For the week of Feb 3, 2025
“You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. “ Deut 10:19
I remember the first day of 6th grade like it was yesterday. It was the first time I had had to take a bus to school. It was the first time I would be in a school with a multi-racial student population. Of course, everything was bigger, and I felt like I didn’t know anyone. Even though I had “friends,” I was not really a part of any group or clique. For the first time in my life, I was a stranger in a “foreign land,” and, truth be told, I was terrified. I experienced emotions and feelings that I had never had to face.
Recently, I had an experience that reminded me of the first day of 6thgrade. I had decided to attend a special interest club meeting. I’m grown now, of course, and no longer experience fear in new crowds. However, like most, I do hate the feeling of being a stranger in a foreign land. Apparently, most newcomers to the club came with a current member (note to self) … not alone. I didn’t know anyone in the club, so I had no choice.
I arrived at the building and could see through the windows that people were mingling inside. I just didn’t know how to get to them. After figuring out how to get inside, I stood in the expansive meeting room wondering what to do next … hoping that someone would notice the new guy and give me directions. A welcome did not come, nor did directions. You see, everyone else was familiar with where to go and what to do. They were so caught up in “catching up” with one another, that I might as well have been invisible. A less determined person would probably have left. Fortunately, after about 25 minutes, someone finally noticed me and asked if I was new. He proceeded to hand me a membership form and a pen, told me to fill it out and come back, then moved on to others. At least he had spoken to me.
When it came time for a break during the meeting, I headed back to talk to the only person who had spoken to me since my arrival a little over an hour before. He was now sitting alone. We struck up a conversation, and he asked if I had met anyone. He seemed shocked when I said “no,” and proceeded to take me around and introduce me. It turns out that the group was pretty friendly, and the things they offered as a club were very relevant and helpful.
My guess is that my experience at this club meeting was not unique to me, nor is it unique to this club. The Israelites in the passage from Deuteronomy (above) needed to be reminded of their own life experience of having been strangers in the land of Egypt, and God’s command to love the stranger. I know that Community of Christ as a denomination has experienced similar times of being the stranger, the outcast, the persecuted. I expect that many, if not all, of us have also been in a similar place in life… “strangers” in a foreign land. No one wants to be alone.
It’s my prayer that you will consider, pray for, and if able, be with those in your life who are “strangers in a foreign land” … those who feel alone, or have been cast aside, because of a life choice or because of who they were created to be.
God’s command to love the stranger does not come with a list of qualifiers or conditions.
Love the stranger! Someday “the stranger” might be you!
Blessings,
Blake
For the week of Jan 27th, 2025
In the 4th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, verses 16 through 21 (you’ll have to look it up), we are reminded of that which was deemed most important by Jesus. As such, it is also a call to all who call themselves by his name. Personally, as a full-time ordained minister, charged with the care of God’s people (which I believe to be all people), I hear it as a mandate for mercy and love… a mandate that requires unity rather than division.
The following is an excerpt from the sermon offered by Bishop Marianne Budde at the inaugural prayer service in Washington, DC…a sermon that was not well-received by some, but a sermon (and plea) that is deeply grounded in scripture, and upholding the need to uphold the dignity of all people, to speak the truth in love, and to walk humbly with each other and with God.
Budde says…
“Unity is a way of being with one another that encompasses and respects our differences; that teaches us to hold multiple perspectives and life experiences as valid and worthy of respect; that enables us … to genuinely care for one another even when we disagree.
For unity, at times, is sacrificial, in the way that love is sacrificial. A giving of ourselves for the sake of another.
In his sermon on the mount, Jesus exhorts us to love not only our neighbors, but to love our enemies, and to pray for those who persecute us, to be merciful as our God is merciful, to forgive others as God forgives us. And Jesus went out of his way to welcome those whom his society deemed as outcasts.
I grant you that unity in this broad expansive sense is aspirational, and it’s a lot to pray for … worthy of the best of who we are and who we can be. But there isn’t much to be gained by our prayers, if we act in ways that further deepen the divisions among us. Our scriptures are quite clear about this … that God is never impressed by prayers when actions are not informed by them, nor does God spare us from the consequences of our deeds which always, in the end, matter more than the words we pray.”
These were probably not the words that brought about the angry responses. Rather, it was her plea for mercy in her closing remarks. But, like her, I wonder what good are our prayers for unity and our efforts to build the God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven if we can’t remind one another to exercise mercy in our decision making and in our actions? Honestly?
I’ll leave you with a blessing from A Black Rock Prayer Book:[i]
The world now is too dangerous
and too beautiful for anything but love.
May your eyes be so blessed you see God in everyone.
Your ears, so you hear the cry of the poor.
May your hands be so blessed that everything you touch is a sacrament.
Your lips, so you speak nothing but the truth with love.
May your feet be so blessed you run to those who need you.
And may your heart be so opened, so set on fire,
that your love, your love, changes everything.
Have mercy,
Blake
[i] A Black Rock Prayer Book An offering from Religious AF Camp, religiousafcamp.com
For the week of Jan 20th, 2025
Those of us who live in areas of the country or world where snow is inevitable at some point during the year may have any number of responses to the snow. There are those who love it and look forward to it. There are those who tolerate it, either because they’ve decided it’s just part of life, or because moving is simply not an option. And, of course, there are those who hate it. I’ll admit that I have been in all of those categories at one point or another in my life. Before moving north, snow was a novelty … something to be enjoyed for short periods of time and then left behind. I thought it would be so cool to be somewhere where there was a possibility of several feet of snow. After living in the Midwest for 30 years, the novelty has warn off. I still love skiing, though I haven’t done it in a long time. And, I love taking walks in the snow with my wife on mild evenings when a light, fluffy snow is falling. If only the roads didn’t get snow packed or slushy. If only snow didn’t stick to driveways and require shoveling.
Yesterday, I was reminded of how easy it is to lose our sense of awe when things become commonplace. The weather forecast said that my home town of Pensacola, FL , would likely get between 3 to 5 inches of snow. (One report said the record prior to 2025 was 3” set in 1895). No one believed it… until it started falling. They ended up with 7.9 inches … in NW Florida! I started getting pictures and videos of friends and family playing in the snow … dogs chasing snowflakes, 50+ year olds (yes, not just children) making snow angels, and snowmen of all shapes and sizes. For many, it would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The joy was contagious. I found myself wanting to be down there playing in the snow with them. They made snow look fun again!!
Today, snow began to fall outside my window, and there was no excitement. I didn’t feel the urge to go outside and make a snow angel, or build a snowman, or head off to a nearby hill with a sled in hand. I didn’t take pictures or send videos of my dog romping in the snow to friends. Was it because I have lost my childlike sense of awe? Was it because I knew that, unlike the snow in Florida, this snow would mean extra work? Or, was it because, for several months out of the year, snow has become commonplace… expected?
I find that it’s a bit like people who have just realized that they are lovable … that there is a God (and perhaps even a community) that will love them unconditionally. They may not take pictures or send videos, but they can’t wait to tell others what they’ve found. However, those of us who have grown up in a loving family, or had a support community that love and encourage us, or have experienced the unconditional love of God our whole lives are more likely to take it for granted and keep it to ourselves because it’s part of life … it’s inevitable … it’s expected … it’s commonplace. We assume that everyone has what we have.
A friend recently shared a Martin Luther King, Jr. quote with me and a few others that said, “I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.”
Let’s not be ones who have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere have experienced love and acceptance the ways that we have. Let’s not let God’s love for us become so commonplace that we sit silently by assuming that others have what we have.
Blessings,
Blake
For the week of Jan 13th, 2025
Today, I found myself on another of my treks across a more rural part of Illinois on my way to visit one of the congregations I serve. Over the last week, we have had a couple of snowy days with some parts getting heavier snowfall than others. The areas through which I travelled fell somewhere in the middle. Remains of corn stalks visible across the vast fields of white. As is often the case with fields after the harvest, there were several places where the tractor tire tracks were left behind. In those places, because the corn stalks had been pressed down, and the ground had been slightly displaced, the imprints, though covered with snow, were left for all to see.
I was reminded of a vacation my family and I had taken to Washington state. We were making our from Seattle to the eastern part of the state where we were going to visit family. The trip required passage through a mountain range, so we had planned time to make a stop or two at Mount Rainier on our way through. One of the stops we made was at a trail head, and we decided to take a hike. I was younger then, and, as younger children likely to do, I wandered off-trail to look at something of interest. Immediately, out of nowhere, (perhaps from a burning bush, because his words were heated), a park ranger sternly asked me to return to the trail and to be careful. He proceeded to tell me that it would take nature up to 200 years to repair the damage I had done to the “plants” on which I had stepped. I had no idea, and I was horrified. I don’t even know if it’s true, but I have never forgotten that.
When I saw the tractor imprints in the fields, I was once again reminded of the Mount Rainier experience, but not because of the “damage” that may have been done to the ground of the field. My reflections were the result of the visible presence of the imprints in the field combined with the knowledge of the possible impact that imprints can make … on the land, and on us.
Those of us who strive to create and live in community (sacred or otherwise) make an imprint on one another’s lives. And, intentionally or unintentionally, those imprints linger … even if not evident to the naked eye. We’ve been told, and we know from our own experiences, that words and/or actions have the power to wound or to heal. How much power they have depends on the “depth” of the imprint that is left behind. If the effects of our words and actions were healing, and lasted for 200 years, it would be great. But, what about those that wound. Could it actually take up to 200 years to repair the damage done … effecting generation after generation?
History shows that it could take even longer. Our task, then, is to make sure that our words and actions, and the imprints they leave behind, will be healing, reconciling, encouraging, and kind. If we don’t, who knows where the world will be in 200 years.
Blessings,
Blake
For the week of Jan 6th, 2025
There are several passages in the Bible that encourage us to pray. We are encouraged to pray … without ceasing (1 Thess 5:16-17) … with thanksgiving (Phil. 4:6) … in secret (Matt 6:6) … asking for whatever we need, in Christ’s name (John 14:13-14) … with the help of the Spirit (Rom 8:26). I wonder, though, how many times we pay particular attention to the “whatever you (aka “I”) need” passages.
I have no doubt that all of us pray for others. It must be the case, because I often hear folks say, “I’m praying for you,” or “sending thoughts and prayers your way in your time of need.” I know, from personal experience, the power of prayer, not because I always get what I ask for, but because I always feel better when I intentionally enter into God’s presence in pray by way of the Holy Spirit. It may not change the situation, but it changed something inside of me.
Recently, while driving to an appointment and listening to a Christian radio station, I heard the announcer offer a prayer challenge that got me thinking. She asked, “if all your prayers were answered, would it change the world, or would it just change yours?” I’d like to say that my immediate response was that it would change the world, but knew I needed to think about that a little bit. Answering one way or the other might make me feel good about my prayer life, but ultimately, this wasn’t about making me feel better. It was about making me be a better disciple.
In the days since hearing that challenge, I have spent some time considering whether or not my prayers fit with what I believe to be the key directives regarding prayer … that God’s kingdom would come in all its fullness, that God’s will would be done (Matt 6:10), and that my asking was done in Christ’s name. Knowing how biased my own will can be on things, I long ago gave over to intentionally praying for God’s will to be done, and most of the time meaning it … all of the time if you take into account those instances when I was absolutely sure that my will was aligned with God’s. Admit it, we’ve all been there … even when we weren’t!
The toughest directive, however, is the “in Christ’s name” part. Most of us end our prayers with some form or expression that means “in Christ’s name,” even when the content of our prayers might not be in alignment. In that regard, I think the prayer challenge asks a question we ought all to consider… if all our prayers were to be answered … as submitted … would it change the (whole) world, or just our own. Remember, if the whole world is changed, so will ours be!
Blessings,
Blake