Category: Kim’s Blog

Advent 2015 – Devotion One 11/29/15

In the beginning, God –

Our holy writings begin with stories that give an account of the creation of the cosmos. We are told of water brooded over by wind. From this roiling darkness emerges day and night, in a repeating pattern. Land and sea, skies and rain, sun and stars emerge. And, finally LIFE! Swarming, swimming, flying, walking, creeping, multiplying. A profusion of diversity, adapting and interacting, pulsing with pattens and cycles.

From the beginning, creation is dynamic and vibrant. It is an expression of passion and energy. Creation is not static, still, and unchanging. It is throbbing. Like our bodies which have thousands of ongoing biological processes taking place simultaneously with little conscious input from us, so creation is like a huge, dynamic organism with untold processes taking place.

As we think about wonder-full peace this Advent season, we remember that peace is a dynamic, passionate, energetic convergence of processes and people. Peace is not when everything stops. Stands still. Dead. It is when everything is alive in a dynamic, vibrant living, flourishing whole.

Take a moment to think about when you have witnessed the dynamism of peace.

Prayer: May I remember that since the beginning, creation is a vast, wild, living expression of Divine peace. This day, may I notice signs of the thriving cosmos that point to dynamic peace. May our souls magnify God for God has done great things! Amen.

In Memoriam: Kelly Gissendaner

Kelly Gissendaner was killed by lethal injection in the state of Georgia at 12:21 a.m.  Wednesday September 30, 2015. She was 47 years old and the mother of three. Gissendaner was convicted of planning but not carrying out her husband’s murder in 1997. Her boyfriend at the time carried out the murder. In a plea bargain, he got a prison sentence and will be eligible for parole. Despite pleas even from Pope Francis, Gissendaner’s sentence was carried out.

While in prison, Gissendaner earned a certificate in theology. She embraced the Christian faith. She cultivated a friendship with theologian Jurgen Moltmann, famous for the Theology of Hope. Gissendaner also helped troubled inmates including those on suicide watch.

Marcus Easly is a retired police officer who became a criminal justice professor. He took students to visit the prison so they would see the reality of it. In the course of things, he became friends with Gissendaner and her family. Easly, along with Gissendaner’s daughter, Kayla, spoke of Gissendaner “being killed.”

A governor’s aide recently told him, “We prefer you to say ‘executed.'”

Easley responded, “I know what you want me to use, but you’re gonna have five men strap a helpless woman down onto a gurney and pump her full of drugs till she’s dead. What else are you gonna call that?”

Gissendaner sang Amazing Grace up to the end.

I am wondering about this death. It sickens me.  I’m stunned that I live in a country in which the legal system has the power and the right to kill someone, especially someone who has not killed. This is well beyond “an eye for an eye.”  But where is the outrage?  Where are the people crowding the streets in protest?  Where is the social media outcry?

Our government, of the people, by the people, for the people, has killed Gissendaner. In my name. In your name. It’s wrong. It’s evil. It’s barbaric. And this must end.

May Amazing Grace transform us as it did Gissendaner.

In Memoriam: The Death Penalty

Easter Devotion

Easter is a day to celebrate new life! We see it exploding in nature around us even here in Florida. This is a time to welcome what God is seeking to do in and through us to bless the world. The first sermon of this Lenten season had to do with evolution. The title was “Ever Evolving” and it had to do with orchids, and with us, and with God, of course! Easter is a time to celebrate all the possibilities of our evolution.

I recently was sent an email from Seasons of the Spirit, the curriculum that is used in the LUCC Church School. There was a quote that revisits the evolution theme with beautiful eloquence:

Jesus’ death and resurrection becomes a pattern for our own spiritual evolution. As we die to all the old narratives, beliefs, and assumptions that keep us attached to our small, egotistical selves, we are raised into a larger, broader, and more encompassing Self – an Easter Self of cosmic proportions, motivated not by fear and mere survival but by the prospect of being an agent of sacred, evolutionary intelligence, capable of being a source of new life and the presence of love that is always rising up in the service of life.

From If Darwin Prayed by Bruce Sanguin

May Easter be a time of evolution for us all!

Lectionary readings for today:

Acts 10:34-43
Isaiah 25:6-9
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
I Corinthians 15:1-11
Mark 16:1-8

Prayer: May we celebrate new life. Not only in the world but in us! Amen.

Devotion 45 – Lent 2015

Some may have heard about the death of 16 year old Kelmy Tanon. Kelmy’s adoptive mother and father are former members of Lakewood Church. Last week, we went to Tampa for the visitation for Kelmy to convey our sympathy to his bereft father. His mother, Zuly, was still in the hospital.

Kelmy was killed in a car accident. He was in a car being driven by his mother that was hit by another car. They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Apparently right after the accident, the father, Shane, who is no longer married to the mother, went to the hospital to tell her that he does not in any way hold her responsible. He does not blame her. It was not her fault.

Then, last Thursday in the newspaper, there was a letter from Shane to the driver of the car that caused the accident, expressing forgiveness.

This is what the letter said:

Dear Mr. Tanner,

We haven’t met, but you caused the car crash that took my son’s life. His name was Kelmy. He was 16. He wasn’t perfect but he was amazing. He loved music and comic books and girls. He was ridiculous and loud, protective of his siblings and good at anything he tried. His room was always a disaster and he hated doing dishes. I think you get the picture.

I can’t imagine your pain right now and that’s why I’m writing – to let you know that I forgive you. I realize that people make mistakes and sometimes those mistakes cause others pain. I know that you deeply regret what has happened. I know that this situation could have happened to anyone, and I think that at this point you would probably gladly trade places with my son if you could. But you can’t, and so both of our lives have been irrevocably changed by a cruel twist of fate.

I don’t know what the future holds for you, but I sincerely hope that you will not be punished by the state. If there is anything I can do to help prevent that, please let me know. Also if there is anything I can do to help ease the pain of your regret, please contact me.

We are all just staggering around on this planet trying to figure out how to make ourselves , and hopefully others, happy. I hope this letter helps you and I hope that it helps you make a difference to the people in your life.

Sincerely,
Shane Tiernan, aka Kelmy’s dad, St. Petersburg

As I read this letter, I thought of the story of Jesus on the cross, forgiving those who were responsible for his crucifixion. Shane, in the throes of his heart breaking loss, thinks about the torment of another and offers his help. God bless him.

There is more than enough pain to go around in this life. Withholding forgiveness just adds to the suffering. We can alleviate some of the pain and suffering in this world by forgiving. Ourselves. And others.

Lectionary readings for today:

Lamentations 3:1-9, 19-24
Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16
1 Peter 4:1-8
Matthew 27:57-66

Prayer: May we embody the forgiving spirit of Jesus. Amen.

Devotion 44 – Lent 2015

Good Friday

Bystanders. When have you been a bystander? Maybe watching an altercation of some kind. Or a car accident. Or the dogs in the dog park. There are many occasions when we may be bystanders. Sometimes innocent bystanders.

We can well imagine that there were bystanders at the crucifixion. That was the whole idea, anyway. For people to see the gruesome deaths, be intimidated, and keep in line. We can wonder if Jesus’ friends and followers were bystanders? Or had they all fled and deserted him? Which may be worse. Could one be an innocent bystander to the crucifixion?

I think Jesus was crucified because he wasn’t a bystander. He didn’t just stand by as people were treated unfairly. He didn’t stand by as religion trampled people. He didn’t casually stand by in the face of blatant hypocrisy. He didn’t stand by as people suffered at the hands of others. He didn’t stand by when people were hungry, for food, or for hope, or for community, or for forgiveness. I don’t think Jesus was a bystander.

People are being crucified today. People are being oppressed today. People are being trampled today. People are hungry today. People are abused today. We may be bystanders, but not innocent bystanders.

Lectionary readings for today:

Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Psalm 22
Hebrews 4:14-16
John 18:1-19:42

Prayer: May we have the courage of our convictions and trust God even when the risk is great; especially when the risk is great. Amen.