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Re: Spring Cleaning!

By: joe-taylor in FFFT | Recommend this post (0)
Sun, 17 Feb 13 4:00 PM | 46 view(s)
Boardmark this board | Food For Further Thought 		Msg. 50269 of 65535
(This msg. is a reply to 50248 by joe-taylor)
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A Tithe of Time


"You shall take some of the first of all the fruit from the ground, which you harvest for the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name." Deuteronomy 26: 2


"In many cultures," writes author Frederick Beuchner, "there is an ancient custom of giving a tenth of each year's income to some holy use. For Christians, to observe the forty days of Lent is to do the same thing with roughly a tenth of each years days.

Just as the writer of Deuteronomy told the people to offer God the first fruits of their harvest, Lent asks us to set aside the first fruits of our time. Deuteronomy also reminds us what to do with that time--namely, to remember. When the Israelites set their baskets before the priest, they also proclaimed how God had cared for their ancestors, heard their cries, fed them in the wilderness, and brought them into freedom. Then together with the Levite and alien, they were to "enjoy all the bounty the Lord your God has given to you and your house."

"Enjoying all the bounty" doesn't fit our usual image of Lent's sackcloth and ashes nor Jesus 40 days of fasting in the wilderness. But in his own "tithe of time," Jesus discovered that the one who had cared for his ancestors in their wilderness would be with him in his.

Tithe your time this Lent to remember how that same One has also been with you. Perhaps like Jesus and his ancestors, you'll discover the true bounty of your own life, even in the wilderness times.


Thank you, God, for Lent's "tithe of time." Help me to take time these forty days to know your bountiful love in my life and for this world. Amen.


Talitha Arnold is Senior Minister of the United Church of Santa Fe (UCC), Santa Fe, New Mexico.


To say that "God exists" is the greatest understatement ever made across space and time.


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The above is a reply to the following message:
Re: Spring Cleaning!
By: joe-taylor in FFFT
Sat, 16 Feb 13 8:05 PM 		Msg. 50248 of 65535

No Beginning Without the End


"Now is the time for judgement on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself" John 12: 31-32


Let's face it: we are not nearly as good at ending things as we are at starting them. Think of the enthusiasm and joy that accompany the start of a new relationship; then think of the fear and dread that often marks the approach of an unhappy ending.

Could our trepidation over unhappy endings be the reason we live with so many open-ended conflicts and unresolved tensions and uncertain emotions?

Sometimes computers will shut down when there are too many programs running at the same time. Life requires that we close some things completely before we can successfully start other things.

Jesus was quite certain about the judgement of God upon humanity that would result in his execution on the cross. Jesus didn't try to avoid God's judgement nor did he attempt to euphemize his imminent death. He faced his tragedies head on. And when Jesus predicted his death to his disciples, he refused to allow them to gloss over his physical demise as well.

Just as the angels sang "Glory to God" at his birth, Jesus seemed sure that they would pick up the same refrain after his death, for it was only after he died that the promise and the power of his resurrection would be realized. It was only after he died that the shackles of death would be discarded and victory would be snatched from the grave. It was only after he died that the hope of salvation would be confirmed for all the world and all people would be drawn to God's love made flesh.

Our best beginnings are often utterly dependent upon some unhappy endings. There are no shortcuts to resurrection.

Gracious God, don't allow our zeal for new things make us miss your presence and your purpose in dealing forthrightly with the unhappy things that require complete closure. Amen


Kenneth L. Samuel is Pastor of Victory fo the World Church, UCC, Stone Mountain, Georgia.

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