I have often thought about how the announcement of the angel Gabriel to Mary that she would bear a child came as a rude shock--and a total disruption--to whatever plans she and Joseph had been making about their lives together. But think of how much more of a shock and disruption it would have been for Elizabeth and Zechariah to have an infant in their old age. Imagine a breast-feeding, or managing a toddler, when you are quite elderly. Grandparents experience this sort of thing continually, but here it is different: today's grandparents can always 'give them back.' That wasn't an option for Elizabeth and Zechariah.

Anyway, with both couples it illustrates how God is free to change our lives, and our plans, sometimes in the most unexpected ways.

It may just a perception rather than the actual reality, but there seems to be a widespread sense out there that people often are not held responsible or accountable for their actions. An expression of this widespread sense came just last night when we discussed the spate of graffiti that 'graced' our neighbourhood a week or so ago. The person we were chatting with seems to know the identity of the culprits and remarked, 'oh, they just like going around destroying things'. He seemed to suggest that nothing will ever happen to them as a consequence of their actions.

Fast forward that to our sins and sinfulness, our determination to 'do it our way', and many people feel the same sense of a lack of accountability, either for themselves or for others. And yet the apostle Paul says just the opposite. He tells us that our sin has consequences and such consequences that we humans could never hope to undo them in or by ourselves. That's why Jesus had to step in and take care of them for us. We may not like it, but that is the truth the way that Paul sees it.

Today's meditation leaves us with a very important, albeit essential, question, what is most important in our lives. Often we choose things that are really not that important. (This is something that has come very close to home as I try to purge my condo in preparation of moving into a new house!) Our psalmist suggests that God's word or teachings or law should be at the top of the list, but are they? It is something good to think and pray about.

Sometimes certain habits, certain words or phrases, become so habitual, so 'usual', that we barely take note of them or take them seriously. Take, for instance, the words of the 'Our Father', the Lord's Prayer, and in particular, the phrases 'thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.' We are, in actuality, praying that God's will and kingdom will be established on earth, and pledging ourselves to being part of that establishing of that will and kingdom. But, having said that, do we reflect on that, and seek to carry it out, in our day-to-day lives? That is the question that is posed by today's meditation. I don't know about you, but I certainly found the idea to be quite challenging. Anyway, here is something to think about and ponder, and hopefully, to act upon in some way.

One has to wonder whether more of the Christian message had been 'getting through' to Paul than he realized, or that he ever admitted. He speaks of the Law (the Law of Moses) as being our schoolmaster to lead us to Christ, but I wonder what it was that made him realize that, in order words, to make that jump from the Law to faith in Jesus Christ, from the Law, as it were, to the Lord. Shortly after his encounter with the risen Lord on the road to Damascus and the prayer of Ananias, we hear of his preaching the Gospel in the local synagogues. Maybe he had been listening far more than he ever realized. And, I can't help but wonder just who he had been listening to, who it was who opened the gospel to him.

It is that matter of listening that I am especially focusing on today. I happen to believe that there are many 'Laws of Moses' out there that can serve to provide an introduction, or at least some sort of bridge to the gospel. It may be from their faith background or it may be something from their own personal experience. Whatever it is, I think that we need to be open to it and listen to it or for it. My conviction is that the Holy Spirit is already there--and already speaking--if only we have the ears, and the perception, to hear Him.

The world around us, and even our own personal lives, seem to be in such a flux these days, in a flux personally (especially with regards to our health and our finances), nationally (who would have thought that a Truck Convoy would take over our capital city and even demand the resignation of our government!) and internationally as well (just think of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ripple effect on the global economy). It is so good, therefore, to be able to step back a moment and reflect on the solidness and dependability of Almighty God. He is, and has always been there, and so we can always count on Him. Glory to God!

It is far too easy within our own personal lives to get entirely caught up in our busy day to day agendas and activities, and fail to see or take note of the 'bigger' picture. Certainly, I have found this to be the case of late, firstly with a minor dose of covid, and then secondly, with the purchase of a new house and the 'staging' and downsizing of my condo. It was easy to lose sight of anything else.

Our mediation today directs our attention otherwise, towards God and all that He is and all that He does for us

It is far too easy within our own personal lives to get entirely caught up in our busy day to day agendas and activities, and fail to see or take note of the 'bigger' picture. Certainly, I have found this to be the case of late, firstly with a minor dose of covid, and then secondly, with the purchase of a new house and the 'staging' and downsizing of my condo. It was easy to lose sight of anything else.

Our mediation today directs our attention toward everyone around us. Here we are reminded of just how precious and valued each person is to God.

Today's meditation, while speaking of the inevitability of God holding us accountable, also speaks of the new start, the new beginnings, that also continually offers to us.

Today’s meditation, from Numbers, gave us the idea that God is always present, always ready, and always able to help us, even when the situation seems impossible.

Today's meditation focuses on the questions of how we should live for Christ and how that should impact others. In one of his other letters the apostle Paul describes his fellow Christians as 'living epistles' [letters] read by others'. So then, this poses a question, namely, what is it that others read about Jesus by virtue of our lives, both by what we say and by what we do? What message is getting through? And, if it is indeed about Jesus, is it getting through clearly and intelligibly so that others can grasp it? Something to think about.

Today's meditation, based on a passage from Proverbs, speaks of a mysterious supernatural being called Wisdom, who was at the beginning of the creation of the world. But here is where the matter gets confusing: just who is this person, and is she God? This just adds to the dilemma that we are always faced with on this date in the church year, Trinity Sunday, when we try to explain the unexplainable. The best that I can do when faced with this is to decide that it is too much for my 'feeble brain' to sort out or explain, and decide, instead, to simply trust what (and who) I do know and understand at least in part, which is Jesus.

The other meditation, the one from yesterday, concerns one of the heroes of my faith, the early apostle Barnabas. Now here is someone that I can get my head around. To me, he is a great role model, someone that I would sincerely like to imitate and be like. I think that the world, our families, our communities and our churches all need people like Barnabas, people who are encouragers. May you and I be more like him.

I'm afraid that all of us, from time to time, find ourselves in the position of today's psalmist (or of the prophet Habakkuk) when they ask, 'why do the wicked in this world prosper, when God's faithful people do not?' That, of course, fronts on the age-old question about the existence of evil. The best answer that I can come up with is that God, in His love and care for humankind, chooses not to force our hand, force us to do what is right, and instead, grants us the freedom and privilege of choose, that is, free will. And so, our choosing unwisely at times is a natural consequence of that freedom of choice. Even so, that isn't the end of the story. Justice is written into the very fabric of the universe and God will see to it that justice is done--and seen to be done. However, that will be according to His own timing and plan rather than ours. So, in the meantime we simply need to wait patiently, try to be faithful in our words and actions, and trust in His loving plan.

According to many scholars today's portion from Matthew is the pivotal point, the focal point of the entire gospel account. Jesus wants to know, not what other people think about Him, but what the Twelve, His own disciples, think. Of course, everything hangs on their answer to that question, and to one subsequent question. If they get that first question wrong, then nothing else matters. Peter gets it right. Peter, answering for all of them, 'You are the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God." That is undoubtably correct, but then there needs to be a follow-up question, namely, "What are you going to do about it?" Those are the questions that face all of us, and not just one time in our personal history, a kind of once and for all, but every day and every moment.

Questions surrounding the exercise of personal freedom and rules and our social responsibility to love and care for each other have been very much in the news of late, and so it is interesting to see that the apostle Paul addresses these issues centuries ago, albeit in an entirely different context. I hope that today's passage and meditation will be inspiring and stimulate you into further thinking on this matter.

To have a friend, someone on our side, someone 'in our corner' as it were, is one of the most precious things we humans can ever enjoy. And to think that we have that in our God, in our Saviour Jesus Christ. It is something that today's psalmist, David, picks up on, not so much for the sense of intimacy, but for the comfort and strength and protection that having such a friend affords him. And, not just him: it is something that we can all enjoy--and relish--and depend upon.

How often we humans feel as if we're 'between a rock and a hard place' (to use the old expression), totally at our wits' end in terms of any strategy or way forward. This is certainly how the future King David felt when he was on the run, hiding from the wrathful King Saul, a state of mind that is fully reflected in today's psalm. And yet, even in the midst of this, David knew that he could trust fully in God. That trust, that reliance, is something that we need as well, as we face our own uncertain and difficult times.

Today is that wonderous and wonderful day we call Pentecost, the birthday of the church. Interestingly, the author of today's Forward Day by Day meditation chose not to celebrate that event, but rather a more distant and yet continuing one, an event of even greater import, namely the creation of the world, the universe, by a loving and incredibly versatile Creator. And, as I like to say is that He is still at work in our world, if only we would have eyes to see it.

For me, personally, today has its own 'wonders', for on this exact day in history, and on this very day of the Church Year, Pentecost, I was baptized back in 1949 at Holy Trinity, Pine Lake (in central Alberta near Red Deer), and ordained as a deacon in 1977 at the Cathedral Church of the Redeemer in Calgary. Two additional acts of God in creation, I must say. It only goes to show that God takes and choses, and uses, the most unlikely of creatures for His glory--and His work. That goes for all of us--without exception.