Tag Archives: Martin Luther King Jr

Walking by Faith and Not Sight

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“Walk by faith, not by sight”

Those words are the words in the Jesus Calling devotional from today. They jumped right into my line of sight tonight as I glanced down to read today’s reading.

As the weather here in North Dakota has been GLORIOUS this week (We are talking 50s and above, my friends),  I have been spending more time walking from here to there. In the winter months, I walk as quickly as I can to get in and out of the cold. But this week I have found myself taking in God’s awesome creation all around me. I have found myself walking through puddles and not even caring that my feet have gotten wet. I have watched the snow quickly melt as the grass begins to appear again. I have listened intently to the birds in the morning.

As I have paid attention, I have realized that I definitely am not always good at paying attention.  More times than not, I am caught up in the busyness of life and forget to look at the world around me. And then I find myself asking, what have I missed? Have I missed God bring that special person into my life? Or perhaps that person is there and I am not looking closely enough.

Do you know what I mean, friends? Are you afraid you haven’t seen…or heard something that God has shown or placed right in front of you?

Somedays I wish God would give me directional signs–a stop sign, a yield sign, an arrow this way, etc. But the truth is my friends we need to remember those words I read in my devotional tonight. We need to remember to trust in this one who gives us hope, who promises to never leave us or forsake us. We need to walk by faith not by sight!

If you are at all like me, there are indeed days when that is so much easier said than done. Yet I believe in a God who asks me…asks all of us to trust in him. We are to indeed walk by faith not by sight! I do believe God wants  us to see what God created. But I also know that God asks us to trust fully and wholey in him.

We indeed need to walk by faith not by sight!

God, help us to trust fully in you; to know that even when the path is dark, you can see the entire staircase. You know the way for us to go. You are the conductor of a beautiful orchestra; a conductor who continually teaches us about life’s high notes and low notes; about life’s ballads and life’s laments. Each note is carefully crafted and played by the one who created each of us and always walks with us. Help us to remember that we are to always walk by faith and not by sight. Amen!

“Faith is taking the first step even when we cannot see the whole staircase.”–Martin Luther King Jr.

Freedom Is Coming!

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In a small chapel in Gettysburg PA, voices were raised as these words carried through the chapel: “Oh freedom, Oh freedom, Oh freedom, Freedom is coming, Oh yes I Know; Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus, Jesus is coming, oh yes I know!” These words were joyfully lifted to the Lord that night. It’s a memory that is forever engrained in my mind.

My small group was to lead worship on Thursday night (the Thursday before Martin Luther King Jr. day). A couple of them had suggested “Freedom is Coming” from the This Far By Faith hymnal so that is what we sung. That day was an extremely difficult day because that morning we received news that Wartburg Seminary student Ben Larson had lost his life in the Haiti earthquake. Having planned worship a week before, we decided to continue with our worship that night which still included “Freedom is Coming.” I remember watching and listening as our voices were lifted joyfully to the Lord as we sang this magnificent African American hymn. The next day we were reading a blog that someone had posted from Ben’s senior year of college and he talked about international music and the song Freedom is Coming and how that song was a song that was very important to him. Little did we know when we planned worship what this hymn meant to Ben. The Holy Spirit truly works in mysterious ways!

Today as we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I am reminded of all that MLK Jr. did for us. I also am reminded of why Ben, Renee, and Jon were in Haiti. What beautiful witnesses to faith! Yes, there are times when it is hard to share that faith or see that faith because of all the evil in the world around us. Yet with hope, I believe that freedom is coming. Christ promised to come again to judge the living and the dead. And in that moment, it seems to me that true freedom will be reached.

And so may we all lift our voices declaring that “Freedom is coming!” (I found this video of children’s choir singing in Uganda. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15IS3R8EbAg

Bonhoeffer, MLK Jr. and Me

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I’m still really having a hard time wrapping my head around the news of Osama Bin Laden’s death. I understand that people need to rejoice; rejoice for those that lost their lives on Sept 11, 2001. I understand that many of us are feeling relief for this evil man who caused the death of these people and cannot hurt them anymore. Yet Im still having a hard time wrapping my head around how I should feel. This morning I sat with some ladies in my Tues morning devos. I spoke my mind and told them how I was feeling; that I just couldn’t bring myself to celebrate over the death/murder of someone even this evil one. I was immediately met by responses that told me that they rejoiced. I don’t shame them or blame them for that at all. I myself just cannot bring myself to celebrate the death of ANYONE! How should I feel? How should I react? I am reminded of Lutheran Theologian Dietrich Boenhoeffer who in the last part of his life wondered if God was calling him to murder and instead ended up in a concentration camp. Recently a quote has been all over fb and it seems to capture how I am feeling in these days. I’ve recently been informed that only the last half of the quote was truly MLK Jr. and that the first half came from somewhere else. I hesistate to post a quote that I am unsure of the source but it is truly capturing how I feel. “”I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” I am clinging to these words as I try to discern and wrap my head around the events of the last several days and how I should feel, etc, etc!

Remembering…..

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It is 11:30 pm on Thursday evening January 13th. Tomorrow is January 14th; two days after the anniversary of the Haiti earthquake. Now you are probably wondering why that is such a significant day but the morning of the 14th was the morning I along with many others received the news that Ben Larson had been killed so this day is also a sad anniversary. However I am reminded of the beauty of the worship service my small group put together for that evening. Little did we know that the songs we chose, the service, etc would honor Ben’s life. You see at the beginning of the two weeks we were given which night we would lead worship. It just happened that my small group got Thursday evening Jan 14th. As we prepared for this day, we decided to do a service based around MLK Jr Day since it was on Monday etc. One of the girls decided we should sing the song “Freedom is Coming” because she liked it. We picked the MLK Jr Service out of the “This Far by Faith” hymnal etc. My group was ready to lead worship but then Thursday morning came and we received the news about Ben. Many tears were shed that day. I remember one of the girls letting me cry on her shoulder. That afternoon as we were preparing for the worship, we decided to play some of Ben’s music as a prelude as people were entering into the chapel. We also would tie Ben, MLK Jr, and the Diaconal Community all into one as we explained why we chose that service. The song we played was Ben’s version of Psalm 30. Then we entered into worship, we sang, we danced, we worshipped. Then later the next day, we found out that one of Ben’s most influential songs in his life was the song “Freedom is Coming.” Talk about a Holy Spirit moment! I am forever grateful for all the people gathered on that night in the small chapel at LTSG. I was blessed to know Ben and am glad that he made my friend Renee so happy. So tomorrow I will remember with fondness that worship service. I will remember listening to Ben’s version of Psalm 30 and will probably play it a few times tomorrow. I will always hold that service in my mind as a special worship I experienced in my life and I am thankful to all those that experienced it with me. It still gives me chills even just thinking about it!