Dear Friends in Christ -
The following reflection was written by The Rev. David Anderson (a colleague of mine) to his congregation. It's beautiful, and my own heart echoes his thoughts, so I wanted to share this with you . . . it's one of the most daring invitations I've ever heard . . .
Faithfully with you in this holy time,
Janet+
"This [blog] certainly tells you when to come for Easter services. If that's all you want or need, please [refer to the column on the right] now.
If you're curious about that something more, I want to invite you to do one small thing before Easter: have your heart broken just a little. If that sounds perfectly dumb, please [scroll down for other reflections written this week].
Here's what I mean. There is an old rabbinic proverb that says, "God never places truth directly in the human heart, but on top of the heart. So that when the heart is broken, the truth may drop in." The truth of the resurrection is like that. It's a mystery of love that God cannot put in anyone's heart. But God has already laid this beautiful truth upon your heart and upon mine. Now it is time to have our hearts broken.
I realize of course that I am asking you to do something suspiciously strange. Who would come on Maundy Thursday to eat a last meal with a condemned man? Who would come on Good Friday to spend a moment or two with a man who takes three hours to die? Why not [stay home with the kids or hang out with friends] on Thursday or Friday night? Only a fool would prefer a heart breaker to a cozy time at home. Unless, that is, he felt a great truth lying upon his heart and the oddest, puzzling desire to suffer something for love."
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
"There is a Tree beyond this world
In whose ancient roots a song is cirled
I am the fool whose life is spent
B'tween what is said and what is meant"
Dear Friends in Christ -
My new favorite artist Carrie Newcomer wrote these words. And I find them so fitting for the work I do each week, but especially THIS week, Holy Week, as flesh and Word fall and rise, live and die. And live again.
Pray for me, please! I so long to hear God's voice with you and see resurrection in new ways and places! May God's Spirit be manifest here this week in amazing good ways.
Blessings,
Janet+
In whose ancient roots a song is cirled
I am the fool whose life is spent
B'tween what is said and what is meant"
Dear Friends in Christ -
My new favorite artist Carrie Newcomer wrote these words. And I find them so fitting for the work I do each week, but especially THIS week, Holy Week, as flesh and Word fall and rise, live and die. And live again.
Pray for me, please! I so long to hear God's voice with you and see resurrection in new ways and places! May God's Spirit be manifest here this week in amazing good ways.
Blessings,
Janet+
Monday, March 29, 2010
25 and holding
Dear Friends in Christ -
Well, it's Holy Week. Technically we're still in the 40 days of Lent, but I'm thinking that I may not make my goal. I've gotten rid of 25 boxes, bags and bins of things, but that's still 15 shy of my goal of 40. Unless something truly miraculous happens, I'm not going to make it.
I'm working at feeling OK about the failure, while still scheming on ways to cart cart things off the property. God keeps whispering in my ear that it's more important to notice what He's already tried to teach me than to dwell on whether or not the last boxes, bins and bags make their way to Goodwill or the dump.
Lesson #1 - This mess took more than 40 days to happen, so it's probably going to take more than 40 days to clean it up.
Lesson #2 - Just because I'm healthier than I have been in years and CAN do more, doesn't mean I SHOULD do more.
Lesson #3 - Listen to Mary Poppins sage advice, "Enough is a good as a feast," and learn to be satisfied with what's done rather than dwelling on what's undone.
Pray that I may hear and heed God's invitation to newness, and know that I'm praying the same for you.
Blessings,
Janet+
Well, it's Holy Week. Technically we're still in the 40 days of Lent, but I'm thinking that I may not make my goal. I've gotten rid of 25 boxes, bags and bins of things, but that's still 15 shy of my goal of 40. Unless something truly miraculous happens, I'm not going to make it.
I'm working at feeling OK about the failure, while still scheming on ways to cart cart things off the property. God keeps whispering in my ear that it's more important to notice what He's already tried to teach me than to dwell on whether or not the last boxes, bins and bags make their way to Goodwill or the dump.
Lesson #1 - This mess took more than 40 days to happen, so it's probably going to take more than 40 days to clean it up.
Lesson #2 - Just because I'm healthier than I have been in years and CAN do more, doesn't mean I SHOULD do more.
Lesson #3 - Listen to Mary Poppins sage advice, "Enough is a good as a feast," and learn to be satisfied with what's done rather than dwelling on what's undone.
Pray that I may hear and heed God's invitation to newness, and know that I'm praying the same for you.
Blessings,
Janet+
Sunday, March 28, 2010
What is God up to?
Dear Friends in Christ -
In the midst of all the betrayals and other sufferings of life, it's entirely natural that we would want to know what God is up to in the midst of it all. No few words can speak the full truth of who God is and how God operates. But, as it is said, a picture is worth a thousand words.
And a picture that speaks a strong answer to these fundamental questions is in the Santa Maria Novella church in Florence, Italy. The painting is called the Holy Trinity, and it's by a painter named Masaccio, who likely painted it sometime around the year 1425. [To see it, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Trinity_(Masaccio)]
At a time when God was most often depicted in art as a disembodied hand whose work was mysterious, Masaccio depicts God as an enormous human figure. And what is God doing? Holding up the cross on which Christ is doing His salvific work. Jesus can't see his Father, who is behind him. But He knows His Father is there, and speaks to him with His last breath: "Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit," trusting to the end.
When we can't see what God is up to, do we follow Jesus' example in trusting, even when we cannot see? Now is the time. Here is the place. God's made reservations for a seat at the table on Maundy Thursday, for a place at the foot of the Cross on Good Friday, for a spot on Easter Morning where the sun/Son peeks over the horizon. Have you made a commitment to be there, too?
Faithfully,
Janet+
Whatever happens this week, I know one thing for sure: the God who holds us is here, and what He will do among us in this place will be uniquely
In the midst of all the betrayals and other sufferings of life, it's entirely natural that we would want to know what God is up to in the midst of it all. No few words can speak the full truth of who God is and how God operates. But, as it is said, a picture is worth a thousand words.
And a picture that speaks a strong answer to these fundamental questions is in the Santa Maria Novella church in Florence, Italy. The painting is called the Holy Trinity, and it's by a painter named Masaccio, who likely painted it sometime around the year 1425. [To see it, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Trinity_(Masaccio)]
At a time when God was most often depicted in art as a disembodied hand whose work was mysterious, Masaccio depicts God as an enormous human figure. And what is God doing? Holding up the cross on which Christ is doing His salvific work. Jesus can't see his Father, who is behind him. But He knows His Father is there, and speaks to him with His last breath: "Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit," trusting to the end.
When we can't see what God is up to, do we follow Jesus' example in trusting, even when we cannot see? Now is the time. Here is the place. God's made reservations for a seat at the table on Maundy Thursday, for a place at the foot of the Cross on Good Friday, for a spot on Easter Morning where the sun/Son peeks over the horizon. Have you made a commitment to be there, too?
Faithfully,
Janet+
Whatever happens this week, I know one thing for sure: the God who holds us is here, and what He will do among us in this place will be uniquely
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Lost without you
Dear Friends in Christ -
"Your pastoral leaders and your churches would be lost without you."
When I read this, the first line of an article, "A Word for Lay Christians," I knew I had to keep reading. It's true. I would be lost without YOU. Nothing at St. Paul's happens without YOU. Do you know that? Do you believe it?
Do you know that I can't even do communion without you? If I'm the only person who shows up, I can't set a "table for one" and bless the bread and wine for myself.
I hope you'll read the following three paragraphs. I hope it makes you feel important and special and needed. Because you are.
Blessings,
Janet+
A Word for Lay Christians
by Wesley J. Wildman and Stephen Chapin Garner
Your pastoral leaders and your churches would be lost without you. Without you there is no community. Without you "Jesus" is an empty word rattling about in the corridors of history. Without you the church is a lifeless shell. The measure of the church's success is directly related to how you, the lay members of your community, love one another and live out your faith in your daily lives.
Remember that Jesus's call was not to a bunch of ordained clergy. Jesus called fishermen, businessmen, hated tax collectors, feared soldiers, mothers, widows, prostitutes, the able-bodied, the infirm, people with faith, and people without faith. Jesus's call was for everyone to follow him. You have as much right to follow Jesus as anyone else. Your pastor, your church council, your bishop, your church boards do not have a higher claim on Jesus than you do. So take your role in the church and in the world very seriously.
What does that involve? Love, tend to, and work to strengthen your pastor, your church, and your church leadership. Help your community to keep its focus. When you sense that something is amiss, speak up and make your case lovingly. Too often when the going gets tough, lay people get going and hightail it right out of church. Church is messy, community is messy, life is messy. You can't get in the habit of running from it because the mess will follow you until you deal with it. Remember, the church is yours and you are the church. Stick with the body of Christ in sickness and in health, in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow as long as you live.
"Your pastoral leaders and your churches would be lost without you."
When I read this, the first line of an article, "A Word for Lay Christians," I knew I had to keep reading. It's true. I would be lost without YOU. Nothing at St. Paul's happens without YOU. Do you know that? Do you believe it?
Do you know that I can't even do communion without you? If I'm the only person who shows up, I can't set a "table for one" and bless the bread and wine for myself.
I hope you'll read the following three paragraphs. I hope it makes you feel important and special and needed. Because you are.
Blessings,
Janet+
A Word for Lay Christians
by Wesley J. Wildman and Stephen Chapin Garner
Your pastoral leaders and your churches would be lost without you. Without you there is no community. Without you "Jesus" is an empty word rattling about in the corridors of history. Without you the church is a lifeless shell. The measure of the church's success is directly related to how you, the lay members of your community, love one another and live out your faith in your daily lives.
Remember that Jesus's call was not to a bunch of ordained clergy. Jesus called fishermen, businessmen, hated tax collectors, feared soldiers, mothers, widows, prostitutes, the able-bodied, the infirm, people with faith, and people without faith. Jesus's call was for everyone to follow him. You have as much right to follow Jesus as anyone else. Your pastor, your church council, your bishop, your church boards do not have a higher claim on Jesus than you do. So take your role in the church and in the world very seriously.
What does that involve? Love, tend to, and work to strengthen your pastor, your church, and your church leadership. Help your community to keep its focus. When you sense that something is amiss, speak up and make your case lovingly. Too often when the going gets tough, lay people get going and hightail it right out of church. Church is messy, community is messy, life is messy. You can't get in the habit of running from it because the mess will follow you until you deal with it. Remember, the church is yours and you are the church. Stick with the body of Christ in sickness and in health, in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow as long as you live.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The Clean Edge of Change
Dear Friends in Christ -
I *LOVE* music. For my birthday, my best friend, Irene, sent me a CD by an artist I've never heard of, Carrie Newcomer. (www.carrienewcomer.com) It's called "The Geography of Light," and I've listened to the whole thing about six times in the last 24 hours.
I'm constantly in awe of how God uses things and people in my life to string things together - a notion here, an impression there, a bit of goodness, a flake of challenge. On this CD is a song that speaks to me on several levels. One of those levels has to do with some of the change that's happening at St. Paul's.
Over the past couple of months, St. Paul's has been in a time of transition: our beloved Director of Youth Ministries resigned, and we've been seeking someone to fill the void she left. Of course, no one can do that exactly. Nor should they. If we are truly a community of God, then what we're looking for is not someone to "take her place" or "fill her shoes," but someone to make the mark on us that God is calling him/her to make.
It's HARD WORK for me and, I suspect, for all of us, to invite God to keep us open for something, someone new. One of Carrie's songs is speaking to this wondering, fearing, hoping place in me. I hope it speaks to you, too. You can hear it by going to www.carrienewcomer.com and then clicking on albums, then "the geography of light" then "the clean edge of change." The lyrics are below.
As we stand together on the clean edge of change, may we share that weightless, breathless feeling that comes from trusting ourselves entirely to God.
Faithfully,
Janet+
The Clean Edge of Change
First there is the folding in,
To gather light and dark to you.
The journey down so far that it,
Has nowhere else to go but through.
I thought if I tried hard enough,
With endless motion like a bribe,
As if by this the will of God,
Could be bent to my version of right.
Chorus: What happens next is nearly weightless,
The opening where we stand breathless,
On the clean edge of change.
She cannot live beneath my wings,
No more with he see seventy.
How many mornings did I wake,
And wished that it’d be you I'd see.
Chorus
Bridge: And who am I, who makes this sound,
Who rode the shadow all the way down?
To the Clean Edge of Change
In the clear space of knowing that
There’s as many names for dark as for light,
I am choosing mostly now to speak,
The ones that get me through the night.
But always,with humility,
With a worn now but a grateful heart.
Having sang so recently,
Full-throated In the dark.
Chorus
First there is the folding in,
To gather light and dark to you,
The journey down so far that it,
Has nowhere else to go but through.
I *LOVE* music. For my birthday, my best friend, Irene, sent me a CD by an artist I've never heard of, Carrie Newcomer. (www.carrienewcomer.com) It's called "The Geography of Light," and I've listened to the whole thing about six times in the last 24 hours.
I'm constantly in awe of how God uses things and people in my life to string things together - a notion here, an impression there, a bit of goodness, a flake of challenge. On this CD is a song that speaks to me on several levels. One of those levels has to do with some of the change that's happening at St. Paul's.
Over the past couple of months, St. Paul's has been in a time of transition: our beloved Director of Youth Ministries resigned, and we've been seeking someone to fill the void she left. Of course, no one can do that exactly. Nor should they. If we are truly a community of God, then what we're looking for is not someone to "take her place" or "fill her shoes," but someone to make the mark on us that God is calling him/her to make.
It's HARD WORK for me and, I suspect, for all of us, to invite God to keep us open for something, someone new. One of Carrie's songs is speaking to this wondering, fearing, hoping place in me. I hope it speaks to you, too. You can hear it by going to www.carrienewcomer.com and then clicking on albums, then "the geography of light" then "the clean edge of change." The lyrics are below.
As we stand together on the clean edge of change, may we share that weightless, breathless feeling that comes from trusting ourselves entirely to God.
Faithfully,
Janet+
The Clean Edge of Change
First there is the folding in,
To gather light and dark to you.
The journey down so far that it,
Has nowhere else to go but through.
I thought if I tried hard enough,
With endless motion like a bribe,
As if by this the will of God,
Could be bent to my version of right.
Chorus: What happens next is nearly weightless,
The opening where we stand breathless,
On the clean edge of change.
She cannot live beneath my wings,
No more with he see seventy.
How many mornings did I wake,
And wished that it’d be you I'd see.
Chorus
Bridge: And who am I, who makes this sound,
Who rode the shadow all the way down?
To the Clean Edge of Change
In the clear space of knowing that
There’s as many names for dark as for light,
I am choosing mostly now to speak,
The ones that get me through the night.
But always,with humility,
With a worn now but a grateful heart.
Having sang so recently,
Full-throated In the dark.
Chorus
First there is the folding in,
To gather light and dark to you,
The journey down so far that it,
Has nowhere else to go but through.
Monday, March 22, 2010
My Birthday
Dear Friends in Christ -
Today was not only my birthday, but also my day off. No lounging around because I had to follow the normal routine - getting the kids off to school, running errands, doing work for my daughter's dance recital, etc.
What I most longed for was a little birthday adventure, so I popped the new CD that my best friend sent into the car and drove around Shelton, hugging the town border as close as I could all the way around. We live in such an interesting and diverse community!
Along the way, I treated myself to lunch at a Chinese take-out place. I popped open the fortune cookie and this is what I read: "There are plenty of promises and hope floating around you." Ahhh, yes. May it be so. An awesome birthday blessing.
Almost as awesome as the 30+ birthday greetings I received from parishioners via Facebook, but not quite! (I have to say, the whole Facebook thing - which I have SOOOOO not mastered - makes me feel every bit of my 43 years. Blogging, Facebook, Twitter . . . I never saw a computer until I was a junior in high school. Am I "old"? Wait. Don't answer that!) :-)
God is good . . . so is life!
Blessings,
Janet+
Today was not only my birthday, but also my day off. No lounging around because I had to follow the normal routine - getting the kids off to school, running errands, doing work for my daughter's dance recital, etc.
What I most longed for was a little birthday adventure, so I popped the new CD that my best friend sent into the car and drove around Shelton, hugging the town border as close as I could all the way around. We live in such an interesting and diverse community!
Along the way, I treated myself to lunch at a Chinese take-out place. I popped open the fortune cookie and this is what I read: "There are plenty of promises and hope floating around you." Ahhh, yes. May it be so. An awesome birthday blessing.
Almost as awesome as the 30+ birthday greetings I received from parishioners via Facebook, but not quite! (I have to say, the whole Facebook thing - which I have SOOOOO not mastered - makes me feel every bit of my 43 years. Blogging, Facebook, Twitter . . . I never saw a computer until I was a junior in high school. Am I "old"? Wait. Don't answer that!) :-)
God is good . . . so is life!
Blessings,
Janet+
Sunday, March 21, 2010
The Gift
Dear Friends in Christ -
Today in worship, I invited everyone to imagine . . . You're 10 years old, and a voice from heaven tells you that you'll be an NBA basketball star some day. What do you do?
Well, most of us would pick up a basketball, take it out to the driveway or down the block to a basketball court, and start shooting some hoops, in order to start living into the promise now.
This is exactly the way that God hopes we will respond to his gift of grace. God says that each of us is a beloved child of God. We didn't do anything to earn it; it's our present and our future, whether we practice or not. But God hopes that we'll start being an heir of His Kingdom now, by practicing our faith.
In Holy Week, God invites His children to a week of "spring training." You don't have to show up. It's not mandatory. You're still on God's team even if you're not on the field. But the whole team will be stronger if you show up. And in the arena of the universe, God shoots the lights out all the time. You won't want to miss catching a glimpse of that when He shows up here.
Faithfully,
Janet+
Today in worship, I invited everyone to imagine . . . You're 10 years old, and a voice from heaven tells you that you'll be an NBA basketball star some day. What do you do?
Well, most of us would pick up a basketball, take it out to the driveway or down the block to a basketball court, and start shooting some hoops, in order to start living into the promise now.
This is exactly the way that God hopes we will respond to his gift of grace. God says that each of us is a beloved child of God. We didn't do anything to earn it; it's our present and our future, whether we practice or not. But God hopes that we'll start being an heir of His Kingdom now, by practicing our faith.
In Holy Week, God invites His children to a week of "spring training." You don't have to show up. It's not mandatory. You're still on God's team even if you're not on the field. But the whole team will be stronger if you show up. And in the arena of the universe, God shoots the lights out all the time. You won't want to miss catching a glimpse of that when He shows up here.
Faithfully,
Janet+
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Spring is here
Dear Friends in Christ -
I love it that spring arrives sometime during the middle of Lent, when I'm living with my head bowed, shoulder to the plow. As I was playing with the kids in the yard, I noticed that the crocuses grew a full inch overnight. It was powerful to see life springing up, running ahead even before I could get in any work in the garden - a reminder to me that though there is work for me to do, growth is a grace that's not dependent just on me. That's balm for this hard-working tiller of soil and souls.
Blessings,
Janet+
I love it that spring arrives sometime during the middle of Lent, when I'm living with my head bowed, shoulder to the plow. As I was playing with the kids in the yard, I noticed that the crocuses grew a full inch overnight. It was powerful to see life springing up, running ahead even before I could get in any work in the garden - a reminder to me that though there is work for me to do, growth is a grace that's not dependent just on me. That's balm for this hard-working tiller of soil and souls.
Blessings,
Janet+
Friday, March 19, 2010
Jammed . . . and unstuck
Dear Friends in Christ -
I haven't posted here in over two weeks, - long enough for someone to call and ask if this thing is broken.
The answer is "sort of." The electronic part hasn't malfunctioned. However, the steady stream of posts that I had kept up for several months has been entirely dammed up. The great log of Lent fell down and then the detrius in the stream (countless bits of things to do and be here and there) collected around it until there has been nothing making its way downstream to this page.
So I'm here today to clear the logjam and make a way for the stream to flow freely again. By taking time to remember my password to the site (it's scary that I forget so quickly!). By dusting off my listening ears so that my writing fingers receive material for a message. By re-consecrating time regularly, not only to pray for you, but also to write good, true, occasionally humorous, things to you as an outgrowth of these prayers.
In the past couple of years, there has been great discussion in U.S. church circles about whether and how there should be blogging and social networking in the church. After hearing an interview on NPR yesterday, I had an ah-ha moment. The modes of communication I grew up with and prefer - in-person, phone, letter - are all passe. That's hard for me to believe, seeing as how I've spent only about 20 years as an adult. How can it be that the modes of communication with which I am most familiar and comfortable are about as effective as shouting through a bull-horn from the middle of the Huntington Green at cars whizzing by?!
Alas and alack!* So much for my lovely scrolled stationary and favorite ink pen! If the best way I can reach you for Christ is "online," you'll hear from me again soon, here in cyberspace.
Faithfully,
Janet+
*If you don't know what it means, look it up!!!
I haven't posted here in over two weeks, - long enough for someone to call and ask if this thing is broken.
The answer is "sort of." The electronic part hasn't malfunctioned. However, the steady stream of posts that I had kept up for several months has been entirely dammed up. The great log of Lent fell down and then the detrius in the stream (countless bits of things to do and be here and there) collected around it until there has been nothing making its way downstream to this page.
So I'm here today to clear the logjam and make a way for the stream to flow freely again. By taking time to remember my password to the site (it's scary that I forget so quickly!). By dusting off my listening ears so that my writing fingers receive material for a message. By re-consecrating time regularly, not only to pray for you, but also to write good, true, occasionally humorous, things to you as an outgrowth of these prayers.
In the past couple of years, there has been great discussion in U.S. church circles about whether and how there should be blogging and social networking in the church. After hearing an interview on NPR yesterday, I had an ah-ha moment. The modes of communication I grew up with and prefer - in-person, phone, letter - are all passe. That's hard for me to believe, seeing as how I've spent only about 20 years as an adult. How can it be that the modes of communication with which I am most familiar and comfortable are about as effective as shouting through a bull-horn from the middle of the Huntington Green at cars whizzing by?!
Alas and alack!* So much for my lovely scrolled stationary and favorite ink pen! If the best way I can reach you for Christ is "online," you'll hear from me again soon, here in cyberspace.
Faithfully,
Janet+
*If you don't know what it means, look it up!!!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
More than a touching story
Dear Friends in Christ -
In last Sunday's Gospel lesson, the image that came to us from Jesus himself was the image of Jesus gathering us to himself as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.
Today, I received an email from someone heard Jesus' words last Sunday, and who came across the following story this week:
After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park , forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies. Then the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast...because she had been willing to die, so those under the cover of her wings would live. 'He will cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you will find refuge.'(Psalm 91:4)
I am so very moved by this story. In reading it, I realized that in my imagination, the setting for Jesus' story about the hen gathering the chicks was a pleasant day in a fenced enclosure, removed from any real danger. But the reason we need a safe place to find shelter is because the dangers in our lives are real.
On this day, in the midst of the very real fires and other dangers we face, may we know the protection and comfort of having a very real Savior.
Faithfully,
Janet+
In last Sunday's Gospel lesson, the image that came to us from Jesus himself was the image of Jesus gathering us to himself as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.
Today, I received an email from someone heard Jesus' words last Sunday, and who came across the following story this week:
After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park , forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies. Then the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast...because she had been willing to die, so those under the cover of her wings would live. 'He will cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you will find refuge.'(Psalm 91:4)
I am so very moved by this story. In reading it, I realized that in my imagination, the setting for Jesus' story about the hen gathering the chicks was a pleasant day in a fenced enclosure, removed from any real danger. But the reason we need a safe place to find shelter is because the dangers in our lives are real.
On this day, in the midst of the very real fires and other dangers we face, may we know the protection and comfort of having a very real Savior.
Faithfully,
Janet+
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