Not a Mouse

Good morning, Loved Ones,

Today I am awake to the many challenges we face as a church, as a community, as the people of God in this world. Let's not gloss over the challenges as we thank God even for the challenges.

Psalm 36:5-12 (The Message)

^5-6 God's love is meteoric,
his loyalty astronomic,
His purpose titanic,
his verdicts oceanic.
Yet in his largeness
nothing gets lost;
Not a man, not a mouse,
slips through the cracks.
^7-9 How exquisite your love, O God!
How eager we are to run under your wings,
To eat our fill at the banquet you spread
as you fill our tankards with Eden spring water.
You're a fountain of cascading light,
and you open our eyes to light.
^10-12 Keep on loving your friends;
do your work in welcoming hearts.
Don't let the bullies kick me around,
the moral midgets slap me down.
Send the upstarts sprawling
flat on their faces in the mud.

I am thankful today that we have not slipped through the cracks and that bullies ultimately lose. A gun was fired in front of the church last night and no one was physically hurt. The emotional trauma and scars are there, but, thank God, no blood was spilled. Let us pray for the shooter who is one of our own.

I am thankful today that Pastor Alfonso and Randy and Greg were there last night when the trauma occurred and that they comforted the young man who was terribly shaken. Let us pray for this young man.

I am thankful today that the church's response to threats and bullies is, first of all, to care for the shaken, troubled and injured, and, secondly, to work for reconciliation and peace.

I am thankful for IJAM, the 40 congregations who are working for positive, humane and merciful immigration reform and working against the "bullies and moral midgets" who attack us and slander our brothers and sisters. O for a mud pit large enough to hold them all.

I am thankful today for a warm bowl of oatmeal loaded with brown sugar and an early morning bike ride around the lake with a friend. (I give thanks especially for the brown sugar.)

God's love is exquisite. Tell me about it! Gimme cinco.

Pastor Rick
http://gimmecinco.blogspot.com/