Thursday, March 12, 2015

Matthew 1:18-21

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’

Believe the dream

Thanks, Joseph. Thanks for believing the dream. Your dream is a gift to me. It lives in me, no … in us.

You dreamed that God truly is the Love who conquers the distance between our souls and the Soul of God—that we may know the fullness of God’s loving presence.

But your dreaming is even more audacious, for you dream that your quiet little life will serve a role in making God’s dream come true.

You believe it, and do what needs to be done to protect Mary and the child who is the presence of God’s heart on this earth. You did what God’s dream called you to do and because you did … we know the heart of God.

Joseph never speaks in the Bible, not one word. He appears at this important point in the story of Jesus birth then disappears from the scene. He is not around when Jesus is dies on the cross. He certainly never knew of the resurrection. By then he had finished his job likely had died long before.

He is like so many of God’s people who live quiet lives serving their church, sharing the love that is in them through their jobs and families, faithfully worshiping, giving to causes that serve the needy.

Their efforts, often in the background, keep Christ’s church alive and ticking so that it can love and bless God’s world in ways they may not ever see.

But they do it anyway because they believe God is working … even through them … to make God’s holy dream come true.

Pr. David L. Miller 

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

 Philippians 2:5-6

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 
who, though he was in the form of God,
   did not regard equality with God
   as something to be exploited, 

The gift of Love

Moments come when I am aware of Christ’s mind within my own. I do not possess it, nor do I do anything to create it. It is just there, a Great Heart within my own, filled with love, pulsing, warm and wanting to be given away in love for this crazy world and its myriad needs.

Sometimes it comes in the presence of someone’s need. Sometimes it is awakened by the painted sky of a spring sunrise, brush strokes of pink and purple over a pale blue horizon.

At other times, the mind of Christ fills the heart when one knows great love, a love that is the gift of the One is the Great Love.

Bible stories say Jesus sometimes slipped from the crowds and his friends to be alone, to listen to the waves, to watch the moon finish its course and to hear to the Heart within his heart. He went to pray and know union, holy communion, with the Love that filled him, the Love he called Abba, Father.  

Oneness with the Love God is set Jesus free to give himself to the purpose of God. He surrendered to suffering and a brutal death not as an act of will but from the fullness of heart that comes when one knows God’s all-surpassing love.

The mind of Christ is the gift of the Great Love. It blossoms as we take time and make space to listen for the Heart within our own heart … and know the Love who holds us.

Pr. David L. Miller

Monday, March 9, 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.

Always, with hope

I saw Bette today, and I blessed her but not nearly as much as she blessed me.

She will soon pass into your arms, Loving Mystery. Blessing her was not hard, for she is dying the same way she has lived—with grace and great love for her family and friends.

She opens her arms to receive me, filled with loving gratitude for the beauty of life and the rich goodness of all she has received in her 87 years.

She knows what Jesus knew as he faced the end of his ministry—her days and years, moments and final hours rest … always … in the hands of grace immeasurable, love unspeakable, beauty indescribable.

We sing Amazing Grace and say the Lord’s Prayer, and she receives the blessed sacrament one more time. Marking her head with the sign of the cross, I remind her … one more time … that she is yours, Holy One … in life and death.

All is well, even here as she lies in the bed from which she will soon pass into your arms. She knows your loving face has shined on her even in her most difficult moments and years … and always will.

The grace she has received fills her with grace even now.

Blessed are your saints, Loving God. They teach us how to live--always with hope, knowing … our times are in the hands of a Love greater than we know.

Pr. David L. Miller

March 2, 2015

Mark 6:30-34

The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. 

Come close … and know

Sheep without a shepherd do not know where to find food or safety. So I suppose it is not surprising that these few words are followed by the story of Jesus breaking bread and giving it to the crowd. There was enough for everyone with plenty left over.

That’s the point. Jesus has enough for me, for you, with plenty left over, and the bread he breaks is the teaching, words of truth and grace that come from his depths … and give us his life.

His invitation is the same today as then: “Come close … and know me. You will know a glow of grace that illumines your soul and tells you your life is treasured and safe in the arms of the Mystery who made you and all that is.

“Come close. That which is in me will feed you and fill the empty place within, the lonely place where you do not know who you are or what life is about.

“Come close … and know … there is a love and mystery here that defies every attempt to explain it, a Presence that revives the soul and makes every day fresh and new, filled with hope.”

Life and hope start by coming near, bringing the hunger of our days … and hearing what he says, so the emptiness within may be fed and filled by him.

That’s is why I am here again by radiant candle. It’s an old story by now. I come to be fed, my soul made alive, filled with light and my eyes with tears by this Jesus who looks with compassion not only on crowds long ago but on me.

Every morning he invites me to come close and know. So I pray and write, I read of him and find him, too, in the wonder of full hearts … who know what I know, who know who he is and feel the wonder of what is him.

I come close … so I may always know and never forget.

Pr. David L. Miller

February 25, 2015

Psalm 31:9-10

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
   my eye wastes away from grief,
   my soul and body also. 
For my life is spent with sorrow,
   and my years with sighing;

The secret

Why does the soul ache? For what purpose is this pain except to tell me what I do not and cannot have … peace of heart … at least now?

Is the secret of joy to cease wanting, to kill the desire to know greater beauty, hope … fulfillment?

But how I can kill desire without killing my soul and what beauty is there?

For what am I …what are we … if not desire for More? All of our lives we ache … for welcome, for care, for love, for respect, for beauty … for the joy that completes the heart.

It is you, O Lord, who made us this way. It’s your fault.

You, whose name is Seeking Love, are not content to lose us. So you seek us in every place, writing your love in signs and sky and human lives that we may know and be seduced into loving you.

And we are just like that, just like you, stirred to seek what mind and heart require.

Ancient voices tell me I am not alone. The human heart is little changed as the centuries pass. We are made in the image of Searching Love, created to need, to want and to seek joy and completion.

Our hearts are restless until they rest you. That is the secret—You. We are to rest in you. Everything else in this world disappoints, sooner or later, no matter how good, how rich, how beautiful, how joy-filled.

There is always something More the heart wants … and needs. And those restless hearts of ours, you created as a gift to keep us moving and seeking, hoping and loving until all our restlessness leads us home… to rest … in the Love you are.

Today, draw me into that space where rest can come …so my heart may have what it needs.

Pr. David L. Miller

February 23, 2015

Psalm 65:8

Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy. 

Signs

It was only a bird …

heard him before I saw him,

calling clear, crisp in frigid air,

a sound out of time,

spring weeks away,

maybe months.

Why are you here little bird

so red, perched high against

bluest sky,

singing your solitary song?

Ah, but I know …

you are here for me,

aren’t you?

For us, really …

stirring hope for spring’s

great love of earth

warming, awakening us

to love the Love

who makes the heart alive

that hope may live

in winter white,

Your song, a sound,

a sign …

at which heart leaps

and knows ... life

and joy are not gone

but live.

Sing your song

little bird,

sing for me, for us.

Your prayer

is better than mine.

It was only a word,

a small one at that—we,

two letters.

What power is this

that bathes the heart

with solace and something

like (could it be?) peace …

and patience that lives

only in hope’s

sweet embrace,

leaping to life at the sound

of a word—we?

We … sings its song, too,

sounding truth that is

and never leaves,

awakening awareness

that this soul is not solitary

but joined, one in

sweet communion,

bound in Love’s embrace,

one heart, not two,

knowledge awakened

by a word,

one word, a small word

fanning hope’s flame

that this day, everyday

can be lived with joy.

Sing your song

little word,

sing for me, for us.

Your prayer is my own.

Signs …

they are everywhere.

Listen. Look. Know.

Pr. David L. Miller

February 21, 2015

Mark 1:35

 In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. 

John 17:20-21

‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word,that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.'

I know …

I know why you rose

from sleep, slipping

from the dwelling into

darkness before dawn.

Stepping without sound

in the night watches,

longing for the Love

you sensed in silence,

there to rest, refreshed,

knowing beyond doubt

the Love who is,

Mystery who dwells

not far but near

at soul’s deep center.

Water laps on lake shore,

as you gaze into star light,

pale moon reflecting

on water’s face, sinking

into western sky, its daily

journey near end.

There you sit

not alone, never alone,

knowing always within

this Love, Mystery,

no soul nor sun

can contain, the One

who always is within,

at depth of soul,

interior temple,

waiting for us to come

commune that we may

know and live the lives

of love for which we,

in Love’s Image,

are intended.

You commune in

dark silence, knowing

inner light no darkness

can shut out … ever,

Radiant Love

(of which angels sing),

who dwells in all that is,

deep within, igniting

the flame of hope …

every human soul needs

to carry on,

to live its mission

when days are hard and

future dim, uncertain.

And I sit with you

in early hours, knowing

you stepped into darkness

for the same reason

I come to these keys,

fumbling fingers,

filled with errors,

searching for words

with sounds just right

to speak what is in

this soul …and to it,

heart of heart longing

to know with completeness

what you went out

to feel and know

and there to rest

in the Love who is …

always.

And with tears

and candlelight

I am with you there …

in the silence.

Pr. David L. Miller

February 17, 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.’

Into the temple

Gentle chant rises,

reaching for “amen,”

as I wait again for you

to speak, aching …

for you,

for you are the peace

my heart desires

and cannot find.

I follow you into

the dark quiet,

longing to listen

to One who is Life;

sitting with you

in silence, waiting …

to hear echoes of deepest

love, to feel the Presence

of Mystery beyond any

command or control,

Who just is …

there at the heart

of the heart when chatter

of anxious mind falls

away and the soul hears

itself and knows …

it is so much more.

For You are

Abiding Presence within,

formless, hovering, waiting

for us to enter the inner

dwelling, the temple where

you are and are known,

quieting every restlessness,

all tension fading as

we find what the world

of success and failure

cannot give, peace …

passing all understanding,

that comes in the silence

of the deserted place

where we come to hear

and know … you.

Jesus, you left your

quiet place in peace,

knowing this Mystery

whom I can never hold,

yet who is held within

me---not by my choice

or creation--but because

You Are and there is

nothing I can do about it

except to enter the

temple of your dwelling

and know …

what I will never be able

to name.

Pr. David L. Miller