new meditations

May we be gentle with one another as we move faithfully three steps forward and two steps back.

We need Grace to rewire our minds from fear of the other to love of the other. We need to learn to build bridges and not walls that separate us.

How do we move from fear to love? From judgment to empathy? From condemnation to mercy?

Do we see ourselves as recipients of amazing grace or do we believe we have earned everything? How do we respond to grace freely given?

Who has been an authentic friend to us? To whom have we been a friend? Have we discovered God as a faithful friend?

What does it mean for us to see one another and the world with the eyes of Christ? Who is welcome and who is not welcome in the church? Who is in and who is out?

We won’t always know why things happen. We don’t know how life will unfold. We might have more questions than answers.

When the world says go faster and make more noise, our Creator says be still, be silent. We hear God’s wisdom in a “light silent sound” (1 Kings 19:12)

As we let go of our fears and grow slowly, we learn that lightness and darkness, sadness and joy, grief and peace, night and day, inner peace and outer conflict, and hope and despair move together quite often.

Are we in a position to judge? To punish? Can we hold ourselves and others responsible and be merciful at the same time?