gift from God.  This gift is to be used properly, as God intends.  And one day, we will be held accountable for the use of the gift that God has given us.

The question, therefore, is this: will we go through Ash Wednesday and Lent by merely observing the season's liturgical formalities as we continue to live normally? 

Or will we let the season serve its purpose? Will we do the serious work of comparing our lives with God's design? 

Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.

Fr. Bob Henson