Life in the Deep End

Night Before Pentecost

May 22, 2021May 23, 2021Vona Wilson

The night before Pentecost holds its own special anticipation. We will do strange things tomorrow, like wearing red and watching for any new glimpse that the Spirit is active. I was hanging banners in our Historic Sanctuary late this afternoon and as I was finishing up a wind came through and one of the banners shifted. I’m sure it was the cord that slipped, not quite secure. But it didn’t appear or feel like that.

It felt like a wind blew through the sanctuary; a wind that no one created. There was a sound. The banner shifted. The movement of its shift caused it to keep moving back and forth, until it finally held still. I may have been holding my breath as these moments unfolded. I may have left a little faster with a nervous smile and a curiosity in my spirit. This “wind” reminds me on the night before Pentecost, that this is God’s story. And God never stops revealing new things to us.

I went home. I watched the sunset and prepared supper. I tried to be “normal”, but there is nothing “normal” about this life. On the night before Pentecost we remember that anything can happen when God is fulfilling promises. It can happen in our lives. It can happen in our communities. It can happen in our world. That’s just how the Spirit of God shows up, and we are called to be ready to follow. I’ll never be ready enough – but “Come Holy Spirit come” anyway.

Sunset on the night before Pentecost, 2021

Holy God, help us to never stop anticipating the surprising presence of your Holy Spirit being poured out on your people. Even when we are doing ordinary things we have no idea that you are doing something extraordinary. We welcome you to blow through our gathering places on this Pentecost Sunday. Open our eyes and our spirits to see. We trust you completely and we love you. Amen.

Where is Our Faith?

May 19, 2021May 19, 2021Vona Wilson

“Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.
In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water and they obey him.”
Luke 8:25

The disciples are in a storm on the lake. The waves and wind came upon them very quickly and began to overwhelm the boat. If you’ve ever been caught in a storm on the lake you know the fear. You do everything you know to do and if the waves still come and the wind stays up there is a point at which you realize, “I’m not sure we’re going to make it out of this.” I’ve had a couple of those experiences and they are unforgettable. Any trip to the lake or sea can end in disaster; you have to know that if you are going to be on the water. That’s where the disciples are in this moment. The way Luke tells it, “they are in great danger”. Jesus, meanwhile is asleep, probably exhausted from teaching and ministry.

When they wake Jesus up and tell him their situation, he gets up, tells the wind and waves to stop, and they do. Just like that.

When the power of God reveals itself in our ordinary lives it does often bring “amazement and fear”. How can we be so close to a God that will get so intimately involved in our daily human situations? God invites us and even encourages us to be that close.

The disciples are still grounded in the temporal. No doubt they were navigating this storm that blew up in the best way possible. They had experience on the water. They were skilled; they know this lake. This is not their first storm, but it is their first storm with Jesus involved in their lives.

When they had exhausted their own efforts, they asked Jesus to get involved. Jesus doesn’t tell them to adjust a sail. He doesn’t give them any nautical wisdom that will suddenly put the boat in a different position against the raging waves. Jesus has a spiritual strategy and draws from the eternal. After all, he created the wind and the water.

Sometimes it feels like our world is in a raging storm. The waves are crashing over our boats! The wind is shifting us in directions we didn’t plan or intend to go. The sky will clear for a day or two and then here it comes – another storm. This story with Jesus and his disciples on the lake seems to encourage us to take on a different strategy when the storm descends. Rather than first going to our temporal methods, what if, in the storm, we reach first for the eternal. What if we run right on down and wake Jesus up and ask for divine intervention? What if we put all of our skill, knowledge and wisdom at the faithful service of Christ? Even if it means, we don’t use anything we have known or used before.

Jesus is showing the disciples what is possible with God. Christ gives us access and encourages us to ask for help. It means letting go of how we think “help” needs to come or what it needs to look like. It means trusting that the God who created the wind and the waves (and us!) will guide us to a safe harbor that we will never reach on our own. Where is our faith?

Creator God, you who set the skies and seas in place, we love you. We welcome your help and wisdom as we walk into this day. We humbly and boldly ask for your intervention in the situations we are navigating. In our families; our minds and hearts; our businesses; our health...whatever it may be. We name it before you now and ask, "Jesus, we are in danger, please come and calm the wind and waves. Lead us to safe harbor. We trust you completely.  Let it be. Amen.

Growing Pains

April 27, 2021Vona Wilson

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual houseto be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. – I Peter 2:1-5

I can still remember my mom explaining a mystery ache in my body with these words, “you’re having growing pains; it will pass.” I’ve recently heard colleagues explaining some of our COVID prevention strategies as “growing pains” while we continue learning new ways to do life and live with the virus. “Growing pains” seems to be a persistent theme.

Growing in up in our salvation has growing pains too. There are seasons of doubt and suffering. There are moments are sharp joy and revelation. We stumble when we forget to let light shine in where darkness has entered. And sometimes we just crawl our way through one day at a time, a few inches at a time.

Still, we are being built into a spiritual house; we are growing and maturing through all of these seasons and moments. Talk to someone in their 90’s who has been walking with Christ for many years and they will quickly tell you: the growing never stops. The pains of a season will cease and the challenges we face in our journey today will fade. We mature and grow. New stretching and learning will be required, but something miraculous keeps unfolding. The Scriptures are full of stories about ordinary human beings slowly growing into living stones, that are part of a spiritual house…a holy priesthood that the Lord is maturing. That means you too.

There is a quote by Teresa of Avila that I kept on my dashboard during a long season of growing pains. It helped me every day.

Let nothing disturb you
Let nothing frighten you
All things pass
God does not change
Patience achieves everything.
– Teresa of Avila (1518-1582)

God, thank you for your grace in not giving up on us. Thank you for continuing to teach us and grow us up so we reflect more and more the person you created us to be.  We trust you, our Creator and Savior, to keep building us into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood. Amen.

Caleb + Kelsey Mashup
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oHN1-ifsT8

Come Quickly to Help Us

April 20, 2021April 20, 2021Vona Wilson

Our nation, and perhaps others in the world, watch and wait today for the verdict coming out of Minneapolis. It is a heavy day. Trials and verdicts are our meager means of order and justice. They serve us well and they serve us imperfectly, but they are the best we have established so far to help us as a nation. The hope is that over time and history our practice of justice, law and order is likely to improve as long as we keep learning and working on it. I pray that will never end for our nation. I am grateful to live in a country where a democracy and order for justice is in place. It is far from perfect; it is, however, what we created and in many places of the world, this does not exist.

On these days, however, – when it feels like the whole nation is holding tension – every part of me turns to prayer. Words fail me, though this morning I am writing. Something in me requires me to write today. My spirit hears a voice above the news and tension. It is, by my discernment, the voice of God. I believe healthy discernment comes in the community of believers, so I say that with the caveat that I can only share what I see; my sight and hearing is always incomplete. As I came to my Scripture reading today, I let it roll over my mind and help instruct me. The reading is from Paul’s letter to the church in Thessalonica:

And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil. – I Thessalonians 5:14-22

Give thanks in all circumstances? Even the circumstances we face today? A trial that has the whole nation holding their breath? A pandemic that has changed so much of our ordinary lives and continues to edge us out of our comfort zones and into territory we’ve never before traveled? Grief that runs through communities and families while new life is begging to be acknowledged and allowed to flourish? Give thanks for those circumstances?

The message is actually not about circumstances. It is a message about how our lives are ordered and grounded in a way that Christ leads us to show up in all circumstances. With joy, with prayer and with gratitude.

Our joy does not come from circumstances. It comes, rather, from the experience of love we share with Christ and one another. That joy cannot be removed from our spirits. It is the presence of love and communion with the God who made us all the time, no matter what is going on in our circumstances. That supernatural joy is especially helpful when it is embodied by the people around us. But even in the absence of those people, the Lord is faithful to be present. There is a verse in one of Paul’s letters that expresses this so beautifully:

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – (Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. He was talking about persecution the Christians were facing at the time. Romans 8:38-39)

Prayer that taps into the power of our Creator to intervene, to shine light, to bring forth wisdom that we do not have – and to bring it into all circumstances, is a way to navigate these tensions and ask for help. We need God’s help in these situations. We have not done well left on our own. And yet, we see hope and something new rising out of the chaos. Humility helps us ask for divine help.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. – (Jesus’ words to his disciples as recorded in the Gospel of John 15:5-8)

We have gratitude for the unending mercy and steadfast love of our Creator that redeems these impossible situations with justice in ways that may use a court of law but are never limited to a court of law. Remember that Christ was condemned to die by crucifixion and he was raised from death! We bring gratitude for the way Jesus met the Centurion of the Roman army and the leper who had been isolated from all relationships. Gratitude for a God that reaches out for the hand of every human being and says, “here, let me pull you out of this pit; there is another way”.

I’ve been pulled out of that pit many times. Including the pit of my own mindset and the pit of my own choices. I’ve watched families rescued from their sinking into that pit of destruction. I’ve witnessed organizations and communities restored by the power of God’s grace and mercy embodied in the people. We worship a God that brings justice; a God that redeems; a God that restores life and peace. Trusting in God’s presence brings gratitude for the kingdom of God that IS being fulfilled on earth as it is in heaven. The Lord has made that clear; our part is following where God leads us into that unfolding and unveiling.

Be courageous. Be humble. Be disturbed and be at attention. The way we respond in all circumstances is a reflection of Christ’s presence in our lives. Remember who and whose you are today. In all things, honor God; there is no better way to walk through these days. If we claim to be children of God, we don’t get a pass for acting without grounding and thought today. This is how the Scripture says it; may God indeed intervene for us all.

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. – Thessalonians 5:23-24

God of heaven, come quickly to help us. You are the God of all people. 
You know our circumstances far better than we do. 
You know what it feels like to be condemned and what it feels like to offer forgiveness. 
You know the power of calming the waves in the ocean and the humility of loving enemies.  
You set the captives free, 
including all of us 
when we are captive to sin and destruction.  
We struggle when our understanding of justice is different than yours. 
We struggle when our perspective of mercy is discounted, dismissed or ignored.  
We depend on earthly bound entities to redeem our world, 
but we know …we know …
you are the only one who can redeem us 
and bring the fullness of justice and mercy 
into our lives and our nation. 
We acknowledge you and our own limited capacities. 
You invite us to call upon you in our time of need; 
you promise to be with us.  So we come and ask. 
You made us, Lord, you know what is in us.  
Please help us today and in the days to come. 
Help us to respond in all circumstances with ways that reflect you 
and lead us to new life.  
We come with joy, prayer and gratitude for your presence among us.
We need you and we trust you completely.  
Come quickly, Lord, to help us. 
Amen.

The Night Prayer: April 2021

April 15, 2021April 15, 2021Vona Wilson

Holy God,
We empty our souls like we empty our pockets,
pouring all we regret from this day into your hands;
that holy space where anything and everything can be shared
Lord, hear our prayers.

We release from our minds
every insecurity, doubt, and shame
that attempts to rob us of your presence.
They have no place to stay tonight.
Lord, have mercy.

We receive your forgiveness
And extend forgiveness to others,
trusting fully that your
wisdom will enter into our experiences and
sort out what we confuse.
Lord, have mercy.

Where grief has come so close we cannot ignore it; we ask for comfort.
Where sorrow has lodged too deeply; Lord, roll away the stone.
Where love is knocking out the walls of our hearts; set us free to fly with you.
And in any moment
where we have missed your grace today,
Lord come quickly
reveal your presence to us once again.

May the night bring your peace that surpasses all understanding.
And may all we love be held safely and securely in your
heart of grace. There is no greater gift; there is no better place.

In the name of the One who neither slumbers nor sleeps,
The resurrected Christ, Amen.

Holding Tension: A Prayer

April 1, 2021Vona Wilson

Lord help us hold the tension today where hope and despair run parallel. Help us grieve with those who approach gravesides and celebrate with all who receive news of relief and joy. Give us courage to be in the waiting; the tension of uncertainty and the anticipation that you might do something – say something – or reveal something we didn’t expect, today.

We live in a world of violence. Violence that condemns others, and a violence against our own selves. It doesn’t come from weapons we make; this comes from what it is deep within our hearts. Many of our hearts are broken.

Help us hold the tension of Maundy Thursday, where hope and despair run parallel. Allow us courage enough to come to the table, and humility enough to stay with you and with each other. Thank you for inviting us to stumble in with dirty, tired feet; hopes and dreams; unanswered questions; denial; masks and even love. There will be tension, so help us hold steady and not run away from you, today.

Amen.

Carpet in Guatemala. Semana Santa, 2017.

If you are looking for ways to experience a Maundy Thursday service tonight, here is a link: https://live.franklinfumc.org

By the Desert Road

March 31, 2021Vona Wilson

When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle.
– Exodus 13:17

Sometimes the way we go doesn’t make sense at all, but it is God’s provision. And perhaps a grace in helping us become who God created us to be.

I still remember quite well what it felt like to be a young adult in my early twenties trying to figure out the road and way ahead. There were seasons when I could not see well, if at all. There were curves I didn’t expect or know how to navigate. On more than one occasion I found myself in the ditch! And there were glimpses of signposts every now and then that were enough to keep me moving ahead, one step at a time. It was not very pretty. Definitely not smooth. I have the healed over scars to make sure I never forget from where I’ve come. They have become beauty marks.

God has a way of taking us by the road that not only saves us from disasters we cannot see; the journey shapes us for a future that only God can vision.

The Israelites were on the wilderness road a very long time. They started out prepared for war, but the real battle seemed to be the one of surrender, trust and learning to be a community that follows God together. They received miracles, like manna and quail for food. They walked in circles and got sick and tired of the journey. They cried out for water and God provided. They failed and God restored them. When they followed God revealed more to them. They became a holy nation. Not perfect, but an identified people of God with a story of redemption. We are still telling the story!

What about you? Take a moment to look back to where you started. Maybe you will also see how the road by which you’ve come, somehow helped shape you and grow you into the person God created you to be. What safeguards kept you out of danger? What challenges reminded you of God’s faithfulness? What impossible things became possible, even though you didn’t see it unfolding?

I do wonder… as a community of faith, if we too can look back and see how God has shaped us as the body of Christ? How has that journey prepared us to be a reflection of God in the world right now? Is it possible that in this very moment, we also are being led by a road that helps assure we keep moving forward into the kingdom of God?

Whether you are looking back on the road you’ve traveled or wondering about the time to come, rest assured: there is so much more ahead! The same God who walked with you all this time will guide and prepare you for what is to come. You are not journeying alone.

The disciples walked through this week, what we call “Holy Week”, with Jesus…at least up to a certain point. It didn’t make sense. How could a journey to a shameful death ever make sense…

Prayer
God, thank you for never leaving us on the journey alone. Thank you for guiding us by the road that will prepare us for your future. We trust you completely because you are faithful in all generations! Amen.

Farther Along. Leslie Jordon, Chris and Morgane Stapleton

The Midday Prayer

March 25, 2021March 25, 2021Vona Wilson

God of heaven, God of earth
God of all we know and all we cannot fathom:
Draw us in at midday
Give us pause in whatever we are doing
To say “thank you!”
To say, “help!”
To say, “glory!” for all you reveal and do with
our broken, messy, beautiful, courageous lives.
Where pain is so great words will not come
bring peace to the silence.
Where joy is so strong that we move ahead too fast
bring wisdom to trust your timing.
Where grief is overflowing
offer comfort in just the way it is needed.
Wherever you find us, in the middle of this day
Lord God of heaven,
remind the whole world of your presence.
Set our feet on solid ground and shine your
Light on the path before us.
We ask because you are so faithful to give
and we have no good apart from you.
Thank you, Lord, for holding your world
with grace and love. Amen.

Snowy Morning on the River: A Prayer

February 19, 2021February 19, 2021Vona Wilson

No waiting for you
You were here long before me
I see you created space for me to come
Rest by your water and listen for your voice
Always welcoming me.
Thank you for softening my steps in the snow
For slowing me down long enough to ponder the
Grace you are offering;
It is as if you love me.
Perhaps you knew I would arrive this morning
Cold and desperate to breathe in your air
To hold the sights and sounds of you near my heart
Snow covering the trees, my faithful companions.

This is the prayer I offer – this very spot of life
God’s creative love poured out in the fog
Lingering above the river
Tree limbs bend in dance to touch the rising steam
Birds laughing for the joy of Presence.
More than my words will ever say
Deeper than my soul can see
Stronger than my heart can beat.
Be at Peace
Be loved.
Know that God is near.
Holy One, who knows us better than we know ourselves:
…thank you for this gift.
Amen.

You Are Loved

February 14, 2021February 18, 2021Vona Wilson

I can hear the ice falling and it is comforting from my warm, safe place as the night nears end. Countless other situations could make the sound land differently on these ears. But tonight…a worn copy of Wendell Berry poetry, a refreshment of note and preparations for snow make it all just fine.

A fleeting memory returns of an ice storm in the early 90’s. It came quickly and harshly, sending many of us into emergency activation. I was living far out in the country and serving as the Director of EMS at the time; I had to go in. It wasn’t optional. The ice came faster than anyone imagined and by the time we activated our Emergency Operations Center (EOC), the trees had already started falling.

Feeling successful upon making it out of the long drive down our hill, I pulled onto the country road certain that my years of driving on snowy Kentucky roads would carry me confidently to the EOC where I could fulfill my duties. Until I came upon a big tree across the road. Bigger than me, bigger than my truck could cross and perhaps just “bigger” because it was dark and late and scary. And very cold! I got out and looked around. I knew the other way would be no different. I was the only human out in the middle of an ice storm, and I couldn’t imagine how I was going to do this.

And then I heard a sound, a motor. A single headlight was shining in the distance; the sound of an engine coming from the darkness, getting louder and closer. And there it was. A man on a 4-wheeler, with a chain saw. I couldn’t believe it! He was bundled up in camouflage. I had no idea who he was or how he knew to come. I am certain he could not have had any idea how desperate I was to get to my duty station. I explained that I was on my way to run the EMS response from our Emergency Operations Center and that I had to get through. He didn’t say much – maybe not even a word. He just started the chainsaw and started cutting.

I don’t know how long it took; I only know that within a very short time, he cleared a path and I drove through without incident until I arrived at the EOC. We were all there for several days. A blur of sorts, like most disasters tend to be.

It was many weeks later when a few neighbors got together to “get to know one another” that I discovered who the camo covered angel was that cut me a path during the ice storm . It was a neighbor, of course. He was 3^rd or 4^th generation of a family that lived in this special part of our community for many years. I’m sure he thought nothing of helping someone that night. That’s what neighbors in the country tend to do. For me, the stranger in camouflage was sent by God to give me aid. I had the chance to say, “thank you” and we all sat around sharing our stories from the legendary ice storm, complete with power outages and lots of people helping one another.

The pandemic has changed the way I reflect on every “disaster” I ever worked as a Paramedic. For eleven months we have been navigating our way through this event. We have become nimble and innovative. Isolation has wearied those who are vulnerable or sick. Too much togetherness in some cases has challenged the best of relationships. And way too much time has passed since we’ve seen people we love.

Of all the things we’ve learned in these last many months, our shared need to “love and be loved” sure seems consistently important. Before this Valentine’s Day reaches end, or the ice and snow lead all of us into yet one more shared adventure…be assured: you are loved.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear…
– I John 4:18

God, please help us to not be so afraid to love each other. Give us courageous spirits and humble hearts. We ask your blessings and provision for the many people who risk their lives to protect, help and care for everyone during this storm. Send them aid in whatever way is needed. Thank you for always showing up when we need you! Amen.

Do not be afraid; you are loved.