Yesterday we reflected on a passage from 2 Kings 2 (vs 1-14), and Elisha’s faithfulness in a time of great uncertainty and change. 

I was recently listening to a TED talk by the author and journalist, Krista Tippett. She was speaking about this very thing – about how we live in a time when the ground we stand on is so uncertain. There are so many fractures in our society, so much change happening. And she spoke about how it is precisely in these times that we need to recover a sense of calling as an art for living.

I thought that was really interesting – to recover a sense of calling as an art for living… She claimed that we are not called merely to be professional people. We are called to heal and make whole the world around us – the proximate world – the world that we can see and touch. 

In that sense, every one of us has a calling on our own lives.

Fredrick Buechner has this great quote: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

I don’t know how that might look for you. I do know that you can’t do everything. I do know that it is easy to get overwhelmed by the needs of the world around you. I do know that faith and trust can easily be frayed… And at the same time, I also know, that if you are open to God’s calling on your life, God will use you in a powerful way. 

As with yesterday, my prayer today is for an extra measure of God’s grace and blessing for you. And whatever calling God may have placed on your heart, that you would find within it, his empowering Spirit and strength to continue. 

Let us pray: Today I thank you, O God, for your calling on each of our lives, for opportunities to touch the world around us with with your love and grace. I thank you for those who have heard your call, and for those who have stayed faithful. Please continue to heal us and renew us so that we would be channels of your peace. Amen.

Today’s message was written by my friend Rev. Roger Kunkel, founder of Dial Hope.

In Chicago, a man was about to cross a busy street when a lovely young girl walked up, led by a seeing-eye dog. He realized that she was blind. The lights changed, and the people started crossing. He was about to offer to help her across the street when a big fellow stopped his truck, jumped out, and said, “Lady, can I help you across the street?” 

“Oh, thank you, but no,” she replied. “l have to trust in my seeing-eye dog. If I depend on someone else, the dog won’t guide me.” “How can he tell when the lights change?” the man asked. “l don’t know how he knows,” she answered as the dog began leading her across the crowded thoroughfare, “but he knows. And, he’s never failed me!” 

You know, this is just how it is with us when the lights in our lives are changing and we’ve got to move ahead…we can’t panic. We’ve got to trust our guide – God…and walk by faith. We can’t see the way, but God can. And, he will guide us to safety- He’s never failed! In Proverbs we read: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart…and he shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5,6)

Let us pray: God of all beginnings, and God of all middles and endings as well, we bow in your presence to confess our dependence on you. Lord, we trust you. Clearly you have made everything beautiful in its time. Everything good that has ever happened to us…we owe to you. For only by your grace through Jesus Christ do we understand life as we do, and value those things that give meaning to our existence. Now grant that when our life is ended, we may hear you say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Something I hear often from my friends outside the church is this: I’m spiritual but not religious… I’m sure you’ve heard this too. I even said it myself. And usually, it is said meaning: I’m not into all the rules of religion. On reflection, however, the word religion actually has a powerful origin. It comes from the Latin, re-ligio – to re-ligament – to reconnect – to reconnect with God. In Christianity, there is a strong emphasis on reconnecting with other people as a way of reconnecting with God.

In that sense, I want to be religious. I want to play a role in reconnecting people with each other and with God. The truth is, in this day and age, we need more people like this. We need more people who are willing to let go of their egos, and their need to be right. We need more people who can let go of the differences that divide and work instead towards bringing folks together.

In his second letter to the Corinthians (6:17-18), the Apostle Paul wrote:

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation…

Let us pray: As you have loved us, O God, help us to love others. As you have reconciled us to yourself, may we work toward reconciliation with others. Use us even now as ambassadors of your grace. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Over the past couple of days, we’ve been reflecting on Psalm 62 and the practice of cultivating a little silence in our lives. 

The author and philosopher Ryan Holiday, has been really influential in helping me think about this. He argues fairly strongly about the importance of intentionally cultivating silence in our lives. He makes the point that it is difficult to understand yourself if you are never by yourself. It is difficult to have much in the way of clarity and insight with noise constantly pouring in. And, he claims, that if we cultivate a regular habit of silence, we will carry back with us the stillness from that silence in the form of patience, understanding, gratitude, and insight. 

Thomas Merton puts it this way: if we, “dare to penetrate our own silence and… advance without fear into the solitude of our own hearts… then (we) will truly recover the light and the capacity to understand what is beyond words and beyond explanations…”

I think again about Psalm 62. The psalmist who wrote this, and how he used quietness and inner stillness as means for deepening faith and trust. I think about the burdens of his life and the faith that sustained him – a faith and sureness that he cultivated… 

Again today, I wonder how our lives would look if we were able to reduce just a little of the noise and chatter around . If we were able to carve out even a little time each day to sit silently in God’s presence…? What if, for thirty minutes each day, we were to turn off the ringers, the notifications, the TV, the iPad, and listen for that still small voice?

I don’t know how this might look for you. I do know for the young parents, I remember that stage… there is very little quiet – ever. But for all of us, if we can find it, it is a gift.

Ryan Holiday writes, “The fact that silence is so rare is a sign of its value. Seize it. We can’t be afraid of silence, as it has much to teach us. Seek it.” 

Let us pray: Holy God, as we embrace a moment of stillness even now, we ask for Your presence to envelop us. In the relative quiet, speak to our hearts… Strengthen us. Renew us. Fill us with your peace. Amen.

Psalm 62 is a confession of faith. Twice within just a few verses, the psalmist testifies: For God alone, my soul waits… He alone is my rock and my salvation… my fortress; I shall never be shaken.

That is a profound statement of trust.

And yet, at the same time, there is realism. There is a recognition that things have not always been so great; that the world around him was anything but stable. He cries out against those who have betrayed him: How long will you assail a person? How long will you batter your victim? 

And then, “…if riches increase, do not set your heart on them…” 

As if to say, some of the things I counted on have let me down… 

We know all about this, don’t we? As beautiful as life is, there are moments when everything we know to be true crumbles. There are moments that break our hearts; and moments when the load we carry seems too much to bear. There are times when we find ourselves confused and unsure…

I appreciate the reality of the psalm – that it names some of the struggles we face in life. And yet I can also appreciate, for the psalmist, even though all this, there is an inner strength, a sense of underlying peace – a faith that cannot be shaken. 

I don’t know about you, but I want that inner strength, that inner peace. 

The Psalm begins: For God alone, my soul waits in silence… 

Let us pray: Loving God, we wait for you even now… Help us to carve out time in our lives to sit in your presence to allow your grace to wash over us and to listen for your still small voice…. Heal us. Renew us. And grant us your peace. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.