Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of the 2nd Week of Lent: Year 2
Morning, Psalms 61 and 62; Evening, Psalm 68:
Genesis 42:1 to 17; 1st Corinthians 5:1 to 8; Mark 3:19b to 35:
“And looking at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:35)
Our Lord Jesus is saying that those who come to God in the way he does are also his family. I have a huge biological family in Tennessee but life paths and vocational calls have pulled me away from my Tennessee roots. One such vocational call is the Church.
It’s Church. I have friends here in North Carolina who are not members of my Church; some are not members of any church, but I still accept them as friends. My Church family however shares with me our understanding of God in our lives and the lives of our collective community. For me, the good news about our Church is that we love providing Christian hospitality to all people. Yes, there may be individuals who some of us may have a problem with, but for the most part, all are welcome. We don’t care about what others believe or don’t believe. Our Baptismal Covenant requires us to “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves and to strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being:” (BCP 305). To all this (and more), we answer “I will with God’s help.”
My Pondering is from the Episcopal Church perspective. I don’t apologize for that. I have found spiritual family in this Church. Our current Presiding Bishop, The Most Reverend Michael Curry, says that “we are the Episcopal path of the Jesus movement.” There are many paths but this path best suits me. I believe everybody should have a worship family of some kind. Even if you say you believe in little green frogs, fine, but if you do, you should be found down by the pond every now and then.
Today our Church remembers George Herbert: priest and poet (1633) He is one of my spiritual heroes and someone I try to emulate. You can find him at George Herbert (satucket.com).
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Palestine, and our schools.
As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
onewhoponders 