Faith, Grace, and Hope

Job 14:7-9 (out of context) NRSV For there is hope for a tree, 
Though its root grows old in the earth,  If it is cut down- that it will sprout again,  and that its shoots will not cease.  and its stump dies in the ground, yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth branches like a young plant.  .......................................... Interpretation: The scent of hope is  Water, wafts on the fragrant Breath of the Spirit.

This Friday Five (my first in a LOOOONG time) is from Deb : RevGal Jan is under the weather, so we are swapping weeks for the Friday Five. (Feel better, Jan!) Actually, I want to thank her because she inspired me when she recently shared this poem by Rumi: It's your road, and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you. So in thinking about our life's journey, and the rhythm of our lives, here's five questions on this theme... 1. What "road" is in your immediate future?  The road I’m currently traveling is one out of depression. I’m trusting that it’s an out road because the path is unclear, but seems soft and in diffused light. I’m not feeling my way in darkness any more. So many people think mental illness (depression in particular) can be overcome by an act of willfulness. When people say that or imply it, I think of Jesus casting out a demon in Mark 9. When the disciples ask why they weren’t abl

I strongly recommend the sound file of this sermon (at the bottom) to you , as it has the transitions missing in the text.  Easter 7 (Narrative Lectionary, Year C) 12 May 2013 Galatians 3:1-9, 23-29 What bewitches us?             We are (all) easily distracted (or seduced) by things that are not important. How many times have you lost an hour or three to television or to the Internet and ended up feeling guilty about that time? Very few of us have had that same experience in prayer or devotional time. Yet, false piety can be equally bewitching. We are not called to live lives of sequestered prayer and study, but prayer and devotion in word and deed. Our prayers are in how we live, how we use our time and talents, how we reveal our trust in God’s grace.             The Galatians were “bewitched” by false teachers who continued to emphasize the necessity of fulfilling all of the laws of Judaism in order to be assured of God’s blessing through Christ. Paul reje