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I was asked to prepare a blessing for the first meeting of our newly elected Town Council.  Below is the text of the prayer:

Town Council Blessing

Kindersley Council Chamber

November 14, 2016 – 5:00 pm

Heavenly Father,

We ask for your blessings to fall upon this chamber in which we stand.

We ask for your blessing of health, strength and clarity for these members who will sacrifice of their time and energy.

Give this council a strong sense of purpose. Bless our elected officials with the absence of gloom and doom, discontent and discouragement.

Protect the Mayor and his fellow council members from pride and self-interest. May generosity replace greed. May wisdom and prudence prevail. May the good of the community always be the driving force of planning and development.

Bless their thoughts with:

• visions of aid for the poor and unfortunate,

• strategies for the health and welfare of the community,

• cooperative opportunities with those who have available means.

May each one be equipped with wisdom, charity, ability and the will, as manifested in Jesus Christ, to spread love and compassion throughout our community of Kindersley.

AMEN

As I was riding my exercise bike Friday morning.  A fly alighted on the window.

The sun was shining brightly.  His wings were shaded at the tips and his body was shimmering.  In an attempt to reach the outdoors, he flew in and out, hitting the window, then backing out, then taking another run at freedom.

I was close enough that I could see details I had never observed before.  He appeared to have only four legs as he skittered across the window.  When he stopped for a second, I counted six legs.  His wings were serrated with black stripes.  His quick strides were coordinated and quick.

This was the beauty of the morning.

To see with new eyes what is too soon mundane. 

I must admit that I’m still the optimist and idealist.  I like to think culture is an open venue for God’s kingdom – all we need to do is get out there and spread the Word. 

I’m not as inclined to be an isolationist creating my own subculture in some far off place.  I like the idea of a subculture (a true sub-culture that is part of the dominant culture, but totally holy in relation to that culture) that seeps into the cracks and crevices of those around me.

I used to think it would be a warm day in the netherworld when I would say I was getting old.  Now, I have no choice, but hopefully in my choices I’m still wanting to open myself up to God’s kingdom come – which means reexamining old views of how I thought God’s kingdom had to come, and looking for the new wine of God’s kingdom.

Interestingly this does not arise from a recent election in the United States.  This arises from a desire to be sure my own heart is not becoming hardened or fossilized.  Fear can freeze us, frenzy can destroy our environment, and freedom can elude us.  But we are called to love, joy and peace. 

May Jesus lead me securely in his path, with greater reaches of risk and reward!!

A bacteria culture is used to let bacteria grow.  That way a small sample can become a great mass – easily examined and diagnosed.

Marriage has entered a new stage.  We are not able to easily say that the culture is yet large enough to examine definitively.  Why are we looking at this new culture of marriage?  In our day and age we recognize the symptoms of a new dis-ease, a completely new strain that was unknown years ago.  And we are not completely at ease with what we see.

I say that in relation to a story of one of my relatives.  She was married in the early 1950’s.  As the story goes, they had seen each other a few times.  Never “gone out”.  The marriage proposal was before they had ever officially gone out, and the wedding was arranged with a quick call to a pastor.  They both remained working following the wedding (in different towns) until they were able to arrange for a honeymoon and move in together.  More than a half century later he passed away – both quite contented with this marriage!

No living together – they would figure each other out in the bounds of their marriage.  No short-term commitment – this was for life.  No huge wedding ceremony – they would accommodate their schedules as needed.  No thoughts of adultery or other versions of marriage – one man, one woman, was good enough for them.  The grounding stone in the relationship was Jesus Christ – God brought to them in the Spirit of Jesus. 

We are living in a new day.  Marriage is cultured in a whole new set of ideals.  As we continue to open the ripened fruit of contemporary marriage, what will we find?