Tag: Faith

Be The Light

Be the light. A YMCA devotion for those called to bring hope to darkness and to stay faithful amidst suffering. Like Mary, the beloved mother of our Lord Jesus. #flourishingforall

When the times seem dark, when the burdens of living cause you to stumble, when you wonder why life is turning out this way, remember Mary.

Artistic gifts from the nations, of Mary mother of our Lord Jesus, at the Basilica of the Annunciation, Nazareth Israel

Our OnPrinciple team of 24 YMCA leaders visited Nazareth in February 2020, and a highlight included visiting holy sites where it is believed that the messenger Gabriel announced to young Mary that through her the Messiah of Israel would be born – The Annunciation.

Below are more pics of the Catholic Basilica of the Annunciation, as well as some from the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation.

Growing up as a Evangelical Protestant Christian in the Midwest, I was taught to be suspicious of Catholics, to not consider them as even Christian unless they had a born-again experience like me.

This included disregarding Mary, reviling at Marian devotion, and looking down on anyone who held Mary in high esteem.

I’ve been having to detox from this bigotry.

Visiting the Basilica of the Annunciation changed something within my heart towards the Mother of Jesus.

The pictures below try to capture some of the beauty created through architecture and art in remembrance and celebration of The Annunciation.

I was humbled by the lower section of the Basilica, which has an earthen, wooden feel to it, centered around the home of Mary, where Gabriel visited her.

The upper level is full of light, it draws your eyes up, particularly to the towering cupola, a structure of magnificence and awe.

What turned my heart towards Mary in a more personal way was the many works of art depicting her from the point of view of over forty different countries.

I posted a few of my favorite below – Brazil is so joyful, Mexico makes me smile; America makes me grimace, and I still can’t figure out the Canada one.

As I reflect on this place, this sacred space, I’m reminded of the light that Mary brings to those who remember: her simplicity, her faithfulness, her courage, her determination, her fierceness, her enduring hope, her generous love.

The times were dark when she was visited by the messenger of God. The times are still dark for many in the world.

We can look to the mother of Jesus as a source of inspiration, as one who trusts in the Lord, who will follow him to the end, in love.

When I think of the need for more light, I think of the need for more of us to let Mary light our way.

She was loved by Jesus; but it was her mothering love that shaped his infant, adolescent and adult life. It was her songs that stirred his soul, her faithfulness to God that he in part imitated when he faced heart-breaking hardships.

Be the light.

Let the light of Jesus shine through you in the dark.

Learn from Mary the mother of Jesus on courageously enduring to the end, to the vindication, when God makes all things right.

Basilica of the Annunciation, Nazareth, Israel
Basilica front door; 8 engravings from the life of Christ
Basilica lower level, facing 4th century basilica ruins over the home of Mary, where she was visited by the angel Gabriel
Altar inside the original basilica
Upper level of basilica, facing the back of the sanctuary
Facing the front of the basilica upper level sanctuary
Front altar, upper sanctuary
Flower shaped dome jutting up above the front of the basilica sanctuary
Mary the Magnificat : America

“And Mary sang out:

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.

His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.

He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.””


‭‭[The Magnificat, the Song of Mary, from the Gospel According to Luke‬ ‭1:46-55‬ ‭NIV‬‬]

Mary : Mexico
Mary & the Holy Child : France
Mary : Polonia
Mary : Brazil
Mary : Australia
Mary : Portugal
Mary : Canada
Mary : Spain
Mary : Japan
OnPrinciple Team, group pic at Basilica of the Annunciation
OnPrinciple Team enjoying the warm hospitality of the Nazareth YMCA board members and friends.
Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation; built over an underground spring where it is believed the angel Gabriel visited Mary

Click here for all of the blog posts reflecting on the YMCA in the Holy Land.

Surviving Storms

When I was in high school, my best friend and I took our small speed boat out onto the lake with some friends, even though we knew a storm was coming. We were hoping to have some fun skiing and tubing before the rain came.

As it started to drizzle, we decided it was a good time to head into shore. But it was too late! The winds became vicious, the waves big, we made it back to the dock – soaked and scared.

Storms are part of our life on Earth. It’s nothing personal, just part of how the ecosystem works. With some accumulated wisdom, preparation, and cooperation, we can survive most storms.

But as we know, there are storms that swamp us unexpected. And not just windstorms, but also soul-storms, hearts breaking open with tears of sorrow, hopes battered by rains of disappointment. What then?

 

This was the kind of stormy political and personal place the disciples of Jesus were in as they crossed the furious Sea of Galilee with him one evening. As people of Israel, their souls ached for God to return the nation to their former days of glory when a son of David reigned as king, ruling with justice, mercy, and humility.

Instead, they struggled to survive under the violent thumb of the Roman Empire – prior to that it was enduring the turbulent rule of the Greek Empire, and before that putting up with the powerful Persian Empire, which had inherited Israel from the Babylonian Empire. Imagine trying to survive amidst those political terrors.

The gospel that Jesus was preaching centered on the announcement that God had indeed returned to Israel to reestablish the throne of David – the kingdom of God was coming, so be prepared. It was difficult for the people of Israel to believe that Jesus was the king come to save them. Slowly Jesus would reveal who he really was, usually in decisive moments, often times in the midst of personal, political, and powerful storms.

For the disciples in the boat with him, they were terrified that they were going to die. The furious squall stirred up fear, and it swamped their faith. That’s what storms can do. Interestingly, even with Jesus in the boat, they still had no faith in him.

Sometimes we think that if we could only see Jesus, it’d be easier to believe in him. But that wasn’t the case with the disciples or the people of Israel. Seeing is not always believing.

Jesus asks his disciples, “Why are you so afraid?” Why are you so afraid of death? Why are you so afraid of chaos? Why are you so afraid…? To his disciples who had been with him, he spoke straight: “Do you still have no faith?”

Storms not only reveal our fears, and our lack of faith, but also the faithfulness of Jesus to us. Some storms he will calm. But he can’t and won’t still all the storms of our life. Storms are part of life, and through them we can see our fears and become open to the faithfulness and presence of Jesus.

Jesus is present to people in this stormy world by his Spirit and by his people who are faithful to him. When we have storms, we must receive the people God sends to be with us.

But when others are swamped by their storms, will we let God send us to be with them, to bring the presence of Christ to them amidst their fears and drowning faith?

Whether the storms are personal, political, or powerful natural phenomena – may Jesus’s faithfulness calm our fears when we barely believe, may our surviving make us braver, that we may extend the presence of Christ together in bigger storms to come.

Come, Follow Me

What do you see when you see people?

What we look like often says something about us. How we dress, how we walk or stand, how we smile or frown, they say that body language is 80% of your personal communication. You can learn a lot about someone from how they look. But not everything, oftentimes we are usually lacking contextual knowledge and we can’t see inside their soul. The upside of this: people can surprise us – there is more to people than meets the eye.

We see this in an early story of the gospel in Mark,the-gospel-of-mark when Jesus first meets Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, and their fellow fisherman down the Sea of Galilee coast, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Jesus, the intriguing and powerful prophet approaches four gritty fisherman to become his disciples. This is outrageous and unheard of!!! What did Jesus see in them?

Maybe Jesus saw in them betrayal and pettiness, bravado and posturing, pride and prejudice, vengefulness and racism, envy and sloth. He probably saw that in most everybody he met. Probably still does. But maybe Jesus also saw in Peter and Andrew, James and John, you and I, a spirit, mind and body open to God’s renewing work in the world. Maybe Jesus saw the real them and decided it was worth the invitation: “Come, follow me.”

Jesus sees you, and when he sees you, he invites you to “Come, follow me.” Not because you are without sin, not because you are better than other people, nor because you’re special. He calls you because he knows you’re open to the life he has for you – a life of blessing the world in Christ’s name through your flaws and talents.

The messy you is the one he is calling, like those Galilee guys, and if he can put up with their shenanigans, by the power of the Holy Spirit he can bring good out of yours too.

So what’s keeping you from seeing yourself with the eyes of Jesus? What’s keeping you from seeing others with that Christ-vision? What if, instead of looking down or away from others, we looked into them, by the Spirit of Christ, past their appearances, with a prayerful spirit: “Lord, help me to see what you see”

rd_acpp_FishersOfMen_28x20_750When Jesus called the fishermen, he said, “Come, follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people.” The story says that “at once they left their nets and followed him.” Wow! What was it about Jesus that compelled them to go with him? It must have been an amazing moment.

Jesus wants to have that amazing moment with you. And he wants to create those amazing moments in others through you. He wants to use you, in your “fishy” life to send you out to others to really see them, speak hope into them, to help them join in with Jesus. Just as Jesus opened your eyes to him and to others in a new and beautiful way, Jesus wants to take that new vision of yours and help open up the eyes of others to new possibilities, new faith, a new community with God’s people.

FollowMeWhat if we all could see each other with the eyes of Christ? That would be a great start for some amazing changes in our community, wouldn’t it?

“Lord, help us to see others with your eyes. Send us with your vision and your invitation, with your words of love and hope.”