The Daily Meditation for FRIDAY, December 9, 2016

From Forward Day By Day
Written by Hugo Olaiz


Luke 22:19 (NRSV) Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

On Sundays, the priest invites the congregation to join her around the altar, and I rush to the back of the chapel to repeat the invitation aloud, in English and Spanish, “Everyone is invited to the table. Everyone!” We are all welcome—the homeless man sitting in the back row, those with canes, walkers, and wheelchairs, the shy Latino unmarried couple who came with a four-week-old baby in their arms. When we say everyone, we really mean it.

We join the prayers of the sick and the lonely, and the circle expands. We join the prayers of refugees desperately trying to reach Athens, Sweden, or Toronto, and the circle expands. We join your prayers as well. In fact we join the prayers of every person who prays.

We hold hands, say the Lord’s Prayer, and share the bread and the wine. We are not just taking in the body of Christ—we are becoming the Body of Christ.

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The Daily Meditation for THURSDAY, December 8, 2016

From Forward Day By Day
Written by Hugo Olaiz

Luke 22:2 (NRSV) The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus to death, for they were afraid of the people.

This chapter of Luke presents opposing preparations. We may not realize it, but in the less dramatic settings and less renowned actors of our own lives, opposing forces play out all the time.

I live near Cincinnati, where many people are destroying their bodies with dangerous drugs—prescription medications and street drugs. At the same time, successful programs exist to help people overcome their addictions (in fact, a chapter of Narcotics Anonymous meets in my church).

In the Cincinnati neighborhood of Price Hill, thousands of at-risk children and youth face uncertain futures. But hopeful programs abound, like Music for Youth, which recruits minority children into an intense music theory program that teaches them how to play instruments.

Do you see forces of good and evil playing out in your community? In yourself?

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The Daily Meditation for WEDNESDAY, December 7, 2016

From Forward Day By Day
Written by Hugo Olaiz

Psalm 55:5 (NRSV) My heart quakes within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

My friend Jackson has a denervated heart. That’s a heart that is not connected to his nervous system. If you startle him, he will feel startled, but his heart will not react by pumping blood faster. This is a life-threatening disorder.

My husband and I met Jackson in church. He was 26 years old and dying. He desperately needed a new heart, and there was no certainty he would receive one before his gave out. We invited him over to our house for dinner. We visited him in the hospital. We prayed with him. Jackson became part of our lives, a friend to both of us.

The only reason Jackson is alive today is because someone did something truly unselfish by donating their organs for transplantation. That act of compassion saved Jackson’s life.

Have you considered becoming an organ donor? Once we are gone from this earth, what will we leave behind?

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The Daily Meditation for TUESDAY, December 6 - Saint Nicholas Day

From Forward Day By Day
Written by Hugo Olaiz

1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 (NRSV) Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.

Once when I was in college, I visited a Baptist church. The time came to pass the peace—exchanging handshakes with fellow worshipers. I turned to the man next to me and said, “I’m sorry I don’t know your name—I’m not a member of this church.” His reply astounded me: “Today you came here. Today you are a member of this church!”

Since then, I have never visited a new church feeling like a complete stranger. I like to think that this is the way Paul imagines church—not as a private club but rather as a community center—a place where all rejoice, pray, and invite the Spirit, a place where everyone has membership.

Do you feel welcome when you go to church? If not, have you tried being the one who welcomes others?

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The Daily Meditation for MONDAY, December 5, 2016

From Forward Day By Day
Written by Hugo Olaiz


Isaiah 5:8 (NRSV) Ah, you who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is room for no one but you, and you are left to live alone in the midst of the land!

Since home ownership is deemed to stabilize capitalist economies, many countries encourage their citizens to take loans and buy homes. This, however, has a dark side as old as the Bible: greed, speculation, trickery.

Remember the housing bubble bust in 2007 and 2008? After an exciting season of real estate prices going through the proverbial roof, the market dropped like a rock, and hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children had their homes foreclosed upon by banks, and then were evicted. Tent cities began to appear all over the country for the first time since the Great Depression.

Whether you live in a fancy house or a humble abode, whether you own your home or rent, consider yourself lucky to have a roof over your head! Hundreds of thousands of people live in shelters. Tens of thousands more live in their cars or in tent cities. Still others live on the streets. How would we explain this disparity to Jesus?

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The Daily Meditation for SUNDAY, December 4, 2016 - Second Sunday in Advent

From Forward Day By Day
Written by Hugo Olaiz

Romans 15:4 (NRSV) For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.

You may have heard of John Wycliffe, who produced the first handwritten English translation of the Bible in the 1300s. Or perhaps you know the names of William Tyndale or Myles Coverdale, the first to print the New Testament and then the whole Bible in English. One name you may not know is Casidoro de Reina, who translated the first complete Bible printed in Spanish in 1569. It’s often called the Bible of the Bear: On the title page, a bear consumes the sweet honey out of a beehive, even as it is being attacked by the bees. The title page also includes a quote from Isaiah 40:8, “The word of our God will stand forever.” I think Paul has a similar idea in today’s lesson from Romans when he calls scripture “steadfast.”

In order to publish his translation, Reina had to flee his home country of Spain, eventually dying in exile. I am grateful for Reina and many others, who, because of their courageous work, have given us instruction, steadfastness, encouragement, and hope.

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The Daily Meditation for SATURDAY, December 3, 2016

From Forward Day By Day
Written by Hugo Olaiz

Luke 21:6 (NRSV) As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.

When I was a missionary in Paraguay, I was assigned to work with a local young man named Neri. He had barely finished high school, and I was a college graduate. We were poorly matched.

Neri’s lifelong ambition was to become a beekeeper. “When Jesus returns in all his glory, civilizations will collapse,” he explained. “Farming and beekeeping will go on forever.” Neri’s reading of prophecy struck me as misguided. “Too urgent and literal,” I thought. Or maybe not.

When I drive through Cincinnati, I see entire neighborhoods in decline. At the corner of Gilbert Avenue and Taft Road, there used to be a Presbyterian church, and today it is a place where Jesus’ prophecy is being fulfilled literally—except for one tower, the grand Neo-Gothic edifice is completely gone.

Is it possible that in today’s lesson from Luke, Jesus is referring to a curse we inflicted on ourselves? And what should be our response when we see neighborhoods, cities, and nations in the throes of collapse?

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The Daily Meditation for FRIDAY, December 2, 2016

From Forward Day By Day
Written by Hugo Olaiz

Luke 21:1-3 (NRSV) He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them.”

A while ago I watched a video about the “Jungle,” a shantytown in Calais, France, built and inhabited by thousands of migrants. The video features David, a young man from Eritrea. With a hammer, a handsaw, and discarded plywood, David was building a church. “You need quality time with yourself,” David says, in broken English. “Your God House can be anywhere.”

I have visited many impressive churches over the years, yet none of them move me as much as the plywood structure David was building in France’s poorest shantytown. Truly I tell you, this poor migrant has put in more than all of them!

Last February, French authorities took possession of and began to raze the Calais Jungle—not just the church but also the mosques, the theater, the library. I can still hear David’s words floating over piles of debris and through the clouds of smoke: “Your God House can be anywhere.”

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The Daily Meditation for THURSDAY, December 1, 2016

From Forward Day By Day
Written by Hugo Olaiz

Psalm 18:37-38 (NRSV) You lengthen my stride beneath me, and my ankles do not give way. I pursue my enemies and overtake them; I will not turn back till I have destroyed them.

Twelve years ago, when my doctor recommended I add vigorous cardiovascular activity to my life, we adopted a beagle mix named Patches. Her entire attitude echoes the psalmist’s gratitude—God is generous and life is good.

Patches wags her tail with gusto every time we return home. Whether running on the grassy field across the street or exploring the nearby forest, Patches offers me a daily opportunity to see how God lengthens her stride. Her enemies (squirrels and deer) provide further opportunities to run and exercise.

Patches is an old dog now. She’s going deaf, and sometimes she loses her balance. Despite her limping, Patches insists on running. If she loses her balance and falls, she just gets back up on her four legs and keeps moving. Her optimism and hope for the future are unshakable.

Why is it hard for us to be as happy as our canine companions? What life lessons can we learn from their cheerfulness, innocence, and loyalty?

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The Daily Meditation for WEDNESDAY, November 30, 2016

From Forward Day By Day
Written by Richelle Thompson

Psalm 19:1 (NRSV) The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork.

Have you ever seen a sunrise that steals your breath? Creation yawns into morning, with first amber light rising on the horizon.

Have you ever stretched out on a field, damp grass and cool ground, and watched the clouds dance?

Do you walk the beach barefoot as waves crash into the heavens? Sit on a porch in the spring of blue skies? Kneel to the flowers, knead the dirt, and await the sun’s warmth?

Of all the many gifts of God, perhaps it is the unspeakable beauty and vast expanse of the skies that whisper most of heaven.

Go outside today, look up into the firmament of God’s handiwork, and let your heart fill with joy and your mouth with words of gladness.

Amen.

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The Daily Meditation for TUESDAY, November 29, 2016

From Forward Day By Day
Written by Richelle Thompson

Psalm 5:8 (NRSV) Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness, because of those who lie in wait for me; make your way straight before me.

My spiritual practice during one Lent was to give up obsessing about my enemy. This coworker was difficult, tempestuous, deceitful. I spent hours each week wondering why the person had done or said certain things—and what might happen next. Many lunchtime conversations centered around this topic, and mutual disdain for the person became a twisted bond among other coworkers.

I am sure Jesus wasn’t pleased. So during the forty days of Lent, I fasted from fretting. I stopped engaging in side conversations, and when I rolled through the day’s events in my mind, I let the ones connected to this individual slide past. Soon I reclaimed some peace and took back the power I had given this one person to trouble my days. We didn’t become friends. But by the end of Lent, I could pray for the person without feeling like a liar, and I gave thanks for a straighter way.

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The Daily Meditation for MONDAY, November 28, 2016

From Forward Day By Day
Written by Richelle Thompson


1 Thessalonians 1:6-7 (NRSV) And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

Hammer Man, my dad called. And I stepped right up, offering the hammer from my little hands to his, large and calloused. A handy man, my dad often called us into the garage to help him with his latest project. Having such an important job made me feel valued and loved. It took years before I realized that he didn’t need someone to hand him a hammer. He wanted to spend time together to talk and listen, to teach the importance of hard work, to be an example and role model.

That’s what Saint Paul entreats of the people of Thessalonica. In this letter, probably the first of Paul’s many, the words are designed to comfort and encourage. Be an example, he writes. Keep up your steady and faithful work as we await the coming again of Christ. Let your actions be a living example of a life of faith. Twelve centuries later, a similar message is attributed to Saint Francis: “Preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words.” In another eight hundred years, a loving father expresses the gospel this way: Hammer Man.

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The Daily Meditation for SUNDAY, November 27, 2016 - First Sunday of Advent

From Forward Day By Day
Written by Richelle Thompson

Psalm 122:7 (NRSV) Peace be within your walls and quietness within your towers.

These words of the psalmist echoed through my visit to Jerusalem. The highlight of our trip was to be a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one of the holiest spots in all of Christendom. According to tradition, the church contains the site where Jesus was crucified and the empty tomb.

A long line of tourists waited at the church. My friend and I had stood for quite a while when the pushing began. People vied for position, muttering and jutting hips and elbows. I staked my spot, determined not to let anyone or anything delay my time to see these sacred spots.

This isn’t the way. The thought, unbidden, persisted. This isn’t the way.

I stepped out of the line and out of the church—I still have not seen the chapel or Rock of Calvary. But I couldn’t receive them with an angry heart, couldn’t walk on sacred ground as if elbowing through the line for a big-screen TV on Black Friday.

To see Jesus, I needed peace within my walls and quietness in my heart, the same as Jerusalem needed it in biblical times, and we all need still today.

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The Daily Meditation for SATURDAY, November 26, 2016

From Forward Day By Day
Written by Richelle Thompson

Philippians 2:4 (NRSV) Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.

Sometimes the courage of a daughter inspires her mother.

Unbeknownst to me, our daughter contacted the parents of a friend. Her friend was making questionable decisions, and our daughter was worried. As you can imagine, the words snitch and tattletale (among others) flew by text from phone to phone. I was a little astonished (and a lot proud) but mostly I wanted to see how my daughter was handling the backlash. She wasn’t happy about it—and she hoped her friend would come around. But I love her enough that even if we’re never friends again, maybe she’ll be safer. And that’s worth it.

Saint Paul urges the Christians living in Philippi to put aside their self-interests and conceit for the good of the community. Care for others in the way that Christ loves, not meddlesome or with envy, but with a love that surpasses all else, a love that may come at a great cost—even, sometimes, friendship.

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The Daily Meditation for FRIDAY, November 25, 2016

From Forward Day By Day
Written by Richelle Thompson

Luke 19:39-40 (NRSV) Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

Stones play a starring role in some of the biggest stories of the Bible: Moses writes the ten commandments on two slabs of stone; the twelve tribes of Israel build a stone altar of sacrifice on the River Jordan. The stone the builders reject becomes the chief cornerstone, and Peter is the rock upon which Jesus builds the church. Christ saves an adulterous woman from being stoned, and in the greatest story of all time, the stone sealing Jesus’ tomb is rolled away to reveal the empty grave, announcing Easter to a waiting world.

In this passage of Luke, the growing dissension between Jesus and the Pharisees is evident. Even here, though, Jesus’ unearthly power extends to the stones, that what is hard can be made flesh, what is mute can cry out, and what is inanimate can become life. If Jesus can do that with stones, what can he do with us?

“A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).

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The Daily Meditation for THURSDAY, November 24, 2016 - Thanksgiving Day

From Forward Day By Day
Written by Richelle Thompson

John 6:35 (NRSV) Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Her lips had not touched a chalice for forty years. On her annual visits from Germany to a small town in Kentucky, she sometimes came to church, but she stayed in the pew while others went forward for Holy Communion. When she lost a child four decades ago, a priest criticized and belittled her instead of offering solace and comfort. And for her, the eucharist had become a symbol of betrayal and deep wounds.

But on this day, she rose. No one could hear the trembling of her heart or see the steel it took to hold out her hands to receive the bread. In this moment, she offered grace to a church that had forsaken her, and she received it from a Savior who had never left her.

After the service, I took her hand and squeezed. It was time, she answered, in halting English and from a broken heart that had started to heal. It was time.

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The Daily Meditation for WEDNESDAY, November 23, 2016

From Forward Day By Day
Written by Richelle Thompson

Luke 19:8 (NRSV) Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”

My knowledge of Zacchaeus comes mostly from the children’s song. Here’s the earworm: “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he.”

While this song continues to play in the stereo of your mind, let’s talk about Zacchaeus: a tax collector and, according to his neighbors, a sinner. Whether Zacchaeus is cheating the farmers or simply following the rules of the land, he is still making a lot of money off the labor of others. But something inside of Zacchaeus makes him want more (the name Zacchaeus, after all, means pure). So Zacchaeus climbs a tree to catch sight of this nomadic preacher called Jesus, and the encounter is transformational. Zacchaeus immediately gives up half of his wealth in testimony to the Lord and commits to a life of service and witness. Meanwhile the neighborhood grumbles about Jesus’ choice for dinner companion.

Lord, help us be more like Zacchaeus, curious and earnest, and keep us from being quick-to-judge and slow to see you in every face and every place. Amen.

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The Daily Meditation for TUESDAY, November 22, 2016

From Forward Day By Day
Written by Richelle Thompson

1 Corinthians 3:10a (NRSV) According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it.

Until today, I read this passage with a focus on the importance of Jesus as the foundation, the solid rock on which the Church is built and my own life should be. But one of the delights of reading and hearing scripture time and again is that new words and ideas jump out. This time, it’s the phrase, “and someone else is building on it.” Paul goes on to say that others will build on the foundation, using varied resources: gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw. I have this image of each life as a giant parfait, with different layers being built by and with different people.

This is a comforting concept. We are reminded that our work is part of something bigger, our ministry a piece of the whole. We don’t have to get everything perfect or follow a project (or person) from start to finish. We can do our best with our best—and then pass the torch. We build layers onto the foundations of our family, coworkers, and friends, people known and unknown—and, if we open ourselves to it, others will build layers in our lives. It’s all a part of the Master Builder’s plan.

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The Daily Meditation for MONDAY, November 21, 2016

From Forward Day By Day
Written by Richelle Thompson

Luke 18:16 (NRSV) Jesus called for them and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.”

Every Sunday is a rush for a mother with young children. The pressure to make an early arrival (or at least not a late one) increases when you add the component that we’re a clergy family. It does not look great to arrive after Daddy starts preaching.

So I wasn’t super-patient with my daughter. As preschoolers are prone to, she kept asking questions about our neighbors. Why aren’t they going to church? Are they sleeping? What are they doing? What about God bread? (That’s what she called the eucharist). Finally, frustrated and late, I told her that our neighbors were probably sick this morning.

But, she asked plaintively. How will they get better without God bread?

Indeed. Her view of the eucharist was both childlike and deeply profound. And perhaps that is what Jesus is telling us in this scripture passage. Engaging the world like a child, with simple awe and wonder, can be an opportunity to experience and receive the kingdom of God.

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The Daily Meditation for SUNDAY, November 20, 2016 - Christ the King Sunday

From Forward Day By Day
Written by Richelle Thompson

Luke 23:38 (NRSV) There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

Many Christians celebrate today as the feast of Christ the King—though for us, this celebration is in theme and not an official holy day. Nevertheless, our readings and collect draw us to the kingship of Christ.

In our own day, the dominion of a king is an unfamiliar and perhaps uncomfortable concept. We are much more inclined to self-rule and an independent spirit. But as the church year draws to a close, it is fitting to consider a final celebration of Christ the King. We have witnessed the topsy-turvy world of a savior baby, the conquering of death, the speaking of tongues, the unstoppable spread of Christianity to the far reaches. These amazing truths must surely lead us to a place of surrender, of a desire and pleading for Christ’s dominion over our wills, our hearts, our minds, and our lives.

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