Looking for an earlier Watchword?
- My One and Precious Life - My One and Precious Life: Your one and precious life. Have you ever thought about that? You know God has given us this one opportunity to spend our portioned breaths in this, our lifetime, singular, never to be repeated, and he has equipped us to make the most of it. What have we done with this golden opportunity, this one and precious life? In Mary Oliver's poem The Summer Day, she raises questions that we have entertained during our lifetimes. At the end of our day, will we be asking, “Tell me what else should I have done? Continue reading
- The Shepherd’s Touch - The Shepherd's Touch: You can learn quite a bit about a person by looking at the friends they have, but maybe nothing about their relation with God. Really? I think the reverse may very well be true. Look at those that God was close to: Abraham who "pimped" his wife. Then there is Jacob who cheated his brother. On the list of 'friends' were at least two murderers, Moses and David. Incidentally, both were also adulterers. Each of these has their place in God's lessons. Oh, and so do we. We are all part of God's creation, we are God's friends, lest we forget. Continue reading
- Roads: Part II - Roads Part II: This meditation is not about the Jericho Road, or the road we are on, it is about who is journeying on these roads. Let me share with you an imperfect event/time line for Jesus during a month leading up to the Resurrection. As you consider this, imagine you are walking with Jesus, step by step, in sandals, over rough and hilly terrain, crossing through the Jordan River twice. As he journeyed, more and more people followed. As you walk along, you watch Jesus. It seems that this is an almost a casual walk; He pauses, with smiles and little touches, as He ministers, heals, and speaks plainly about love and compassion. You realize that He is showing you how to love others. At some point, you are aware thatJesus knows He is traveling to Jerusalem for Passover. And, of course, He knows what else awaits Him there. Continue reading
- Roads: Part I - Roads Part 1: Oak Creek Canyon scenic drive, Arizona State Road 89A is one of the most beautiful and scary roads in the US. There is another road, nearly as steep, but far more rugged, and even more dangerous. A road that Jesus trod that ended, days later, on Calvary’s Cross. Jericho Road, 17 miles of twists and turns, and a change in elevation of 3,300 feet, from Jerusalem, north, down to Jericho. The south-bound traveler, leaving from Jericho, will stop on the out skirts and fill water jars at Elisha’s Spring, the sweetest water in all of the valley. It was here that Jesus paused, on his way to His crucifixion, and restored sight to a man blind from birth. After a hard climb of perhaps 4 miles, your next stop would be Wadi Qelt, pronounced ‘Wadee Kelt’, a large cavity carved in the face of the valley wall by the Qelt Stream, providing a fresh water spring. Where is our Wadi Qelt? Where is our zone of safety, our times of happiness, our joy? Continue reading
- Feeling Safe - Feeling Safe is the doorway to happiness. How can one be happy if you are experiencing anxiety, fear? We long for safe places. Remember yesterday when you were in peaceful safety and did not worry about an unseen evil? Remember? Well, that peace that your felt, that safety you told yourself you rested upon? Those all came from our Lord and Savior and He is right there, still all around you, pouring graces all around, protecting you, providing that safe place. Safety does not depend on our conception of the absence of danger or threat of any kind. Safety is found in God’s presence, in the center of His perfect will. Continue reading
- Signs of a Christian - Signs of a Christian: Over the centuries, man has displayed all kinds of symbols to tell the world that they follow Jesus Christ, or simply, that they are Christians. I have a chain around my neck with a cross, as so many people do, and that declares that “I am a Christian!” Do you believe it? You may see cross lapel pins or ear rings. Maybe you will see the sign of a fish on the trunk of a car, another mark of following Christ. In some gatherings of followers, it is the haircut or dress that makes the statement. I guess there is nothing wrong with any of this, if that is your leanings. But, do they really say, “I am a Christian, a follower of Christ”? Is there a true universal mark or sign that tells the world whose you are? Continue reading
- Anger? Hope? - Anger? Hope? I was thinking about fear, empathy and compassion, and trying to sort out the differences and the characteristics of those common states of mind. I suppose I could’ve thrown in anger as well, because in my mind each one of us has gone through a period of anger, that we may not have identified as such. But, I would argue that it is hard to go from a life thar seems to be going smoothly to an abrupt change where there is disruption and difficulties and not produce frustration and anger. Anger, in my mind, is tied to hope in a weird way. In our present political circumstance, we have anger because we want a better narrative. We don’t like the one we have. Continue reading
- Conflict Resolution - Conflict Resolution: Have you ever been here? You and those you work with have always had a good and easy relationship. When there have been disagreements, they were resolved easily and in good-natured compromise. But then, along comes a little bear, just a small minor thing that stands right there in the way of progress. And the little bear grows into a grizzly it is not a small minor thing, but a dispute that has turned into a conflict. You may find yourself angered by something that has happened, or words that were spoken in haste. This is an example that has been used many times: It has been estimated that there are over 50,000 ‘brands’ of Christianity. Churches split, sometimes over the most mundane and inane matters; carpet color, use or naming of rooms, women in the pulpit, the age of communicants, or issues related to homosexuality. Continue reading
- Giant Slayer - Giant Slayer: What are your giants? What causes you fear? Concern? Maybe it is something invisible, yet deadly? Like Covid? Maybe you recall with dread times in quarantine, like being in jail, restricted to a room. It is like being captive to a giant, one that has restricted your freedoms, isolated you from families, our loved ones. Maybe your giant is something else. An estrangement from a loved one over something, now hard to recall. It makes one wonder if part of the giant is our own pride, our own unwillingness to except responsibility, and to surrender it all to the Lord, to trust Him? In fairness to the disciples, trusting Him to that degree was a lesson they were in the process of learning. Continue reading
- Ancient Clay Lamp - Ancient Clay Lamp: True story. In 1939 or 1940, a great uncle of mine was part of an archaeological ‘dig’ somewhere in the Holy Land and uncovered a clay lamp. I inherited the lamp from my father. Inside is a yellowed piece of paper which reads, “Lamp – oil. Ancient – est. 2500 BC. Found within the project near Tel-Aviv, 1939-40.” It’s a small lamp, bird-shaped, 3” tail to beak, made of clay. I suppose removing the lamp from the Holy Land project was some kind of violation. But the act of holding a 4500 year old hand-made lamp carries with it a reverent sense of history, and the fact that it was made by someone during the time of Moses! Well, wow! If you would like to see it, just ask me. Continue reading
- Saying Grace - Saying Grace: What has been your family tradition as you gathered around the table. Do you hold hands and say a prayer of gratitude for the food before you? Does your father or your grandfather call all to have grace. Do you recite the grace together, maybe some version of “Johnny Appleseed”? When we say grace we are expressing our gratitude for all that the Lord provides, and it goes beyond our nourishment, it goes to the very heart of our Christian walk, eternal salvation. A grace is something we don't earn, it is a gift from our Lord and savior and it comes without our earning it. Continue reading
- Wait for It! - Wait for It! Maybe it was the time I spent in Korea during that conflict, that I'm a fan the old TV comedy show M*A*S*H, and it’s array of characters, each one adding to the fun and drama of the story. Granted, my time in Korea on the DMZ, during a time of a questionable truce was not fun. “Wait for it,” the character Radar would say, as he would sense helicopters bringing the wounded to the M*A*S*H medical unit. We are often urged to wait! Many Psalms entreat us to wait on the Lord. Such waiting is expectant. Such waiting is hopeful. Such waiting is the movement of faith. Continue reading
- I Believe in Jesus Christ… - I Believe in Jesus Christ… We can’t transport ourselves back to first Century Judea or enter the temple in Jerusalem at that moment of Pentecost. It must have been an amazing event, the sudden rush of wind, the tongues of fire, the babble of multiple languages and all present understood what was said. For the disciples, it was a moment of realization. This was the Messiah, long promised. But who would believe? Certainly, not the Sadducees, and probably not the Pharisees. There had been too much anger and negative thought towards this Carpenter-teacher-miracle worker. So, who would believe his story? Perhaps all of that served as motivation, as the Twelve filed out of the temple and gathered to digest and understand what had happened to them. Continue reading
- God Rested I - God Rested I: God rested? Well, no wonder he was tired, look what He had done! Wait a minute, this is God, we're talking about. Let’s think about this. Let’s consider this from the standpoint of our spiritual thinking, not our flawed human thinking. On the seventh day God rested from all His work. Contrary to how we understand the Scripture, God did create on the seventh day! Yes, He created a wonderful gift for all of us. A day of rest! Continue reading
- In the Wilderness - In the Wilderness: I stood there, wanting to walk away, turn my back on that situation and not get involved. It was none of my business, yet, something wasn’t right, and I knew it. Then that voice again, “walk away, walk away, this doesn’t concern you”, echoed against my resistance. But it was by business, and I waded in, and it made a difference. We may not be in the wilderness as Jesus was, and yet the temptations are all around. Satan speaks so sweetly, so enticingly, and we are torn. Admit it or not, there’s often a war going on between the devil and our better angels. Do we go one way or the other, the choice is ours. Maybe that way leads to inconvenience, a difficult decision that may cost you dearly, yet, it is the right choice. Or maybe you hear that other voice, so friendly, so assured “You’re really going to put yourself out and you have no idea how much it will cost you. Just forget it, no one will know, no one will hold it against you.” Continue reading
- He Is Here - He Is Here: She started to dash across the street without looking and the car missed her by inches. You stand in line at the funeral struggling to find the right words, offer a prayer, and God-inspired words flow, and your friend is comforted. You paused at the intersection of a county road and a busy state highway. Limited visibility in both directions. You start to pull out and suddenly braked, the semi misses your car by less than a foot. You are the mother or the grandmother of young children, therefore, you are witness to the God’s great love in your everyday life. The wee small voice deep in your mind, providing guidance in the eye of the storm. Can you hear it? Do you see it? Do you feel it? Interventions by God? Most assuredly. Continue reading
- Holy Ground - Holy Ground: My friends and I had traveled to Michigan for five days of golf, good food and, maybe some cards. Early one morning we stood on the elevated third tee of the golf course and drank in the beauty of the scene. Without words, one friend nodded for us to look behind us. We turned, and there at the far end of the tee-station, stood a doe and two fawns, beautiful, motionless, staring at us, seemingly without fear. No one moved, no one spoke for a what seemed like a long time, until the deer, and her babies, turned and slowly moved into the forest. It had been a reverent experience. For a brief time, we had witnessed God's grace, and the tee-station on that third hole of this golf course had become, for a moment, Holy Ground. Holy ground, God speaking to us in the blinding beauty of a sunset. Holy ground, God speaking to us in the love of a child. Holy Ground is that moment when God's grace touches you, inspires you, encourages you to reach out to others, to share your witness to others, to express in word and deed, "you are loved." Continue reading
- Difficulty Trusting - Difficulty Trusting: Years ago, I rode the elevator to the top floor of the Sears Tower in Chicago and looked out over the city and then down to Michigan Avenue and the Miracle Mile. I suddenly had a queasy feeling and involuntarily stepped back from the window. Are you adverse to heights? Do you have a kind of a weird feeling when you look down from a height, maybe a cliff while you’re hiking? It’s not a comfortable feeling. Trusting Jesus is difficult. We are not called to walk with Him, rather He has called us to hold on to His Right Hand, to cling to Him in all we do, and walk this life with Him. Continue reading
- Gotta Breathe - Gotta Breathe: Indeed, we must all breathe in order to sustain life. That immutable fact has been hammered home in my life, first with my wife who passed away from lung disease, and more recently my own situation which is a breathing problem caused by heart-lung interaction, which has resulted in a heart procedure in my future. I deal with the inconvenience of my problem with medication, by limiting my own exertion, and by always carrying my rescue inhaler. Continue reading
- Where Are You Being Led? - Where Are You Being Led? “Living a life of faith means never knowing where you are being led.” I was thinking about that statement, trying to understand it, but another thought stuck its sharp elbows into the discussion – My will. How often do we resolved to follow our Lord without question, only to be side-tracked by our own desires, wishes and plans? Tell me, how willing are we to take the idol that we worship to the mountain and sacrifice it, send it up in smoke? Maybe it means seriously reordering your priorities; prayerfully considering where the Lord is leading you, and letting Him determine what is important. Continue reading
