By Deb Grant

ELOGOS for Tuesday

11/13/2018

Mark 13:5-8
Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birthpangs.
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Of the many videos and photos I have seen of the California wildfires and the horrific destruction and loss of life, I was particularly moved by one video. The camera was pointed out the windshield of a car escaping the flames. The audio captured the voices of small children in the car with their father at the wheel. The children were terrified. The father was steering through smoke, flames and abandoned cars. And yet, his voice was calm and soothing as he reassured his children with a bold promise - that they would be okay. If I have learned anything, I have learned that disasters happen, that sometimes our worst fear comes into being. We want to know when the bad thing will happen even though we can't prevent it. We want to know so that we can run more quickly or more quickly turn to those we love to say, "goodbye." But more often than not, we just panic. Or we can choose to be purveyors of hope and new life even in the face of our deepest fears and death itself.
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Put the fire out, Lord, and grant us peace. Amen

ELOGOS for Thursday

11/8/2018

Hebrews 9:24
For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.
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Just before our tour group stepped inside the Bavarian pilgrimage church, our guide turned to us and said, "Prepare yourselves for a visual display of rococo art - late Baroque.....and a multitude of baby bottoms." Sure enough, the ceilings and walls were a dramatic, overwhelming explosion of detailed paintings of pinks and golds. And yes, there were dozens of chubby baby cherubim flitting everywhere turning their cheeks to the worshipers below. It was the artist's best representation of the story and the promises of God - a little bit of heaven to be seen inside of a world of hardship, poverty and disease. Over the centuries Christians have thrown a lot of energy and resources at our buildings. We have done so, in part, to create a "half-way house" so that we can tour what awaits us in heaven to give us hope. I think we are in a time when we need new eyes to see the true heaven. Surprisingly, it still involves "baby bottoms." Heaven is a place where children are well fed and loved, totally free to be who they are without fear of violence or judgment.
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Holy God, may we be about being sanctuaries for children rather than building sanctuaries for ourselves. Amen.

ELOGOS for Monday

11/5/2018

Mark 12:38-40
As he taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
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Not much has changed. Wardrobe, perhaps, but not the public strutting and the underhanded greed. Who holds such people accountable? Where are the voices calling these people out? Where is our voice? Are we not just as culpable if we remain silent? Who garners our notice, our respect, our invitation, our places of honor? Who is most unlikely and most in need of a place at our table? One step closer to walking a little more like Jesus is simply to notice the injustice. The next step is knowing that there is a next step and our own integrity is holding us accountable. We are better than we can imagine. We are better than this. Rise up.
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Holy God, help us pay attention. Amen.

ELOGOS for Friday

11/2/2018

Deuteronomy 6:5-8
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
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I have not practiced meditation as much as I have since the hurricane over a year ago. The time of intentional breathing, awareness, gentle centering had the immediate first-aid effect of dealing with stressful situations in which the best I could offer was a non-anxious presence. At other times the practice helped order priorities. Sometimes I did not appreciate that mediation is not something one learns, masters and "ta-da!" you are a self-generating peace machine! Meditation is a practice. A life-long one. It is a spiritual discipline that coaches our restless spirits to breath, to listen, to re-orient ourselves toward our true north so that when we step into each day we bring everything that is good with us. To meditate on the love of God with all our hearts, souls, and might is a practice that we can embrace as surely as the love of God embraces us each day with the rising sun.
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Holy God, grant us a pause, a reset, a moment to love deliberately. Amen.

ELOGOS for Tuesday

10/30/2018

Psalm 146:8-9
The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
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Does GOD have a favorite child? YES! YES! YES! Let's pay attention to the ones God pays attention to! The physically impaired and the morally clueless. Those who have been kicked in the gut and in their souls for the crime of being who they are. The ones who drink up grace like beggars in the desert. The ones who are invisible to everyone else because everyone else thinks it is all about them. The ones who need help for everything because that is the way all humans are when we come into the world. The ones who know the agony of a broken heart. Yep. God has favorites. Chances are pretty good that you and I are included on that favorites list. And when we stop wondering about that, we can start paying attention to the ones who don't know how loved they are and show them.
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Holy God, protect those who mourn today. Amen.

ELOGOS for Monday

10/29/2018

Mark 12:29-31
Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
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Our Jewish brothers and sisters know these words. They heard these teachings by their parents and by their teachers at the synagogue. They were taught it in the Hebrew language of their ancestors and in their own language. The teachings of a faith take hold in a variety of ways. It often starts with words, words repeated, words heard. And as words seep into our souls, the words are enfleshed with blood and muscle, living tissue and then impulsed with a purpose. Words matter. Words of hate can become deadly actions. Words of love can become life-giving service. Words alone cannot make the world a better place for our neighbor. Christ is the word of love wrapped in blood and muscle with a soul for service. Let's follow. Let's route out the words that have no place in our hearts, our homes or our neighborhoods. Let's make this world better for our neighbor, all of them.
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Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me. Amen

ELOGOS for Friday

10/26/2018

Jeremiah 31: 12b-14
their life shall become like a watered garden, and they shall never languish again. Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. I will give the priests their fill of fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty, says the Lord.
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This is where the morning and this verse took me ...to the wisdom of the great theologian Mary Chapin Carpenter....great theology is best when it can be sung and the backup singers in your head are the theologians' voice, a good friend, total strangers over your shoulder in a safe place. Sing it with me.

In this world there's a whole lot of trouble, baby
In this world there's a whole lot of pain
In this world there's a whole lot of trouble, but
A whole lot of ground to gain
Why take when you could be giving?
Why watch as the world goes by?
It's a hard enough life to be living
Why walk when you can fly?
In this world there's a whole lot of sorrow
In this world there's a whole lot of shame
In this world there's a whole lot of sorrow
And a whole lot of ground to gain
When you spend your whole life wishing
Wanting, and wondering why
It's a long enough life to be living
Why walk when you can fly?
And in this world there's a whole lot of golden
In this world there's a whole lot of pain
In this world you've a soul for a compass
And a heart for a pair of wings
There's a star on the far horizon
Rising bright in an azure sky
For the rest of the time that you're given
Why walk when you can fly?

ELOGOS for Wednesday

10/24/2018

Psalm 126:3-6
The Lord has done great things for us, and we rejoiced.
Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.
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It is one thing to rejoice at the harvest. It is quite another thing to be overwhelmed with sorrow and still sow seeds. Sorrow more typically immobilizes us. A symptom of depression is the inability to get out of bed. Sorrow is wrapped in the duct tape of hopelessness. Who gets up crying to sow dead seeds on empty soil? The answer is being sung in the psalm. People who have a history of knowing what happens to dead seeds thrown on the empty soil. It doesn't matter how they are sown, only that they are sown. What comes next is beyond their ability to completely understand or make happen by their own effort. Creation is embedded by its Creator with the ability to recreate, to make new. Our response is to rejoice at the harvest and even on our worst day believe that it can happen again.
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Holy God, we will keep sowing on this broken planet and hope you will keep doing your stuff. Amen.

ELOGOS for Monday

10/22/2018

Mark 10: 47-49
When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.”
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The word that shouted out to me in these verses is "Call." Both the literal calling for a variety of motivations and the sense of call to different vocation - the word derived from voice. In the midst of the voices, Jesus stops and calls. It has always been a profound scene for me in the Gospels. So much human drama, so much dramatic plot lines happening and then there is Jesus calling a halt to all of it for a moment. Jesus stops in his dramatic trajectory to the cross to attend to one whose voice was being silenced. Jesus calls. My head and heart have been pondering my own call to ministry that began so many years ago and continues to this day in a variety of voices. I announced to my congregation last week my intention to retire in January 2019 after 37 years in parish and campus ministry. I listen to God's call in my life. I am humbled and amazed to be one of many beggars who have called out for God's help and grace and can joyfully declare that God has been gracious to me. I look forward to time to rest and listen to how I can live and serve in the days ahead. What will happen to ELOGOS is still on my list of things to ponder but I haven't made any decisions yet. What I do know is what it means to have been heard by a gracious God and what it means to respond to God's call.
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Help us, Lord, each day to recognize the power of stopping to listen to our neighbors in need. Amen.

ELOGOS for Tuesday

10/16/2018

Hebrews 5:7
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
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Poem by Robert Frost:
We make ourselves a place apart
Behind light words that tease and flout,
But oh, the agitated heart
Till someone find us really out.

’Tis pity if the case require
(Or so we say) that in the end
We speak the literal to inspire
The understanding of a friend.

But so with all, from babes that play
At hide-and-seek to God afar,
So all who hide too well away
Must speak and tell us where they are.
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Even you, Lord, had to cry out to be heard. O Lord, hear my prayer. Amen.