Here we are, my husband and I, laughing out loud as we read our devotional for today. God is something else, this early in the morning and we read about the need to give up comparing one with the other. And instead begin to praise God for giving us skills, talents and abilities to do the things we are good at. And by doing so, recognizing that there are other people that excel at the same abilities, skills and talents that we might have. Lets read about Job (40)interesting conversation with God:
God: “Now what do you have to say for yourself? Are you going to haul me, the Mighty One, into court and press charges?”
Job: “I’m speechless, in awe—words fail me. I should never have opened my mouth! I’ve talked too much, way too much. I’m ready to shut up and listen.”
God: “I have some more questions for you, and I want straight answers. “Do you presume to tell me what I’m doing wrong? Are you calling me a sinner so you can be a saint? Do you have an arm like my arm? Can you shout in thunder the way I can? Go ahead, show your stuff. Let’s see what you’re made of, what you can do….I’ll gladly step aside and hand things over to you!
Prayer: Dear God, help us to be quiet, so you can speak and we can listen. We are giving up the arrogance of being perfect, so you can really be our God. We will no longer compare each other, we know you created us to be Christ-like, not gods.
Are you ready to shut up and listen? – Estas list@ para callerte y escuchar?
Aquí estamos, me esposo y yo, riendonos en alta voz mientras leemos nuestro devocional para hoy. Dios es otra cosa, temprano en la mañana y nosotros leyendo sobre la necesidad de dejar de compararnos un@s con l@s otr@s. En vez de comenzar a alabar a Dios por darnos destrezas, talentos y abilidades para hacer las cosas que hacemos. Y hacienda esto, reconociendo que existen otras personas que brillan con las mismas abilidades, destrezas y talentos que nosotr@s podríamos tener. Leamos acerca de esta interesante conversación entre Job (40) y Dios:
Dios: “Qué tienes que decir acerca de ti mismo?” Me vas a arrastrar, a la corte y acusarme?”
Job: “ Me sorprendo, no tengo palabras” Nunca debi abrir mi boca! He hablado mucho, demasiado. Estoy listo para callarme y escuchar”
Dios: “Tengo más preguntas para ti, y quiero que me respondas directamente. Presumes decirme lo que estoy hacienda mal? Me llamas pecador para que tu puedas ser un santo? Acaso tienes una mano como mi mano? Puedes gritar en la tormenta como lo hago yo? Comienza, muestrame tus capacidades. Dejame ver de lo que estas hecho, lo que puedes hacer… Con gusto me hecho a un lado y lo entrego todo a ti!
Oración: Querido Dios, ayudanos a mantener silencio mientras tu hablas. Te entregamos nuestra arrogancia de querer ser perfect@s, de esta manera tu realmente eres nuestro Dios. No nos compararemos un@s a otr@s, sabiendo que tu nos creaste para pareceremos a Cristo, no para ser dioses.
Pastora Maritza
(From 40 Things to give up for Lent and Beyond, Phil Ressler)
Book: Grounded by Diana Butler Bass Study Guide: from First Churches UCC/ABC in Northampton, MA
1. “Ancient biblical tradition suggests that waters—wells, springs, oases—are also places of renewal, hospitality, and spiritual vision, where human beings see God and God’s blessing” (p. 73). What is your favorite water story from a sacred text? What role does water play in your faith tradition?
2. “This is a vibrant spiritual vision—knowing God as water is not only about clarity and flow, but consists in great part of the muddiness of our own lives” (p. 91). How has God come to life for you in flowing, still, and muddy waters?
3. What is your favorite body of water to visit? What do you experience there?
God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. There is no room in love for fear. If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both. 1 John 4:17-21
God has made a COVENANT with his people and we all have the responsibility to keep it going. God is not only a Promise Maker, he is also a promise keeper. And we, we are the dynamic listeners. At least that is my understanding from the reading of Matthew 13:23 “As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it”. Más claro no canta un gallo, it is not about hearing, it is about listening beyond that that we hear, it is about comprehending, and in order to do this we must clear our minds and our hearts of all that “we thought was god, but it wasn’t.”; we must Love the people God created.
Pastor Maritza
Dios es amor. Cuando tomamos residencia permanente en la vida de amor, vivimos en Dios y Dios vive en nosotr@s. No existe espacio en el cuarto del amor para el miedo. Si alguien se Gloria, “Yo amo a Dios” y odia a su hermano o su Hermana, pensando que esto esta bien, esta persona es un mentiroso. Si no puede amar a la persona que ve, como puede amar a Dios a quien no puede ver? El principio que recibimos de Dios es claro: Amar a Dios incluye amar a toda persona. Tienes que amarlos a ambos: Dios y creación. (Traducido por mi)
Dios ha hecho PACTO con su gente y nosotr@s tenemos la responsabilidad de mantener este pacto. Dios no es solo Hacedor de Promesas, tambien es Mantenedor de Promesas. Y nosotr@s, tenemos la responsabilidad de escuchar dinámicamente. Por lo menos ese es mi entendimiento despues de leer Mateo 13:23 “Lo que sembraste en buena tierra, esto es l@s que escuchan la palabra y la entienden”. Más claro no canta un gallo, no es acerca de oir, es acerca de escuchar más allá de lo que podemos oir, es acerca de comprender, y para poder hacer esto necesitamos nuestra mente y nuestro corazón claros de todo aquello que “pensabamos era dios, pero no era”; debemos Amar la gente que Dios creó.
DATE: 14 February 2016
TO: Manantial de Gracia
YEAR: Are you ready? For God has Made a New Thing…
TITLE: Are you grounded? DIRT…! (Estas connectad@? TIERRA…!)
PRAYER
Like an endless falling, Prayer in class/January 8, 1998
Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth Prayers of Walter Brueggemann
“Things fall apart, the center cannot hold.”
We are no strangers to the falling apart;
We perpetrate against the center of our lives, and on some days it feels:
Like an endless falling,
Like a deep threat,
Like rising water,
Like ruthless wind.
But you…you in the midst,
You back in play,
You rebuking and silencing and ordering,
You creating restfulness in the very eye of the storm.
You…be our center:
Cause us not to lie about the danger,
Cause us not to resist your good order.
Be our God. Be the God you promised,
And we will be among those surely peaceable in your order.
We pray in the name of the one through whom all things hold together.
Amen.
LLAMADO A COMUNIDAD / CALL TO COMMUNITY
Grounded by Diana Butler Bass, final Call/Response by E.MendezAngulo
(Originally found in Gaining Ground by Forrest Pritchard)
One: A small swath of earth was now revealed. Un poco de tiera fue revelado.
All: soil…was soft and dark. Arena… suave y oscura.
One: I slid my fingers into the dirt, cupping a handful of earth to my nose. Toque el fango con mis dedos, acercandomelo a la naris.
All: The aroma of the broken ground was profoundly rich, at once mysterious and inviting. El aroma de la tiera profundamente rica, misteriosa como en invitacion.
One: In the depths of winter – with the pastures grazed low, the sycamores stark and leafless, the creek banks rimmed with ice, and the sky a gray blanket spread from mountaintop to mountaintop – here the earth abided. En lo profundo del invierno – cuando la grama casi no existe, los arboles sycamore basios y secos, los lagos tocados de nieve, y el cielo gris de Montana a Montana – asi existe el mundo.
All: The soft warmth spoke to me, saying, I am waiting now, but I will be ready. We are mutual participants, you and I, intertwined. El calor me habla, diciendo, te espero aun no pero te espero.
One: Said creation to Creator God. Asi le dijo la creacion a Dios Creador.
All: For I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine. Porque yo soy de mi Amado y mi Amado es mio.
ENVUELT@S EN LA PALABRA / ENGAGING THE WORD
Genesis 2: 4-7; John 9: 6-7; Genesis 3:19; Job 42:5-6 (TLV)
These are the genealogical records of the heavens and the earth when they were created, at the time when Adonai Elohim made land and sky. Now no shrub of the field was in the land yet, and no green plants of the field had sprouted yet. For Adonai Elohim had not caused it to rain upon the land, and there was no one to work the ground. But a mist came up from the land and watered the whole surface of the ground. Then Adonai Elohim formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils a breath of life—so the man became a living being…
[Jesus] spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud on the blind man’s eyes. [Jesus] told him, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which is translated Sent). So he went away, washed, and came back seeing.
By the sweat of your brow will you eat food, until you return to the ground, since from it were you taken. For you are dust, and to dust will you return.
I had heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye has seen You. Therefore I despise myself, and repent on dust and ashes.
Are you grounded? DIRT…! (Estas connectad@? TIERRA…!)
Happy Sunday Church! Today there are awesome things happening on the same date. Today people are celebrating Valentines Day… they are wearing all the traditional acutremounts of love: red and pink and white and hearts and all things lovey-dovey. Today people are celebrating Science, and talking about how science (true science) is connected to the Divine. Today people are celebrating the first Sunday of the Lenten Season… a time when we recall Jesus full of the Holy Sprit being tested by Satan during his 40 days of fasting while in the Wilderness. This is the beginning of a time of testing for some, and a time for love for others…OR it is a time during which God’s love and God’s mercy abide together in perfect harmony…
Luke 4: 1-13
Talks of the tests that Satan attempted to throw at Jesus:
If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread. (but one does not live by bread alone Jesus replied)
If you worship me, all glory and authority will be yours. (but we are instructed in scripture to worship and serve only God, said Jesus)
If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from up high, so the Angels can protect you (do not put the Lord your God to the test).
It is interesting to me that on this day of Hybrid traditions Luke 4 stands (at least to me) as the response to Valentines Day…it serves as an example and reminder of Jesus’ redemptive love. Let us consider two of Jesus’ replies to Satan.
one does not live by bread alone: Jesus said this when it concerns himself. He did not transform the bread for his own needs. but Jesus realizes that creation needs physical food as well as spiritual nourishment…and every time he preached and was met by throngs of hungry people, he fed their physical needs, allowing leftover bread and fish to multiply to feed them not only one meal but sustain them through leftovers (ABUNDANCE and OVERFLOW).
do not put the Lord your God to the test, and even in the midst of his final moments on Cavalry’s cross, Jesus (the man) felt weak and tired and cried out to God, but again not for himself, but rather for the sake of all creation… forgive them he says for they don’t understand.
Today, I am supposed to be preaching about dirt. And in so doing I thought that I would start at the beginning. What is dirt? According to Wikipedia dirt is “unclean matter” the stuff that when it comes into contact with your clothes and skin and things, needs to be cleaned off in order that the dirt can be no more…until it comes again.
Dirt is dust and filth and grime and soil and earth and mud and yuck. And once cleansed it will return. Time and time again. We can clean it, and wash it, and rinse it, and scrub it. But it will return!
According to Merriam Webster, dirt can also be a person or a thing that has no value. Dirt is something worthless. Dirt is a contemptible person.
In modern use of the word, dirt is scandalous or malicious gossip. Dirt is embarrassing or incriminating information.
Let us be clear… We are each full of dirt. For some of us, when people dig into our past (or our presents) the dirt is hidden under the surface, for others, there has to be a lot deeper digging to find the dirt because it is so far removed…
According to Brueggemann’s liturgical poem, Genesis 1, we are all made of dirt. For, “Adonai Elohim formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils a breath of life—so the man became a living being…” and Adonai Elohim proclaimed each and every aspect of creation good! In the “cosmic vision of creation,” a story “unfolds with the making of plants and forests, the stars and suns and moons and beyond, all the fishes and birds and animals, and finally human beings. At each juncture, God proclaims blessing on what has been made, declaring it good, and with the creation of humankind the whole of the universe is pronounced VERY GOOD.”
Creation, you have been created and breathed into existence by God who loves you. You have been deemed good from the beginning. You have fallen and gotten dusty and dirty and still God has deemed you worth it. You are worth everything. When you doubt your ability to achieve greatness, realize that we are not all created for the same purpose, but we are all created by the same God. Remember that when first man and first woman walked and procreated, the breath of God was inside them… the same breath of God that is today inside you. Remember that from DIRT you came and to DIRT you shall return and in the middle point, that in-between time, while others are telling you your worth and telling you your dirt… you are God’s beloved and are loved and deemed VERY GOOD. Worthy of God being born of a young created woman, worthy of God humbling God’s self and walking among the dirt that God created. Worthy of God hanging and dying on a cross as a public sacrifice and worthy of God’s love. You are deemed VERY GOOD…just as you are. AMEN.
CLOSING PRAYER
Your command is garbled, Summer school/July 14, 1998
Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth Prayers of Walter Brueggemann
We imagine you coming into the barracks with your insistent demand.
We imagine you addressing
The sun to “move out,”
The sky – “let there be light,”
The sea – “stand back.”
We imagine you addressing Israel, “be my people,”
And the church “follow me.”
We even imagine you addressing us, each of us and all of us with your order of the day.
We imagine…but the din of other commands,
Of old loyalties and unfinished business and tired dreams
Cause us not to hear well, not to listen, not to notice, and your command is garbled.
So come again with your mandate, with the clarity of your imperative.
We listen, because we know in deep ways that your yoke is easy and your burden is light.
Come among us, because we are yours, and ours is a listening mood.
Give us ears and then hands and hearts and feet for your good news [that we may share it].
Amen.
PASTORAL BENEDICTION
You lied. You lied when you said that I was unworthy of love. You lied when you named me slave. You lied when you named me less than human. You lied when you enslaved me. You lied when you named me inferior. You lied when you said…in God’s name. You lied when you exluded me. You lied when you named me unlovable. You lied. You lied and lied and lied. In the very first chapter of the Bible, God looked around at God’s creation…ALL OF GOD’s CREATION, and named it Very Good! I am worthy. I am worth it. I am lovable. You are worthy. You are worth it. You are lovable. And if you don’t like it or don’t agree…take it up with God.
“Self-pity is easily the most destructive of the non-pharmaceutical narcotics; it is addictive, gives momentary pleasure and separates the victim from reality.”
John W. Gardner
We have spent some time listening, reflecting and meditating about the life of the prophet Elijah. Some depicted him as a victim of Jezabel, hiding after a great victory. I see him as I see many of us, alone in a harsh situation seeking something that is not attainable or so we believe. This is so debilitating that one can feel powerless; like there is nothing we can do about our own circumstances or the actions of others, for others this stance might be called “victim mentality”. Yet, I see the mighty love of a father that has desire not to scold those he loves but to provide for a regaining of control and a listening ear. Hear what 1 king 19:3-5 (MSG) “When Elijah saw how things were, he ran for dear life to Beersheba, far in the south of Judah. He left his young servant there and then went on into the desert another day’s journey. He came to a lone broom bush and collapsed in its shade, wanting in the worst way to be done with it all – to just die. “Enough of this, God! Take my life – I’m ready to join my ancestors in the grave!” Exhausted, he fell asleep under the lone broom bush. Suddenly an angel shook him awake and said, “Get up and eat!”
And what we do when we are eating? We talk, we confess, and we draw a map about our next steps. I can hear some saying, Elijah needed to be scolded, he needed God to say “get up and stop your pity party” or better yet “go back to your victorious life… go back to prophesying… you are a child of God and should not feel this way”. Yet our loving God, our blessed one, only said, “get up and eat” it is clear, at least to me, you need to restore for strength before you continue your journey. “Be still”, I am here says God. We all need comfort words, encouragement words and listening ears to survive these times of loneliness and fear.
Prayer: Beloved, can we sit, eat and talk for my journey its long?
Pastor Maritza
«La autocompasión es sin duda el más destructivo de los narcóticos no farmacéuticos; es adictiva, da placer momentáneo y separa a la víctima de la realidad. «
John W. Gardner
Hemos pasado algún tiempo escuchando, reflexionando y meditando sobre la vida del profeta Elías. Algun@s lo presentan como una víctima de Jezabel, ocultandose después de una gran victoria. Yo lo veo de la misma forma en que veo a much@s de nosotr@s, solo en la búsqueda de una situación dura algo que no es posible o que creemos. Esto es tan debilitante que uno puede sentirse impotente porque no hay nada que podamos hacer paa resolver nuestras propias circunstancias o las acciones de los demás, para otr@s esta postura se podría llamar «mentalidad de víctima». Sin embargo, yo veo el poderoso amor de un padre que tiene deseo de no reprender a los que ama, sino proveer una oportunidad para la recuperación del control y un oído que escucha. Oye lo que dice 1 Reyes 19: 3-5 (MSG, traducido por mi) «Cuando Elías vio cómo eran las cosas, corrió a Beerseba en el sur de Judá para salvar su vida. Dejo ir a su joven sirviente y luego continuó su viaje en el desierto. Llegó a una retama solitaria y se dejó caer a su sombra, con ganas de la peor manera de terminar con todo – queria morir. «Basta de esto, Dios! Toma mi vida – Estoy listo para unirme a mis antepasados en la tumba.» Agotado, se quedó dormido bajo la retama. De repente, un ángel le sacudió y le dijo: «Levántate y come!»
Y lo que hacemos cuando estamos comiendo? Hablamos, confesamos, y dibujamos un mapa sobre nuestros próximos pasos. Puedo escuchar a algun@s diciendo, Elías necesitaba ser regañado, necesitaba que Dios le dijera «levantate y deja tu fiesta de audto-compasión» o mejor aún «es tiempo de que regreses a tu vida victoriosa … vuelve a profetizar … eres hij@ de Dios y no debes sentirte de esta manera «. Sin embargo, nuestro amado Dios se limitó a decir: «Levántate y come» es evidente, al menos para mí, que tenemos que restaurar nuestras fuerzas antes de continuar nuestro viaje. «Estad quiet@s», estoy aquí dice Dios. Tod@s necesitamos palabras consoladoras, palabras estimulantes y oídos atentos para poder sobrevivir estos tiempos de soledad y miedo.
Oración: Amado Dios, podemos sentarnos, comer y hablar, mi jornada es larga?
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end. 1 Corinthians 13: 6-7
Several years ago I found a sign that stated “ME, ME, ME” and I bought it. It reminded ME that I am the most important person in this universe and I needed to take care of ME. But then, what about the importance of others, are they as important as ME?
As I continue to learn about Grace, I am better prepare to love OTHERS as I love ME: I desire the best for the other, I am really, really not interested in putting out the sins of the other as I have sins that need repentance from. I have entrusted my life to the love of God who see ME even when I am down, who mend ME when I have been broken and who encourage ME, via friends, to keep going even when I want to give up.
When we keep scores about the faults of the other, we negate our own needs, our own emptiness and as a consequence forget that Love has promised to bring US ALL from sinfulness to salvation. So, stop the blaming game, the finger pointing “was not ME, was the OTHER who sin”, we are all in the same route – sinners seeking to really, really understand the cross that brought LOVE to us.
Prayer: Dear Love, Thank You for GRACE.
Algunos años atras encontré un letrero que decía “YO, YO, YO” y lo compré. Este me recordó que soy la persona más importante del universo y que necesitaba cuidarme. Pero entonces, cual es la importancia de otr@s, serán tan importantes como YO?
Mientras continuo aprendiendo acerca de GRACIA, estoy mejor preparada para amar al OTR@ así como me amo a mi misma: Quiero lo mejor para otr@s, yo de verdad, realmente no estoy interesada en sacar al sol los pecados de otr@s porque yo cometo pecados por los cuales necesito arrepentirme. He confiado mi vida al amor de Dios quien me ve aun cuando estoy triste, me arregla cuando estoy en pedazos y me da animo cuando no quiero seguir adelante.
Cuando tenemos una regla para medir el progreso o no progreso de otros, negamos nuestras propias necesidades, nuestro vacio y como consequencia olvidamos que AMOR nos ha prometido llevarnos A TOD@S del pecado a la salvación. Entonces, dejemos el juego de juzgar, de señalar “yo no pequé, fue el/la OTRA”, todos estamos en el mismo camino buscando realmente entender la cruz que nos trajo amor.
Book: Grounded by Diana Butler BassStudy Guide: from First Churches UCC/ABC in Northampton, MA
On Ash Wednesday we share these words: » You are dust and to dust you shall return» (Genesis 3:19).
Are you comfortable with that connection between you, God, and dirt? Have you considered your personal connection to creation, to the soil, to the earth, to humanity, to dirt in that space outside the comforts of home and the sterile indoors?
Prepare your self for an interesting, motivating and encouraging time together! See you Sunday! – Preparate par un un tiempo junt@s interesante, motivador y animado!
I am reading my devotional for the Lenten Journey and already enjoying my decision to drink more water and less soda. It is a great sacrifice for me, but after reading and praying for our communities in Flint needing water, what else can I do but enjoy, savor and drink water.
Last evening I joined Center Church in downtown Hartford in celebration of Ash Wednesday and declared that I am a dirty sinner that need mercy from my God. The place was quiet, the reflection time was an opportunity to be in silence and listen, listen for my soul while it declares that we, my soul and I, need to refresh in God’s presence. And I too, discovered that God is with us always and that place was Holy Ground.
Today as I remember and read and pray I can ask God for forgiveness. I can only imagine Eve listening to a snake instead of following the instructions of Jehovah God “Do not eat”. I am not blaming her, after all I have made the same sinful mistake – following the voices of others instead of sticking to the call of God’s voice calling me to follow him and only him.
Estoy leyendo mi devocional para esta temporada de Cuaresma y ya estoy disfrutando mi decisión de tomar más agua y menos sodas. Esto es un gran sacrificio para mi, pero despues de leer y orar por nuestras comunidades en Flint necesitando agua, que otra cosa yo puedo hacer sino disfrutar, saborear y tomar agua.
Anoche me uní a Miercoles de Cenizas en la Center Church en Hartford y declare que yo soy una pecadora necesitando la misericordia de Dios. El lugar estaba silencioso, el tiempo de reflexión me dio la oportunidad de estar en silencio y escuchar, escuchar mi alma mienras declaraba que nosotras, mi alma y yo, necesitamos refrescarnos en la presencia de Dios. Y yo tambien descubrí que Dios esta con nosotr@s siempre y que ese lugar era un Lugar Santo.
We are more than blessed! The Rev. Dr. Damaris Whitakker, Senior Pastor at Center Church in Hartford has invited us to their Ash Wednesday Service tomorrow 2/10/16 at 6PM.
If you are in downtown Hartford during lunch hour, Manantial de Gracia «Spring of Grace» of West Hartford will be outside the front doors of Center Church on Main Street to offer Ashes.
Remember: no matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, God loves you equally. As we say at Manantial de Gracia «Dios esta abriendo surcos.»
Pastors Elly and Maritza
Somos más que bendecid@s! La Rev. Dra. Damaris Whitakker, Pastora de Center Church en Hartford nos ha invitado a su Servicio de Miércoles de Ceniza mañana 2/10/16 a las 6pm.
Si estás en el Centro de Hartford durante la hora de almuerzo, Manantial de Gracia «Spring of Grace» of West Hartford estará frente de las puertas principales de Center Church en la Main Street para ofrecer cenizas.
Recuerden, no importa quien tu eres o dónde estás en tu jornada, Dios te ama igual. Como decimos en Manantial de Gracia «God is opening doors».
Manantial de Gracia 