Saturday, April 8

 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.  

Phil. 1:3 KJV

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity

Prov. 17:17 New American Standard Bible

Make new friends, but keep the old.  One is silver and the other gold.  

Girl Scouts song

"Friendship" is not a major theme in the Bible, though there are several examples of extraordinary friendships---Naomi and Ruth, David and Jonathon. I have found, however, that friendship can be one of the many fruits of church membership and participation.  My husband Dave and I joined FPC in about 1984.  We had our three children baptized by Pastor Roland Perdue and made Sunday School a priority. We enjoyed participating as a family in Christmas Hand in Hand, served at soup kitchens, went on mission trips and youth outings, tried choir and summer camp.  With every activity we met more church members and felt more connected to the church.

It was after our three left for college, though, that participation by me and Dave really took off. When we were invited to join a small Sunday evening book group, we developed some very special friendships.  We did more than discuss books: we shared our joys and frustrations, we prayed with and for one another. We gave and received amazing  support in tough times. We formed deep and lasting bonds.  Soon Dave and I followed the example of our friends and became deacons and elders, joined Esther Circle, worked on Bread for the World, Crop Walk, Advent by Candlelight, organized Dinner for 8.

At church, we connect with people who share some fundamental beliefs.  We don't always agree.  We are still diverse in many ways. But we are open to and respectful of other points of view.  We come together to question, learn, and grow.  We find friendship and support. We get to know people on a deeper level. We learn how to handle life's trials, how to make a difference, how to live as true Christians by working with others on the same path with us.

This past November, the time came for Dave and me to heed the call of our little grandsons: "Come West, Nana and Papa!"  We rejoice in the opportunity to live just 10 minutes away from our daughter's family in Littleton, Colorado, now.  But it was difficult to leave our vibrant Everybody's Church, the dedicated and endlessly creative pastors and staff, and our many wonderful friends. We cherish the special times together, the loving care that gave us the courage to share honestly and to lean on others when we most needed to, the opportunities we hoped we could also bless and encourage and support others in turn. I wish I could thank each person who reached out to us, who made us feel welcome, who shared life stories and connected with us, who led by example and inspired us in so many ways.

The old hymn says, "Blest be the ties that bind our hearts in Christian love. The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above." We are grateful for email and Facebook and cellphones, the myriad ways we can keep in touch with those who have meant so much to us and our children for over 30 years.

When my parents or grandparents departed on a trip, we would share a prayer together first.  This is my prayer for all at First Presbyterian Birmingham--"The Lord watch between me and thee, while we are absent one from another." (Gen. 31:49 ERV)  Like good Girl Scouts, we will make new friends in our new home, but we will "keep the old" too.  

The Lord be with you.  Amen.

Diane Falconer

Friday, April 7

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Psalms 51:10

My star word for the year is renewal. As I meditate on what that means for me, especially as we enter the Lenten season, I am reminded how hard it is to keep the attitude of discovery alive when sometimes Lent can feel like just another routine part of the Christian calendar.

Where should I look for renewal during this time?

Renew in me a sense of awe and curiosity. Move my faith beyond the routine. Let there be discovery throughout my journey

Renew in me a sense of humbleness. Let me be unassuming and open to what God has to say. Be still and know. Be still and learn.

Renew in me a sense of openness. Remove confining barriers to my faith and give me freedom to serve.

Lord, renew in me the splendor of your love, the wonder of your power, the fullness of your joy, and the promise of your grace. Amen.

Diane Amendt

Thursday, April 6

 Jacob woke up and said, “The Lord is here! He is in this place, and I didn't  know it!” He was afraid and said, “What a terrifying place this is! It must be the house of God; it must be the gate that opens into heaven.”

Genesis 28:16 (Good News Bible) 

Forming Families on the Fly

Families can be great, and they can be painful, often at the same time. If you think that things were better long ago, sneak into your kids room, borrow the "Good News Bible" they were presented with when they were in the third grade, and read from Genesis, starting at Chapter 12 until the end. You'll be reading one of the very first family sagas, and even if you judge it as  just literature,  it's not all bad as a complex and challenging story.  Of course, you can use your own Bible, but the Good News was done to tell stories and consequently might be just a more fun read than other Bibles.

Anyway, at the point where the above verses occur, Jacob is in the process of figuring out who he is, and who God wants him to be. He's on the run from his brother Esau and is starting out alone.

I think that many of us have found ourselves alone in a new place  like Jacob. We may not be on the run, but work, school, or other life situations have made it necessary to leave our families and go elsewhere to be with people we don't know and maybe can't trust. Since we are social beings, we look for family replacements, people we can enjoy being with, people that we can trust, people who will love and accept us.   I call this "forming families on the fly."

One of the great resources for forming "Families on the Fly" is your congregation, especially one like FPCB with our commitment to inclusion and community.  One reason is that we are all, in some way, trying to understand the God who is here and that we don't see.  A God who calls us and forms us using the people around us.

Is it a silver bullet, will you just automatically click with everyone in the congregation? Well, probably not, after all we are all human but the odds are better than a random choice and if your experience is anything like mine you'll find some real people treasures along the way. Who knows, you might have some really interesting, caring and loving brothers, sisters, cousins, grandparents and more if you make the effort to reach out and connect.

Loving God, be with us when we believe that we are totally alone. Help us to see the people around us as the gifts you want us to have, and to be the gifts to others that you want us to be. Help us to live in this complex world as we form families on the fly with people who may only be with us briefly or who might be lifelong caring family members.  Either way, help us to accept your gift and to be that gift to others. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen

Terry Chaney

Wednesday, April 5

  You must love (care for) one another, just as I have loved you.

John 13:34

... that whosoever loves God must also love his brother and sister.

1 John 4:21

I seem to be at another crossroad in my life. This time it has to do with taking care of an elderly parent.

Sometimes I find myself wishing for a little relief -- a little freedom from it. And then I realize that as Christians we have no relief from caring. We are all frail and come to our God from a position of weakness, not strength. It is through this very weakness that we are indeed given the gift of grace and ultimate salvation.

That period of our lives when we need care is frequently the period when we become even greater teachers than when we are full of strength and ourselves the care givers. Without care, our society makes us believe that we are what we have, what we do or what people think about us. With such a belief, our death is indeed the end because when we die all property, success and popularity vanishes. Without care, we forget who we truly are: children of God and brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.

Oh Lord, help us to care for one another as though our very life depended upon it. It does. Amen.

Marilyn Bura, 1996

Tuesday, April 4

 Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Psalm 119:105

Life's journey has many twists, turns, reversals, confusing pathways and really muddy places. Many times have I turned to God's Word looking for passages to find understanding. Sometimes answers have been immediate and clear. Most of the time, answers have been less obvious, often coming from unexpected sources. Only faith that they will appear someday has kept us moving faithfully forward.

Minnie L. Haskin's poem says this so well, It begins like this:

God Knows

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”

...

For a person who always wants to know all the details and have a good map before ever embarking on anything, these words remind me that sometimes the best journeys are the unplanned ones begun in faith.

Dear Father, help us to look for your lamp that will surely guide us -- whether it be at the beginning of the path or somewhere along the way. Help us to know that your words may be written or spoken by others or may be felt merely in the quiet moments of our souls. Help us to be faithful in our trust that you will be our friend and guide and will never leave us. We ask this in Christ's holy name as we journey to meet him. Amen.

Libby Dickinson, 1996

Historical Note: According to Wikipedia, Elizabeth the Queen Consort made her husband George VI aware of an obscure poem. He included the poem's preamble in his Christmas 1939 BBC Radio broadcast to the British Empire. The opening words of the poem "The Gate of the Year" struck a chord with a country facing the uncertainty of war. These words were from Haskin's poem "God Knows" written in 1908 and expanded in 1912. However, she was not named as author by the King and no one was able to identify the poet at the time. Finally at midnight on Boxing Day the BBC announced that the author was Minnie Louise Haskins. Haskins, by then 64 years old, did not know that the King would quote her words, and did not hear the broadcast. On the next day, she was interviewed by The Daily Telegraph and said: "I heard the quotation read in a summary of the speech. I thought the words sounded familiar and suddenly it dawned on me that they were out of my little book." The 'little book' was The Desert published in 1912.

Monday, April 3

Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” They said to one another, “It is because we have no bread.” And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” And they said to him, “Seven.” Then he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

Mark 8:14-21

"Do you not yet understand?"  The Gospel of Mark is TOUGH on the disciples.  Over and over again, including this passage, we see Jesus' frustration that the disciples are not grasping his purpose, which ultimately is to become their purpose (and ours).  I find a lot of comfort in these passages.  These 12 guys were with Jesus day and night, some for as long as three years, and even they were clueless sometimes.  They seemed especially confused about his prediction that he would die and rise again (… for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. Mark 9:30-32).  If the disciples didn't "get it", surely we can be excused from having all of the answers all of the time.  In fact, I think that might be the reason Mark reveals the disciples' confusion to us: It gives us permission to look at the amazing mystery of God and admit that sometimes we just plain don't know what the plan is or how it works.  Instead of being ashamed or embarrassed about that, let's rejoice in a God whose ways are higher than our ways.  Especially during the Lenten season, let's take some time and bow before the mystery of Jesus, divinity incarnate, who came to die that we might be reconciled with God.  Then, having admitted to not fully comprehending what it all means, let us be about the work of reconciling the world to God's Kingdom.

Heavenly Father, we admit that we don't always understand.  In fact, we rejoice that we don't always understand the ways of a God whose thoughts are higher than our own.  We thank you for giving us models in the disciples who show us it's OK to lack certainty in all things.  In this freedom to be uncertain of your thoughts and ways, may we be certain of and dedicated to the things which you have made clear: that we would love you with all of our hearts, souls, and minds, and love our neighbor as ourselves.  We pray this in the name of the mysterious Christ, Amen.

Ben Kohns

Fifth Sunday, April 2

Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many.

                                                                       I Corinthians 12:14

I joke and say that I am amazed I was ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament, because I cannot carry a tune and often can’t remember names!  But the truth is, I sometimes feel inadequate.  Some of us are given gifts that serve best more publicly - with a loud voice, like bright bold colors.  Some of us are given gifts that serve best in the background - with a quiet voice, like soft neutral colors.  And so I share this story, to remind myself and others, that the gifts God gives us are uniquely important and valuable.

This Aesop’s fable is called “The Fable of the Belly.”

“One day it occurred to members of the body that they were doing all the work while the belly was having all the food.  So they held a meeting (presumably without inviting the belly) and after a long discussion decided to strike work until the belly consented to take its proper share of the work.  So for a day or two the hands refused to take the food, the mouth refused to receive it and the teeth had no work to do.  But after a day or two, the members began to find that they themselves were not in very active condition.  The hands could hardly move, the mouth was all parched and dry, while the legs were unable to support the rest of the body.  Thus they found that even the belly in its dull, quiet way was doing necessary work for the body and that all must work together or the body will go to pieces.”

Giving God, As I seek to celebrate and affirm the gifts of others, help me to remember that I have gifts also.  You equip and call each one of us to be a part of the body of the Christ.  Guide me to nurture and share those gifts so that I might serve you better.  Amen.

Joanne Blair