Transition!

As you see in the previous post, we are in transition here at TVPrays.org this summer as to the frequency of the posting of these devotions. Beginning tomorrow, May 31, we will be posting devotions Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week through the end of August.

Living with and in transition is often a disquieting and uncomfortable experience. We have been learning that acutely since the pandemic officially began now more than 15 months ago.

While the pandemic appears to be subsiding in our communities and our country, we are still very much in the midst of transition in our lives and churches.
So, pondering how we are to live as Christians in this time is yet an every-day occurrence.

Today also happens to be the Sunday in the church year we call The Holy Trinity. It is focused on the teaching that God is Three in One—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That teaching in and of itself can be disquieting and uncomfortable to unravel for many persons!

As I read the Bible lectionary lessons for today, I noticed how each one of them contains clues as to how we live forward our faith in transitional times. I lift up one of these clues from each of the three lessons (First and Second Lessons and the Gospel) for your meditation as we move into a new frequency for these devotions and continue to live in transition in our lives and faith through the summer.

In the First Lesson (Isaiah 6:1-8) we have this supernatural vision of God enthroned in a (heavenly?) temple with seraphs (what are they?!) flying about. It is all very mysterious! Mystery—is it one of the realities we lose first in such a time of transition as the one in which we are living? When our humanity is constantly put before us so closely as it is with instantaneous 24-hour news and social media that we have today, how do we ever have time to experience the mystery that we encounter—and then ponder what it means for the living of our days? Is this one of the places where God meets us if we take time to go there?

In the Second Lesson (Romans 8:12-17), Paul writes, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” Purpose for our existence—it is one of the things with which many of us struggle to find…even as followers of Jesus. These pandemic months may have been particularly difficult for us to see where we fit into all of this. Yet, we are reassured! We are God’s creations—and whatever the future holds, we have a place in it! That’s God’s promise! Now, knowing that, how might that affect the way you and I live in the next month, 6 months or year?

Finally, in the Gospel (John 3:1-17), we meet Nicodemus—the Pharisee who came to Jesus by night asking questions, “How can anyone be born after having grown old?… How can these things be?” Someone has called Nicodemus the patron saint of curiosity. Curiosity—well yes, I like that. When things get really confusing and mixed up and “flying-off-the-handle,” what a stress reducer it may be to stay curious! God prods us to keep asking curious questions to discover what God may be up to in these transitional times! “I wonder how God might fix that ‘unsolvable’ (to us) problem?” “I wonder whom God wants me to meet for whom our friendship might make a life-changing difference for both of us.” “I wonder…”

So, I hope you see how God sets us free to live our faith forward in these transitional times. The creators/writers from the Treasure Valley will be here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday this summer to keep bringing you comfort and hope, exploring the mystery, searching for God’s purpose for us, and helping us stay curious. I hope you’ll visit this place as often as you can!