An Elder Pilgrim's Reflections

Lake Willoughby, VT "And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (From John 17:1-11 ) Lake Willoughby is the most scenic lake in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont The Lake is surrounded by mountains on either side and fed by cold springs, giving it God's natural beauty. God's gifts in this lake include camping, fishing, sailing, swimming, and ice skating. For me, though, it is more than a scenic lake. As I look across the clear water, through the mountains, and up to the sky above, I am reminded of eternal life. Jesus, however, is speaking of a different kind of eternal life. He is not referring only to something in the future. He is describing eternal life as something we share even now. Eternal life is central John’s Gospel, but modern ideas confuse a richer meaning. Jesus shows God’s love for the world desiring to draw all into God’s own eternity life, which is participation in the very ...

  "The Mooch" “I will not leave you orphaned;  I am coming to you" (from John 14:15-21 ) Have you ever experienced feelings of being lost or abandoned? This is “The Mooch” He earned that name after he appeared at the sliding door of our deck with a forlorn look. Like many feral cats, we have no clue where he came from and how he happened to choose our deck. So, being kind to cats, Elaine fed him. From then on, we could count on his appearance. Sometimes he would stay for an hour, sometimes he would stretch out and enjoy the sun most of the day. His one rule was: don’t try to catch me. One day he didn’t show up. Then he didn’t show up for three days in a row and we concluded something happened to him or he simply decided to move on in search of another deck with a sliding door. Once again, “The “Mooch” was on his own. Jesus, though, made a promise to his disciples: he would not abandon them. It’s hard to get through life without experiencing feeling lost...

 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going,  so how can we know the way?” (from John 14:1-14   )    As I write, it’s the celebration of Route 66’s 100th anniversary. Founded on November 11, 1926, US 66 stretched 2,448 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica. During the 1930s Dust Bowl, it served as a key migration route and boosted local businesses. Signs and advertising from 1927 made travel easy. Thomas's question to Jesus, “How can we know the way?” reflected his desire to better grasp Jesus’ teachings and understand how to follow them. Just as travelers once relied on Route 66 to guide them west, we rely on spiritual guidance to navigate our own journeys—sometimes finding the path less clear as traditions change or challenges arise. Upon reflection of my personal faith journey with Jesus, I have considered this question throughout my spiritual development and transitions between churches. “How can we know the way?” Initially, the solutions appe...

  "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want,." (from Psalm 23 ) Psalm 23 highlights God's comfort and care also inviting us to connect with the deeper radical claims confronting our experiences of suffering, fear, hostility, and alienation. The rural comparation connects strongly with Christians, especially in seeing Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Pointing to God’s ongoing blessing and presence. Awareness of Psalm 23 can hide new meaning in the Psalm. Careful study reveals it as a journey from rest through valleys, always guided by God. For example, there is a real “Valley of the shadow of death” known as the Wadi Qelt. steep-sided desert valley (wadi) in the Judean Desert, extending from near Jerusalem to Jericho. Known as a "valley of the shadow of death" due to its steep, treacherous terrain, considered the setting for the Good Samaritan parable. Travelers on the dangerous 7-mile journey from Jerusalem to Jericho could expect to be beaten and ro...

Hawk's Nest Overview "  Now on that same day  two of disciples were going to a  village called Emmaus,  about seven miles [  from Jerusalem,  and talking with each other  about all these things that had h9appened."  (from   Luke 24:13-35 ) The Hawk’s Nest is a scenic, cliff-hanging stretch of NY State Route 97 offering dramatic views of the Delaware River.   Originally a one-lane dirt road built in 1859, it is known for bald eagle sighting, scenic overlook, and its twists and turns.   "Just as the Hawk’s Nest Road winds unpredictably, so too do our days.   For example, one day started off unpredictably, with the electrician arriving at 7:30, followed by the plumber at 8:30, and then a sincere thank you note delivered in person at 9.   "Our current polarized society creates complex, unexpected twists and turns that are difficult to navigate." The Emmaus Road story is one of hope in times of twists and tu...

'Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance." (from Psalm 16 ) As I sat at the breakfast table this morning enjoying my cup of coffee, I watched two blue birds, several sparrows, a Downey woodpecker, and the usual band of deer make their appearances." Just as a cup holds what sustains us, I choose the Lord to fill my life with meaning and strength each day." When I am looking for a closer, more intimate connection, I read from the Psalms because      “the Lord is my chosen portion and cup” Some Psalms I read over and over, while others I return to less frequently, but each time I reflect on them, my relationship with the Lord deepens. For example, Psalm 16 has comforted me during difficult times, reminding me that I am never alone This has been true for centuries, as the psalms describe the Lords actions in people’s lives, especially in...

  To trap Jesus, the Sadducees who don’t believe in resurrection, asked complicated question about a widow who’d     been married seven times according to Moses Law. Sadducees ask, “Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?” Jesus states they are wrong because they do not know the Scriptures or God's power. He explains that in the resurrection, people neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven . Earthly marriage systems, Jesus says, don’t apply to the resurrected state. The Sadducees basically asked an uninformed question. Over the years I preached on the Resurrection that as a Christian you must believe it   Resurrection is something you conveniently declare during worship. Jesus’ resurrection isn’t something we completely understand. Caroline Lewis tells of the time, after a lecture a woman spoke to her saying, “My cup was empty. Today was my road to Emmau...

John Wesley     And first let us inquire, "What is salvation?" The salvation which is here spoken of is not what is frequently understood by that word, the going to heaven, eternal happiness.  It is not the soul’s going to paradise, termed by our Lord, ‘Abraham’s bosom.’   It is not a blessing which lies on the other side death, or (as we usually speak) in the other world.  The very words of the text itself put this beyond all question.  ‘Ye are saved.’ It is not something at a distance: it is a present thing, a blessing which, through the free mercy of God, ye are now in possession of.  Nay, the words may be rendered, and that with equal propriety, ‘Ye have been saved.’  So that the salvation which is here spoken of might be extended to the entire work of God, from the first dawning of grace in the soul till it is consummated in glory.”  ~ John Wesley (The Scripture Way of Salvation)

“Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind” (from John 9:1-41 ). Otto, a fish in the children’s book, A Fish Out of Water , is overfed even after careful feeding instructions. "When you feed a fish, never feed him a lot. So much and no more! Never more than a spot, or something may happen! You never know what." What happened was Otto outgrew every container until he finally became too large for the town swimming pool. The man born blind story appears to have undergone similar development, as much of the discussion centers on the story of his healing. This is a typical pattern in John. Jesus performs a miracle; people try finding the meaning and usually miss the mark. In the parable, Jesus is asked, “Who sinned?” The question comes from the ancient people’s belief that a sin was committed since there is suffering and sickness. Jesus questions that kind of theological thinking creating a complex answer: “Neith...

   Pozzo, Andrea, 1642-1709 Many of the Samaritans from that town   believed in him because  of the woman’s testimony,  “He told me everything I ever did.” (from John   4:5-42 ) The Well Back in Jesus’ day a wells were used for more than drinking water. A man would go to a new place, meet a woman at the well, and chat about water. The man and woman drink water together, she tells her community about him, the community welcomes him.  This usually results in a wedding. This explains why Jesus talks to the woman about her marriage situation, expecting some kind of marriage story to follow. Remember the well is a well with running water so when Jesus mentions living water, it’s confusing. The Woman The woman shows up around noon probably pushed aside by her community.  She’s unmarried to the one she’s living with and had five husbands. Probably, her marriages ended due to circumstances beyond her control. Yet she’s someone people liste...

“The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus' story is more than sorting out Jesus and the Pharisees differences. It’s more than figuring out how Jesus gets the authority to do many “signs”. The Nicodemus story is really about people coming to see and understand the amazing things Jesus does. It’s all about understanding God’s Spirit, following Jesus and wanting to change to see God's kingdom in a new way. Since the Spirit works mysteriously, it’s compared to the wind blowing wherever it wants. It’s about God and people working together, so followers of Jesus notice and experience God’s work through him. The “signs” Jesus does are meant to show God getting involved in the world God made and loved enough to send his Son. Nicodemus’s story is a great example the Spirit’s work. Nicodemus, story makes it clear something’s happenin...

  Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone What sort of place comes to mind when you imagine a wilderness?  A dry and weary place, an inner, personal space of hardship? It's comforting to imagine a wilderness this way because we can then place our trust and hope in Jesus who experienced this type of wilderness. Living in the Poconos as I do, the wilderness is more for recreation so placing hope and trust in Jesus is far from the need for placing hope and trust in the Israelite wilderness. The Israelites’ wilderness was a place of survival testing. As their journey went from generation to generation, they had to continue to build on their hope and trust. It is this same trust and hope that is teste...

  And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became bright as light. (From Matthew 17:1-9 ) For years, Elaine and I made a pilgrimage to Southwest Harbor, a little village in Acadia National Park. We “soaked in God” in quiet moments: sitting on sun-warmed rocks, awe inspired watching sunlight glitter across the breaking waves, and the endless blue. We “soaked in God” hiking, walking Carriage Roads and climbing mountains with awe views of the harbors and coastline. During our stay at our cottage, we made friends with a lobsterman, housekeeping staff, and manager so We visited together, shared meals, of fresh lobster rolls or fish chowder. As time passed travel became difficult, our routine changed, because we could no longer travel that distance to Acadia. Understanding Matthew’s Gospel means knowing what was going on at the time. The synagogues were experiencing arguments about membership and worries about the Roman Empire: A s...

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.      And what does the  Lord  require of you? To act justly and to love mercy      and to walk humbly [ a ]  with your God. (from Micah 6:1-8) The image of 5-year-old Liam Ramos and his bunny hat surrounded by ICE soldiers still haunts me. Recognizing he was walking home from preschool, taken from his dad, transferred to a detention facility, and gets sick while confined, doesn’t help. What kind of experience of loneliness and darkness is this poor child having? How terrified is this boy being transferred from one place to another by soldiers? I find this blog difficult to write because I have been through my own “terrors of the night” (PS 91:5) some as a child, some as a teen, some as a young adult, now some as an elder. This phrase comes from Psalm 91:5, which speaks to finding comfort in faith during times of fear. What creates the difficulty is the apparent lack of hope in a “terr...

  "I waited patiently for the Lord ; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand." (from   Psalm 40 ) Wilson Bentley, also known as Snowflake Bentley, a farmer, American meteorologist, photographer, was the first known person capturing and documenting detailed snowflake photographs. With his camera he developed a method to photograph snowflakes on black velvet before they melted, discovering that each one has a distinct shape. A major scientific contribution of his time was the theory that no two snowflakes were identical. Reflecting on the belief of God as Creator leads me to meditate on the snowflake as a blessing of God’s creation. Looking at a huge, plowed heap of snow at my driveway’s end, I can either see a pile of snow or a mountain of God’s blessings. With continuing media coverage of violence, I feel like I’m in the “slimy pit with mud and mire.” descr...

I hardly know what to write. One horrifying video after another surfaces revealing a shocking act of shooting by ICE officers. As I watch the videos, I realize that I’m seeing the forces of evil overpower, however briefly, the power of God. I realize though that there is hope coming from the east in the story of the Three Magi. The hope for me is their following the star, God's direction for them in their searching. As the story goes, The Magi have ridden from the East, they arrive, give gifts and, under the direction of God return to their hometowns by a different route. In other words, I seem as protectors of Jesus. And here is my hope, no matter how disastrous the situation, no matter how much evil may seem to be overpowering God, there is a holy protection.  As I pray each morning, as I read the scripture God reminds me of the protection and hope given through Jesus Christ.

Charlotte Rhodes Butterfly Park Southwest Harbor, ME For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Psalm 1:6 As one year ends and another begins, I feel a strong need to strengthen my righteous grounding.    I define the way of the righteous as happiness coming from having a right relationship with God and have chosen Psalm 1 as my biblical bases. The Righteous according to Psalm 1 have three things to avoid. Walking  in the counsel of the ungodly (following their advice/worldview). Standing  in the path of sinners (adopting their lifestyle). Sitting  in the seat of mockers (identifying fully with those who ridicule truth). Characteristics of the Righteous Rootedness : Like a tree planted by streams of water, the righteous remain steady and fruitful even in difficult seasons. Integrity: Their conduct reflects honesty, kindness, and adherence to moral principles. Divine Oversight : Scripture promises...