Today's psalm and meditation focus on what has to be a recurrent situation for almost all of us. What do we do or say when 'all hell seems to break loose, when troubles and difficulties seem to multiply endlessly and for no discernible reason, and none of it seems to be our fault? That was the situation that had enveloped ancient Israel. While they did what many people have done over the years, and that is, to question where God was in all this, they did not, as a consequence, give up on God. Instead, they kept faithful to God, but also kept faithful in prayer, demanding that He act in their situation and help them. It is a good model and example for all of us.

Temptation is something that we all know all too well, and may often feel totally alone in it. To me, it comes as a great comfort, and help, to know that Jesus has also experienced it, in fact, in every way that we do. And what is even more reassuring is that He faced it, and overcame it, equipped with no resources other than the ones that we have available to us.

When things are topsy turvey, problems seem rampant, and everything seems to be in disarray, it is easy to wonder where God is and what God is doing. Many of the past 'greats' of the Christian faith experienced this on a personal basis, but now, for many of us, this has come down to rest on a larger, more societal and global levels. It is easy to question, and doubt, at times like this.

Our psalmist encountered this on a personal level, but regardless of his doubts and regardless of the fact that God seemed to be absent and uninvolved, still persisted in his faith in God, still persisted in prayer, and still persisted in holding on to God. To me, that adamant faith is certainly 'something' for our times, something worth imitating in our lives.

This season of Lent is set aside as a time for prayer and reflection and self-examination. Today's passage from Ezekiel, and its ensuing meditation, speak both of the need for consistency within our day to day lives, but also of the possibility of change and the promise of God to assist us in that change. All of this is more than welcome news in this season as we seek to be more faithful followers and disciples of Christ and grow closer to Him. May this be of assistance to you as you go about this.

I like to joke that I never, ever lose my focus, because, after all, it is the name of the make of the car that I drive, a Ford Focus. But then, if truth be told, I do lose it from time to time, especially in large supermarket parking lots. My car is of a make, model and colour (robin's egg blue) that is very similar to a large number of other cars in this city.

But losing focus doesn't apply only to my car. It is something that happens far too easily to all of us, and so it is most appropriate, and helpful, that we address this issue now during Lent, this time of self-examination and repentance. It is an ideal time to take stock of our lives, particularly on what things we hold to be important in our lives. Hopefully today's mediation will be of assistance in this.

Way back in 1973 American psychologist Karl A. Menninger wrote a book entitled, "Whatever Became of Sin?" In it, he exposes the way that any mention of 'sin' has fallen out of fashion, even within Christian circles, and laments its demise. Sin, he said, is now called by a number of other names, fault, indiscretion, accident, etc. but seldom named as sin. If that was true back then, I think that it probably even truer today. It is a word scarcely named today.

But yet, our souls do name it, even if secretly and unintentionally. All of us are probably far too aware of it and aware of its manifestations and consequences within our lives, and regret its influence. Today's psalm deals with it, not by covering it up, but by revealing how God intends to help us with it, namely by forgiving us, setting us free from its power and helping us to move on. I hope you find this meditation helpful and inspiring.

Remaining faithful to God, to Jesus Christ and to His people, has to be one of the most difficult things that we humans ever have to face. In today's passage we see how Pontius Pilate flubbed it, and are reminded of how Peter and the rest of the Twelve did so as well. And, of course, they are not the only ones. We are just as susceptible. But like Peter and the others we have the grace of God at our disposal. God will help us if only we let Him.

In this meditation, we look at the unity, servanthood and mutual care and support that should characterize the church. Sadly, this often seems far too absent in our world today, and far too often even in the church. I am looking with hope and expectancy to see this change as each of us, albeit with the help and guidance of God, do our best to be that change, and to make it happen.

To me, the Transfiguration and the ensuing deliverance of the demon-possessed boy invoke something of a sense of wonder and excitement, and hopefully, a sense of expectancy--namely that God has acted in the past, and still is acting even today.

Both my meditation and the one from the Forward Day by Day devotional speak of the importance of encouragement and of how a little bit of encouragement makes all the difference along the way. Paul speaks of the way that Lois and Eunice imparted their faith to Timothy and encouraged him along the way, and Paul himself does the same thing via his letter. He wants Timothy to remain strong and faithful, and not grow disillusioned or disappointed through the things he's going through. He reminds Timothy and us that God has entrusted to us a great and wonderful treasure, one that we should never give up. He counsels him to be faithful no matter what, knowing that the Holy Spirit is there to help and strengthen him. And the same goes for us. This 'season', this time of life in our world, may be incredibly tiresome, even frightening, but the same God is there to help us through it, if only we remain rooted and steadfast in Him.

Lent will rather quickly be upon us, and as such, constitutes a very good time to re-examine our lives, our priorities and our habits. In the latter case, Psalm 19 says some very pertinent things about our habits, particularly those that 'happen' to be sinful. Verse 13, in the Contemporary English Version (CEV), says 'don't let me do wrong on purpose.' (Other translations render this as 'presumptuous sins' or 'wilful sins'.) That is clear enough, but what about those sins referred to in verse 12, as 'when I sin without knowing it' (translated as 'hidden faults' or 'secret faults' in several other translations)?

It is those inadvertent or unintentional sins that are the subject of today's meditation, sins of word perhaps, or of association, or even of goals or of purchases. Anyway, I think that here is lots of food for thought, reflection and prayer. Happy going.

A widely held, but totally erroneous--and terribly misleading and destructive--notion is that only certain people are 'called' to ministry, and that only certain activities actually 'qualify' as ministry. This notion, as I said, is erroneous and destructive--because it leaves out many people and much of life. I like to think that all of us are involved in ministry and that all of our lives and work qualify. Here I think back to a couple of past parishioners. One was a school nurse who'd never thought of her work in attending to students' medical and health needs, and often their emotional and social needs as well (such as offering a listening ear or a comforting hug or holding the student's hand) as ministry. Or the president of the Alberta Cattleman's Association who likewise never thought of his role there as ministry. And yet he was largely in large of maintaining standards and requirements for the industry.

Today we look at Matthias--and his also-ran, Justus. They show up very, very briefly in the annals of history, but then are gone, seemingly unimportant, unnoticed and forgotten. But I believe their ministries--and the ministries of each one of us--are important, and necessary, in God's eyes, and likewise important, and necessary, for our church and our world. So, take heart and continue on: you are important.

When trouble and difficulties seem to swirl around us continually, it is sometimes hard to keep our focus on God, and choose to keep on trusting in Him and in His word. Psalm 119 always seems to have a myriad of messages for us, but this is the one that seemed to leap out at me today: to keep on trusting Him no matter what.

Today's passage, and meditation, strike at the heart of our Christian lives. How do we love people with whom we profoundly disagree--and may, at times, be openly critical and hostile toward their beliefs and the choices they have made? We have already seen this with regards to covid and the resulting restrictions but now are faced with it in even greater clarity with regards to the Ottawa truck protest and its allies. I know that families and friendships have been split over this and communities as well (such as Coutts, Alberta). (One Ontario senator was actually caught on tape publicly denouncing his own wife for holding a view that is contrary to his. I must say that I would not want to be his household just now!) But there's the rub: just how do we love those, including our fellow Christians, with whom we profoundly disagree? I'm afraid that I don't have a final answer, but maybe it's something that we can work on, together. My prayers are with us all as we try to do this.

Today's meditation also addresses the question of our openness to what God is saying, especially on the question of our obeying Him and trusting in His word and His wisdom, and allowing Him to correct and guide us. I suspect that we are not always very good at this, preferring instead to trust in our own wisdom and understanding.

The apostle James uses two images to describe how the word of God works in our lives. He likens it to a mirror that shows us what we are like and he likens it to a two-edged sword that pierces to the centre of our being. Both images invite us to look at ourselves in light of what God has to say. Today's meditation, about Joseph and his brothers, speaks of our openness to what God is doing, to our acceptance of it, and to our willingness to forgive and move on in light of it. I mean, who would have ever expected Joseph to behave in this way? Few would have expected him to see the hand of God in his brothers' treachery or in the many adversities that he suffered.

Here is one of the more challenging pieces of Scripture, though it may not seem that way at first. Here John is calling us to love one another, and not just with talk and good intentions but in action. So, here is the hard part: how do we demonstrate love, act in a loving manner, with those with whom we disagree, whether politically or theologically or on any other basis? We might choose to limit this just to fellow Christians, fellow church members, but I have heard some very unloving comments even there. So, how do we do what John says, and love each other? That's the challenge probably for most, if not all of us, especially in this very fractured and antagonistic time.

today's meditation speaks on our accountability towards God

Today’s meditation talks about the lordship of Christ, but not in the abstract--in reality!