Probably most of us, in our childhoods, played the game of Hide and Go Seek where whoever was 'it' cried out, 'Coming, ready or not.' In a sense, that is how our Lord is. However, there is a difference. In the children's game, the winning strategy was to keep still and do nothing, after, of course, ensuring that you had a good hiding place. But with Jesus, the idea is 'active waiting', namely being busy at our appointed tasks when He returns. But, of course, none of us know exactly when that will be. That is the underlying message of today's meditation. I hope you enjoy it.

Today I have some glorious good news. From my reading of Psalm 17, it would appear that David thinks that it is his personal sinlessness, his innocence before God, that entitles him to offer prayers to God and, in consequence, that ensures that his prayers will be heard. While sincerity and such like certainly do have a place in terms of answered prayer, thank God that our prayers do not depend upon this. Seeing as we are all sinners, we could never hope to approach God solely upon the basis of our own merits, our own sinlessness or innocence. But thanks be to God that we don't have to. God, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, has opened up to us a new and living way, a total freedom of access to the Father. It is thus through Him and not through ourselves that we depend. Thanks be to God.

In my estimation, our modern world is rather ambivalent when it comes to wrong-doing and punishment. Some crimes, which to me seem rather heinous and awful, get off with relatively light (or short) sentences. On the other hand, some folks are punished in other ways, such as losing their jobs or reputation, simply on account of some off-the-cuff, unthinking remark or action from years ago.

This ambivalence, I think, also spills over to us and God. And, because we take sin and wrongdoing lightly, and God's anger and disapproval lightly, we also lose sight of just how radical His solution was, namely, the death of His Son, how utterly drastic it was. That's what it cost God for our salvation and healing. I think that bearing this in mind will help us have a healthier and more respectful relationship with God. Anyway, there's something to think about.

To me, it seems that our world, whether it be close to home in our families, churches or organizations, or further afield, is in the midst of a crisis of leadership. It is here that Moses' example and advice would be most fruitful, namely to disperse, delegate, the leadership among people of diverse gifts, wisdom, ability and experience, train them well and provide backup. And as Moses did, to try to get them raised up among their own people. I think that this is a helpful model for us in our world today.

If there is anything that we can count on God to do certainly one is the knowledge that He's going to challenge us and stretch us in our thinking and actions. We certainly see this in our the two meditations included for today. In the one for yesterday, we are challenged to be like God, to love unconditionally and unreservedly, even to those that we don't particularly like or get along with. And in today's meditation, we are to trust God equally unconditionally and unreservedly, knowing, as we should, that the alternatives don't really cut it at all.

If there is anything that we can count on God to do certainly one is the knowledge that He's going to challenge us and stretch us in our thinking and actions. We certainly see this in our the two meditations included for today. In the one for today, we are challenged to be like God, to love unconditionally and unreservedly, even to those that we don't particularly like or get along with. And in tomorrow's meditation, we are to trust God equally unconditionally and unreservedly, knowing, as we should, that the alternatives don't really cut it at all.

Oh, how I hate having to wait for something. That is why, when I'm forced to wait in a line-up at a bank or at the grocery store check-out or at a doctor's office, I typically try to strike up a conversation, or work on a list of things to do or remember, or read something. It helps me wile away the time and gives me something to do. And that, for me at least, is key: it gives me something to do, giving--at least the illusion--that some progress is being made.

That is why the waiting that the apostle Paul is alluding to is so very difficult. I find myself waiting for so many things, for something by way of a resolution with Covid, for a restoration of civil discourse within our country, for some kind of 'progress' for our First Nations peoples, for an end to the war in Ukraine, for difficulties within our churches, and for moving forward in terms of the impacts of global warming. And what is so frustrating, for me at least, is there doesn't always seem to be much that we can do, whether to move ahead or even to wile away the time. I know that God has promised a resolution and a glorious end to all of this, but it is hard to wait, especially not knowing what (if anything) can be done in the meantime. That, I guess, is where faith comes in. "Lord, give me more faith. Amen."

I'm not sure about each of you, but I find myself sometimes passing over or failing to acknowledge properly or take to heart certain phrases that we use continually in our worship. For instance, in the Lord's Prayer we customarily say, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven", but do we really mean it? And, in our baptismal vows we answer 'yes' to the question, "Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love?" It is so easy to say, but harder to put into practice. In fact, I realized several years ago, that my answer to that question was a 'yes, but.' I was willing to trust God, but only so far, only as far as it fit in with my plans and expectations and comfort zone.

The two meditations that I have attached today both speak of a more radical and far-reaching trust, of trusting God no matter what. For me, it is something not yet attained, but still to be ardently hoped and prayed for. What about you?

I'm not sure about each of you, but I find myself sometimes passing over or failing to acknowledge properly or take to heart certain phrases that we use continually in our worship. For instance, in the Lord's Prayer we customarily say, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven", but do we really mean it? And, in our baptismal vows we answer 'yes' to the question, "Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love?" It is so easy to say, but harder to put into practice. In fact, I realized several years ago, that my answer to that question was a 'yes, but.' I was willing to trust God, but only so far, only as far as it fit in with my plans and expectations and comfort zone.

These two meditations both speak of a more radical and far-reaching trust, of trusting God no matter what. For me, it is something not yet attained, but still to be ardently hoped and prayed for. What about you?

It is interesting to note these two meditations, how they work together and complement each other in a certain way. Yesterday's one spoke of the Law of Moses and rules and regulations in general and how we can easily chafe at the bit under such restrictions and even go against them on purpose. Or, on the other hand, we may be slavish in our adherence to them and be 'driven' in our efforts and in our compulsion to adhere to them.

On the other hand, today's meditation touches on the idea of diligence in our efforts and faithfulness in carrying out whatever task we have been given in life. The problem here is that far too easily in this too may become 'driven' and compulsive. The trick is to carry this out in love for God and others and in gratitude for what God has given us and done for us. This will free us both from the slavishness of rules and our own efforts to achieve and measure up.

It is interesting to note these two meditations, how they work together and complement each other in a certain way. Today's one spoke of the Law of Moses and rules and regulations in general and how we can easily chafe at the bit under such restrictions and even go against them on purpose. Or, on the other hand, we may be slavish in our adherence to them and be 'driven' in our efforts and in our compulsion to adhere to them.

On the other hand, tomorrow's meditation touches on the idea of diligence in our efforts and faithfulness in carrying out whatever task we have been given in life. The problem here is that far too easily in this too may become 'driven' and compulsive. The trick is to carry this out in love for God and others and in gratitude for what God has given us and done for us. This will free us both from the slavishness of rules and our own efforts to achieve and measure up.

The apostle Paul today poses a very good question, namely who or what is controlling or running our lives? I suggest that it is a very good question because, if you are at all like me, I often drift through my day, drift through my life, without any conscious thought or reflection on it. I simply make up my daily to-do list and go with that, without really reflecting whether each item on that list is actually what God would or would not want. Often those choices, to us at least, seem pretty inconsequential, pretty unimportant. Paul, however, puts a different light on it. He says that we are either serving God or serving sin, one or the other. Yuck.

We often speak of the Christian life as being a kind of pilgrimage, but just what does that mean? Are we literally 'on the road' with Jesus, listening to Him, conversing with Him, learning from Him and doing as He says? Today's meditation gives a couple of thoughts about what this might mean for us. I hope you enjoy them.

Much today is made of distracted driving, and rightfully so, but what about distracted living, being distracted from what really matters, what really counts. I find that this happens so very easily, and so very unintentionally. My meditation for today suggests that the Palm Sunday crowd lost their focus on Jesus, and as I suspect, it can likewise happen with us. And so having deliberate times and places where we can focus on what is truly important, namely God and His will, is very helpful. May this meditation be a blessing to you today, and may you have a blessed day as well.

I have often thought about how the announcement of the angel Gabriel to Mary that she would bear a child came as a rude shock--and a total disruption--to whatever plans she and Joseph had been making about their lives together. But think of how much more of a shock and disruption it would have been for Elizabeth and Zechariah to have an infant in their old age. Imagine a breast-feeding, or managing a toddler, when you are quite elderly. Grandparents experience this sort of thing continually, but here it is different: today's grandparents can always 'give them back.' That wasn't an option for Elizabeth and Zechariah.

Anyway, with both couples it illustrates how God is free to change our lives, and our plans, sometimes in the most unexpected ways.

It may just a perception rather than the actual reality, but there seems to be a widespread sense out there that people often are not held responsible or accountable for their actions. An expression of this widespread sense came just last night when we discussed the spate of graffiti that 'graced' our neighbourhood a week or so ago. The person we were chatting with seems to know the identity of the culprits and remarked, 'oh, they just like going around destroying things'. He seemed to suggest that nothing will ever happen to them as a consequence of their actions.

Fast forward that to our sins and sinfulness, our determination to 'do it our way', and many people feel the same sense of a lack of accountability, either for themselves or for others. And yet the apostle Paul says just the opposite. He tells us that our sin has consequences and such consequences that we humans could never hope to undo them in or by ourselves. That's why Jesus had to step in and take care of them for us. We may not like it, but that is the truth the way that Paul sees it.

Today's meditation leaves us with a very important, albeit essential, question, what is most important in our lives. Often we choose things that are really not that important. (This is something that has come very close to home as I try to purge my condo in preparation of moving into a new house!) Our psalmist suggests that God's word or teachings or law should be at the top of the list, but are they? It is something good to think and pray about.

Sometimes certain habits, certain words or phrases, become so habitual, so 'usual', that we barely take note of them or take them seriously. Take, for instance, the words of the 'Our Father', the Lord's Prayer, and in particular, the phrases 'thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.' We are, in actuality, praying that God's will and kingdom will be established on earth, and pledging ourselves to being part of that establishing of that will and kingdom. But, having said that, do we reflect on that, and seek to carry it out, in our day-to-day lives? That is the question that is posed by today's meditation. I don't know about you, but I certainly found the idea to be quite challenging. Anyway, here is something to think about and ponder, and hopefully, to act upon in some way.