Song of Songs 2:10-12

My beloved spoke and said to me,

“Arise, my darling,

my beautiful one, come with me.

See! The winter is past;

the rains are over and gone.

Flowers appear on the earth;

the season of singing has come,

the cooing of doves

is heard in our land.

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A holy season of singing has come indeed. Gather with others to sing resistance. Let our sounds carry the load across mountains and streets, flowing through open windows like a breeze, an inspiration, hope.

May our songs honor the mourning of peacemaking doves.

*Marcia Milner-Brage writes personal essays and, often in plein air or on the BART, drawing, painting, and collage. “Through observing the bounty of the earth, I fulfill my calling,” she says. https://www.flickr.com/photos/marciamilner-brage/

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Psalm 13:5-6

I’ve thrown myself headlong into your arms—

I’m celebrating your rescue.

I’m singing at the top of my lungs,

I’m so full of answered prayers.

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Oh for those flashes when we feel so rescued, so delivered, so incredibly freed from… it doesn’t even matter what. Rescue can happen fast. Freedom can take forever. Trust in the promises of the Source, the Power greater than all others.

Envision the ways your answered prayers will leave a mark on the beloved community.

*Tiphaine Marie is a London-based environmental storyteller, illustrator, and podcast host who cultivates empathy, wonder, and kinship with the more-than-human world. “My hope is that my illustrations can inspire people to look for little pockets of magic,” she writes, “and help them remember that we are not separate from nature.” Find her through https://whaleswolves.substack.com/

+Today’s Flash💥Devo also appeared on redletterchristians.org daily WakeUp newsletter.

Grateful for your presence today!💥Thanks!

Galatians 5:5-6 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

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My friend Dave once said that people who weren’t moved to tears by the suffering of children should get a heart transplant. Maybe personal vulnerability can lead us beyond medical metaphors. How can we intentionally transform our communities into safe environments of mutual support?

Let love be the litmus test.

*Maria Wickwire’s ceramic sculptures reveal feminine archetypes. “To me, her metamorphosis is the story of a human life—passing through the crucibles of experience and emerging stronger, carrying the beautiful marks of courage we have earned along the way,” she writes at Mariawickwire.com

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Today’s Flash💥Devo also appeared on redletterchristians.org daily WakeUp newsletter.

Thanks for stopping by today! Come back soon!

Matthew 10:7-8 “As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.”

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People rightly question whether the kingdom has come near, as if “The Kingdom” is a new movie at the multiplex. Even so, Jesus calls us to leave the show changed, humbled, and challenged. Meet your families, friends, and coworkers where they’re at with the truths you know.

The kingdom comes freely when you offer healing, companionship, quietness.

*Lily DeCort, based in Chicago, creates luminous landscapes and evocative abstracts that reflect the liminality of her experience. Learn more at https://lilydecort.com/

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Stop back again soon to pray with me!

Revelation 2:10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.

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Respect fearless advocacy: singing resistance, walking across the country, whistleblowers calling in the crowd. Lament how family, friends, and beliefs wither in ugly deaths of doubt and rejection.

Receive the gift of life through revelations about your faithfulness.

*Olly Costello writes, “I hope my work can be a small contributing part of creating our new culture, grounded in honoring the inherent sacredness of all beings and pushing us beyond violent cultures.” Discover their work at https://ollycostello.com/

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Today’s Flash💥Devo also appeared on redletterchristians.org daily WakeUp newsletter.

Thanks for praying with us today!

Psalm 86:11

Teach me your way, Lord,

that I may rely on your faithfulness;

give me an undivided heart,

that I may fear your name.

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Consider how you or your community may feel fragmented by a litany of things to do correctly, at the right time, with the best intentions, in big buildings with the right people gathered. Join with others to ask Creator to undivide our broken hearts.

May our communities form a healthy interdependence through constancy, faithfulness, and love.

Discover more about “The Healer,” a mural tribute to María Sabina by Gustavo Lira García & Tierra Díaz at https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/9acd7e0f79ba48b7966a243fbd162fec

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Today’s Flash💥Devo also appears on redletterchristians.org daily WakeUp newsletter.

Thanks for joining with others to pray today. :)

Dear Readers, Listeners, and Supporters: thank you for coming along with my Flash Devos for the past 180 posts. I need to step away from the computer for now. Unexpected health challenges prevent me from writing and producing these devos. Please help yourselves to the archives. I pray that I will be able to return to this work of my heart. I leave you with a prayer calling in the vision of equanimity in today’s reading from the lectionary.

2 Corinthians 8:13-15

Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”

May we share what we have gathered and ask for what we need, so that in every season we may all feel whole.

Dear friend *Deirdre Purdy is a digital creator in Chloe, West Virginia who posts “Pillion Viewpoint” from the back seat of a BMW regularly on “Adventure Rider” magazine. “I can see all the way down the road, like the driver, and anticipate the curves and traffic,” she writes. “I also ride with the clouds, the farms, barns, and churches, 100 year old banks, and county courthouses. Sometimes I make a 1/3 turn and take a shot over my shoulder, aiming without looking, and once in a while catch gold.” See her posts at advrider.com and Facebook.

Psalm 126:1-2

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed.

Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.

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Cheer out loud when rescue becomes real. Not maybe he will save us, or maybe he’ll help us, or if we do what’s right he’ll stay. Here and now, no matter what, in this and that and in everything, life changes when the Lord arrives.

Tall, heartless, brutal, kind, earnest, every color, shape, location, and time. Jesus is coming for every one of us.

My friend *Lily DeCort is an Ethiopian American painter based in Chicago. Her work, ranging from luminous landscapes to evocative abstracts, reflects the liminality of her experience. Through dark skies, peaceful paths, and vast waters, her paintings explore themes of beauty, vulnerability, healing, and the human journey from wonder to loss and hope reborn. Learn more about Lily’s art at https://lilydecort.com/

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Malachi 3:17-18

“On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him.

And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

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“They” means the faithful remnant of believers. As far as we know, God hasn’t changed the stark outcomes for servants or the wicked.

Free will allows us choices and forgiveness. Your decision?

*Allison May Kiphuth is an artist, sternman, and collector of things who lives in a tiny house in Monhegan, Maine. Her dioramas in antique boxes, unboxed diorama scenes, and watercolor and ink studies of natural objects enchant viewers. Discover her current work at linktr.ee/alliemaykiphuth or her website https://www.allisonmaykiphuth.com/

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Psalm 90:1-4, 12

Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.

Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”

A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.

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Christmas is an offer to engage with God because giving and receiving matter.

Teach us to number our days,

that we may gain a heart of wisdom. [v.12]

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