An Elder Pilgrim's Reflections

And David became greater and greater, for the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him. 2 Samuel 5:10 Here's the complete reading This is John, a 90+ year-old Maine lobsterman. Like most lobstermen, he's up around 4 a.m. checking the weather then heading to the docks. Around 6 a.m. he's picking up his stern man, buying bait and heading to sea checking some of his 150 traps. Some traps will be empty others will have a decent haul. By late in the day he's headed to the docks again selling his catch. John also knows of lobstermen whose boats sank and had to swim ashore. He knows of others that never returned home. John returns at the end of the day "for the Lord was with him." "I am with you," says the Lord. Beginning with Moses (Ex.3:12), continuing through David, then through Jesus (Mt:28:20). The Scriptures assure us, "I am with you."  We may behave like David and Bathsheba or Judas. The awareness of our own sin may leave us feeling as though w...

“Come away to a deserted place  all by yourselves and rest a while.” Mark 6:31 Elaine loves cooking. She loves getting out a recipe, going over the ingredients, and assembling them. She loves mixing the ingredients and putting them in the pot or pan to correctly cook them. Most of all, she enjoys placing the finished dish on the dinner table with its enticing aroma salivating everyone's palate. After grace, comes enjoying the delicious meal.   But Elaine does other cooking. In one church she prepared a monthly meal for a homeless shelter. In another, she was part of a team that prepared 16 pans of ziti each month which were distributed to several shelters. She was also part of a team that prepared sandwiches for a "Midnight Run" to Manhattan for distribution to street people. In several churches, she was involved in the CROP hunger walk (including co-coordinating one for 13 years). She is an active member of Bread for the World for over 40 years. Currently, she takes o...

Acadia Morning "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 2:22-23 Click here to read the complete text. Near the end of July, the Charlottes Rhodes Butterfly Park releases hundreds of Monarch butterflies. Children watching this are filled with excitement and wonder seeing these Monarchs launch into an awakening world. It's an awakening world pretty much like their own. The beauty of the fleeting butterfly and the innocence of the child. In the real world there are sin-sick souls struggling with alcoholism, drugs sometimes resulting homelessness. The real world has faithful disciples coping with broken marriages, poverty, and addiction. These are wounded, barren, desert-like places. Lamentations describes them this way:     "Your wound is as deep as the sea.  Who can heal you?" Lamentations also declares God’s healing love and mercy as renewing sin-sick so...

“My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 Click here to read 2 Corinthians 12:2-10 My heart sank as I watched the condos in Surfside Florida collapse trapping and crushing residents. It was heart breaking to see the rescue workers valiantly searching through rubble trying to find survivors. The sight of the impromptu memorial wall is certainly one that weighs my spirit down. What the tragic collapse makes very clear are the limits of human endeavor which show us our limitations and failures. We are reminded that in the overall scheme of things, we can feel small and powerless.  And so, we pray. We pray for the first responders, for the grieving, for those awaiting answers. We pray for solutions so that similar disasters are avoided.  Paul prayed three times that his "thorn in the flesh" would be removed. It wasn't. The Lords answer was, "My grace is sufficient for you."  We may never understand all the implicati...