Author: John Thomas Frazier

Daily Office Readings for Monday of Proper 3: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 25; Evening, Psalms 9 and 15;
Deuteronomy 4:9 to 14; 2^nd  Corinthians 1:1 to 11; Luke 14:25 to 35:

“You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain while the mountain was blazing up to the very heavens, shrouded in dark clouds. Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice.”  (Deuteronomy 4:11 and 12).

It is arrogance on our part to reduce God to human form, except in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God is Holy Spirit, God just is. God made us to be. We live at God’s pleasure.

I treasure Moses’ experiences with God.  I like the burning bush experience.  On the mountain of God, God was a flame of fire that restrained itself from destroying the bush.  God was ever-living bush, a plant product of earth. And, God was voice, a voice that called Moses by name, “Moses, Moses,” (Exodus 3).

We still stand at the foot of the mountain. Our spiritual mountains are still ablaze with the holiness of God. God is a flame of light and warmth in the darkness and coldness of our lives, and God is the spiritual smoke we need in the light of day to lead us through troubled waters. We need and very much depend on the Voice with no form who formed us and loves us.

In my contemplative moments I am moved to light a little candle. A little flame, “This little light of mine,” is representative of the light of God in my life.  I pray and ponder in the presence of this little light and listen for the still small but powerful voice of God. Some days are clearer than others.  But God does lead me and guide me. And I am thankful.

I have found that I am moving too fast in my day to day doings.  I need to slow down.  I sometimes speak too quickly, and too fast. I don’t know why.  I just need to slow down.  This is the kind of message I am receiving from my little light during these days.  I will heed this insight. 

I very much recommend to you as you read these words, to develop your own contemplative practice where the God with a Voice but no form will join you for your own benefit, and the benefit of the community in which you live.  Our God with a Voice and no form is a God of love. And we, you and I, are on a journey with God, from the “Horeb” of our lives, with instructions for how to live our lives in a place promised to us by God – a place where we will thrive, a place where we will tell our children, and their children, about the great and loving deeds of God. This place may be more about your spiritual self than a physical location; more about dimension than destination.  What is the Voice of God saying to you for right now?  Be still and listen; ponder.

Let us live to love, more than just love to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Part 1 of 2      

Daily Office Readings for Pentecost: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 118; Evening, Psalm 145;
Isaiah 11:1 to 9; 1 Corinthians 2:1 to 13; John 14:21 to 29;

“Jesus answered him, ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” (John 14:23)

Jesus is telling Judas (not Iscariot), that those of us who love God, and God in Christ Jesus, that they will come to us and make their home in us. Wow!, that makes us part of the Trinity.

Part 2 of 2

Eucharistic Readings for Day of Pentecost: Year B

Ezekiel 37:1 to 14  Psalm 104:25 to 35, 37; Acts 2:1 to 21; John 15:26 to 27; 16:4b to 15

“Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each:” (Acts 2:5 and 6).

This sounds like the reverse of the separation of the languages, (Babel), that took place in Genesis 11:1 to 9. This Bible story also shows the language-effect to be a communal act.  If we are not to communicate with one another, we don’t need a language.

Our Book of Common Prayer recognizes the communal nature of the Holy Spirit in the words it has us to say in our apostle’s Creed on pages 96 and 120. We say: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.”  The Holy Spirit of God moves in community regardless of language, ethnicity, nationality, so-called race, orientation, or any other human construct. The Holy Spirit is about God among us, leading us until the day we are taken to God.

The observance of Pentecost or Whitsunday is an important day within the Church. It is God coming to humanity in God’s own Holy Spirit. Let me close with an optional collect from page 227 of our Book of Common Prayer.

O God, who on this day taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Let us live to love, more than just love to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Saturday of the 7^th Week of Easter: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 107:33 to 108:6; Ezekiel 43:1 to 12; Hebrews  9:1 to 14; Luke 11:14 to 23;

Eve of Pentecost: Psalm 33; Exodus 19:3 to 8 and 16 to 20; 1^st Peter 2:4 to 10; 

“Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites:” (Exodus 19: 5 and 6).

These are some of the words we read for the Eve of Pentecost, which tomorrow is Pentecost, the Day we remember as the Day the Holy Spirit descended upon us to be with us and guide us.

The Holy Spirit can be heard as the Voice of God speaking in our hearts and minds. This Voice is heard by our souls. Our souls are in dialogue with God.  Then our souls try to lead us, if we will listen and heed its guidance.

The whole world, and all the people that walk the earth, belong to God, but few believe, or follow the connection that our souls make with God. For those of us that do, we are a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.  The path to becoming a part this kingdom and holy nation, is believing. Believing in God and what God wants of us changes the way we live our lives.

We are commanded to love God and then to love our neighbor.  It has to be in that order. If not, we tend to put God on the back burner. But it is only through God that we have our very existence; the One in whom we live and move and have our being.  If we didn’t exist we couldn’t love at all. But please know this: God is God even if we never existed.  So let’s be thankful, trusting and loving: thankful to be here, trusting that God wants what’s best for us and loving back to God and all who God has made, including yourself.

My own personal creed is: “I Trust in the Creating Word through the Holy Spirit of the Incarnate Word, in whom we live and move and love and have our being, and to whom we must give an account.”  What do you believe?  Write a short statement about what you truly believe. It may evolve over time. Don’t be afraid to capture your faith in your own words. You don’t have to share it. But it’s a start in your own spiritual development. Do you believe in God? What path to God are you on?  Go ahead, write something down. Then, revisit it from time to time and examine how you have moved, or not.  Ever how real you think you are, the Creator is the ultimate reality. “Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples;” (Exodus 19:5).  We now have the Holy Spirit of God through Christ Jesus.

Let us live to love, more than just love to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Friday of the 7^th Week of Easter: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 102; Evening, Psalm 107:1 to 32; 
Ezekiel 34:17 to 31; Hebrews 8:1 to 13; Luke 10:38 to 42:

“This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  And they shall not teach one another or say to each other, “Know the Lord”, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.” (Hebrews 8:10 and 11)

This quoting of Jeremiah 31: 31 to 34 by the writer to the Hebrews is affirmation for me as it has been one of my favorite quotes of the Bible.  It basically says that after the presence of our Lord Jesus in the midst of humanity we all “know the Lord.”  We may pretend like we don’t but Jesus has made an indelible mark on the human soul, and it’s there forever. We just need to listen to our souls.

I am having a hard time with the writer to the Hebrews where he says, “In speaking of ‘a new covenant’, he has made the first one obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old will soon disappear:” (Hebrews 8:13).  What does the writer mean by “disappear”?  I like, and hold on to, these ancient words of the Hebrew, (Old), Testament. There are very valuable lessons within these precious writings.  I think even the writer using the Jeremiah text indicates that he does too.

The main point to ponder here is that God has planted in EVERY human heart and mind an awareness of God. We don’t, (and can’t), figure God out.  The awareness of the presence of God is God’s free gift of grace to human kind. Personally, I don’t think human beings are the only creatures in God’s creation that has an awareness of God. Some creatures are among the “infants” within creation and are very aware of God’s presence.

We humans however, must try to prove everything so that we will believe. According to Anselm, (Archbishop of Canterbury, 1109); that’s not the way to live into our faith. Anselm says about his own belief, “He writes, “I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order that I may understand. For this, too, I believe, that unless I first believe, I shall not understand.” (Great Cloud of Witnesses for April 21)  We truly do have to “Let go and let God.”  

Let us take some time this Sabbath time and ponder the presence of God in our lives.  All of us have God in our lives. We just have to quiet ourselves and listen.  Thank You Lord Jesus.

For this evening and tomorrow day my friends; Shabbat Shalom.

Let us live to love, more than just love to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of the 7^th Week of Easter: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 105:1 to 22; Evening, Psalm 105:23 to 45; 
Ezekiel 18:1 to 4 and 19 to 32; Hebrews 7:18 to 28; Luke 10:25 to 37:

“Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.”  (Luke 10: 31 and 32)

This is the story of the Good Samaritan. It is in response to a lawyer who asks, “Who is my neighbor?” and answered by our Lord Jesus.  Jesus begins by showing the un-neighborly acts by persons thought to have compassion, but did not.

Passing by on the other side seems to be the ancient way of avoiding difficult situations. We still pass by difficult situations today.  We don’t want to have the difficult conversations about the sins of racism, or mental illness, or reconciliation with those who have been wrongly incarcerated, or even those who have differing opinions than ourselves.  Too many of us would rather have no contact or communication than to do the hard work of unraveling a tangled set of Christmas lights. We do this knowing that once done, the results will be beautiful.

Human language is a beautiful thing. We have ways of reasoning through the spoken and written word that other forms of life do not have.  However, we fail to use dialogue in the best ways, ways that will bring us together in more loving relationships.  But the truth is, we must want the virtue of compassion for ourselves first. We must want to be able to live in harmony with others. There should be nothing, no subject, that we cannot talk about. Such conversation requires discipline. We must have in place rules of respect and tolerance.  But like the Good Samaritan, we must start with compassion. We have been passing by on the other side for far too long.

Let us live to love, more than just love to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of the 7^th Week of Easter: Year 1

Psalms 101 and 109:1 to 4 and 20 to 30; Evening Psalm 119:121 to 144; 
Ezekiel 11:14 to 25; Hebrews 7:1 to 17; Luke 10:17 to 24:

“At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.”  (Luke 10:22)

There are several phrases within our readings for today that jump out at me as I observe human nature and compare us today with our ancient writings.  I notice that our Lectionary excludes verses 5 through 19 of Psalm 109. These verses wrap any kind of justice up in revenge, for example; “When he is judged, let him be found guilty, and let his appeal be in vain:” (Psalm 109:6).  Today, when I hear people call for justice I hear revenge in their voice and in their heart. This is sadness for me.  I’m glad we have the opportunity to skip such verses.

The Hebrew Testament offers some relief where Ezekiel reports, “I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may follow my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God:” (Ezekiel 11:19 and 20). Perhaps it is with a heart of stone that we have lost all compassion. We need the heart of flesh – the heart of compassion so that we shall be God’s people and God will truly be our God. Such as this is better than sadness.

In the Gospel reading for today and after the seventy returned from doing the Lord’s work, “At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit:” This is from our Gospel reading for today as printed above. It is not often that we can contemplate a happy Jesus, and even less is it talked about. This is a move away from sadness. I believe we were made to be a happy people.

If we pay close attention to this Luke verse we will notice that our Lord Jesus is actually praying in his rejoicing.  He prays, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.”  He is not praying from a state of sadness. How often do we seriously pray in our rejoicing?  I know that personally, I like to give out a big “Thank You Jesus,” whenever something good happens in my life.  It just feels good to say it out loud.  I also like looking at these words on the sign posted in my front yard. A happy Jesus makes me happy too. We are happiest when we pardon or forgive one another and not carry the burden of hate, jealousy, racism, and revenge under the veil of so called justice. Give it a try; be happy!

Let us live to love, more than just love to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of the 7^th Week of Easter: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 97 and 99;  Evening, Psalm 94;
Ezekiel 7:10 to 15 and 23 to 27; Hebrews 6:13 to 20; Luke 10:1 to 17:

“After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.”  But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, “Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.”  (Luke 10:1 to 11)

I bit off a huge portion of this Bible text from the Gospel according to Luke. But it’s important. It is about mission and it is about message.

In one of my Episcopal Zoom sessions last week one of our participants reminded us of a non Episcopal Church in Fayetteville that started about 15 years ago in a barn.  They were very small. Over the years they did the Lord’s work of feeding the hungry of Fayetteville and other such charitable acts outside of their barn. They were sent. They didn’t necessarily try to get people into their Church; they got their people out of the Church and into the streets fulfilling the needs of the people and bringing the Good News of the Salvation of Christ.  Now they appear on the evening news from time to time as they help with Covid vaccinations, testing, and other needs of the community. Now they have satellite Churches in several locations around Fayetteville.  Now, like the seventy in our reading for today, they are filled with joy because they are doing wonderful things in the Name of the Lord.

The lesson that I am learning from their experience is that the Lord’s work is done where the need is, rather than where we are gathered.  Yes, we should come together to worship. It is good and right so to do. But the fruit of our gathering should be made manifest in the help and enhancement of the lives of our neighbors.  And we should not do it in order to grow, but rather, grow as a result of doing it. 

Life is hard everywhere today. We have racial tensions mounting, a pandemic, and now a gas shortage. It really does feel like we are sent out like lambs into the midst of wolves. But a Church among us has set the example. We would be wise to follow.  And even if our efforts don’t help or aren’t appreciated, we are still to let the know that the Kingdom of God has come near.

Let us live to love, more than just love to live, listening to what the spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Monday of the 7^th Week of Easter: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 89:1 to 18; Evening,  Psalm 89:19 to 52; 
Ezekiel  4:1 to 17; Hebrews 6:1 to 12; Luke 9:51 to 62:

“Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62)

I think the point that our Lord Jesus is making is that once we have set our minds, our sights, on where we are going, we need to stay focused.

I joined the United States Marines at the end of May, 1972.  Basic Training (Boot Camp), was a big step for me. It was my first ever flight on an airplane. It was the first time away from home without my Dad with whom I had always been with as we worked for United Van Lines, movers.

It is an old story that still happens today. I arrive finally on a bus with other recruits on Parris Island, South Carolina somewhere around midnight. We were “greeted,” if that’s what you want to call it, by a man wearing a Smoky-the-Bear hat and he appeared to be very angry – angry at us.  I think he was mad because we were there and made him have to work. This new chapter in my life required me to stay focused on whatever was about to happen next.  I had no time to think about, “those at my home,” back in Nashville, Tennessee.  I needed to be attentive to what was happening next. I did not want to fail. After much training, successes, some failures and accomplishments, I graduated Honor Man for my platoon on August 28, 1972. I made it!  But it required me to not look back and second guess my decision to join the Marines in the first place. I retired after 30 years. The same is true about the decision to follow Jesus. There is no looking back.  It must be face-forward always. With hand to plow and no looking back, we make straight rows.

Today we remember Thurgood Marshall.  (Lawyer and Jurist, 1993)

“At the age of 32, Marshall successfully argued his first case before the United States Supreme Court and went on to win 29 of the 32 cases he argued before the court. As a lawyer, his crowning achievement was arguing successfully for the plaintiffs in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, in 1954.” During his years in Washington, Marshall and his family were members of St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church, where he was affectionately known as “the Judge.” He is remembered as “a wise and godly man who knew his place and role in history and obeyed God’s call to follow justice wherever it led.” Thurgood Marshall died on January 24, 1993: (Great Cloud of Witnesses for May 17). Marshall never looked back; he focused on the equality of all citizens.  With hand to plow and no looking back, we too make straight rows.

Let us live to love, more than just love to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Part 1 of 2

Morning, Psalms 66 and  67; Evening,  Psalms 19 and 46; 
Ezekiel 3:16 to 27; Ephesians 2:1 to 10; Matthews 10:24 to 33 and 40-42:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works,” (Ephesians 2:8 and 9),

We do not work our way into heaven. We live out our lives loving and helping others as best we can. Helping others is not works that saves us.  The faith that saves us results in good works. It takes a scrutinizing eye to see the difference. This is hard for us to see but so easy for God to see.

Part 2 of 2

Eucharistic Readings for the 7^th Sunday in Easter: Year B

Acts 1:15-17 and 21-26;  Psalm 1;  1 John 5:9-13 ; John 17:6-19:

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God; so that you may know that you have eternal life.”  (1^st John 5:13).

As we stand here between the Ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, we hear our Lord Jesus say in our Gospel reading for today that he “is no longer in the world and is coming back to the Father.” Yet, here he is still with us as he prays to God in the presence of the apostles. One of the apostles is John who records Jesus’ words. At the point of saying these words, he has not been crucified yet, but is already saying that he is on his way home.

Time seems to be irrelevant.  You and I are on our way home today.  We are living in the dash. There is the day we are born, then the dash, then the day we pass away.  But these are only earthly terms.  Our Lord Jesus once again sets us an example of how to live out the dash time in our life while here on earth. We pray.

As John writes in his 1^st letter for today, we must first believe – believe that God is.  Then believe that God is good.  Then believe that God came to us in the person of our Lord Jesus to set us an example of how to live and love one another and prepare for our life after our earthly death.

Does knowing that you will live beyond this life change the way you live your life now?  Are there corrections that you need to make before you wake up in the presence of the saints of God?  In the day that you rise to eternal life, the time in this life will seem to be irrelevant. But the acts of this life will be with you forever.  We have time now while time is relevant to fix whatever troubles us.

Let us live to love, more than just love to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Saturday, of the 6^th Week of Easter: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 87 and  90; Evening,  Psalm 136;
Ezekiel 3:4 to 17; Hebrews 5:7 to 14; Luke 9:37 to 50:

“John answered, ‘Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Do not stop him; for whoever is not against you is for you.” (Luke 9:49 and 50)

I understand these words from Jesus as a lesson in ecumenicalism, specifically, dialogue and action between different Christian denominations resulting in good works for a community.

What makes Christians Christian is the belief in, and use of, the Name of Jesus to bring about good. John, in our Luke reading for today, is upset that a Jesus believer is someone whom he does not know. But he is making good use of the Name of Jesus. Jesus tells him to let him be.  Ironically, the Gospel of this same John records Jesus saying, “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd:” (John 10:16).

I think different gatherings of today’s Christian Church focuses on different agenda. Some are concerned with the forgiveness of sins; some on equality of life; some are about the afterlife; some are about our historic church; some are about who Jesus is and what he wants of us. some are about inclusivity and love for all. None of the Christian Churches, that I can see, have a perfect program. Perhaps the ecumenical approach is best. But in no way am I saying the “Non-Denominational Church is the perfect answer, or for that matter, my own faith choice, the Episcopal Church.  While we all are trying to follow the Jesus path, we all have stumbling blocks.

I pray that as we all mature spiritually, that we evolve in a way that looks like “devolving.” That is, we begin to look and act more and more alike.  It seems to me that we got where we are today by “splintering” over divisive issues.  We must learn to have dialogue rather than debate; consensus rather than election where voting makes winners and losers.  For the most part we all have something good to do in the Name of our Lord Jesus. And we are all called by him into one fold, under One Shepherd.

Let us live to love, more than just love to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John