Tag: Gratitude

Farewell to St. Martin’s

Dear Members and Friends of St. Martin-in-the-Fields,

I began my ministry with you as Interim Rector at St. Martin’s almost two years ago. Three days from now, July 25, will be my last Sunday with you. Your new Rector, The Reverend Alan Bentrup, will lead you in worship on August 1.

I write with mixed emotions to say farewell and express gratitude for the opportunity to share Christ’s work with you during this season of transition. We have worked together to remember and celebrate the history of the parish, to clarify your present-day identity, to manage changes in leadership, to strengthen ties with the wider Church, and to prepare for commitment to a new era of mission with your new Rector. We have wrestled with a pandemic and learned many things in the process. We have explored the joys of faithful stewardship, envisioned a robust new program of Christian formation for all ages, developed and populated a new model for mission and governance, reached out in love to our neighbors in need, and expressed lavish hospitality to newcomers seeking a spiritual home. It will make my heart glad to know that these experiences have made you ready for the days ahead. For, as St. Paul wrote to the Church in Philippi, "I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).

We are confident that you will welcome your new Rector, Alan, his family, Elizabeth, Ford, and, Walker, with the same strong, generous, open arms that welcomed us. We are also confident that your ministry together will result in transformed lives and much thanksgiving to God.

Many have asked about our plans for the future. We’ll be taking a vacation in August. Upon our return, Gay will continue her artistic pursuits, including some online teaching, and I plan to undertake a few projects at our home in Arlington. I expect that my future service to The Episcopal Church will be primarily consulting and mentoring.

You are most welcome to stay in touch with us. We want to know what is happening in your lives and in the life of this parish so we can cheer you on from the “great cloud of witnesses.” However, my role as your Priest will be concluded. Your new Rector and his family will need every opportunity to establish a relationship with you. So, I will not be coming back or performing sacramental or liturgical rites for St. Martin’s. We’ve moved before and have seen the wisdom in this practice. We continue to have wonderful friends from every place we’ve ever served and everyone understands that we now play a different role in their lives. Please make a note of the following contact information:

Ron and Gay Pogue
5805 Dry Creek Lane
Arlington, Texas 76017

Ron’s Email: ron@e-piphanies.com
Ron’s Phone: 832-576-9019
Ron’s Blog: http://e-piphanies.com

Gay’s Email: gaypogue@mac.com
Gay’s Phone: 409-939-9975
Gay’s Blog: http://angelsnakes.com/

May God bless St. Martin’s and may God bless each of you in your spiritual journey. I remain convinced that the greatest days of this parish lie in the future. You and those God leads to you in the future will have the joy of remaining open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit to discover what new things God wants to accomplish through this vibrant and welcoming community of faith. We love you and will keep you in our prayers. We ask that you also keep us in your prayers as God’s new day unfolds!

Blessings,

The Very Reverend Ron Pogue
Interim Rector
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
Keller, Texas

July 22, 2021
Blessings to God

We see some amazing sunsets in this part of Texas. Earlier this week I saw one that took my breath away. It was the reddest and brightest sunset I’ve ever seen. I just had to stand there in awe and gratitude for a few moments and savor it.

Jews have a tradition of offering a brief prayer of thanks to God (berakhah) whenever they have a new experience. I appreciate the tradition and try to practice it daily at every point when I experience the hand of God at work in the world around me. So, on the occasion of seeing the amazing sunset, I said, “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, Sovereign of the Universe and Creator of all things, for showing me your handiwork.”

The function of a berakhah is to acknowledge God as the source of all blessing. These short prayers also serve to transform a variety of everyday actions and occurrences into religious experiences that increase awareness of God at all times. For this purpose, ancient rabbis taught that it was the duty of every Jew to recite one hundred berakhot every day.

I wonder what would happen if every believer from every faith tradition were to adopt this practice. Greater awareness of the One who created all things might make us better neighbors, better stewards, better parents, and better sons and daughters. Offering a blessing to God for the abundance of blessings from God could, over time, transform us into more generous people. Acknowledging the majesty and wonder of our Creator would humble us and change us into more grateful creatures.

Let’s try it for a few days and see what happens!

Blessings!

The Very Reverend Ron Pogue
Interim Rector
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
Keller, Texas

March 19, 2021
Don’t forget to remember!

During Morning Prayer, we often pray A Collect for Guidance:

Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but may remember that we are ever walking in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Some days, I wonder if the reason it is so difficult for the Church to attract the attention and devotion of her people is because our busyness causes forgetfulness. Or, could it be that we are distracted? That's certainly a possible explanation during this time of pandemic, politics, economic uncertainty, unemployment, and a host of other distractions.

Has our generation forgotten God? Or, is it that, given all the other things we have to remember, we just don't think of God that often. Maybe we are "practical atheists." By that I mean, we believe in God but don't allow God to have that much to do with our lives.

What does it teach our children when we never forget an athletic event but don't remember to be present for worship and Sunday school? What does it say about our values when we leave a 15% tip on the table at the restaurant but balk at the idea of 10% for God? What does it say about our integrity when we have time for the news, weather, and sports but not for daily prayers?

Do we just forget to remember God?

If so, we're not the first generation to do so. People forgot to remember God after the death of Joshua and his generation. "Moreover, that whole generation was gathered to their ancestors, and another generation grew up after them, who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel" (Judges 2:10).

This is not a rant about making America a "Christian nation" or about how bad people are. It's a reminder to myself to rearrange my life so that the Lover of my soul is not left out and life can be what it is meant to be. I'm missing so much when I'm not trying to see the world and the people around me as God sees. I want to please those I love. I want to please God. But without God, I cannot please God.

So, today, I invite you to pray with me to God, "…that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but remember that we are ever walking in your sight."

Blessings,

The Very Rev'd Ron Pogue
Interim Rector
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
Keller, Texas

October 8, 2020
Creation Has Been Given Into Our Care
During the next few weeks, we will be hearing a lot about faithful stewardship in preparation for Consecration Sunday, October 4. We're asking everyone to save the date and plan to worship together that morning either in the parking lot or online. While we are passing through this pandemic, we need all the hope, gratitude, and generosity we can summon. That's why we've chosen as our theme the words of the Prophet Jeremiah: "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope" (Jeremiah 29:11).

Members of the parish will be sharing wonderful testimonials about stewardship and their faith journeys. I hope you will take the time to read them and listen to them. I, too, have a story to share. It is basically the same every year. I shared it with you when I arrived last year and I'm sharing it again for emphasis, for it represents the theological foundation that guides how I follow the spiritual practice of stewardship.

Creation Has Been Given Into Our Care.

In the very first chapter of the very first book of the Bible, we read that God created human beings in God’s own image. God blessed our species, entrusted the rest of creation into our hands, and gave us all the gifts we will need to fulfill our unique purpose.

This ancient passage is the basis for our Christian theology of stewardship.
- To be created in the “image” of God means to be a living witness to the Creator and to be an official representative of the Creator on planet earth.
- To “subdue” the earth means to bring things under control and to manage them according to God’s purposes.
- To have “dominion” means that human beings have been appointed as the rulers and protectors of all living things, serving under the ultimate sovereignty of God, their Creator.
So, human beings have been entrusted with the vocation of stewardship, the call and commission to represent our Creator in caring for everything in the amazing universe that has been given to us to sustain all life.

God doesn’t expect such things from other creatures nor has God equipped other creatures for such a role. Birds, for example, build essentially the same kind of nest every year. A robin builds a robin’s nest. A cardinal builds a cardinal’s nest. A hummingbird builds a hummingbird’s nest. From one generation to another, each kind of bird builds the kind of nest into which it came into this world.

Humans, on the other hand, have the capacity to build an infinite variety of buildings for an infinite variety of purposes. We build houses, schools, hospitals, office buildings, convention centers, and churches. Every one of them can be different from the others and from those that we built a generation or a year ago.

The vocation of stewardship is given uniquely to human beings. Therefore, it is one of the chief attributes that makes us human.

Everything we have, whether spent, saved, or given away, is a sacred trust from God. We are stewards of all of it.

Nothing pleases God more than for us to consciously live our lives as God envisioned. To understand ourselves as stewards of God’s bounty is the perfect way to do that. When we deliberately surrender to God a portion of our time, talent, gifts, and service, as a spiritual practice, we consecrate all the rest of our resources and declare our intention, with God’s help, to manage the rest in ways that please God. In that way, we become fully alive children of God.

What a remarkable way to honor and glorify God.

Blessings,

The Very Rev'd Ron Pogue
Interim Rector
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
Keller, Texas
August 27, 2020
Reflections on Pledging and Tithing

On Consecration Sunday, October 14, we will be invited to complete a pledge card as an act of worship during. In discussing this with a group, one person suggested that some of our members don’t make a pledge because they don’t understand why it is important to them or to the Cathedral. Perhaps the following thoughts will be helpful.

What's it all about?

Financial stewardship is an important component of a balanced spiritual life. We emphasize the giver’s need to give rather than the Cathedral’s need to receive. Our generosity toward God is a grateful response to God's generosity toward us. When we make giving to God our first priority, it helps us remember that everything we have – spent, saved, or given away – is a sacred trust from God. We are the stewards of all of it and we want to be faithful in using what God has given in ways that align with our faith. Maintaining a healthy relationship with our possessions keeps them from getting in the way of our relationships with God, our neighbors, and our own inner being. Returning to God from what God has given us is a tangible way to express our faith. When each of us gives, together we fund ministry within our parish and to the community and the world.

What is a pledge?

A pledge is an estimate of giving and a statement of intent representing your commitment to a spiritual practice within the community of Christians. The amount of your pledge may be changed at any time as your financial circumstances change.

Why should I pledge?

Pledging allows you to make intentional decisions about your giving along with the rest of your financial commitments. When you plan ahead for your giving, you make conscious choices about spending in ways that reflect your faith and values.

The pledges of our members also allow our Vestry, the Cathedral’s governing board, to plan wisely for the use our resources in support of the mission and ministry to which God has called us. The Vestry sets a budget based on the total amount pledged. While regular giving that is not pledged is important to the parish, your pledge helps the Vestry plan more accurately.

How do I pledge?

Annual giving pledges at St. Andrew’s are made each year. While our annual giving campaign is held in the fall, pledges may be made at any time. Every new member during the course of the year is invited to make a pledge.

How do I fulfill my pledge?

Contributing toward your pledge is a matter of your personal preference. You may give weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly via cash, checks, credit card, or electronic fund transfer (EFT). You may place your contribution in the offering plate. You may also initiate your own bank payments, via Paypal, Online, or you can arrange for the Cathedral to charge your credit card or debit your bank account. Some members make gifts directly from a retirement account or a donation of stock. Many companies have matching funds for charitable donations of their employees. For assistance, contact Tom Williams, Business Administrator at 601-487-2742 or twilliams@standrews.ms.

How much should I pledge?

The amount of your annual pledge is between you and God. The Cathedral offers some guidelines to assist you as you make this important decision. HERE are two charts that may be helpful. You may download and print them. The main thing is your commitment to the spiritual practice of giving to God.

What is proportionate giving?

Proportionate giving is basing your pledge amount on a percentage of your income.

What is a tithe?

A tithe is 10% of your income. Since its General Convention in 1982, the Episcopal Church has affirmed the tithe as the minimum standard for giving and encourages members to tithe or be work toward a tithe. A tithe may sound like an unattainable goal to begin with, but if you start with a certain proportion of your income and increase the percentage each year, you will be tithing in a short time. You could start with 5%, a half tithe. Another option is 2½%, which is equivalent to the first hour’s pay of a 40-hour work week.

Just do it!

Where you start or whether you tithe on your annual or gross income is not nearly as important as simply making your first pledge.

Questions?

If you have questions about financial stewardship or tithing, your clergy are happy to talk with you in confidence. You can reach us at 601.354.1535.

I'll see you in Church!

The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
Interim Dean
St. Andrew’s Cathedral
Jackson, Mississippi

September 28, 2018
Give Thanks to God

Our Thanksgiving Day service at Saint John's Cathedral will be at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, November 24. If you are in the vicinity, please join us. Come as you are, bring family, friends, or neighbors to this beautiful, inspiring place dedicated to the glory of our bountiful Creator.

Also, I want to encourage you to make your meal a true feast of Thanksgiving for those who gather with you around the table. The Book of Common Prayer of The Episcopal Church provides many resources to help us join together in giving thanks on our national day of thanksgiving. Our Hymnal also is filled with words and music to express our gratitude. I commend these worship resources to you and pray that you and those you love will enjoy a truly Happy Thanksgiving!

The Collect for Thanksgiving Day

Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Prayers for Our Country

Almighty God, you have given us this good land for our heritage: We humbly beseech you that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of your favor and glad to do your will. Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought here out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in your Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to your law, we may show forth your praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in you to fail; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

A Litany of Thanksgiving

Let us give thanks to God our Father for all his gifts so freely bestowed upon us.

For the beauty and wonder of your creation, in earth and sky and sea.

We thank you, Lord.

For all that is gracious in the lives of men and women, revealing the image of Christ,

We thank you, Lord.

For our daily food and drink, our homes and families, and our friends,

We thank you, Lord.

For minds to think, and hearts to love, and hands to serve,

We thank you, Lord.

For health and strength to work, and leisure to rest and play,

We thank you, Lord.

For the brave and courageous, who are patient in suffering and faithful in adversity,

We thank you, Lord.

For all valiant seekers after truth, liberty, and justice,

We thank you, Lord.

For the communion of saints, in all times and places,

We thank you, Lord.

Above all, we give you thanks for the great mercies and promises given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord;

To him be praise and glory, with you, O Father, and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.

Hymn 397

John Rutter's setting of Now Thank We All Our God performed by the Cambridge Singers

Words: Martin Rinckart (1586-1649); tr. Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878)

Music: Nun danket alle Gott, melody Johann Cruger (1589-1662); arr. John Rutter (1945-)

November 22, 2016
Something to Think About on Thanksgiving Day

As Americans prepare to celebrate our National Day of Thanksgiving, we are hearing reports from Mali, Beirut, and France about terrorist attacks. For many of us, these reports recall painful memories of our own experience with terrorism on September 11, 2001 and the days, months, and years that followed.

It is difficult to give thanks for the blessings of liberty when attacks on the liberties of others make us aware of how vulnerable all humanity is in the hands of terrorists. Right now, we are especially conscious that our lives are connected in the human community and that we are not really as self-sufficient as we might think.

Theologian Walter Brueggemann points out that the observance of Thanksgiving reminds us that life is a gift.

Thanksgiving is a contradiction of the values of a market economy that imagines we are self-made and can be self-sufficient. When we give thanks, we commit an act of defiance against the seductions of our society. . . We may sing all kinds of patriotic songs and feast to satiation on Thanksgiving Day. Beyond all of that is our acknowledgement that life is a gift that evokes response. We are never self-starters. The drive for self-sufficiency is an unnecessary and futile idolatry.

Enjoy family, friends, and a bountiful feast on Thanksgiving Day. Then, sometime during the day, find a place where you can be alone and quiet for half an hour or so. Take a pen, some paper, and this quotation with you. Read it over a few times and then make a list of things that make your life what it is because God and others have blessed you – evidence that you are not self-sufficient. Say a prayer of thanksgiving over that list and think of ways to express your gratitude to whomever else is on the list. Do it right away before the pressures of everyday life make you forget.

Here is a video meditation for your Thanksgiving on a text by Brian Wren with piano accompaniment arranged and performed by Tom Howard.

And here is the Collect for Thanksgiving Day from The Book of Common Prayer.

Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

May your heart be filled with gladness and gratitude as you celebrate Thanksgiving with those whom you love. And please continue to pray that God will comfort the victims of terror and turn the hearts of those who commit such violent acts so that they might become agents of peace.

I'll see you in Church!

November 19, 2015
“If it weren’t for St. John’s” – October 11, 2015

After our October 11 Consecration Sunday service, I was at the door saying goodbye to friends who had attended our service and were about to return to Texas. Most of you were already in Hansen Hall enjoying the brunch. I looked up and saw a man coming toward me and his appearance suggested to me that he was going to ask me for assistance. I thought, “This is really an inconvenient time.” How wrong I was!

The man had a bouquet of flowers in his hand. He said, “My wife and I have been visiting Jackson for the past week. She’s a cancer survivor and is out in the car. We’ve come here every day to pray and give thanks for her healing. If it weren’t for St. John’s, our visit would have been incomplete. Before we leave town, we wanted to bring these flowers as a way of expressing our gratitude. May I place them in the church?”

I had been writing and preaching about gratitude and generosity for weeks and here, before my very eyes, stood the incarnation of gratitude and generosity.

St. John's means so much to this community and to many of those who visit Jackson. I'm proud to be the Interim Rector. And it's one more reason I am Unapologetically Episcopalian.

I'll see you in Church!

October 26, 2015
God’s Abundant Protection

On a visit to England's Salisbury Cathedral, Gay and I were invited to join a tour of what I would have called "the attic," but the English refer to the entire structure as "the roof." Once we had climbed to the top of the interior of the Cathedral, we ascended stairs to the area above the nave that is normally invisible to worshipers beneath the magnificent 757-year-old vaulted Gothic ceiling.

The contrast was striking. Whereas the ceiling one sees below is beautifully formed and painted, the timbers above, which support tons of lead sheeting, are rustic. Our guide pointed out a place on one of the ancient timbers where the carpenter had placed his mark. It occurred to me that the memorial of this humble craftsman also stood in contrast to the gilded memorials of powerful and influential people down below in the statuary, the windows, the textiles, and all the other treasures that are a part of the day-to-day life of the Cathedral.

Salisbury Roof Timbers

And yet, this sturdy structure provides a cover of protection for everything and everyone below it. Without the roof, exposure to the elements would destroy everything else. The vaulted ceiling of the Cathedral is supposed to draw the minds of worshipers to heaven above, which, like the roof timbers, we cannot see but we trust as the realm of our ultimate protection.

Salisbury Cathedral has been a place of pilgrimage for countless pilgrims since the mid 13th Century. Like pilgrims going up to the Jerusalem Temple, latter day pilgrims recite prayers and psalms on their journey. When I was looking at the roof of Salisbury Cathedral that day, the words of Psalm 121 came to mind.

I lift up my eyes to the hills;
from where is my help to come?

My help comes from the LORD,
the maker of heaven and earth.

Click the Pic for a Virtual Tour

He will not let your foot be moved
and he who watches over you will not fall asleep.

Behold, he who keeps watch over Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep;

The LORD himself watches over you;
the LORD is your shade at your right hand,

So that the sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.

The LORD shall preserve you from all evil;
it is he who shall keep you safe.

The LORD shall watch over your going out and your coming in,
from this time forth for evermore.

Is it any wonder that the roof-peak on a building became a symbol for protection? The roof-peak is the inspiration for the ancient symbol we call a “chevron.” The French word chevron means rafter, the sloping supporting beam that runs from the ridge beam of a roof to its edge. In feudal times during the Middle Ages (ca. 1066 to 1485) knights and men-at-arms received the “top of the house” chevron badge or shield as an emblem of their protective role.

We see this symbol almost every day but never give it a thought. The classic upside down V-shaped symbol, especially used as a symbol of rank on military or police uniforms, is also used as a car logo, a corporation name, a kind of car racing, and more.

The chevron appears in the new insignia of St. John’s Heritage Circle as an element in the graphic device. It reminds us of the roof of St. John’s and all the chapels of the parish, which are topped by a cross. Like Salisbury Cathedral and other houses of worship, the lines of the architecture are intended to lift our hearts and minds heavenward and point us to God, who is our protector.

This generation has been entrusted with the work that was begun here decades ago. It is now our privilege and duty to exercise our trust in God, who “is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8). God's continuing purpose for St. John’s compels us to return week by week to be nourished in Word and Sacrament and sent back into the mission field at our doorstep to love God and our neighbor in our daily lives.

Sometimes, carrying out God's purpose is challenging and frightening. Some of the neighbors we are commanded to love are not that lovable. Some of the places we are sent are not that safe. Some of the issues we must tackle are not that popular. The price we pay will sometimes be costly. Jesus never promised following him would be risk-free. He said, “Take up your cross and follow me.” He also promised to provide all the grace, all the resources, and all the protection we need to continue his redemptive work.

If we will train our eyes to look, we will recognize signs of God's protection wherever we may be.

You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,

will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress;
my God, in whom I trust." (Psalm 91:1, 2)

The Catechism of the Episcopal Church, found on pages 845-862 of The Book of Common Prayer, provides An Outline of the Faith we profess. In the Catechism, we are taught, “The duty of all Christians is to follow Christ; to come together week by week for corporate worship; and to work, pray, and give for the spread of the kingdom of God.” I am grateful to be among people who are called, commissioned, and committed to that way of life. I am grateful to know that the One who gives that life to me is watching over me. I am grateful that God trusts me to extend the good news of divine protection to others who need it. I am grateful. Because I have received so much, I want my gratitude to be reflected in the generosity of my life.

The next time you see the chevron in the insignia of St. John’s Heritage Circle and the next time you look up to our roof or our intricate ceiling structure, think of God our Protector, who is the Source of all our gifts. Know that you are carved into the palm of God's hand and God will never let you go. Trust that God will supply you with exactly enough so that you can give a little more generously every day. Then, with a glad and generous heart, take the steps God sets before you to fulfill your vocation as a follower of Jesus Christ.

I'll see you in Church!

October 6, 2015
An Aspen Epiphany

Signs of spring are appearing a little earlier than usual in Jackson Hole. The snow is almost all gone in our yard and little green sprigs are pushing their way up through the soil. Buds are appearing on the branches of various members of the willow family. When I was out walking yesterday, I noticed the change on the branches of some aspen trees beside the road. This sight gladdened my heart because I’ve never before seen aspens in springtime. I’ve loved aspens for as long as I can remember. When I was a child, I played among them. When I was a youth, I hiked and camped among them. I’ve spent time around their white trunks in the summer, in the fall, and in the winter, but never before in springtime.

Jews have a tradition of offering a brief prayer of thanks to God (berakhah) whenever they have a new experience. I appreciate the tradition and try to practice it daily at every point when I experience the hand of God at work in the world around me. So, on the occasion of seeing the buds on the aspen tree, I said, “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, Sovereign of the Universe and Creator of all things, for showing me your handiwork.”

The function of a berakhah is to acknowledge God as the source of all blessing. These short prayers also serve to transform a variety of everyday actions and occurrences into religious experiences that increase awareness of God at all times. For this purpose, ancient rabbis taught that it was the duty of every Jew to recite one hundred berakhot every day.

I wonder what would happen if every believer from every faith tradition were to adopt this practice. Greater awareness of the One who created all things might make us better neighbors, better stewards, better parents, and better sons and daughters. Offering a blessing to God for the abundance of blessings from God could, over time, transform us into more generous people. Acknowledging the majesty and wonder of our Creator would humble us and change us into more grateful creatures.

Let’s try it for a few days and see what happens!

I’ll see you in Church!

March 19, 2015