Category: Kim’s Blog

They say that a lot more can be accomplished if we don’t care who gets the credit. The problem is, we do care who gets the credit. If it’s our idea, we want to be recognized for it. If it is our suggestion, we want that to be known. If it is our strategy that succeeds, we want that pat on the back. If we have done the work, we want the compensation and the credit.

Jesus tells his followers to do good and not expect any thanks or praise or compensation of any kind. Hm. I’m not sure that will keep the church coffers or the church pews filled. But maybe at the heart of what Jesus is saying is a reminder that everything we do is really by the grace of God. All of our ideas and accomplishments result from what we have been given. Any good we do is possible because of we have received much. .

As the late basketball coach Dean Smith put it, “You should never be proud of doing the right thing. You should just do the right thing.”

That kind of attitude can make a world of difference. Much more good is accomplished if we eliminate the expectation that doing good will be rewarded. As Corinthians reminds us, “our competence is from God.”

Lectionary readings for today:

Psalm 119:9-16
Isaiah 43:8-13
2 Corinthians 3:4-11

Prayer: May we relinquish our desire for recognition so that the power of Love may shine more brightly. Amen.

Have you ever made a bad investment? Maybe it was money that you put into something that was expected to go big but went bust. Maybe it was buying something that seemed like a really good deal only to realize you’d been had and there was no recourse. Maybe it was time invested in a relationship that soured. Or energy and passion poured into a project that did not end in the desired outcome. All of us make bad investments.

The thing about investing in justice is that we often don’t see the ripened fruits of our labors. We may not live to see the desired outcome. We may never enjoy the sweet savor of success. Throughout history, people have worked for things like equal rights and voting rights and fair housing and an end to discrimination and have not gotten to enjoy the full satisfaction of what they were striving to achieve.

This afternoon, a huge crowd of people paraded through St. Petersburg in celebration of the gains that have been achieved by the Fair Food Campaign of the Coalition of Immokalee workers. Many corporations have agreed to buy tomatoes from growers that allow the workers shade, water, a process for lodging complaints especially about sexual harassment, and, pay one penny more per pound of tomatoes. Publix has not yet signed on to the agreement nor has Wendy’s. But the campaign is expanding to other crops and to other segments of the labor force. There is more work to do. Just because things have gotten better in the tomatoes fields does not mean that the work of justice is done. Even when Wendy’s and Publix have signed on, the work of justice will still not be complete. That will be another milestone, but there will still be a path ahead that remains to be forged toward justice for all workers and for all people.

Our faith compels us to keep investing ourselves in justice. Pouring ourselves into this work. Even if we don’t reap the full benefits, hopefully, one day, others will. The scripture verse comes to mind, “Now Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” [Hebrews 11:1] Today in downtown St. Petersburg among the farmworkers and allies, we saw faith.

Lectionary readings for today:

Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm 51:1-12 or Psalm 119:9-16
Hebrews 5:5-10
John 12:20-33

Prayer: May we invest ourselves in the divine mandate for justice. Amen.

There is a plan being tested to pull smog from the air using static electricity and then turn the sooty powder into high end jewelry. And the ring that glows when you get an email from the boss or a text from an Uber driver.

There have been so many amazing advances in human knowledge and technology. It is incredible what humans have accomplished. The advances in medicine are astounding; the operations that can be done, the medicines and treatments that have been developed. The probes and exploration vehicles out in space are incredible. The technological devices that we have today are like something out of a science fiction novel. Our phones are smart. Our cars are smart. What we have learned about nature, animals and the Earth is beyond belief. The make up of land and air and sea. It is all spectacular. Humans really have stupendous capabilities.

Some people pray to God to take care of them. To fix their problems. To make things better for them. They want God to intervene and magically respond to their needs. When this doesn’t happen, they question the faithfulness and integrity of God. Or they question the strength of their faith.

In a way, expecting God to intervene or fix things for us can be seen as a denial of our capabilities. A lack of appreciation for the abilities we have been given. It can be absolving ourselves of responsibility and putting it on God. It can be a way of letting ourselves off the hook. We should expect ourselves to do all that we are capable of in the order of creation. We have been given the capacity to take care of many things ourselves. To expect God to do them is to be lazy; to let ourselves off the hook. And it does not show full appreciation for the abilities and responsibilities that we have been endowed with.

Praying about having the will and summoning the strength to do what we know we need to do, praying to do what is right and good, is an affirmation of the capabilities we have been given. It is taking responsibility for what we can do. It is not expecting an interventionist God but a God that expects us to live up to our amazing capabilities.

Lectionary readings for today:

Psalm 51: 1-12
Habakkuk 3:2-13
John 12:1-11

Prayer: May our deepest love and our noblest aims guide us on life’s journey. Amen.

Recently, someone told me a heartbreaking story about someone they love deeply. The loved one has many problems and needs help but continues to refuse to see the issues and reach out for needed assistance. It pains us so to see our loved ones suffer and to feel powerless to be of help. We want to help but see no way to positively impact the situation.

My friend asked me, “What can I do?” What can we do? We can let the person know that s/he is loved. We can let the person know that we are available to help (if and when the time comes). We can pray for the person which certainly can help to soothe our pain. And we can take care of ourselves. We can cultivate our own health and well-being – spiritual and physical and economic. When we do this we make ourselves strong and courageous so that we can be helpful to others, so that we can offer ourselves in service, so that we can be co-creators with God and heal the earth.

Now, what does it mean to be healthy? Well, if I go by the Groupon ads that I get, it involves manicures, pedicures, liposuction, electrolysis, cosmetic surgery, hair treatments, and all manner of costly supposed beautification. Usually those things just mask our pain, our sense of loneliness, our lack of connection, our despair and denial, the absence of meaning. That’s hardly healthy.

In my opinion, health involves honest, mutually supportive relationships, spiritual practice or discipline, community, involvement in constructive service which betters the lives of others, regular exercise, healthy diet, connection to nature and Earth, productive work, engagement with the arts in some way. These things are all marks of health and taking care of ourselves in my view. What do you think it means to be healthy? What do you do to take care of yourself?

The point of self care is to keep ourselves ready and able and willing to serve to the best of our ability in ways that convey the love of God to the world. What can we do? We can take care of ourselves.

Lectionary readings for today:

Psalm 51:1-12
Exodus 30:1-10
Hebrews 4:14-5:4

Prayer: May we love ourselves as we hope to love others and show ourselves the care we wish for others. Amen.

Our creation myth tells us that God make the land and the sea, the night and the day, the stars and the planets, the plants and the animals, and then humans. Whew! It’s no wonder God needed a day of rest after all of that! Our story tells us that for one whole day, after everything was made, God rested. God did no work. God let creation carry on for one day.

The command is then given to humans to have one day of rest per week. One day out of seven humans are to do no work. We are to let the world carry on without our work for one day.

When is the last time you observed a Sabbath day? I know that for me, it has been a very long stretch. One day. With no work. No phone. No TV. No shopping in store or on line. No email. No Facebook. No errands. No cleaning. No paying bills. No mowing. No sweeping. One whole day.

In today’s world we see many the problems with this model. The world is different now. It is not practical. Patients in hospitals still need to be tended. Kids have activities. Elders need to be cared for. Our property and possessions need to be maintained. Our jobs take so much of our time we need to take care of other things when we are not at work.

Sabbath? A day of rest? One whole day a week? No, it’s not impossible. And, no, it’s not punishment. It is care. It is re-creation. We are called to be co-creators with God building the realm of justice and peace for all. It’s a taxing job. If God needs rest, then so do we. Lest we think we’re greater than God.

Our foundation myth tells us that the world could manage for one day without God; without the Creator, without the one keeping the planets in their courses. One day in seven. May Sabbath time be part of our Lenten discipline so that we can be faithful to our partnership with God.

Lectionary readings for today:

Psalm 51:1-12
Isaiah 30:15-18
Hebrews 4:1-13

Prayer: May we have the humility to rest. Amen.