Who Is My Neighbor? (Bubba)

Sometimes it’s not a human who most effectively reaches out to those who are hurting. Sometimes that care comes from a four-legged friend.  

Carol Denker retired a year and a half ago from Pekin Insurance and was home for about two months before realizing that wasn’t going to work for her.  That’s when she and Bubba got to know each other and became family.  Bubba is a four year old Golden Doodle (a poodle and golden retriever mix) who Al and Carol adopted when he was two years old.  But Carol didn’t just adopt Bubba…..she and Bubba went through extensive obedience training in order for him to become a Certified Therapy Dog.

God has given us so many forms of comfort and healing in this creation and animals are one of those gifts.  Carol and Bubba go to nursing homes where the residents just light up when seeing him.  Of course many of these residents have had special pets in their lives and having to give them up was another major loss.  Bubba helps to fill that void by allowing the residents to love on him all they want.

Carol and Bubba also go to Illinois State University for PAWsitively Stress Free.  The students can take study breaks and love on the various therapy dogs who are visiting.  Dogs aren’t just for petting, however.  At the Bloomington Public Library, children read to Bubba.  At Blair House, Bubba goes around the circle of residents to love on people and then folks are able to ask Carol questions about this ministry.

Carol lost her only daughter to a car accident on Christmas Day in 2004 and knows what it’s like to be at the lowest point possible.  When I asked her what prompted her to be a part of Hope Therapy Dogs, she said she wanted to give back.  “If I can bring a smile to someone who’s having a hard time, that’s what I want to do.  It gives me peace.”

Bubba’s neighbor is whoever needs him on that particular day…...what a gift of unconditional love to so many people who just need a furry friend. 

Questions or discussion? Click here to comment.

Tomorrow on the Daily Connection: A Light to My Path

About the Authors

Carol Denker is a member of Calvary UMC
Debbie Reese is the Co-Directing Pastor of Calvary UMC

Lent 2017 - The Baptism of Jesus

John’s baptism was all about confession, repentance, and forgiveness—none of which Jesus himself needed. But he does not set himself above us, superior in his sinlessness. Instead, he submits himself to baptism, identifying with us precisely in our weakness, our need, our chaos. When Jesus comes out of the water and the Spirit descends and the Father speaks, the whole Trinity is manifest to affirm that a great mystery is coming to pass in the life of Christ. In his baptism, Jesus pulls together the ancient stories of creation and exodus with his future death and resurrection which initiate new creation and new exodus. Just as life and order emerges from chaos, just as slaves emerge to freedom, just as Jesus emerges from the Jordan—so also the whole universe emerges from bondage to death and decay when Christ emerges from the tomb. In Christ’s rising, all things rise.

Read Mark 1:9–11:

At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Ask God for the grace to know Jesus and claim your identity in him as a beloved child of God.
Jesus joins the crowd and is baptized by John, but with him something special happens. Stand in the crowd or in the water. See the dove alight on Jesus, and hear the Father's voice—not necessarily booming up above but nearby, seeming to come from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. Hear the joy and tenderness in his tone.
Notice how Jesus—who does not need to confess or repent—joins himself to the rest of humanity in baptism. Reflect on his humility, compassion, and his desire to be in communion with us.
Use the scene of Jesus’ baptism to have a conversation with each person of the Trinity. Hear the Father speaking to you: “You are my beloved child.” Talk with him as you would a proud and caring Dad, sharing all your joys and worries. Talk with Jesus as your brother, thanking him for his fellowship and asking his advice. Picture the Spirit as a dove, and ask for the strength and insight you need to know, love, and follow God more.

Love Your Neighbor (Mark 11:1-11)

Read Zechariah 9:9–17:

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
    Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
    righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
    and the warhorses from Jerusalem,
    and the battle bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
    His rule will extend from sea to sea
    and from the River to the ends of the earth.
As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
    I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.
Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope;
    even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.
I will bend Judah as I bend my bow
    and fill it with Ephraim.
I will rouse your sons, Zion,
    against your sons, Greece,
    and make you like a warrior’s sword.
Then the Lord will appear over them;
    his arrow will flash like lightning.
The Sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet;
    he will march in the storms of the south,
    and the Lord Almighty will shield them.
They will destroy
    and overcome with slingstones.
They will drink and roar as with wine;
    they will be full like a bowl
    used for sprinkling the corners of the altar.
The Lord their God will save his people on that day
    as a shepherd saves his flock.
They will sparkle in his land
    like jewels in a crown.
How attractive and beautiful they will be!
    Grain will make the young men thrive,
    and new wine the young women.

When Jesus enters into Jerusalem, he intentionally enacts this prophecy of the Messiah by riding in on a donkey to the rejoicing of people in Zion. He does this to reveal and remind what his arrival means—the coming of the anointed King, an end to war, freedom for prisoners, rescue from danger, coming home, health and beauty, plenty of food and wine. It means the Kingdom of God will advance no longer with weapons but with people. The patterns of violence and decay will be undone and replaced by rhythms of new creation. All that is hollow and horrific will be made full and beautiful. 

All of this is summarized by the concept of shalom—peace—not just as absence of war, but also as abundance of life and blessings. How do we live in this reality of shalom? First of all, every time we take Communion we take part in these promises. We partake of the “the blood of the God's covenant with us.” We share the peace of Christ with one another. The promised shalom begins to take shape here at the center of the life of the community of believers as our bodies and souls receive and share the presence of Jesus Christ. 

Just as the crowds welcome Jesus' saving presence into Jerusalem and the temple, so also we welcome the saving presence of Christ in Communion into ourselves--we who are the temple of the Spirit of God, being built from living stones (1 Corinthians 6:19, 1 Peter 2:5). As we await a New Jerusalem, the people of God gather as a sign of shalom to the rest of the world, presenting a new reality and thereby protesting violence, injustice, and slavery. The patterns and powers that bind and break this world have already been defeated. Abundant, everlasting life together is already available.

Questions or discussion? Click here to comment.

Tomorrow on the Daily Connection: Who Is My Neighbor

About the Author
Nick Chambers is the Director of Spiritual Formation at Calvary UMC

Lent 2017 - The Beginning

Mark wastes no time. He jumps right into the action, starting with John the Baptist, who “appeared in the wilderness.” Though John opens Mark’s gospel, he is also the culmination of a long line of prophets preparing the way for God’s arrival in Jesus. He preaches to a people tired, low, and longing for change—a new world order, a new way of life. He announces the arrival of a new kingdom—but one that begins with them changing their own hearts and minds.

  1. Read Mark 1:1–8. 
  2. Ask God for what you desire—to know him more intimately, to love him more intensely, and to follow him for intently.
  3. Imagine gathering with the people at the Jordan river. Place yourself in the scene. Take in the sight (and smell) of this wild messenger. Turn to someone in the crowd and ask why they have come out here.
  4. Consider how strangely God chooses to reveal his plan. Reflect on John’s simultaneous boldness and humility. 
  5. As we said yesterday, the gospel begins with repentance. Join all those going to John to confess and repent by repeating the exercise of self-examination from yesterday. If it helps, imagine dipping your hands in water or splashing your face. Remember the power of baptism to forgive and heal.
     

Lent 2017 - Self-Examination

The forty days of Lent are a re-enactment of multiple stories in Scripture. We wait out the storm with Noah. We climb Mt. Sinai with Moses. We wander with Israel in the wilderness. We are warned about our sins by Jonah and Ezekiel. We walk with Jesus in the desert of temptation. All of these stories invite us into self-examination. The flood came because of humanity’s evil. Moses ascended the mountain to receive the law from God, while the rest of the nation stayed behind, afraid because of their own sin. A whole generation of Israel died in the desert because of their faithlessness. For forty days, Jonah pleaded with Ninevah and Ezekiel with Israel to turn to God. Jesus fasts and faces the frailty and temptations of human nature.

Awareness of our own sinfulness is the threshold of true prayer and worship, which is why self-examination is a central practice of preparation to remember Christ’s death and celebrate his resurrection. If we have no awareness of our need, we never even start to be grateful and free. Those who are forgiven little love little.

Using the guide from yesterday, practice the Examen today, specifically examining your conscience. Pray for clarity and conviction. Examine your day and take "an account of your soul”—sifting your thoughts, words, and actions for sin. Confess any sinfulness and ask forgiveness. Give thanks for the mercy we receive in Jesus. Commit to changing your heart and ask the Spirit’s help. If there is a particular shortcoming you want to improve, commit to paying attention to it throughout Lent. Keep track of how often it occurs each day and what triggers it.

Deeper Dive Podcast (Faith and Politics)

In light of Jesus' politically overtoned entrance into Jerusalem, Randy, Debbie, and Isaac talk about how our faith lives and political lives intersect.

Listen in your device's podcast app – Apple version here and Android version here or use the desktop-only player below.

Questions or discussion? Click here to comment.

Tomorrow on the Daily Connection: God Stories

About the Authors

Randy and Debbie Reese are Co-Directing Pastors at Calvary UMC
Isaac Gaff is the Managing Director of Worship and Creative Arts at Calvary UMC

Lent 2017 - Finding God in All Things

As we learned last week, nothing is separate from our life with God. He is always speaking to us, always sowing seeds of his grace in both the miraculous and the mundane. If we want them to grow, we must tend to them with time and attention. Ignatius' most well-known exercise is called the Examen. It is a daily 15-minute practice designed to help us find God in all things by increasing our awareness and receptivity to his activity and presence in the fabric of our everyday life.

When writing a story, a good author wastes nothing. Even details and events that seem inconsequential become woven into the characters and story arc. The Examen is about seeing our whole life as just such a story, which God is unfolding day by day, wasting nothing. In all things he wants to shape us into the image of Christ. We cooperate by being attentive to all the little ways the Holy Spirit continues his creative work. The Examen involves remembering and reflecting on your whole day, trying to be attentive to the way God was at work. There are five steps to this exercise:

  1. Seek the Light. The promised gifts of the Holy Spirit include illumination, conviction, comfort, guidance, and transformation. Pray for the light of the Holy Spirit to help you see the blur of the day with clarity, even the things you don’t want to remember.
  2. Give thanks. Express gratitude for your day, for life and all God’s blessings. This frames our reflection on the day in thankfulness, preparing us to see everything as a gift, in and through which we can be led to love and listen to God.
  3. Reflect. Take the most time here. Carefully go back through the day—the big, small, good, bad, and ugly. Even the most dark or insignificant of things contains the presence of God. Choose and focus on a few events that stand out, noticing where and how…
    1. my conscience was moved
    2. emotions, desires, or habits influenced me, good or bad
    3. an event or encounter stuck with me—a scenario or conversation I keep running in my head
    4. a thought, word, feeling, or action led me toward or away from God

      In these events, how was God was speaking to me? How did I respond? How did I rely on God? How might I have forgotten or wandered from God? Why did I think and act the way I did? What can I learn about myself from it? What can I learn about God from it?
  4. Respond. Thank God for his presence, guidance, and gracious care. Own up to your failures; ask for forgiveness and for God to transform your heart.
  5. Resolve. Look to tomorrow. Hear Jesus’ words in the parable of the sower: “Through their resolve, they bear fruit.” Ask for continued grace for the future, to be ever more attentive to God’s presence in everything and to respond to these situations with discernment and love.

Take 15 minutes to do this exercise today, ideally in the evening. If you keep one discipline from this season as a part of your everyday life, the Examen is a great choice. Consider repeating a form of this exercise daily throughout Lent. Time and repetition is essential to opening our awareness to God.
 

Teach Us to Pray (Mark 11:1-11)

Read Mark 11:1–11.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

This prayer, which echoes Christ's "triumphal entry," is called the Sanctus. It has deep roots in Christian worship as one of the earliest and most consistently found prayers in the ancient liturgies of the Church. In the first century, while parts of the New Testament itself was still being written, Clement of Rome references the Sanctus being used in the worship gathering. Many churches still pray it today before receiving Christ through Communion.

When we pray the words of the Sanctus, we gather together many threads in the story of salvation. We join the multitudes angels in their perpetual praise before the throne of the thrice-holy God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Isaiah 6:3). We join the psalmist's victory procession,  singing that God has defeated our enemies (Psalm 118:26). We cry out for salvation with the crowds welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem, receiving him as our King (Mark 11:9–10). We anticipate the day when all creation together worships before  the One who was and is and is to come (Revelation 4:9). 

The Sanctus also draws together many kinds of prayer into one powerful summary. We praise God for who he is. We contemplate his glorious presence throughout creation. We confess our need and request for his mercy and grace (hosanna—“save us!”). We rejoice and give thanks for his coming to save and reign. We declare his victory over evil. 

Memorize the Sanctus, and pray it throughout your week, remembering the whole history of salvation coming to its fullness in Christ. 

Questions or discussion? Click here to comment.

Tomorrow on the Daily Connection: Deeper Dive Podcast (Mark 11:1-11)

About the Author
Nick Chambers is the Director of Spiritual Formation at Calvary UMC

Lent 2017 - Taste and See

The engine of Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises is the imagination. He urges those who pray to apply all five of their senses—sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch—to the gospel story in order more fully and personally encounter Christ. To pray in this way is also to imitate Christ, who became human and experienced the physical world the way we do—through our senses. The Incarnation means that God communicates to us not just in ideas but in flesh and blood and story. The earthly life of Jesus invites us to "taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:9).

Our imagination is especially tied to our desires and what we love. This is why advertising works. We are drawn toward what inspires our imagination through our senses. Picture yourself working outside on a blistering hot day. Not a single cloud gives you a moment of shade. Someone hands you an ice-cold glass of water, covered in condensation. Place it to your forehead. Hear the ice clink against the glass. Take a long sip, feeling it cool your lips and throat. Now try to say that you don’t want that glass of water. The imagination makes things real to us, which makes it the right tool for the job at hand—to cultivate loving desire for God in Christ.

Most of our reflections for Lent will be about immersing ourselves in the life of Jesus. For Ignatius, this patient imaginative exercise engages our understanding and helps us to come to new and deeper insights. It gets the gospel into our bones. If your attention wanders, don’t worry; just gently redirect it back to the story. You may even want to use an audio Bible to aid your imagination and focus. Today, we introduce this practice using Jesus’ birth story, which Mark omits.

  1. Read Luke 2.
  2. Ask to experience God’s grace in a new and tangible way.
  3. Enter the place where Joseph and Mary sit with their baby. (It may have been a stable, a cave, or just another room of a house. Use whichever best focuses your imagination.) Look around and imagine the details of the space. Observe the faces of the new parents. Hear the coos and cries of the infant, the words shared by his Mary and Joseph. Smell the raw aroma of the animals around you. 
  4. Reflect on the mystery that God himself becomes a vulnerable, dependent infant in this humble place. Reflect on Mary and Joseph—their obedience, their poverty, their tenderness.
  5. Every exercise will include what Ignatius calls a “colloquy”—having a conversation with God just as you would with someone right next to you, a trusted friend from whom you don't hide anything. Today, imagine Jesus as he is in this story, a helpless baby. Freely tell him what it means that he chose to take this humble form. Talk with Mary and Joseph about the amazing thing that they are a part of—what they are sacrificing and what they are being given.
     

About the Author
Nick Chambers is the Director of Spiritual Formation at Calvary UMC

Sunday Worship (Mark 11:1-11)

This week we'll be exploring Mark 11:1-11.  

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”
They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

Each Sunday you can find the live stream here or watch the archive here. 

Tomorrow on the Daily Connection: 'Teach Us to Pray' through Mark 11:1-11. 

A Light To My Path (Mark 11:1-11)

(5 minute read and reflect)

Mark 11:1-11:

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”
They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

Question for Reflection:

  • As Jesus enters the city of Jerusalem, people place their hopes for him to become a military and political powerhouse right in front of him (literally). As you begin this Lenten season, what expectations do you place in front of Jesus? Why those expectations?

Lent 2017 - Discernment

As we read the life of Jesus, we might find ourselves asking “How did he know what to do? How does he always and only know and do the will of the Father?” His secret insight almost seems unfair. Rarely are our lives so straightforward and simple that we make life decisions without any hesitations, reservations, and doubts. How do we figure out what God wants and follow with pure heart, clear mind, and resolute faith? Life does not unfold in a straight line, and we can never see as far ahead as we would like. We pray for clarity (because we want control) when God wants us to live in trust. We ask God what his will for my life is while forgetting what he has already told us is his will for every life. In other words, if you want to know what God’s will is, start by obeying what you already know, without concern for anything more. Love your neighbor. Pray for your enemies. Forgive. Practice generosity.

We grow in insight into God’s will by doing precisely what we are setting out to do this season: immersing ourselves in the life of Jesus, who “can do nothing on his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing” (John 5:19). We imitate his example of prayer, discipline, attentiveness, and love. The secret is we already have what we need to know and follow God’s will. We have been given the very ”mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). We have been given “everything needed for life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). We have been given "the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ” (Ephesians 1:7–9). We need only to stay in touch with the source of those riches in order to bring them out in our lives.

Ignatius was very concerned with how we discern, deliberate, and decide. He taught how to make choices in alignment with God’s will. We make everyday choices more or less automatically, but we face some that snag our minds and hearts, making us worry and stress. Lent is long enough that there is a good chance we will all face a life decision of some significance. When this happens, return to this reflection and do these exercises:

  1. Place before your imagination the thing that you are trying to making a decision about.
  2. Ignatius says that “our intention must be simple.” Reflect on the first and final aim of your life—“to seek and serve God.” Lay all other concerns aside and ask yourself: “How can this decision help or hinder me in my pursuit of this goal?”
  3. Pray for God’s Spirit to move your will and desires according to his will and desires.
  4. Weigh the advantages and disadvantages of your options, not by what will be most safe or self-serving but by what will most bring God glory and praise.
  5. Be attentive to how the choices make you feel (worried, excited, relieved, etc.) Take note of those feelings, and then set them aside to decide what choice seems most reasonable. God may be speaking to you through either or both.

Who Is My Neighbor (Operation Christmas Child)

I am inspired by Lindsey Anderson.  One of her family’s favorite things to do around Christmas time has been to participate in the Operation Christmas Child Ministry by Samaritan’s Purse that Calvary supports every year.  This is a ministry that collects a some necessary items (like toothbrushes) as well as some fun items (like small toys) for children in need throughout the world.  Read more at:  https://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/) 

Last year, Calvary filled 364 boxes to be sent wherever needed in the world.  However, Lindsey read on the Samaritan's Purse website of a girl who packs 20,000 boxes each year!  Lindsey thought, “That’s a lot…..what if I started with 100 and then maybe I work up from there.”  So for Christmas last year, what did she ask for?  She asked for 100 Operation Christmas Child Shoe boxes to fill!  As of the end of February, she’s already finished 25 boxes with lots of supplies on hand to pack more.

I asked Lindsey why she was so passionate about this.  “I love to go to the Operation Christmas Child website and see the kids’ faces when they open their shoebox and the joy it gives them.”  But that’s not all that Lindsey does.  Taking a page from her local FCA chapter (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) who suggested that some of the recipients won’t know who Jesus is, Lindsey always writes a personal note to each recipient which she puts in the shoeboxes!  Those notes tell the recipients about Jesus and that Jesus loves them!  Of course she doesn’t know who will receive any of the boxes, but that doesn’t matter.  She puts love in each box and knows that the recipient will be the person God wants for that particular box.

In fact, Lindsey sometimes puts hats or scarves in the boxes.  Her mom, Kristin Anderson asked, “But what if that box ends up in the hands of someone in a hot climate?”  Lindsey feels that each box is directed by God to go to the child who is supposed to receive it.  Done!  

Many people are helping Lindsey to reach her goal.  Through Facebook, her friends, and word of mouth, she is guiding people on what to collect, where to find things on sale, and when the best times are to buy certain items.  She even wrote letters to local business and got some cool things through that effort!  

Part of this process is providing money for the postage to mail the boxes.  Lindsey is saving her birthday money, babysitting money, and will be doing a garage sale this summer in order to earn enough money to send these boxes.

While most 14-year-old girls are asking for cool birthday parties where you stay up all night and tell stories, Lindsey asked her friends to bring items for shoeboxes and at her birthday slumber party, she and her friends packed boxes!  She asked her friends to bring pictures of themselves with their addresses to put in boxes so the recipients have the opportunity to stay in touch if they choose to do so.  Her enthusiasm is contagious…...not only is she a blessing to those children who will receive these boxes, she is teaching her friends that same gift of generosity!

Lindsey does a lot of research on what is most needed for this ministry and has found that the greatest need is for boxes directed to boys ages 10-14.  People apparently find it easier to shop for girls than for boys, so Lindsey has ‘specialized’ in ways that she can pack things that this age group of boys would appreciate.

One of the things that Lindsey wants to do in the future is to go to one of the processing centers for Operation Christmas Child…..Disney World?  Nah…….Lindsey has bigger dreams.

In 2016, there were 11 million boxes for Operation Christmas Child from the US.  Thanks to Lindsey, this year, there will be least 11 million, one hundred.

To help Lindsey reach her goal or to ask her more about this, just find her on Facebook or respond here and we’ll make sure she gets your support!

When I grow up, I want to be like Lindsey Anderson and change the world….one box at a time!

Questions or discussion? Click here to comment.

Tomorrow on the Daily Connection: A Light To My Path (Mark 11:1-11)

About the Authors

Lindsey Anderson is a member of Calvary UMC
Debbie Reese is the Co-Directing Pastor of Calvary UMC

Lent 2017 - Freedom and Desire

Our purpose—our aim and intention—is knowing, loving, and following God in Jesus. As this journey unfolds, everything along the way—relationships, possessions, events and experiences—can either lead us closer to or farther from our goal. Ignatius urges us to become “indifferent” to all these things, caring only about how help us to know, love, and follow God. Indifference has a neglecting or even hostile ring to it. A better term for “indifference” or “detachment” might be spiritual freedom—meaning that our desires are not so attached to things that we fail to recognize the divine presence in and around those things. When we love the world properly, we are loving God through the world. Creation is the medium, the milieu, the stage, the environment where God communes with us.

Read this somewhat longer but updated translation of the Principle and Foundation:

"God who loves us creates us and wants to share life with us forever. Our love response takes shape in our praise and honor and service of the God of our life. All the things in this world are also created because of God's love and they become a context of gifts, presented to us so that we can know God more easily and make a return of love more readily. As a result, we show reverence for all the gifts of creation and collaborate with God in using them so that by being good stewards we develop as loving persons in our care for God's world and its development. But if we abuse any of these gifts of creation or, on the contrary, take them as the center of our lives, we break our relationship with God and hinder our growth as loving persons. In everyday life, then, we must hold ourselves in balance before all created gifts insofar as we have a choice and are not bound by some responsibility. We should not fix our desires on health or sickness, wealth or poverty, success or failure, a long life or a short one. For everything has the potential of calling forth in us a more loving response to our life forever with God. Our only desire and our one choice should be this: I want and I choose what better leads to God's deepening life in me” (trans. David L. Fleming).

We experience spiritual freedom not by simply scorning or rejecting created things, but by finding God in them. As James says,  "Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17). All things are gifts that reveal the Giver. This means that our life with God beings here and now. We are not waiting to escape all this and finally experience life with God somewhere else. God communes with us in and through his creation. The practice of prayer is all about taking hold of that eternal life here and now.

The ultimate goal is life with God; the earth and everything in it composes the landscape on which we pursue this end. This really is the heart of Ignatius’ spirituality: there is nothing separate from your life with God. The purpose of everything “good" in the world—health, success, possessions, experiences—is to enjoy life with God. It is in this sense that Paul declares, “Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, provided it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by God’s word and by prayer” (1 Timothy 4:4). But created things also have the potential to draw us away from God. If we seek and enjoy things for their own sake, not loving God through them, they can become idols and obstacles to our life with God.

This also explains the purpose of the spiritual exercises themselves. They are means to this ultimate end—tools for cultivating love of God. They are not heartless habits; exactly the opposite! They are all about desire. They speak to and shape the needs and wants of our heart by pulling together the splintered fragments of our wild desires to draw and direct us toward God.

Pray through the following things…

  1. Ask God to search your heart. Honestly ask yourself what you really want. Hear Jesus asking you as he did his first disciples: “What are you looking for?”
  2. Take an inventory of your activities today—everything you use, enjoy, experience, and interact with. Think about each thing in its potential for drawing you closer to God. How does each thing shape what you want and seek?
  3. Use your inventory to consider what one thing you could give up during this Lenten season in order to experience greater spiritual freedom. Commit to fasting from it.

About the Author
Nick Chambers is the Director of Spiritual Formation at Calvary UMC

Love Your Neighbor (Psalm 126)

(5 Minute Read)

Read Psalm 126:

A song of ascents.
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
    we were like those who dreamed.
Our mouths were filled with laughter,
    our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
    “The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us,
    and we are filled with joy.
Restore our fortunes, Lord,
    like streams in the Negev.
Those who sow with tears
    will reap with songs of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
    carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
    carrying sheaves with them.

This is one of the traveling songs that Israel sang as they returned from exile—and that they then sang every year as they made their pilgrimage to Jerusalem. They sang to remember the deliverance that God had achieved for them, beyond their wildest dreams. But Israel never stayed  independent for very long. They lived perpetually under the thumb of another nation. Even when they were physically at home, they were not free. So the second half of this song calls for God to restore them again. They pray that they would not return home empty-handed, that God would use their sorrow and suffering to bring forth a harvest of joy. This is the prayer and promise that Jesus ultimately fulfills, as Zechariah prays at the beginning of Luke’s gospel:

“[God] has raised up a mighty savior for us
    in the house of his servant David,
 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
    that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.
Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,
    and has remembered his holy covenant,
the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham,
    to grant us that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies,
might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness
    before him all our days."

When we pray Psalm 126, we celebrate this deliverance and pray for it to be made real in the lives of those who suffer in oppression and exile. Pray for the displaced strangers of our world:

  • for refugees who have been forced from their home by war and oppression
  • for the homeless who live in a different daily reality
  • for the mentally ill who are strangers to their loved ones and even within their own minds
  • for the church-less who have walked away from, been hurt by, or never known the community of believers

Pray that their sowing in sorrow would spring up to a harvest of joy. Pray that Christ and his Church would welcome and care for them, giving them a home and family.

Questions or discussion? Click here to comment.

Tomorrow on the Daily Connection: Who Is My Neighbor (Operation Christmas Child)

About the Author

Nick Chambers is the Director of Spiritual Formation at Calvary UMC

Lent 2017 - Purpose

Ignatius opens his Spiritual Exercises with what he calls the “Principle and Foundation.” Every prayer and practice that follows is based on this basic belief. It can be a dry read, but one commentator calls it “an invitation for you to experience more deeply how intimately related you are to God and to all of God's creation” (Kevin O’Brien, SJ, The Ignatian Adventure). The heart of it is to realize that God created us to be in loving communion with him:

"The human person is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by doing so, to save his or her soul. All other things on the face of the earth are created for human beings in order to help them pursue the end for which they are created. It follows from this that one must use other created things, in so far as they help towards one's end, and free oneself from them, in so far as they are obstacles to one's end. To do this, we need to make ourselves indifferent to all created things, provided the matter is subject to our free choice and there is no other prohibition. Thus, as far as we are concerned, we should not want health more than illness, wealth more than poverty, fame more than disgrace, a long life more than a short one, and similarly for all the rest, but we should desire and choose only what helps us more towards the end for which we are created."

Today, focus only on the purpose for which we are created: "to praise, reverence, and serve God Our Lord, and by doing so, to save our soul.” This purpose is not utilitarian; it is a journey and relationship. We are not tools with a function; we are children with a Father. Our daily life is an unfolding adventure of loving God. None of the other fixtures and features of our lives—work, entertainment, experience, or even family—are the ultimate reason why we are here. Everything else is gathered into this one massive, mysterious goal—life with God. 

In what concrete ways do you personally praise, love, and serve God? How do you use and cooperate with creation (things, activities, places, people, etc.) to do those things? Pray that God teaches you to experience and embrace more fully the purpose for which you were created and called.

About the Author
Nick Chambers is the Director of Spiritual Formation at Calvary UMC

Lent 2017 - The Hour of Our Death

Read Psalm 39 and Psalm 90.  Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent and is set aside to meditate on the fragility of human life and the inevitability of death. For most, death is an unwelcome thought and an even more unwelcome reality. For the psalmist, it is a source of wisdom. It brings focus on what truly matters. Death reminds us that we are not God. Whether we realize it or not, death has enormous influence over how we live. According to the psalms (here and elsewhere), those who are mindful of death are able to bend that influence toward good and loving purposes, while those who ignore death are foolish and deluded, wasting their lives.

Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises uses a reflection on death in a process for making life decisions. Deep down we make decisions based on what we love. So if I am facing a life decision, he says first to discern what choice is most reflective of my love for God and God’s love for me. He then asks how I would advise a someone else in the same situation. He then urges to me imagine what decision I would wish to have made “if I were at the moment of death. I will guide myself by this and make my decision entirely in conformity with it.” This is not death as a general concept. This is my death—the number of my days. I am going to die. When this truly “sinks in,” it can actually be a gift of great clarity, freedom, humility, and motivation.

Imagine yourself in the hour of your death. How do you wish you would have lived? What do you wish you would have done? What keeps you from living that way today? Let God’s love for you and your love for God be your only guide. What will cultivate God’s love in your life? Is there any particular decision looming in your mind and heart? How does this shed light into it? If this time of reflection leads to a resolution, offer it up in prayer for the Lord to bless and confirm it.

About the Author
Nick Chambers is the Director of Spiritual Formation at Calvary UMC

God Stories (Disciple Bible Study)

Participants in various Disciple Bible Study groups share how they've been changed through their walk through Scripture, community, and life together. If you're interested in being a part of our next round of Disciple Bible Study Groups, tell us and we'll let you know when the next groups are forming.

Questions or discussion? Click here to comment.

Tomorrow on the Daily Connection: Love Your Neighbor

Deeper Dive Podcast (General Old Testament)

(30 Minute Listen)

Debbie, Randy, and Isaac talk about the perceived disconnect between the Old and New Testaments.  

Listen in your device's podcast app – Apple version here and Android version here or use the desktop-only player below.

Questions or discussion? Click here to comment.

Tomorrow on the Daily Connection: God Stories (Disciple Bible Study)

About the Authors

Randy and Debbie Reese are Co-Directing Pastors at Calvary UMC
Isaac Gaff is the Managing Director of Worship and Creative Arts at Calvary UMC