WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28

1 Corinthians 12:4-7 God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere, but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various ministries are carried out everywhere, but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various expressions of power are in action everywhere, but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful.

Rev. Sue Montgomery, one of the four Disability Consultants for our denomination, consults with churches on inclusion issues especially in the areas of mobility/accessibility and developmental disabilities. She recently recounted an experience of driving through the desert in Tucson, Arizona with several other people when they spotted a saguaro cactus that was quite different from the image we typically have of that variety of cactus with its two “arms reaching toward the sky.”

For this group of people accustomed to people wanting to “fix” them, she described it as “a marvelous moment of “ah ha.” She says they “all sat there looking at it thriving in the desert. With no attempts to ‘rehabilitate’ it – no braces, no reconstructive surgery, no judgment, not even a social worker or counselor – just as it was. It was beautiful as it danced!” So we all are in God’s eyes.

Each person is given something to do that shows who God is. God has made each of us to shine in our homes, our schools, our communities as beacons of God’s own self with all of our uniqueness. In this season of Lent, may we see ourselves and others with new eyes as the beautiful gifts of God we were created to be – just as we are.

Creator God, thank you for the variety of gifts you breathed into us even before our birth. Help us to recognize you as the Source of those gifts and to use them to show who you are. Amen.

Cindy Merten

* See picture on preceding page.