In the Surf? We Are Not Alone.

In the Letter to the Ephesians, we hear talk about the wall that divides humanity and the idea that this wall was broken down by Jesus, bringing peace within humanity and access to God. Jesus lived the Law in its fullest, living his life as a complete sacrifice to God.

When we feel stuck in life, faced with no good options, God knows, we always and without exception, have choices that we can make.

God continues to be present and act in peoples lives, but we must be ready to listen and respond. God draws us into community for a reason, so that we share the journey with one another and share our truths with one another. As we share our stories and our understanding of who God is, we all grow in our knowledge of God and come to experience God in new ways.

What I have decided over and over again is that the Christian story is the one that makes the most sense for me, for interpreting and shaping a life filled with meaning and purpose. It is not a matter of choosing Jesus and this way of believing over some other faith, the Prophet or the Buddha. It is more a matter of receiving the gift where I find myself, and being open to being transformed by God throughout my life.

Pilgrimage happens in our hearts. In the midst of our stormy lives, we can make space for God in Christ.

We must remain open to God acting in our lives, to God using us to plant new seeds to grow the Kingdom. Every day we make the conscious choice to live as Christians, which means that we choose to move away from focusing on ourselves and our own self-interest and instead take on the new creation of Christ and in both word and action respond to one another with selfless love, that same selfless love that Jesus gave to us. Be open to opportunities to nurture seeds of faith and recognize when God is calling on us to share the love of Christ and grow the kingdom of God.

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Even now in this time of darkness and despair in our collective lives together God is reaching out to us with abundant love. That right relationship that we share with God may not protect the evil from coming into our lives, but that experience of right relationship does protect us from being influenced by the evil as time and again we choose God's abundant love over anything else that is put before us.

Charity has come to mean philanthropy which is not unrelated to love but which doesn't quite have the force of effective love that we are after. When you think of love in action, what comes to your mind?