February 10, 2015

Mark 9:2-9

 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!’ Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them anymore, but only Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Radiance

I cannot write, O Lord, as one who wonders how it is that your clothes shined brighter than any light on earth. I have seen light shining through eyes that love and faces alight with joy.

I have felt the penetrating gaze of souls filled with a loving presence that I knew was you, burning bright within them, a lighthouse shining in the darkness, filling my heart with immense love and drawing me home.

I have seen it. I have felt it, and it leaves me speechless, although I am compelled to say or write something to express the wonder of your light alive in this world and its people.

Even in me. There are moments I know that my eyes are alight and my heart shines with the fullness of your light, moments of utter oneness with you when there is no space between us because you fill me and every word I say.

Thank you for these moments when I know you so near, filling me. It is then that I most know you as the Presence of that Light who has neither beginning nor end, the Source of all light and love that shines in this world.

And it is then that I know myself and your desire to transfigure me … that my life, too, may be a beacon of the light you are.

Help me to hold fast to the moments when your light shines and illumines my whole being so that when darkness comes, when suffering and feelings of separation appear—yes, when crosses must be born—that I may not forget the light that shines from your eyes on me … and in me, the light that raises from every death that comes.

Pr. David L. Miller

February 7, 2015

Mark 1:35-38

 In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, ‘Everyone is searching for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.’

Where we are

They searched for you, and you went searching for them … not knowing whether they would accept or deny you their time and attention. It didn't matter. You went anyway because this is who you are.

You are the searching love that seeks and finds us where we are, in the common places of our lives, that we may hear your voice and know the Love who is our source, our hope, our joy and our destiny.

You speak a kingdom that we need go nowhere to enter, for it comes to us. It is where we are, and we enter every time we hear and trust the word you speak, for you tell us who we are and for what we are made.

We are made by and for the Love Who Is … and who always will be.  We find ourselves when we are found by you, when the Presence of Love in you penetrates our disbelieving hearts and we discover that you want us near you, that you have always sought us, that you are always near, that you are the voice of longing at the center of our hearts.

Yes, it is true … you long for us ... and in us. Yours is the longing we feel, the hunger to come home and rest in you … the Love who long has sought us, the One who is searching love.

You came to find us … right where we are, living our lives, wondering if the ache for that mysterious something more could ever be fulfilled, inviting us to know the Love for which we hunger is exactly the Love who seeks and finds us … where we are.

Praise to you Holy One. Praise to you for all the mysterious ways you seek our hearts that we may fall in love with you, the Love who is our source, our hope, our joy … our destiny.

Pr. David L. Miller

February, 6, 2015

February, 6, 2015

Mark 1:35-38

 In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, ‘Everyone is searching for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.’

Moonlight

I do not wonder why you wandered from the house into the moonlight hours waiting for dawn. I know.

There is gold in the mouth of the morning, says an old German proverb. I beg to differ. Strike the ’l’ please. There is God in the mouth of the morning, the wee hours when the world is still.

You went out and saw thin clouds slow dance across the face of pale moonlight, playing with the face of earth’s nearest neighbor. Sitting in silence, you watched the gentle waves of light and darkness wash across earth and sky as a thousand stars and more dotted the infinity none of us understand.

And you listened … to the Heart within your own heart to hear the Inner Voice of Love who longs to dance with us—playing like cloud and moon in the darkened sky, filling us with the peace of the silent hours that we may live one more day as people who know the Love you are … who find that Love finding them right where they are.

This is the Love you sought in the moonlight so that knowing and hearing you may draw us to sit with you that we, too, might hear and know what moonlight awakens in the soul in the dark hours.

I spoke with a 13 year-old atheist wannabe the other day. He thinks he is, but he isn't … at least not yet.

He had arguments from the science he has learned and the objections cynical minds have handed him. I offered answers, good ones, to his every question about God and faith and why he didn't need to commit intellectual suicide to have faith and know you, Holy One.

The words I spoke to him feel empty now. I should have told him what it is like to sit with you in the silence, listening to the heart’s hunger, as the night clouds dance in slow motion across the face of the moon.

I should have told him what it is like to be quiet and listen to the Inner Voice of Love who speaks and has spoken in the hearts of billions when the noise of life falls away for a few minutes.

But I had no words a 13 year-old would understand. Maybe when he has felt truest love in his heart and learns its voice. Maybe some night in the moonlight he will be moved to wonder. Maybe then he will know what we know … the Love who finds us where we are … and who speaks in the moonlight.

Pr. David L. Miller

Wednesday. February 4, 2015

Psalm 147-1-4

Praise the Lord!
How good it is to sing praises to our God;
   for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting. 
The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
   he gathers the outcasts of Israel. 
He heals the broken-hearted,
   and binds up their wounds. 
He determines the number of the stars;
   he gives to all of them their names. 

Heal us, Lord

Heal the broken–hearted this day, O Lord. Bind up their wounds, for your people have many broken hearts and they break each other’s hearts for want of knowledge of you.

Knowledge of you is born in the Love you are, awakening your love in us. Words without love, knowledge without grace and understanding know nothing of the deepest truth of life. They do not know you who are Love and who seeks to bring all things into loving unity, which is your will.

You intend your people to be a people of grace where love abounds and care is the air we breathe. Such beauty is born when we see your greatness in the immensity of the stars and the gentle care you have for each of us.

You are great and small, near and far, tending to the cosmic wonder of the nebulae … and the tender needs of children. You care for the wounded heart, the fragile flower and cast the burning stars in vastness of space to light the sky and awaken wonder.

Seeing you great and small, immense power and gentle grace—and loving through it all—our hearts are healed and filled, and we become as you.

Only you heal the break heart, only the Love you are makes the magic of peace happen in our souls. So come to us, come to those wounded and longing to know your grace in the midst of your people.

Open the eyes of our hearts to see you great and small. Awaken your grace in our hearts that we may be healed and be healers of broken hearts and relationships.

Heal us Lord, and renew our lives.

Pr. David L. Miller

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Psalm 31:14-16

But I trust in you, O Lord;
   I say, ‘You are my God.’ 
My times are in your hand;
   deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors. 
Let your face shine upon your servant;
   save me in your steadfast love. 

Snow day

Make time stop;

the moments pass

too soon. I do not fear

the passing of time but

moments come so full

much time is needed to feel

and know what is in each one.

Packed full of eternity,

eternity is needed for the

heart to feel and know the

blessing of each, for mind to

claim and name the beauty of

the world silver blue and brilliant

white, winter splendor in golden sun,

radiant light so bright wintery eyes

cannot stand the wonder even through

dirty windshield, my soul aching to capture

with words this moment, to hold it, refusing

to let it go, grieving its passage, sorrow

that so many moments have gone

unnoticed, unnamed, their beauty

and love lost to the soul even as

my words reach to hold this one,

this joyous gift a little longer

lest it slip away, lost to my

heart, aching to hold the

love awakened, failing

for this love is too

large; it cannot

be held, for it

holds me.

I grasp for words

big enough to hold

the love and joy of blue

and gold, shimmering white,

blinding light, filling me with

a love beyond any loves I have

known. Oneness: the heart knows

no separation from the colors of

the day. We are one, one life,

one beauty, one love and

for one moment I feel

and know I am they

and they are me, and

I have everything

for which my

heart longs.

So stop time now,

Holy One, let no more

moments pass; this one

is complete, perfect, and I

am complete. Hold me here

in this moment, eternal oneness.

Let no more moments come or go

that this heaven may not be lost, lest

I be lost from this heaven. I want never

to lose what this moment is, but mere

words cannot hold it; they are too

weak. I cannot stop the passage

of time, so hold me, hold my

times in your hand that the

love that is here and now

might never be lost to

this heart that aches

to know what I know

on snow days.

Pr. David L. Miller

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Habakkuk 2:20

But the Lord is in his holy temple;
   let all the earth keep silence before him! 

Silence …

You beckon

in the quiet light,

and I enter

the great silence,

truest home,

your presence,

knowing you calm,

at peace in the soul’s

inner room, immense

space, invisible

to the eye, filled

with nothing

that can be seen,

a place that is no place

feet can walk; releasing

all, sinking into utter

welcome, knowing you

ever waiting for me …

for me to arrive

and know you in this

temple of awareness

within, where no word

is or can be spoken

for your Fullness fills

all in your holy temple,

restoring the self

lost in living that life

can be … once more.

Pr. David L. Miller

Friday, January 30, 2015

John 8:12

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’

How long, O Light?

Holy One, my friend. I need you in these morning hours … and all the day long. My soul cries out for you, for you alone.

How long will I look for grace where it cannot be found? How long will I seek my food and health in the words of others … and not in the light of your face?

You light shines where it will. You shine in every grace and beauty, in every word of encouragement and act of love, in each moment of quiet understanding when eye meets eye and the heart knows what it needs to know to live, to love, to shout with joy at the sheer exultation of existence.

How I hunger for that freedom this day when arrows from unexpected hands strike and wound the heart. I hunger for what you alone can give, so here I am again, aching for your voice.

“Turn from all that is not me,” I hear you say. “I am light. Look for light where I chose to shine on your heart. People will disappoint. Their needs and desires will turn them from you and against you.

“But not me. I am light, and I shine through eyes that love and hearts that know and treasure what I have done in yours. So go there; be there. Bask in the grace that receives and enables you to be the soul you are, giving little thought to those who will not or cannot provide what your heart requires.

"They are not the food and drink you need. You will fail to find what your heart needs in the hearts of those who serve. They cannot sustain you. Heart wounds heal in the light I am. Find your place in the sun of my grace. Seek nothing else, and you will live."

Pr. David L. Miller

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Mark 1:14-18

They went to Capernaum; and when the Sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’ And the unclean spirit, throwing him into convulsions and crying with a loud voice, came out of him

Love casts them out

What is new is the lack of fear that required boundaries to separate clean and unclean, acceptable and from that which must not be touched.

Jesus wades in where angels fear to tread, lest they get their pretty white robes soiled.

No fear of being soiled in Jesus. He goes where human minds and hearts are trapped by forces they do not understand and from which they cannot free themselves.

Old prohibitions—do not touch, do not walk, do not cross that line—do not bear on his mind or prevent him from going places from which others turn their faces and hurry away.

He goes where demons enslave, where we create thick walls to protect us from situations and troubles we fear. Don’t get too close the evil might infect you!

Evil is suddenly not to be feared or avoided but met with the determination of the love that heals. He talks to the destructive addictions and powers that enslave souls and commands them to leave.

I do not know how he did it exactly. But I know that the love in him … and the love he is in us … drives out a host of demons and fears, heals wounds and casts out haunting memories so that we may begin to see ourselves as he sees us, precious and worthy of care, full of beauty he would release from our hiddenness.

This … I know.

I have seen it happen. I have done it to others, and I have had it done to me, releasing the love and beauty trapped within to bless others.

“Fear not,” Jesus says. “Love drives out the demons and fears that enslave. That’s the way love is. And I am Love.”

Pr. David L. Miller

Monday January 26, 2015

Psalm 62:1-2

For God alone my soul waits in silence;
   from him comes my salvation. 
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
   my fortress; I shall never be shaken. 

Knowing silence

Quiet is the space where

I sit and wait; house noises

surround, soft furnace

purring, giving warmth;

keyboard keys click beneath

fumbling fingers, wood frame

creaks in winter’s cold as

white candle flickers radiant

and near, promising the Presence

of light beyond its own.

No scripture word attracts

or brings light; only silence

appeals this day. Too many words

I have spoken and heard; the heart

hungers for the word silence

speaks at the deep inner point

where the heart knows what

it knows and rests in the love

it hears, knowing all is well,

knowing the love that knows

you … and wants you still.

Yet, strangely it is words

I do not control, flowing

through my fumbling

fingers from heart’s deep inner

room that carry me into the

knowing silence that speaks what

I want and need, illumining

the heart with light that is light

and love that is love, bringing rest

and assurance that the promise

of candle light is true …

always true.

Pr. David L. Miller

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Mark 1:14-18

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’  As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Come, know me

Restore to me the excitement and joy of hearing your call, for it is a call to be with you, and there is no place I would rather be.

I want to be with you, to hear your voice, to listen to your heart, to watch what you do … and to learn to do and be what you are--beloved, child of God, always knowing the love who is Love in the depths of my being.

My heart leaps at the sound of your voice … and when I hear you name, even in early morning hours when my head is not yet clear, and I come to this quiet place to find you again. I don’t really come here to find you. I come here to find me, but there is no place I am truly me except in your presence and in the circle of your love.

So I say your name … Jesus, and I know you here with me, your heart to welcome me near once again so I can just simply be.

I don’t really want anything special from you. I just want to be with you, for when I know your nearness … you and are you and I am me and that is all that really matters, at least in that moment.

There is always work to be done, people to care for, papers to push, letters to write, decisions and calls to be made. Of this, there is never an ending; it will go on long after I am gone from this earth.

But this is not life. Life is you, knowing you, entering the circle of grace you are … and just being with you. So, I come here once more because here, more than almost anywhere, I know your presence and welcome. And that is enough for me.

You call me here, don’t you, even as you called fisherman from their boats? The invitation now, as then, is simple, “Come, know me.”

Yes, you teach us to fish for people, to invite and welcome others into this circle where you are known and adored. But first comes the knowing … and that is sweetest of all. It calms and fills the heart with a gentle, patient love … and passion … that moves us to love and welcome others in this circle of knowing where life is transformed.

Some are puzzled why the fisherman immediately left their boats to follow you, but not me. They wanted to know you. It’s that simple.

Pr. David L. Miller

January 21, 2015

Mark 1:14-18

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’  As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Together

Jesus comes and calls, and two brothers leave ... together. They are connected now to Jesus' love and mission and bound to each other. I picture them walking side by side down a dirt path by the lake where they had fished and repaired their nets, Jesus walking slightly ahead.

What strikes me is that they are not alone. They share the journey of learning and revealing the rule of God. They are together, bound to Jesus, bound to his mission, bound to share whatever comes because they are part of something far bigger than themselves.

Together, they will laugh and bask in days of sunlight. They will feel the warmth of God's fullness radiating from Jesus and filling them with a joy and courage they never thought they had. They will be confused and misunderstand Jesus' words and what he does. 

They will make each other angry, and at other times he will scare them.They will glow with the excitement and joy of bringing divine love and freedom to others even as their hearts are filled.Sometimes they will totally fail him, and they will be crushed when the Jesus is crushed.

But they will always have each other, a family of those gathered around Jesus, sharing his mission, knowing they are wanted, knowing there is so much more to themselves and to this world than the eye can see.

This togetherness in mission and care touches me in these morning hours. My heart does not want to be alone but to share love and mission, joys and the sorrows, highest hopes and disappointments with those who know Jesus' love and mission. 

I want to walk with those called to follow and know him, walking just behind, sharing the day, listening for his voice ... together. This fills the heart with blessing beyond measure and brings comfort on days you want to  quickly pass. 

Jesus calls us to share the days and to know him ... in our togetherness.

Pr. David L. Miller 

Monday, January 19, 2015

Mark 1:14-18

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’  As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Community of knowing

Eyes meet, glasses are raised,

jokes are made--at my expense.

Smiles of knowing exchanged

in sun light, kitchen light,

office light … even bar light

(where doesn’t matter), and

I know what you want, Jesus,

why you came and the joy

of  it. It’s about connection,

deep belonging, love …

in the community

of the Love you are.

You do not call me that I

might find my personal

fulfillment but to belong to

this imperfect, frustrating,

irritating community …

called church, where the Love

you are pulls us out of ourselves

to know …we are known and

loved in spite of ourselves

because we are we--

not just you and me, a

community of knowing

you as the Love from the

beginning, living this Love

so much as we can.

Moments come we know

the pleasure of being known

and wanted, treasured, belonging

to each other in a community

where you are known; happens

anywhere eyes meet, glasses

are raised and good fun

is poked … at our expense,

by hearts that love because

they are part of you.  

Fish for people you told

your friends, Jesus; call them

all to the kingdom of knowing.

Pr. David L. Miller