God Is My Strength and Salvation

Sat Dec 29

am: 18:1-20 pm: 18:21-50

Isa 12:1-6

Rev 1:1-8

John 7:37-52

Today, I feel physically and emotionally weak. I feel mentally and spiritually foggy. I didn't sleep much. The anxiety and panic has been draining, like a tornado trying to get out from the inside. I, the elephant matriarch, told my mother she shouldn't come visit.

Sinus infections, bronchitis, sore throats, and even pneumonia. Everyone is, was or will be sick before the first of the year. The Mayan Calendar did NOT predict that. Little sleep, lots of prayer.

I don't have to be strong because God is my ROCK - solid, steadfast protection against the vulnerability of pain, anxiety, fogginess and hard decisions.

Praise God, the storm on my insides is not nearly as strong as God's violent theophany. He, as a violent thunderstorm, leaves me in a place of stillness where I can be sure HE IS. Even when I am in turmoil, his grace is sufficient. He has loved me and freed me.

In my weakness and fear, my panic and anxiety Christ invites me to draw near. He invites me to drink Living Water. He invites me to cling to the Holy Spirit. He invites me to invite others to dip into the rush, the healing and the protection of River of blood. 

For Christ is the culmination of God's purposes and activities since before the beginning of time. Even our ability to HAVE faith is a result of God's grace - God's presence in our lives and hearts, enabling us to believe in the redemptive power of Christ's passion.

Dear God, thank you. I love you, O Lord, my strength. So, as David,  I pledge myself to you, for you have saved me from my enemies.  Thank you for reminders that you will treat me as I treat others. And so, like Isaiah I remain confident that that You are the  source of salvation that transcends you anger. So, like the prophet I can sing of trust in your salvation as a source of hope when my emotions, my body, my mind, and my spirit betray me. May my trust in you cause me to read or hear and obey your word. Thank you for your grace that allows me to believe. May your presence in my life and heart encourage me to believe in the redemptive power of the blood of Christ. Remind me of my commission to share your love and to reveal to others the convergence of texts revealing Jesus as the culmination of your purposes and activities. In the power of the Trinity:  Ancient of Days, King of Kings, and the Wind of the Word, may I encourage others to drink the Living Water. Amen.

In Memoriam Newtown, CT 12/14/12

I believe there can be no greater pain than the loss of a child. God knows, he lost his son at the hands of angry men. This leaves families feeling powerless, helpless and even hopeless. Even God covered the earth in darkness and sent an earthquake that rent his garment - the veil - to the Holy of Holies

I want to share with you the thoughts of some folks who pray intentionally, who love unconditionally, who know what it is to mourn and grieve through their own experiences and the experiences of those they love. Some believe Christ has come, and are waiting his return. Some are waiting for Messiah. Some believe in Allah. Some believe the no matter where or how we worship:

We all reach out to Newtown in ways that show we are greater than the sum of our parts.

Most loving and ever-present God, this morning we join our country in mourning for the senseless and tragic loss of life on Friday morning.  In shock and despair, we come before You begging for peace. 

We grip tightly to hope during this Advent season.  You alone, O God, can heal this kind of pain. You alone, O God, can comfort the parents and families impacted by such horror.  May we remember that our joy, which we seek at Christmas, is not found in the circumstances on this earth, but in the presence of Your mercy.  

May we remember that the joy of your unending love in the Christ Child, is the only hope we have and the only hope we need.  O God, surround the community in Connecticut with intense and unmistakable love.  

Heal our human ability to destroy life.  May we know and truly understand the message of the manger in Bethlehem– darkness and evil in whatever form is never the last word.  

For You, O God, came to heal, came to save, came to give life and came to give us rest.  May our hope abide in You now and forever.  Amen.     

                                                                            Rev. Laurie Moeller, Pastoral Prayer
                                    Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, 12/16/12, Marietta, Georgia

Guns don't kill people, people kill people.            Eddie Izzard,British Stan-Up Comedian

All people grieve differently. Today is not the day to talk about forgiveness. Today is the day to mourn and commemorate and love and celebrate with the families of Newtown, Connecticut. Later, those same families will need to find a new normal, because the old normal is no longer there. Only then can we deal with forgiveness. We need to be our brother''s keeper. We need to love and support these families in the midst of their loss, and all families who struggle with mental health needs, who need answers that are not easy to find.

Pastor T. D. Jakes, Potter's House, Dallas, Texas

Crawling out is long, hard and searing. First Responders, particularly will need long term mental health care.
                                                               Frank Keating, Former Governor of Oklahoma

It is my hope that the kids and schools find a way, at what would be these precious children's graduation, to once again call their names; to present their diplomas en abstentia. Those of us left behind are the children. We need to allow the reality of the tragedy be what it is. We should also remember Moses' family's grief as they released his basket to the Nile, to help know that we all daily release our children as they pass from our care to another's, We must have hope in the midst of tragedy.

Rev. Dr. Joe Peabody, Mt Zion United Methodist Church, Marietta, Georgia 

The NRA and weapons dealers have gone dark. The are distancing themselves from the slaughter. Is this temporary measure enough?

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under in accordance with the time he learned from  the Magi.

The Slaughter of the Innocents, Matthew 1:16, NIV

Violent events such as the wars in Iraq, [Afghanistan, Somalia, Israel and Palestine ... ] and the post-war conflict, acts of terrorism, crime, and natural disasters affect everyone. Children receive different information about these events. 

Some children are included in discussions, some overhear adults’ or other children’s talk, some hear or see it on the news. Many young children may be confused or frightened and try to work out their feelings and understanding in play. 

Adults can observe and guide the play by responding to what children say with simple, accurate information and keeping the play within safe physical and emotional boundaries.

For more information contact TRUCE: 

www.truceteachers.org

PO Box 441261, West Somerville, MA 02144  

e-mail: truceteachers@aol.com

You are not alone. A real God can find one in the midst of tragedy. Overwhelming grief enlarges and deepens our faith with evidences of grace. In the midst of the process we must find ways to forgive the broken..

                                                    Bishop Robert Wright, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Heaven is very busy this morning.                                              Meredith , 6  years old

Violent movies and video games will desensitize; and causes one not only to perpetrate acts of violence, and to be less likely to assist victims of violence.

Police across the country have announced a zero tolerance for copycats.

In Newtown, a local builder plans to repair at no charge the homes of the families affected by the violence at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

I pray President Obama holds to his resolve. I pray Congress, rather than sit across the aisle from the "other" party, stand instead, to encircle the children. Remember they have no voice but yours.

Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

A voice is heard in Ramah,

weeping and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children

and refusing to be comforted

because they were no more.

The Slaughter of the Innocents, Matthew 2:17-18 NIV

Toy Soldiers, Real Guns

We are greatly removed from the effects of the wars we prosecute. We are then tempted into nihilism and despair when seemingly random violence comes our way. On the day of the shooting my Facebook friends posted updates suggesting we hug someone close to us. Parents that evening squeezed their children tighter than ever when they picked them up safe and sound from school.

To talk about healing, we must talk about love. We must confront what is not love. Violence begets violence; despair begets despair. But we also never know how much reaching out to a shy, angry young man with a simple kindness might actually do.

It takes courage to keep caring after a tragedy. It takes courage to lay down our weapons and stop the violence, big and small. Such acts may not count as heroism in any headline. Yet they just might be the cure for our collective sickness, the only real way to heal.

Robert Peake is an award-winning writer and poet. 

He lives in London England. Visit him online at www.robertpeake.com 

I encourage you to add your prayers or comments (quotations) you have heard or read to this post in the comment box. Remember the goal is to encourage and lift up. The murderer is dead, so the only justice is the actions we take to love and enfold Sandy Hook Elementary School teachers and children; to repeat the names of the children who left the world too soon; to pray for the first responders and surviving mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters; to aid a community experiencing a depth of surrealistic pain we cannot know, but only touch.