acts – onewhoponders

Pondering for Thursday, August 20, 2026

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of Proper 15: Year 2

Morning, Psalms 131 and 132, Evening, Psalms 134 and 135;

Job 1:1 to 22; Acts 8:26 to 40; John 6:16 to 27:

“Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over to this chariot and join it.” (Acts 8:29)

There are three significant entities in this reading; there is Philip, and there is the treasurer of Candice who happens to be a eunuch, and of course, the angel or spirit of God who directs Philip. The eunuch is returning from the Temple in Jerusalem where he was probably not welcomed due to his bodily defilement. But he is a faithful student of scripture and maintains faithful practices.

I wish we had the name of Candice’s treasurer; I don’t like referring to him as “the eunuch.” We learn that, like most of us, he needs assistance in understanding what the scripture is really saying. I like the way Philip obeys the Spirit, and also, how he assists this treasurer. He doesn’t go back to Adam and Eve, or Abraham or even Moses. No, he starts with Isaiah, he starts from where the person was, in his reading. Sometimes we try to give a person too much information. The Spirit did not say go over to the chariot and rule it. The Spirit said, “Go over to this chariot and join it.”

Another part of our story that I really like is that after the explanation of the scriptures, which must have also talked about our Lord Jesus and the importance of Baptism, they come upon some water. Then “the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?’ He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.” As a priest I have used this model by Philip to baptize people who ask for it as soon as possible, normally at the next Sunday worship service if possible.

Beyond the lesson about how to coach or teach, and of baptism, there is the listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We today, should not think that the Holy Spirit of God does not speak to us today, it still happens. At the end of this experience both men go their separate ways: the eunuch, back to Ethiopia rejoicing; and Philip, again following the Spirit and proclaiming the Good News!

Today we remember Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot, Theologian, and Poet (August 20, 1153) and his information may be found at: Bernard of Clairvaux.

As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and to serve, and to teach others to love and to serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Let us pray:

Come Holy Spirit, lead us and guide us as we journey our path. Equip us to be patient and kind and informative to all you put in our path, and above all, let us meet and greet them where they are and assist them in their spiritual growth as they too journey to you. In your most Holy Name, Amen.

Pondering for Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of Proper 9: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 119:1 to 24; Evening, Psalms 12, 13 and 14:
1^st Samuel 16:1 to 13; Acts 10:1 to 16; Luke 24:12 to 35:

“In Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Cohort, as it was called. He was a devout man who feared God with all his household; he gave alms generously to the people and prayed constantly to God. One afternoon at about three o’clock he had a vision in which he clearly saw an angel of God coming in and saying to him, ‘Cornelius.’ He stared at him in terror and said, ‘What is it, Lord?’ He answered, ‘Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God:” (Acts 10:1 to 4).

God is bringing Peter and Cornelius together, the Jew fisherman and the Roman centurion, to do the Lord’s inclusive work. Whenever God sends you to someone, God prepares that person to receive you. That person may be unaware that God is involved, but nonetheless, God is orchestrating the whole thing.

While not a person of Israeli heritage, Cornelius is a man of constant prayer and giving to the poor. His heart sourced faith and devotion has been seen by God. Cornelius was instructed in a vision to invite Peter to come and be with him. It was very odd that a Roman citizen, much less a centurion, would do such a thing. But Cornelius’ vision is tied to the vision of Peter through God. For Cornelius, it is a matter of following God’s word. For Peter, it is a matter of being inclusive as shown by the inclusion of various foods, foods provided by God for the health and nourishment of the faithful. The live animals that Peter is instructed to “kill and eat” are outside of what Peter, who is of Israeli heritage, has been taught to eat. While God is stretching Peter to move beyond his tradition, God is also showing him (and us) that nothing, or no one of whom God has brought into existence, is profane.

What the two men have in common is faith in One God who calls people through visions, to prayer and charitable acts. Within these visions we too are stretched beyond our “normal” traditions. We are called to be with people different than ourselves. We are given insight that we could not have “figured out.” I call these insights “glimmers of grace.”

Within glimmers of grace, some of us are called to move. Some of us are called to be still. If we all move we will never connect. We would miss each other. Some of us are called to be messengers who plant the seeds of prayer and fellowship, God has planted faith in all of us already. Some of us are called to bloom where we are planted. The world needs both kinds of us. The call we get from God may even change over time. Together, we fulfill the dream of God. Together, we make the world a more inclusive and loving place – a place where God’s will, will be done.

As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and to serve, and to teach others to love and to serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Let us pray: (BCP p. 832)

Direct us, O Lord, in all our doings with thy most gracious favor, and further us with thy continual help; that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in thee, we may glorify thy holy Name, and finally, by thy mercy, obtain everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Pondering for Thursday, July 3, 2025

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of Proper 8: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 131, 132, [133]; Evening Psalms 134 and 135;
1^st Samuel 13:5 to 18; Acts 8:26 to 40; Luke 23:13 to 25:

“Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Get up and go towards the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ (This is a wilderness road.)” (Acts 8:26)

As I read this Acts lesson I am reminded of how geographical God is. God finds the people with the faith and personality traits desired and then moves them to where God needs them. This is repeated throughout the Bible. God moves Abraham from his father’s house to a land that God will show him; God moves Ruth to Naomi’s people; God moves Moses back to Egypt to free the Israelites; God moves David away from, and then back to, Jerusalem; God Moves Joseph to Egypt and back again with the baby Jesus. And God moves Philip to the eunuch in our Acts reading for today. God is a mover and shaker.

But today’s Acts passage has several preaching points. After God, through the angel, moves Philip to the path of the eunuch, God has him to begin the explanation of the Christian life from where the eunuch was, rather than the beginning of the Bible. This is a lesson we could all learn. When we are asked to help someone understand, we should start with where they are, and go from there.

Another preaching point is the unexpected opportunity to Baptize. Philip waste no time when the eunuch points to the available water. While the eunuch was perhaps not allowed in the Temple due to his physical disfigurement (which makes him a eunuch), he none the less is accepted into the household of God in Christ Jesus through Baptism. Thank You Jesus.

Then God moves Philip to Azotus where he continues teaching and preaching the Good News. There are many lessons in this passage.

As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and to serve, and to teach others to love and to serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Let us pray:

Move us O Lord God as is necessary to fulfill Your divine plan for us. Make us sensitive to Your call on our lives as You are with us daily. Open our minds and hearts so that we hear, see, and feel Your presence, and then follow where You Lead. In Your most holy Name we pray: Amen.