Joy, Salvation, Peace

Create in me a clean heart, O God;
And renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from thy presence;
And take not thy holy spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;
And uphold me with a willing spirit. – Ps. 51:10-12

It occurs to me that, like most folks, I’m usually more ready to share my burdens than to lift up my joys. So I’m going to remedy that today.

It’s been a great two weeks; I saw old friends at Annual Conference, I spent Friday and Saturday with my father, I got to baptize a baby on Sunday, and I saw very old and good friends on Monday. My wife and daughter are spending a week with family – and family time is always good time.

My father and I rode around the beautiful hills of the Shawnee Forest on Saturday; I had no idea that such beautiful countryside was but an hour's drive away. What a marvelous piece of God's creation!

The bishop fixed the pastoral appointments for 2006-07… and my name is next to “Reidland” for another year. That’s good to me, and I hope it’s good to you.

Do we ever really realize how blessed we are… and how we’re blessed to be a blessing? That should make the “seed scattering” of Sunday’s Gospel reading a whole lot more joyful. Too often Christianity is portrayed as rules and regulations. Why can’t we make it an invitation to live a life more joyful and meaningful? That certainly seemed to be the intention of Christ.

Don’t keep your joy to yourself. There’s a world that desperately needs to hear it.

Pax,
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