“Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the living of these days, for the living of these days.” (From the hymn ‘God of Grace and God of Glory’ by Harry Emerson Fosdick)

OK, here’s the real focus of this blog: today’s challenges call for wisdom and courage.

Two years ago how many of us questioned how much oil was consumed in the growing, transporting and preparing of the food we ate? Who ever considered what percentage of our total oil imports is used to make plastic grocery bags (I’ve heard figures as high as 2%), or is used making the packaging for that blouse or pair of shoes? Who would have predicted the situation of our country’s mortgage industry, or that we’d hear the words “bankruptcy” and “General Motors” in the same sentence?

And, frankly, if someone had predicted those things, would we have listened to them?

We’re listening now; we have to! What we hear should alarm us, but it should not drive us to despair. God is an ever-present help in times of trouble, and is always willing to provide us with the wisdom and courage we need ‘for the living of these days.’

What we need is the wisdom that allows us to see past the day-to-day inconveniences and anxieties to the core issues, to see past the latest headline or sound bite from the ‘news-as-product-and-or-propaganda’ media to the deeper movements of life today. What we need is the courage to face the hard truths of the present and to make the changes needed for the future. By the grace of our Still-Speaking God, that wisdom and courage are available.

Of course, if they’ve always been available we might ask, ‘How did we get ourselves into this situation?’ That answer’s simple, at least in hindsight: just because the resources of our faith offer us wisdom and courage doesn’t mean that we’ve always used them, or even looked for them. In other words, I think we’ve missed the boat on some really important issues by ignoring the wisdom of our faith tradition and the examples of courage in our history.

Now, I firmly believe that God works all things to the good for those who love God and are called according to God’s purposes. With that in mind, I think God is speaking something special to us in this situation and wants to work something very good out of our missing the boat about our tradition’s wisdom and courage. It is my hope that by examining our present situation and what non-religious voices are saying about we can find new perspectives on the resources of our faith.

More next time!

Never the last word,
Pastor Lee

“Never the Last Word.”

That’s how I will sign off every time I write something here. Each time I type those words they remind me about the blog’s purpose. What I write is not the last word on anything. Remember, at the end of our Sunday worship our Benediction reminds us that “God Is Still Speaking,” so the chances of me having that last word are nil anyway!

More importantly, I’m writing this blog to encourage discussion and reflection about some vital issues we must address (as the old hymn says) ‘for the living of theses days.’ I hope my efforts will encourage you to share your questions, responses, opinions, experiences, etc., with me and the congregation and anyone who reads this blog. Our tradition is founded on the faith that the Holy Spirit makes God’s will and wisdom known through the people gathered for the purpose of discernment, whether that happens in the sanctuary or over the internet.

Never the last word,

Pastor Lee