Ezekiel 37:21–28
John 11:45–53
Psalm 85:1–7

In our Gospel reading, the Chief priests and Pharisees did not know what to do about this man called Jesus. They asked each other, “What are we to do?”

So often life throws us a ‘curve ball’. What is the right thing to do? Should I, or shouldn’t I? A roster of pros and cons is created to aid in the decision, yet the answer is still unknown.

This is the best time to grasp and clutch for divine wisdom. St. Benedict teaches us to “listen with the ear of your heart.” In so doing, a major decision can be made with a feeling of peace, joy, and grace, all given to us by God.

Heavenly Father, When I struggle to make a decision, help me to be still, listen and know the peace that comes only from You. Amen.
-Sister Katherine

Jeremiah 20:7–13
John 10:31–42
Psalm 18:1–7

O Lord my stronghold, my crag, and my haven.

As boaters, we have traveled many times up and down the Georgia Strait between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia. There is always a patch of water just North of Lund, BC where it seems that it is very rough due to the currents and winds converging in this area. There is a fueling station with a couple of docks with a small motel in Lund. Once you pass this place going south, you won’t find another safe haven for several miles but turning back is not an alternative. The first time we stayed there, the waters were so rough it was harrowing just getting into the dock and getting tied down. During the night the fuel dock sunk in the night.

In the early 1980’s, my first husband had been sick and then had knee surgery, which was a big event in the early 1980’s and then was unemployed, all in a small town in Quebec, Canada. Life was getting unbearable and I cried out to the Lord. There was not a “haven” in sight. God touched the hearts of a couple I had met at university. They made the 475-mile journey to visit us. They evaluated the situation and literally created a job for my husband at their small company, boarded him in their home for several months until I was able to move and join them in Waterloo, Ontario. I was able to rent an apartment, find myself a job and we were able to start a new life. God had provided that “haven” in the storm of life.

Thank you, Lord, that You are always there when we need to find a safe haven in the storms of life. Amen.
-Marilyn Allen

Genesis 17:1–8
John 8:51–59
Psalm 105:4–11

I have had the “pleasure” of walking alongside friends who have struggled with infertility. Some eventually chose to adopt children from abroad who needed homes, while others did rounds upon rounds of Clomid and/or IVF before they were able to conceive a child. It is a horrible struggle to watch and I am always so overjoyed when they step off the plane with their child in the case of adoption, or when their child is finally born following a carefully supervised pregnancy. These kids literally are the answers to prayer.

In our reading from Genesis, the Lord does the literally impossible task of bringing about a biological heir from Abraham and Sarah who were old and considered to be infertile. (Don’t worry, I am not forgetting Ishmael, the product of Abraham and Hagar, and the sad story of Sarah’s jealousy leading Hagar to be sent away into the desert.) The Lord had promised that Abraham’s descendants would be “exceedingly numerous”, and that promise has endured.

That promise is so central to the faith traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam that Abraham has a place in all three faiths, and the story is referenced multiple times in both the Old and New Testaments. The message is not only that God can do things that we consider impossible, but also that God keeps promises. What an amazing thing upon which we can base our hope!

Thank you, Lord, for keeping your promise to Abraham and showing us that You will keep Your promises to us. Amen.
-Jen McCabe

Daniel 3:14–20,24–28
John 8:31–42
Canticle [2] or 13

Today, as we read verses from the third chapter of Daniel, I am transported back to Sunday school when I was in the 5th grade. In my mind’s eye, I can still see the picture of four men surrounded by fire that headed the chapter which told the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I marveled at the strength of their faith and had lots of questions about how God helped them survive.

Years later, when my sons were about the same age, we learned the song written by Hugh Mitchell and sung by the Bill Gaither Trio.

Three good men lived very long ago,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
To an idol they would never bow
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

Into a fiery furnace they were therefore cast
Nebuchadnezzar thought they’d never last
But God was there He’d never let them go
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

I didn’t become an Episcopalian until I was in college, so the wonderful praise message of Canticle 13, Song of the Three Young Men, was new to me at that time and has become one of my favorite canticles. What a fitting response to being saved from that fiery furnace!

Stories and music have been and continue to be an important part of my faith formation. So, what do we do with these readings and how do we apply them to our daily lives? In the 8th chapter of John, Jesus tells the Jews who had believed in him that, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

Dear God, help me to remain faithful to your word, to study and try to understand, and to praise you both with my words and my actions. Amen.
-Cathey Frederick

Numbers 21:4–9
John 8:21–30
Psalm 102:15–22

But the people became impatient on the way. (Numbers 21:4b)

So, how are you doing?

Here we are, some five weeks into Lent. All this reading and praying and discipline and reflection – it can be hard to maintain. What kind of journey is this? Can’t we just go back to the pancakes?!

Forty days of Lent (not including Sundays, which are always days of resurrection!) can get to be a bit much. People can become impatient.

How’re you doing?

The Israelites got a little bit daft. They forgot where they had been. “Why did you bring us out of slavery to die here?” “There’s no food or water. We hate this miserable food.” (Well, which is it, no food or miserable food? Logically, it can’t be both.) And what’s with the snakes?! It’s all getting kinda bizarre.

Even Jesus seems to be out of himself. “Where I am going, you cannot come” sure sounds different than just a few chapters later where he says “…I go and prepare a place for you…. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Whatsup widdat?!

Holy Week starts on Sunday – Palm Sunday. Change is in sight. Continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers!

Your discipline and prayer are gifts to God and to yourself. Hang in there. Keep it up. (And if you’ve not got anything to keep up, don’t worry, start where you are, here today. You’re not behind.) God will use what you give: the time, the study, the meditation, the intention. God will reach right into that exhausting, bizarre stuff of life and bless you in ways you can’t begin to imagine. How’re you doing?

Holy One, walk with me. Let me know if I am doing this right. It gets dreary. I want to serve you. Amen.
-Helen McPeak

2 Samuel 7:4,8-16
Romans 4:13-18
Luke 2:41-52
Psalm 89:1-29 or 89:1-4, 26-29

Have you ever lost a child? I am somewhat chagrined to admit (or confess) that I have. Barb and I went to see the WSU Cougars play a football game in Pullman. At that time our son David was about 3 years old. During the game, he and I had to take care of some personal (but necessary) business. He took care of his and I told him to wait a moment while I finished mine. When I turned back around, he was gone. Vanished! I zipped out of the lavatory and looked high and low for him, but he was nowhere to be seen. I went back to our seat to tell Barb I had lost our only begotten son – our beloved – when what to my wondering eyes did appear, but him sitting with her; I’d had nothing to fear!

He had not listened to my instructions, but he knew where he was and where he was going, so after he’d “gone” he went (so to speak). Knowing Mary and Joseph had lost Jesus gives me comfort knowing I wasn’t the first, and surely won’t be the last. Jesus knew where he was and where he was going. Joseph and Mary had to learn to trust him, as do we all.

Gracious God, you have made us guardians of your creation. We often mess it up. We often lose our way, and yet you are always there to bring us home, to clean up those messes we are unable or unwilling to face. Please watch over us and continue to guide and direct us so that we (and all those you love) may always find the way home into your loving embrace. Amen.
-Keith Axberg