Weekly Readings Reflections: Trinity Sunday

Our readings for Trinity Sunday are:

There was a popular bumper sticker that read "God is my copilot". That called forth an answering bumper sticker: "If God is your copilot, you need to move over." Perhaps there's a vibrant theology that has room for both of those perspectives.
If you truly believed that God desires to be your companion, someone who is with you through thick and thin, what would that do to your prayer life?
Would you expect this "God as companion" to make your journey easier?
If so, how?
If so, why?
Do you treat God as well as you want Him to treat you?

This is one of those rare Sundays in which the responsorial is drawn from the book of Daniel rather than psalms. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego have been given the chance to "repent" from defying the king's command to worship his idol: "If our God, whom we serve, can save us from the white-hot furnace and from your hands, O king, may he save us! But even if he will not, you should know, O king, that we will not serve your god or worship the golden statue which you set up.”
In general, what do you expect God to do for you when you follow His plan for you?
Has God ever disappointed you in that regard?
What does God guarantee that He will do on our behalf when we follow him?

We need each other. We need the inspiration and companionship that a fellowship offers to help us be the best version of ourselves. That need just takes a little longer to get addressed if, like me, you happen to be an introvert.
What are some fellowships that you have been a part of that have, and continue to, shape you?
How did that influence in your life come about?
How did you end up in that community of believers?

What does an insomniac, dyslexic, agnostic do all night? Next time you see me, ask the answer to that riddle. In the meantime, if you're honest, what is the hardest thing to believe about the promises that Jesus offers us?
In the face of the misery in the world around us, is it hard to believe that God is loving at all?
In the face of the complexity of the problems that we are confronted with as Christians, is hard to believe that God can call us to make a real difference, to move the needle?
In the face of the fear and hate boiling in so many hearts these days, is it hard to believe that God really expects us to be agents for healing and reconciliation?
Is it hard to believe that the salvation of each of us is linked to all of us?

Growing Old With Jesus

The village elder was hardly ever alone.

Those who knew him well would come and sit in his company just to be there,

Just to find again their center so that they could go forth and live from that center.

Others, many from neighboring villages,

Would travel there, burning with questions, doubts, worries,

Usually trying to find a way out of their problems.

A small handful of them would come seeking for a way through.

Some way to transform their view of their life in the moment,

And see God's presence that had always been there in plain sight.

A yet smaller handful were true disciples.

Men and women committed to renewing their own communities.

Missionaries of peace, learning how to transform themselves so they could transform others.

One of those disciples asked the village elder one day whether he had any regrets.

He smiled softly and said

I regret hanging onto my regrets for so long.

Every time that I gain new freedom in my devotion to our God -

Every time that I learn of a deeper love that I can share -

It is then that I would regret not having learned those things earlier.

But I finally learned that with each decision of mine that is freely chosen,

Each decision that is sincerely founded on seeking God more,

I am fulfilling God's destiny for me in the moment.

All that has gone on before, the missteps, the out and out rebellion,

The times that I was in too much of a hurry to even pray,

They are all part of the clay of my life that God is molding into something beautiful.

They are what He is redeeming right this very moment.

They are the substance of my salvation

They are what God is resurrecting even now.

Shalom!

Weekly Readings Reflections