June 21, 2020
( Summer Solstice and Father's Day )
Good morning,
Take time on this the Sabbath Day, to worship, to rejoice and to savour our relationship with God !
Be silent, at least for a few moments to experience the love of God with no words, only thoughts and feelings.
The God we find in the Bible is often thought of as masculine, spoken about as " He ". Even though we know that God is beyond gender and physicality, we might picture Him, as He. Do we still see God as an old person, with a long or short white beard, and with a long beautiful mane of hair ? At moments in my faith, I still picture God sort of like this . It comes from Sunday School pictures, I think. It is still a comforting picture of God for me.
But, I also think we project our relationship with God with the view or experience that we have had with our Dad. I have heard that women who have been abused by their father, or Father figure, have a difficult time believing in a loving Father God image. The image of a hen looking after her chicks is more meaningful. Paul, the theologian, talks about God breastfeeding the community as well. " But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children." ( I Thessalonians 2:7 ) . Paul was the representative of God in all those early communities. If males in our lives have been cruel and abusive, we might expect God to be the same, judgmental and harsh. Please invite God to erase this kind of image from your spiritual journey.
As I wrote yesterday about my dad, he was an image of God for me. He was a distant God. He slept a lot, after working hard all day. He did not say much. So, I have been re-learning about God most of my life. I want God to be close and caring for me as I live my life. The old pictures and tapes keep returning, but I believe in a God of grace, humility and compassion. God's love extends to the moon and back, and back and forth to the ends of the universe.
Prayer , the Lord's Prayer from Eugene Petersen's The Message:
Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what’s best—
as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You’re in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You’re ablaze in beauty.
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Fred
Tread on bold new paths !
Fireflies flash the direction
Hope springs eternal Monica Pieper Landoni 2020
Fred Redekop
Pastor
Poole Mennonite Church
Ponder Anew 