A Word from The Park

 God is NEVER done. God said: you thought death was the end? Watch me now! Look at Jesus! He is risen! He is risen! He is risen! 

No matter where you are in your life and your journey and your troubles, and all the things that might be challenging you, there is this moment of awe and wonder before you. 

 "The cross is a sign of resistance..." 

God placed the human in the garden to tend it. That, I would suggest is your telos, your destination: to tend your garden... As we are thinking about own gardens to tend, and the garden of the Earth, think huge, think really big, about what you can contribute personally to the regeneration of this planet. We can all do that as individuals and we can do it as a Church. 

 Your mountaintop experiences, of being in a place where the blessings of God are so clear, of moments of joy and revelation, are actually occasions to deepen your gratitude for all that God is doing in your life. And that mountaintop gratitude can sustain you even when you are in a valley. 

 When you are down on the ground, and you are laid out and you have no clue where your healing is going to come from, and maybe you don't even think to ask for help... do you know that God already knows? And God is already saying to you, "Talitha Koum!" "My child, get up!" 

 When we walk by faith into our futures, we make different choices about the present. When we understand the future to be God’s, we want to align ourselves with what God intends. When we know that God prioritizes the flourishing of all, we realize that there are some changes we need to make in order to come into alignment with God’s purpose and plan. 

There can be people in our lives who distract us from our mission, who make it harder to follow Jesus, who make it hard to hear God. How do we handle the folks who take us out of our path and purpose? 

You are built for the light. You are, indeed, in the light. Pray, and you can know that light as your own. 

We are meant to cultivate, to till the soil, to work side by side with the pilgrims around us so that wherever we go, there is something rich and nourishing and beautiful to take in. Your pilgrimage allows you to co-create with God. And when we do: we are satisfied. We are made full. We are pilgrims on the journey. 

 The gifts you have to share are given to you by God, you don't have to create them within yourself, you don't even have to look for them, God has already given them to you. 

 When you notice your place in the cycle of things and give thanks for the opportunity that God is giving you, right here and right now, ask God to help you to set an intention for where you would like spirit to be in the season to come. Just remember to include the phrase that Jesus taught us: "Thy will be done." 

 Sometimes it can be overwhelming to consider all that we have coming up. Anxiety does that, it takes us to where we aren't. But one of the gifts of the Nativity is that it reminds us to be still for just a moment, take a look around us, to take in a deep breath, and to consider all that God is doing right here and right now. 

 Whatever your name is, it translates to: Beloved Child of God. That’s God’s name for you. My child. My beloved. In whom I am well-pleased... Because God IS love. And for us? When we live in that love? It’s heaven. Right here. Right now.  What’s your name? Beloved.  What’s my name? Beloved.  What’s their name? Beloved. Know all this – believe nothing and no one more than this! And you’ve got your...

 Prayer ... is not so much a time to wish, as it is an opening. God is never closed to us, but we can be closed to God. Prayer is that discipline of opening ourselves to the blessings that God has already been sending our way. 

 You + God = Your Royal We... Because. No king. No earthly ruler. No political thug. No death nor life, no angels or rulers, nor things present nor things to come…nor heights nor depths nor ANYTHING ELSE in ALL Creation. Not a thing. Can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. 

 In Christ – we live. In Christ – we reign. Through Christ, the former things die away. All of the time. And I hope this gives you some grace. Because, we all want to live, right? But we might take stock and see that there are some things about our lives that need to end that haven’t come to their end just yet. Does that mean that we’re dead? No. It just means that we lean in to the living, to the...

 Do you have an image of heaven? Do you have an image of your eternal dwelling? Of your forever home?  When I think of our Abba’s mansion, I don’t necessarily see something. But I do feel something. I feel the fulfillment of God’s promises. I feel utter and complete satisfaction. I feel absolutely no pain. I feel enduring joy. I feel total love. 

 We are clearly, as we all know, not always going to have access to the specific and direct resources that we need... we do thirst. But we will always have God, and God's endless, eternal resources. Lighten your burdens, folks. The living water does just that. 

 You were born to bathe in God’s love. That is your birthright. That is your place in the world. That is who you are. So get your victory! Get your glory! Adjust your crown! Bathe in God’s love, beloved. 

 What are my fruits? By what will I be known? What will be the epitaph on my grave? Let it be some version of: She loved. When times were hard? She loved. When the poor cried out? He loved. When they tried to feed her a shiny, red apple of poison? Even then, she loved. To love is to bless, which is the fiercest act of resistance there is. So do that. Resist. And love. And feel the warmth of God’s...

 Who gets to decide for you who is right? How do you make decisions about what is righteousness and what you want to leave behind, or not touch? And the root of all of that, I would argue, is your values. 

 In this place where God invites you to dwell spiritually every day and moment of your whole God-given life, you are cared for, you are still God's beloved. 

"Victory" means setting your intention, living in God's vision for your life, knowing yourself as God intends .... Make your vision heaven, make your time God's. And with that, we actually are practicing victory. 

Put God in the equation. Because, if you can remember this, if you can have this as part of your core, part of your prayer-life, part of everything that you do, it frees you.... it breaks the chains of your lies, and the untruths that want to hold you down. God is truth.