Hi everyone,
It’s been quite a week.
Without getting into the gory details, it’s been a much busier week than I had been expecting. With the summer break, usually things slow down for me both at work and at home, but somehow it feels busier than ever. Now, I’m not complaining or anything (I don’t think), but I’m just noticing how life just doesn’t ever seem to let up.
Maybe you know what I mean. Maybe you’ve felt this before. Maybe you’re going through it now.
But as much as life can pile things on, there are always glimpses of relief, community, and joy. We might not recognise it right away, especially when we’re in the thick of things. But if we take the time to slow down, breathe, and maybe smell a flower or two, then we might be reminded of how we aren’t alone, how we’re cared for, and how God remains with us through the thick and thin.
So however your week has been going, God is with you. However your summer has been going, God is with you. However your life up until this point has been going, God is with you. And God is love.
You. Are. Loved.
Here are the readings for next week:
Amos 7:7-15
Psalm 85:8-13
Ephesians 1:3-14
Mark 6:14-29
I always have a hard time reading this story out of Mark, because it seems so unjust and unfair. John the baptizer didn’t deserve this end, not in this way. But it happened, according to this text, and it’s awful.
But at the end of the passage, we see the care of John’s disciples in how they collect him and support him. We see community in the following story where Jesus generously feeds a multitude of people. We see God’s grace at work, in Jesus, in the disciples, and in ourselves.
Because even when life is tough, we continue to be invited and welcomed into God’s kingdom of mercy and peace. Even when we don’t want to acknowledge it, God is with us. Even when we don’t see it or feel it, community is but an arm length away where we can be supported, cared for, and reminded of who we are as God’s people.
And above all, we are loved. Loved by our community and by God, which hopefully allows us to be loved by even ourselves. In that, we can find joy.
Thanks be to God! Have a joyful week, everyone!
Photo by Catherine Kay Greenup on Unsplash