Wednesday, June 24, 2026

“Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.” (Revelation 21: 1 -2, New Living Translation)

           I am not much of a soccer fan usually. I find it rather boring most of the time which is saying something coming from a baseball fan like myself.  But when the World Cup rolls around every four years, I become quite engrossed by the games. It is fascinating to witness a gathering of the world’s nations.

There are 48 nations this year. Games are being played in Canada, USA and Mexico. There are nations which I am unfamiliar with – Cabo Verde, an island nation off the coast of Africa or Curacao, an island in the Caribbean or DR Congo in Africa. Nations have to qualify to get into the tournament. There are many nations which are left out. But still, it is quite the gathering of nations from throughout the world. Political differences and hostilities are largely put aside and the game itself is the thing that matters the most. In a world full of political divisions, conflicts and wars, it is a respite and a small reminder of what the world could look like if only our nations’ powers and principalities believed more in peace and reconciliation.

I am reminded of the story in Genesis about the Tower of Babel. “At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words.” (Genesis 11:1) This is the theological story about how the world broke apart into different languages and diverse nations when people began to become arrogant and overreached their human limitations. They chose to built a tower to reach the heavens. Their  desire was to build a defence against God at a loss of their humanity and affinity, a loss of innocence and a striving for exclusive power instead, far beyond their reach.” So, "the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city.” (11:8) Nationhood was born. The world hasn’t been the same since.

Psalm 2 asks a very simple question: “Why are the nations so angry? Why do they waste their time with futile plans?” (v.1) Perhaps, the Epistle of James answers, in part, that question. “Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.” (James 4: 1 ;2, The Message Bible)

Biblically speaking, God seems to always have had a troubled relationship with nationalism and the vain ambitions of rulers and national powers. The Psalms provide a conflicted picture of God’s relationship with the nations of the Middle East at that time, from severe judgment to gracious blessing.  We are given the hope that God rules over all the nations. “God reigns above the nations, sitting on his holy throne.” (Psalm 47:8) We are told that “He watches every movement of the nations; let no rebel rise in defiance.” ((Psalm 66:7) Some of the words have their own spirit of national bravado, asking God to strike down and punish the enemies of the Israelites.

                But there is also a spirit of hope and awakening among the nations of the world. “Let the whole world sing for joy, because you govern the nations with justice and guide the people of the whole world.” (Psalm 67:4) There is still hope that the world can set aside its differences and come together under the gracious and beneficial Love of God. “All the nations you made will come and bow before you, Lord; they will praise your holy name.” (Psalm 86:9) The hope is that the world’s nations will come to acknowledge the one God who created our world and come to accept his principles of Peace, Justice, Compassion, Truth and Love. “The Lord will mediate between nations and will settle international disputes. They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore.” (Isaiah 2:4)

                For Christians, though, we place our hope for the world in Jesus Christ, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2: 10 11 I read this as expressing the hope that the principles and standards of Jesus Christ, the embodiment of God’s Love and Grace, become the overriding, guiding, leading embodiment of world peace and the ancient, universal principle of “brotherhood” or the mutual humane and humanitarian implementation of respect, love, justice and peace which God has always wanted for his Creation.  Christ exemplifies this. It doesn’t mean that we all have to be exactly alike, go to the same church, synagogue, temple, speak the same language, have the same skin colour, nor matters what gender we are, but it does mean that we become far more than our boundaries, borders, languages and differences which are currently destroying our messy world. “In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.” (Colossians 3:11)

                Our text from Revelation is as far from the Tower of Babel as it can get.  God provides a new harvest of Peace for his world, a flowing river of his Love and medicine to heal the nations. In the meanwhile, this needs to be our prayer, our hope, our resolve, our responsibility until the day the Lord comes again.

                “My mercy and justice are coming soon. My salvation is on the way. My strong arm will bring justice to the nations. All distant lands will look to me and wait in hope for my powerful arm.” (Isaiah 51:5)

 Prayer:

             Our Creator God, we confess that we despair over the state of our world, often forgetting that it is, first, your world. We are dismayed at the deep divisions between nations that spark wars, violence, racism, hatred and acts if inhumanity against one another. So, we throw ourselves into your Loving and hopeful promises. We pray for leaders who will champion peace, justice, compassion, respect and benevolence.  May Christ reveal himself in the brokenness and divisiveness of the world’s nations. Bring healing to the nations, O Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.

 Wednesday, June 17, 2026

The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.” The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you!” (Luke 17: 4 -6, New Living Translation)

[Some of you who know Susan’s family, the Neals (Bruce and Barb), may care to know that Susan’s youngest sister, Jennifer (61yrs old), passed away this past weekend succumbing to a nasty, aggressive rare form of cancer. Please keep our family in your prayers Thank you.]

                 I know that the more familiar version of this text comes from Matthew’s Gospel. In that passage, Jesus tells his followers that if we have even a mustard seed’s worth of faith, we could move mountains “There is nothing you wouldn’t be able to tackle.” (Matthew 17: 20, The Message Bible) But I don’t think I am up to dealing with any mountains today.  With God’s help, I think, I pray, that I may be able to start with something much smaller, like a mulberry bush and work my way up to throwing a mountain or two aside, later.

                There are times when, like the disciples, I long to have the sort of faith that would be invincible, unshakeable, limitless, fearless, indomitable. Never mind mountains, I would love to be able to look at the world right now with its wars, famines, death, evil, inanities, poor leadership, bad politics and social decay and not lose faith.  I keep telling myself that God is charge and try not to succumb to fear and doubt. But sometimes, the mountains crop up and block the view of the God-filled horizon. Show us, Jesus, how to increase our faith.

                Perhaps, it’s not the quantity of our faith, it’s the quality.

                I am working on another 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle. The scene, a painting of a seaside town, offers a kaleidoscope of colours. It has been very challenging which is the way I like my jigsaw puzzles. But I thought that I had lost a piece, an edge piece. There is nothing worse than doing a whole puzzle and finding it lacks just one piece to be completed. I could not find that piece among the all the remaining pieces.  Then a couple of days ago, I found it. It was right there all along. It was a very tiny piece, yet much needed to finish the puzzle.

                Perhaps, Jesus is saying that even a tiny portion of faith helps us face the puzzles in our lives, both big and small.  That tiny seed of faith, when cultivated, can grow and become significant enough to help us face whatever life throws at us.  Some degree of faith is needed to give us the strength and courage to deal with life’s challenges. For some, it may be the missing piece, but it is right there for any of us to discover and engage. We’re not whole until the last piece, faith, is applied to our situations, to our living. Faith is not measured by how many times we have gone to church this year, how long our prayers are, how much Bible we have memorized, how much we have given to charity. These are good results of faith.  It’s not the amount of our faith; it is its tenacity, its empowerment, its inspiration, its boldness and its perseverance which distinguishes it. A little faith can go a long way.

                The Apostle Paul never quantified faith, but it was the bedrock of much of his writings. Faith was the act of being connected with God, a salvation freely given through Jesus Christ.  Faith was getting right with God. Faith was the confidence that through Jesus Christ we are saved and given hope. Paul didn’t put faith in a measuring cup. It was boundless, free, energizing. “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.” (Romans 3:22) We live by that faith. Perhaps, we need not, should not, over-complicate it, over-theorize, twist it inside out, or muddle it up with too much theory and theology.  Have the simple faith that Jesus loves us. “Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.” (Ephesians 3;12) What more do we need to know?

                So, who knows? Today, a mulberry bush. Tomorrow, a mountain. With God’s help, we will overcome.

                “Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.” (1 Corinthians 16:13)

 Prayer:

Our faithful God, we confess that we act more by sight than we do by faith. So, grant us the fresh flow of your Love and Grace, so that faith make take a deeper root in us. Help us to keep our eyes on Jesus, the perfector of our faith, so as to understand and experience that he stands with us in and through all of life’s challenges. Nurture our faith; help it to grow; help it to flourish. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Wednesday, June 10, 2026

“Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” (Mark 14:38, New Living Translation))

                  I know that I must be  looking old when I am out and about, wearing suspenders with my shorts already up to my arm-pits, using a walker and walking very slowly and a younger man offers to help me with the door.  Yikes. When did this happen? I raise my voice with the Psalmist: “Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak. Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.” (Psalm 6:2)

                Well, not agony, per se, but just enough daily discomfort and disability to make life a little more awkward than I wish. I can’t do the things I use to do so easily. Susan out-paces me when we are out.  She now has to wait for me to catch up. That never ever happened before. So, yes, even though I am taking it somewhat out of context, I feel Jesus’ words apply to me. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. I am turning down some things I really wish I could do, preaching in Port Hope, assisting at Yorkminster Park, but I don’t trust my legs to support me or get me through the event. It’s quite annoying!

                Of course, Jesus didn’t have us old geezers in mind when he said this. He has been praying in the Garden of Gethsemane throughout the night, just before his arrest. It is an anguished, very human prayer, hoping that God will forestall the terrible outcome of the cross. He has left his disciples a little way off, to keep watch, do some praying themselves. But he comes back and finds them asleep. He must have felt very alone, very vulnerable, very abandoned by those he trusted and loved. Jesus chides the disciples for their lack of preparation for what lies ahead and for their susceptibility to give into the temptations of flight, denial and betrayal which they will face once Jesus is arrested, tried and crucified.

                So, first and foremost, our text challenges us to examine our best intentions to stand by Jesus in each and every circumstance.  We don’t quit on Jesus just because the going gets tough. We don’t get distracted by our humanity when we feel life become too hard or too risky or too exhausting. We don’t fade away in the background when Jesus demands our contribution to his mission. Jesus told many a parable that championed alertness, readiness, preparedness and faithful response to the call of the Master.  We need to practice more than just an intellectual attitude of obedience but put our heart, body and soul into our walk with Jesus.

                The Message Bible’s  paraphrase of our text is very colourful and witty. “Stay alert, be in prayer, so you don’t enter the danger zone without even knowing it. Don’t be naive. Part of you is eager, ready for anything in God; but another part is as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.”  Yet it still reminds us of the necessity to face the future with diligence and prayerful groundwork. Don’t let the day takes us unawares. Don’t let the moment catch off guard. Don’t let the devil catch us sleeping. “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” (Ephesians 5: 14)

                But I am okay if we also appropriate Jesus’ words to encourage us when we simply don’t feel spiritually able or faithfully strong enough to meet the demands of today or tomorrow; when mind, body and soul become weak and disabled. We may be well aware of the demands or burdens that are placed upon us but we find we  lack the energy, the strength, the capacity to step into the troubles or adversities we are trying to cope with. Prayer is our source of strength, encouragement, resolve and hope. “Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.” (Romans 12:12) We may know this is true but can neglect the practices of faith when under pressure or duress. The spirit may be willing but the rest of us is too fatigued, worn out and stressed out to lift our hearts to God and regain our footing and match our stride with the One who loves us and has compassion for us.         

            He never grows weak or weary.
            No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
            He gives power to the weak
                    and strength to the powerless.
            Even youths will become weak and tired,
                    and young men will fall in exhaustion.
            But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
            They will soar high on wings like eagles.
            They will run and not grow weary.
            They will walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40: 28 -31)

 Prayer:

O God of compassion and grace, we confess to you our weariness and inertia. We know what is right and good but there are times we fail to even take small steps to live up to your great Love and to walk with Jesus. Stir us, O Lord. Re-invigorate our passion to follow you. Re-kindle the pride in good works and bearing fruit for your Kingdom. Help us to keep watch through the dark nights of the soul and may alert for the signs of Jesus’ Kingdom. In his name, we pray. Amen.

Wednesday, June 3, 2026

“It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation.” (Galatians 6:15, New Living Translation)

            I am a sucker for lists, especially top ten lists. My browser gives me all sorts of lists each and every day. Just today, for example, I can read “The worst movies of all time, or  “19 habits that are silently sabotaging your health” or “11 phrases people are using when they are not telling the truth” or “men who truly respect women never do these 10 things” or “11 things that are making you older before your time.” Fascinating, right? Don’t tell you’re not a little intrigued. I have no idea how they came up with these lists or whom they polled or if they polled anyone at all. They could be AI generated for all I know but if one takes them with a grain of salt, they are kind of amusing and usually make a little sense.

            My favourite biblical list contains The Beatitudes (Matthew 5: 3 – 12) Count your blessings, indeed! But there all sorts of other kinds of lists, like the Ten Commandments, for instance. The Apostle Paul gives us lists of spiritual gifts, talents and abilities. “In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.” (Romans 12: 6 -8)

            His list about the best gift of all, Love, is a classic. “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” (1 Corinthians 13:  4-7)

            Another one of his lists concerns the qualities of a Christian’s life. “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22) Or Paul advises us to “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” (Philippians 4:8)

            As I get older, I need to make lists for myself so that I will remember the things I need to shop for. If I don’t, I will just about always forget an item, usually the one I went out to get in the first place.  These lists I have lifted from our scriptures are very useful reminders about the pursuit of a healthy, full-bodied Christian lifestyle.  It doesn’t mean we carry around a checklist and gives ourselves a credit every time we meet an objective.  But these are helpful reminders of attitudes, actions and words that befit a follower of Jesus Christ.  These sorts of lists define our daily routines, our interactions with others, our relationship with God and our faith walk. They give us direction and purpose. They lead us into the correct paths of righteousness. And if we forget, once in a while, they are right there in our Bibles, ready to remind us and refresh our memories and set us on the right path once more. It can’t get any more useful, practical, convenient or available than that.

            And as Paul wrote in our text, what really counts is that we are transformed into a new life.

 

Prayer:

Our Loving God. We are blessed that you don’t count our sins against us, but through Jesus Christ we are counted as redeemed and sanctified. There are no limits to your Love and Grace, your Mercy and Forgiveness. May our response to such a  Love be a bountiful and plentiful life of good works, good words, good relationships with others. May we not count the cost of a Christian life well lived, but invest ourselves fully in our walk withy Jesus, in whose name we pray, amen.

             

Wednesday, May 27, 2026

"So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you." (Hebrews 10:35)

      When Jesus preached not to be anxious about anything during his sermon on the mount, he never reckoned with the modern stress of dealing with technology. Nothing causes me more stress and anxiety than dealing with computer's idiosyncrasies. All is sweetness and light when the tech works properly but as soon it fails, my panic rises and my blood pressure goes haywire. I become a whining six-year old!

      I am currently in such a crisis. My main working computer experienced a major meltdown. It's in the shop for a total reboot, a cleaning, a purge, radical overhaul, a purification. Excuse me for a moment as I dry my eyes. The real pain in all this is that I am paying for my sins of the past for not backing up most of my work along with other pieces of information and many pictures. I kept meaning to back it all up; just never got around to it. Now, gone forever! Yikes! My 10 years' worth of blogs, thankfully, have been all saved  on my blog-site. But all else is kaput, out there in the nether world of cyber space.(I am writing this on my Chromebook which makes me very nervous.)

      All this angst reminds me that we should be more careful about taking care of the important things and people in our lives. It is so easy to become careless about paying attention to tje things and people that matter. We can forget to reinforce the values and principles which lead to a faithful life. We don't back-up our relationships the way we should. We fail to pay attention to the signs that there are problems which need to be addressed before it is too late. Jesus has taught us not to neglect the important things in life. (Matthew 23:33)  "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." (Matthew 6:33)

       It is so easy to take our lives for granted. We may think that we have all the time in the world to take care of the "business" of living. We fail to notice when there are telltale signs of things beginning to go awry, putting off corrections, repairs and remedies. In the long run, it mean that our neglect leads to health issues, broken relationships, existential crises, cloudy futures or spiritual breakdowns. We are not computers - we can't simply reboot and start all over.

       Our text reminds us, especially, not to be so careless with the critical and essential relationship which we enjoy with God through Jesus Christ. I was still using an old Windows 10 operating system which had become too obsolete to sustain my work. I needed an upgrade to Windows 11. Likewise, we need to be constantly refreshing  our faith and spirituality. Don't let your faith expire by neglecting its maintenance and improvement. Don't throw away and lose the details of what made you a believer. The Apostle Paul wrote:  "Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jess Christ is among you; if not you have failed the test of genuine faith." (2 Corinthians 13:5)

      We do not to remember what we have lost; we want to hang on to what we have and  build on it. "But then I recall all you have done, O Lord; I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago." (Psalm 77:11_

       Now, where did I put that thumb-drive?

Prayer:

Our ever-present God, sometimes in all the hustle and  bustle of our lives, we neglect the critical necessities of keeping up a faithful, relevant and lively dialogue with you. We allow things to go stale. We ignore the signs of brokenness and failure. Awaken us afresh to the uploads of your Love and Grace. New every morning is your Love. Help us to renew our lives according to that Love. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Prayer:

Our ever-present God, sometimes in  all the hustle and bustle of our lives, we neglect the critical necessities of keeping a faithful, relevant and lively dialogue with you. We allow things to go stale. We ignore the signs of brokenness and failure. Awaken us afresh to the uploads of your Love and Grace. New every morning is your Love. Help us to renew our lives according to that love. In Jesus’ name, Amen

        

 "And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near." (Hebrews 10:25)       

        Five out of our seven grandchildren are involved in organized baseball, this summer. As of today, they are all enthusiastic and passionate about their participation. They can't wait to get to the ballpark for their games or even get to their weekly practices. Playing ball is one of their favourite things to do. They hate to miss a game or even a practice. That has not always been the case. Ther have been moments when they were very reluctant to leave the house, like on a cold, snowy Sunday afternoon to go to curling or a dance class But right now, their enthusiasm and keenness is .at a high level. encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near."

    It is a daunting, parental challenge to get all the kids to their games and practices. Two of the boys are on travel teams and therefore have to get to their tournaments outside their city. almost every weekend.Extra duty for mom and dad. But all the parents have to juggle their schedules and make sacrifices to ensure their children get to where they need to be. They seem to do this with their own enthusiastic support. But they have told their children that if they ever do not want to play sport anymore, for whatever reason, they won 't be forced to continue. They can quit and no recriminations.

    There was an article in the Globe, this week, about a mother who had to deal with her daughter quitting soccer and how to deal with it. She wrote about the dilemma of wanting her children to follow through on their commitments yet not wanting to force her daughter to do something she didn't want to. Issues like enjoyment and having a basic level of competence pay a part in whether a child sticks with it. It is also helpful when we expose our children to different ranges of activities, sports, experiences. Variety is good and saves burnout from just being in one sport.

    But it has made think of  the challenge of getting our children to go to church. I don't know how many times I have heard an adult tell me that the reason they don't go to church is because a parent forced them to go when they were young. They usually add how boring church was or how long the sermons were. Once they became teenagers and had a choice, they stopped going. I remember that as a preadolescent, I wasn't allowed to play house-league hockey on Sunday mornings; church came first.

    Or what about the parents who say they will let their children decide about religion when they get old enough, although they never expose then to any faith-based community to begin with so that they can make a informed decision. The choice had already been made for them.

    But really, is there anything new under the sun? Apparently, the church to which the epistle to the Hebrews was written was dealing with people who were ducking out on worship, neglecting to meet together. Remember the Parable of the Banquet where the invited guests made up excuses so they wouldn't have to attend. 

    We all make excuses for not attending church. Weather. Stayed up too late the night before watching double overtime in the hockey game. Creaky, old joints. Guest preacher. For me, right now, it is just so much easier to stay at home and watch the service on the internet and enjoy a second cup of coffee. It is far more convenient. I don't ask myself whether or not I am encouraging anyone. Am I m missed? On the other hand, I can still well remember how I felt when I looked out at my congregation and saw a lot of empty pews. It was quite discouraging.

    Our presence matters. Our fellowship with others matters. Our efforts into community building matters. Our being in  the company of our fellow "saints" matters. We rub off on each other. we comfort each other. We are stronger together than apart.  I get a wholly different vibe when I attend a service in person than when I simply watch on-line.I wish that my church was closer than it is but that too is just an excuse. We, Christians,need one another. And if that means that we must make an extra effort or that we need to rise to the obligation or that we make it  part of our regular routine, no matter what, then that is good.

    Hebrews 10 is a call to persevere under the circumstances in our lives. Christ did  not quit on his mission to make things right between God and ourselves. "Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm." (10:23) We have been blessed by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of our sins, That is worthy of our attention. That is a call for our devotion that demands our faithfulness. "So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you. Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do god's will. Then, you will receive all that he has promised." 10: 35 -36)

Prayer:

Our ever-patient God, help us to be mindful of our need to interact with you and with other believers. May we be a source of encouragement, compassion and support within our faith communities. May we be as present to you as yo are always with us. we pledge our faithfulness and witness to the cause of building you Kingdom together. In Jesus' name. Amen.

 Wednesday, May 13, 2026

“If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget how to play the harp.” (Psalm 137:5, New Living Translation)

            “On the count of three; we will forget all about this. One. Two. Three.”

This is how the flock of sheep in the marvellous, poignant movie, The Sheep Detectives, deal with calamity, with those things that are unpleasant, hurtful and troubling. They have the ability simply to wipe it all out of their minds and continue to live in their supposedly idyllic world under the care of their good shepherd, George They have forgotten all about pain, suffering and death.  Their world is simply and wonderfully confined to their green pastures and the tender loving care of the shepherd. Even when their shepherd is murdered, their first inclination is to count to three and forget all about him and his death. But the lead ram stops them and reminds them how important it is to remember always the one who had thoughtfully named each one of them and had constantly cared and tended for them.  George shouldn’t be forgotten even though he was gone. He had a place in their hearts.

But it is tempting to envy the sheep’s ability to forget pain and death. We have never been able to explain adequately why there is suffering in our lives or why God allows bad things it happen to us. We do know that we go through fire, wind and storm. We are grieved by and suffer through the loss of loved ones. We suffer setbacks and losses. We make terrible choices and mistakes. We know sickness and disease. We look at the world and shudder at its state of affairs. Wouldn’t it be pleasant, sometimes, to count to three and forget all about the past?

There is one sheep in the movie who can’t ever forget like the others. He remembers everything, both the good and the bad. When the heroine sheep, Lily, realizes this, she asks him how he can possibly bear it. He replies that it is all the good things that he remembers which helps him, like remembering his mother’s face.  He held onto these memories in gratitude and love. The memories didn’t change the world one bit but it sustained him. They helped him survive and thrive.

Do we really want to forget those whom we have loved and have been part of our lives? Do we really want to forget those times when we life made us happy, joyful, content? Do we really want to forget those deeply satisfying times in our lives when life was full and abundant? Because if we forget all about the bad times, we will forget all about the good times with the people who mattered the most.

Like Jesus said, we have sadness in this world but our tears will turn to joy. “So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy.” (John  16:22) Memories are a powerful source of love, joy, hope, energy, strength and nurture.  They remind us of what is important and who matters. Our memories lead us into  a future that may never be perfect (on this world anyway) but a world made better because of the people we loved and who loved us.

The Sheep Detectives has Psalm 23 written all over it, although I doubt that was the inspiration for the movie. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”  These words remind us of the continuous loving presence of God for each of us. Even when they murdered our Good Shepherd, we were not abandoned. “Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.” These are words which I never want to forget. Thankfully God remembers us in our afflictions, trials and hurts. “He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” (Psalm 100; 3)

The Psalmist, King David himself perhaps, says that forgetting the wonders of God’s Presence would be like cutting off the music. He’d rather not be ale to play the harp than forget the beauty and grace that God gives.  Let us continually remember and not forget the ongoing, ever-present Love of God. Let us never forget those who have shared that love with us. Yes, it hurts sometimes, but the joy far surpasses the sorrow we experience.

Now, on the count of three. One. Two, Three.  Remember!

 

Prayer:

Ou Loving Shepherd, may we never forget the Love that you have for each and every one of us. May we cherish the memories of the people who have shared and enriched our lives. Grant that we will always recall all the beauty, grace, joy, wonder, generosity that have filled our lives each and every day. Help us when sorrows, struggles and pain try to overwhelm us. Help us to trust in your Compassion and Love, now and forever. In Jesus’ name. Ame