Much is said in the Scriptures about the 'fear of the Lord'--for instance, 'the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom', and sadly, unfortunately, some take this as meaning a cringing, avoidance kind of fear, rather than being a healthy respect and reverence. But perhaps even better than all of this is to think of it in terms of love and a love relationship. In a healthy, loving relationship the last thing you want to do is to wrong the other person or hurt him or her, or cause some sort of division or barrier to exist between the two of you. Those are the things you want to avoid at all costs. And so, I like to think of our 'fear of the Lord' as wanting to avoid anything that hurts or wounds Him or impairs the love between the two of us. Anyway, there's something to chew over, and think about, for today.

As usual elsewhere in Psalm 119, the psalmist in today's passage has waxed eloquent about the need to be rooted in God's law and commandments, to know and understand them properly--and then, as a natural consequence, to be firmly resolved in keeping them and obeying, and of course, to be consistent in keeping them. In light of that, what more can I say? It is a challenge, but one that can well be expected by us as followers and disciples of Christ. So, keep up the good work.

One of the things that Jesus reiterates over and over again is the necessity of sight, of seeing properly. And He does so by connecting it up with hearing--and of course, with responding and obeying. Somehow, in His eyes, all of these belong together. So this, to be at least, begs two questions. First of all, in this age of conflicting messages and opinions, are we seeing and hearing correctly, and in light of this, obeying exactly what our Lord wants? And then secondly, are we helping others to likewise see, hear and obey? These, it would seem, are two of the most pressing questions for this age and place.

An old gospel hymn talks about 'the old, old story' and that is indeed what we have received and what God has called us to live out and share with others in word and deed. It's not something that we need to newly invent, even though the way we phrase it or explain it may vary according to the times, places and person. And incredibly, it does not require anything by way of an expert. We don't have to be perfect or exemplary in any way. Each of us is to be a living witness, or as Paul says, a living letter not made with words. We are witnesses of Christ and His Good News simply by virtue of who we are--and if our words can explain and back up our actions, our visible witness and example, all the better. So all that we need is to be yielded to Him to do and act as He says, and let Him do the rest.

Years ago I took part in a clergy retreat led by our Primate at the time, Michael Peers, I think. He suggested that we might find ourselves giving Jesus a new title, or at least, a new focus, when it came to our thinking and our prayers. He suggested that while in times past we thought of Jesus primarily as Lord or Saviour, we might now start to think of Him more consciously and consistently as 'friend'. And indeed, in John's Gospel (John 15:13-25), Jesus refers to us as His friends. And surely, this is reciprocated. Surely, He is our friend as well as we being His. It is that friendship that the apostle Paul refers to in today's Scripture reading, a friend that has always been there for him and that he has always been able to count on. And, as it was for him, so can it be for each of us as well.

Prayer is a subject that most people, especially people of faith, are very familiar with, but do we really practice it? More to the point, are we really knowledgeable about how to go about it and comfortable with it? I suspect that we are often intimidated by the mere suggestion, by the mere prospect. I, for one, thought for years that there needed to be a particular place, time and pattern for prayer for it to really 'count' as prayer. Sister Doreen of the Sisters of St. John the Divine was most helpful in this regard, in suggesting that prayer can be at any time or any place. Even a hasty muttered prayer or thought prayer while at a stop light or in busy traffic 'counts'.

Even so, I still find myself reluctant to ask God for things, especially if they seem trivial or unimportant in the larger scheme of things. It is almost as if I don't want 'to bother him.' But Jesus, in today's Scripture, encourages us to ask, and even lays down some guidelines, some suggestions, as to how we might go about doing so. Anyway, I found this quite helpful. I hope you do as well.

God has a way of 'throwing us for a loop', of putting us into situations or directing us into them that are not at all what we expected--and certainly not within our comfort zones. The lawyer in today's passage about the Good Samaritan had his own comfort zone, one that certainly did not include the likes of Samaritans. It made me think of my response to people who fall outside 'my' comfort zone, people who are nasty and belligerent, especially over matters like vaccinations and global conspiracies, or people who have a well-developed, well-honed sense of superiority or sense of entitlement. These are people that I, for one, have trouble loving 'as I love myself.' And yet, Jesus tells me--and us--that not only are we to love them, but also that we should imitate them when they earnestly put themselves out in order to care for others. Ouch. That's a hard one, but then, that is what our God often calls us into.

The apostle James, in the Letter from James found in the New Testament, has a rather searing indictment of those who know God's will, God's word, and fail to put it into practice. In chapter 1, verses 22-25, he likens it to a person who looks at him or herself in the mirror, and then goes away, forgetting entirely what he or she has seen there. He likens the word of God to a perfect mirror that shows us as we are and then prompts us to act upon what we have seen there.

Today's passage from Psalm 119 also talks about the need to follow up our 'knowing' with doing. Knowing and understanding God's will and word are great, but unless they are put into action, they are insufficient, and, to be honest, somewhat useless.

The people in Nazareth, Jesus' former neighbours, had a problem. If they were to accept what Jesus said about Himself, namely that He was the long-awaited Messiah, then that would force them to re-evaluate their lives and change many things there. And, this they were not prepared to do. And we, too, if we take seriously who Jesus is and what He says about Himself, and about us, then there are also some serious consequences in terms of our priorities, thinking and actions. What the people in Nazareth did not realize was they would have been far the better for having done so. It is something we need to remember as well.

Jesus' famous Parable of the Great Feast, what I call the Parable of the Lame Excuses (see Luke 14:15-24), suggest some reasons why people might pass up on God's great and incredible offer. In today's passage, also from Luke, we see four other things, possible hindrances or obstacles, that might impede or stop us from faithfully following and obeying Jesus. Sadly, I find that they are all too pertinent to my own life and choices. There are some challenging notions here, I would think. What about you? Anyway, something to ponder and think about. Hope you enjoy this meditation.

To me, today's passage and meditation are extremely helpful and useful, in that they address the question of our priorities in life. So often, if you are like me, it is easy to get caught up in the day-to-day details of daily living, the myriad of things that we have on our to-do lists, and fail to see or take stock of the bigger picture, the picture as God sees it. And, according to how I read today's passage, that bigger picture, God's picture, always has to do with people, so it is very timely to be reminded of that.

I think that the Lord is perhaps trying to tell me something, and maybe you as well. I just 'happened' a few minutes ago to look at my accompanying note for my September 2 meditation and noticed what its overall message was. It was about how we tend to look only to ourselves for strength and help and guidance rather than going to the Lord and relying upon the Lord. Often, if you are like me, God is my last resort--even if I bother to go to Him at all, which far too often I don't. Anyway, I don't know about you, but for me, I need to be more intentional and more frequent in going to the Lord.

Today's passage and meditation remind us just of how wonderful and caring our Saviour Jesus Christ is. He is interested in our entire beings, body, soul, spirit, everything that we are and everything we do. That means that there is not a single aspect of our beings, or of our lives, that is not of interest or importance to Him. Everything, without exception: what a wonder and a joy that is!

The Scripture passage for today returns to one of my favourite books of the Bible, the book of Jonah. I like it because it is so very real, so very human, and because it has some very real lessons for all of us--today's lesson, for instance, on the necessity of faith also issuing forth in action is always pertinent for my life, as it probably is for all of us. I hope you enjoy this meditation and find it helpful.

This morning I was rather surprised, and delighted, by the passage selected by the author of today's Forward Day by Day devotional booklet and by the meditation that this author penned. It had all to do with thanksgiving, which was rather appropriate given what day today is for us Canadians--and rather surprising, seeing that the author is American. Anyway, I was delighted.

And, true to what our author says, we need to make sure that our thanksgivings are actually directed to the real source of our blessings, namely God. Far too often, I read Thanksgiving weekend messages from school children or notes in the press expressing their thankfulness--without even once mentioning the name of God. It is almost as if they felt that the blessings just appeared from nowhere, or as if they somehow 'deserved' or merited or earned them, which, of course, is the furthest from the truth.

Today's speaks of our civic responsibilities, which seems rather appropriate to this Thanksgiving weekend.

This meditation speaks of our need to listen, to listen carefully to what God says, and respond appropriately.