Reflexion, A Spiritual Community

I’ll finish reading the verse in a moment, but first we will pause here - every morning when I open my Bible, I don’t jump into it • but at the entrance to the Scriptures, I take a moment to slow my breath, and focus my attention ◦ I bring awareness to God’s presence and let myself hear him say, “at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the LORD, where I will meet with you to speak to you there" (Ex. 29:42) • so before I even begin reading, I’m already listening to God ◦ and there ...

Friday morning, near the end of a long walk,I passed by a mother and her toddler son - he was on a small four-wheel bike, perfectly fitted to him • he was poised to move from asphalt to a dirt slope ◦ I said, “Looks like you’re about to go off-roading,” ◦ more for his mom’s sake than his • he looked at me with the most engaging smile ◦ it was the loveliest moment of my morning - I kept walking, but he didn’t take his eyes off of me • he turned his head as I passed, ◦ so I had to walk backward...

As we make our way back into Hosea this morning, Let’s remember the passion running through the entire book - it isn’t what we’re likely to feel when reading the bare words • what it sounds like, is the ranting of an enraged deity ◦ but that is not the correct tone of voice • if God were like one of the pagan deities of mid mid-east or Greece, ◦ he wouldn’t bother to rage at his rebellious people, ◦ he would just annihilate them - this prophetic book, in fact, is the message of a wounded love...

Imagine you're walking through an art gallery, and standing nearby is the artist whose work you admiring. So you point to an object in one corner of an especially beautiful painting, and ask the artist, "Why did you put this right here? What does it mean?" The artist--if a true artist answers, "Well, if I could explain it, I would not have had to paint it." You would get a similar answer from a poet, a composer, a sculpture, and most any other artist. "If I could explain it, I would not have ...

We are returning to Hosea this morning The prophet who had to experience in his own life, with his wife, what God had experienced with Israel – a people who were unfaithful to him, not only by adultery, • but prostituting themselves with other gods • you may have guessed that I’m not comfortable with Hosea ◦ I’d rather be with Jesus in the New Testament, loving and rescuing sinners ◦ instead, Hosea delivers a barrage of condemnations – Israel had a long history of turning their backs on Yahwe...