Don't Steal my Joy!

Epiphany3C, Sullivan Park Care Center, January 27, 2013 by Annette Fricke

                My mother used to give my brother and me a blank check to purchase groceries at the local grocery store.  For those of you who need to know, it was Hurd’s store in Rockford. Somewhere along the way, my brother had acquired a mixed yellow lab that followed us everywhere.  So one day we all went to the grocery store, our wagon in tow, and the owner of the store, Neil Hurd, asked us, “Whose dog is that outside?”  Neither of us wanted to say it was ours because we knew instinctively that Neil did not want any dogs in front of his store.  We asked him what it looked like and then said, “We don’t know.”  We went to the cashier, filling out the amount, and left without another word. 

            Then there was the husband of the usual cashier at Hurd’s store.  He would get mad at us for riding our bicycles on the sidewalk next to his house.  He saw it as his sidewalk. We figured it was safer than being in traffic and we literally rode our bikes all over town: to the top of the town hill, to Wes Brown’s place, to the cemetery, to the town dump, and even to the Melvin LaShaw farm. At one time, my brother bicycled half the town and I the other half of town to deliver the Spokesman-Review.

            The pursuit of joy in the midst of conflict was a theme of my life that began when I was very young.  Preachers and teachers, for the most part enjoy preaching and teaching.  But there is always bound to be conflict.  President Obama, in his second inaugural speech mentioned the often quoted portion of our US Declaration of Independence, from the beginning of the second paragraph, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights: that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”  He went on with, “The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few or the rule of a mob. They gave to us a Republic, a government of, and by, and for the people, entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed.” I admit that I did not pay much attention to what the critics said following the speech, but I am sure that this phrase and what followed is what ticked off a few people in the governmental offices as well as the general public.  There is always conflict in the midst of joy.

One thing in particular that struck me as I was reading up on this particular gospel text is this: This is Jesus’ inaugural speech.  It is the beginning of his ministry according to Luke, just as last week’s gospel from John is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus is telling us here what he is going to do.  Consistent with the rest of the gospel of Luke, we are again talking about the role of the Holy Spirit and God making it right for the poor and the lowly.  As I mentioned two Sundays ago, the Holy Spirit’s work in the story of Jesus in Luke is from the very beginning.  At the start of Luke, people are praying in anticipation of the Messiah, the one who will once and for all set everything straight and God’s justice will be accomplished on earth.  Or as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer or the Our Father: Your will be done on earth. I don’t think the disciples at this point understood “as it is in heaven.” We see Anna and Zachariah, Mary and Elizabeth in expectation and anticipation and the excitement they express when their prayers are answered.  We see the joy expressed in Nehemiah when the Word of the Lord is read to them.  We see the implied joy when the crisis of no wine left at the wedding becomes way more than enough.  God’s word to us is intended to be one of joy all the way back through the Old Testament. We need to separate the conflict from the joy.  We need to dismiss those who see only conflict. Remember that every time you pick up the Bible to read it. There have been many minds writing the Old and New Testaments. Don’t get caught up in the “eye for an eye” sayings.  As put forth on a sign at a church on Ray St, which I am certain is a quote from the movie, Fiddler on the Roof, “If we executed the ‘eye for an eye,’ everyone in the world would be blind.” The in-breaking of the kingdom of God is intended to be one of joy. It is exciting. For the longest time, all I could think about was these two men from my past saying essentially, “Don’t bring your dog to the store.” And “Don’t ride your bike on my sidewalk.”  And now, I would say to them if they were still alive, “Don’t steal my joy!”

Everyone likes compliments, especially when they first get up to read a lesson or preach.  I don’t know if this was Jesus’ first time reading in the synagogue, the second or even the last, but for some reason, they didn’t like it.  I am thinking they didn’t like the part where he said that this prophecy from Isaiah is being fulfilled in the present.  They might even have thought that he was being some kind of smart aleck talking in such a way as a child brought up in the area. Why?  Because Jesus, by saying this, is claiming to be no ordinary person and is claiming that he is the ideal messiah of Isaiah’s prophecy.

Now, I flunked out of Hebrew my second quarter, but this much I know: the word we translate from the Greek messiah means “anointed one.”  One of the first places we find one who is anointed is in the book of I Samuel when we read about the anointing of Saul to be a king, the first king.  So actually, it follows then that there were several messiahs before Jesus, but none of them were permanent nor meeting the expectations of the ideal messiah.  Remember two Sundays ago when I talked about the permanency of the Holy Spirit with Jesus?  I said this: As Richard Jensen observes, only in Luke is the Spirit of God described as a bodily descent of the dove upon Jesus. Bodily descent has the character of permanence.  The Spirit will remain with Jesus, unlike the prophets and kings of old when the Spirit would only last the length of their ministry or kingship. The Spirit in those cases was temporary. 

When men in the Old Testament were anointed as king, they were set aside, so to speak, for a specific purpose.  They were to be the king for the people and to do what God, through the prophets told them to do.  Saul was called to account for his behavior by Samuel for not doing what God told him to do. Saul was human and gave in to what the people wanted.   Samuel was very harsh with him. Saul came to him in repentance. Saul deeply regretted what he had done.  And remember David who killed another king so he could take his wife?  Even the greatest of the kings of Israel had serious faults.  The whole purpose of the kings was to carry out the will of God.  So also, the whole purpose of Jesus is to carry out the will of God.  Our whole purpose is to carry out the will of God. And where do we find the will of God for our lives?  Is it not the same as that of Jesus?  Isn’t that what God expects of us?  The Spirit of the Lord is upon you, because he has anointed you to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent you to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.  This is good news.  It is a joyful duty.  It is indeed right, our duty and our joy that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to God, through our Savior Jesus Christ. By the leading of a star you were shown forth to all the nations; in the waters of the Jordan you proclaimed Jesus your beloved Son; and in the miracle of water turned to wine you revealed your glory. Strengthen us for the journey by your Holy Spirit and your holy sacraments to bring good news.  Amen.

The Wedding at Cana Revisited

2SundayEpiphanyC, The Wedding at Cana, Sullivan Park Care Center, January 20, 2013 by Annette Fricke

                Oh, love, how deep, how broad, how high, Beyond all thought and fantasy, That God, the Son of God, should take Our mortal form for mortal’s sake! For those who might benefit from the Latin itself: O amor quam extaticus,
Quam effluens, quam nimius, Qui Deum Dei Filiam Unum fecit mortalium! The love of God is quite beyond our comprehension, especially when we contemplate our own failure to reach that type of love in our own lives.  How is it possible that God could love us that much?  I look at this gospel text and that is what I see: I see the love of God in Christ Jesus.  Last Sunday, we see Jesus standing in line with sinners for baptism and this Sunday, he comes not as the bridegroom of a wedding, not as the center of attention, but as a guest. God comes among us as one of us, a guest among many guests to a celebration of a wedding. He is a guest among many guests just as he was one person among many who came for baptism. Jesus came as one of us.

            It seems that by this time, Mary knew that Jesus was more than just one of us.  Why else would she give the order to “Do whatever he tells you?”  I don’t know what her expectations were when she apparently directed her son to do what he did, but I am positive that there was a great reaction to such a changing of water into wine.  The steward was quick to point out that there is a lot of good wine available for the celebration. Even though we don’t have many details, we can guess how this made the occasion a very joyful one.  In fact, we don’t have the details of this story at all—the name of the mother of Jesus is not named and neither are the disciples of Jesus.  In the gospel of John, only five disciples are ever named in the entire book. The mother of Jesus is never called Mary in this gospel.  Perhaps the point of this is that we should not be looking at the other characters in the story, but Jesus alone.  The important figure to note is Jesus, not anyone else.  Never mind his mother or his disciples because they are only minor characters to this story.  It is not what they do that matters, it is what Jesus does.

            The early Church, however, saw something else: 1) Christ shows himself to be one with the Creator.  This is the conclusion of Origen, Athanasius, Chrysostom, and Irenaeus.  2) The marriage feast is a symbol of joy.  This is the main emphasis of Origen who states that bread is a source of strength and wine is the source of joy. 3) Christ transforms the water of Judaism into the new wine of Christianity, especially for Origen, Clement, Cyril, Cyprian, as well as Chrysostom.

            Augustine, however, has a different view, “The miracle indeed of our Lord Jesus Christ, whereby he made the water into wine, is not marvelous to those who know that it was God’s doing.”  But, I would argue, it is marvelous and it is God’s doing. And I would argue that this miracle is about the abundance of God’s love, that it is plenteous and overflowing, it is over kill and beyond what is needed.  It is in excess. It is about the excessive lavishing of love that God has given to us in Jesus.  If you add up the figures, it is an overwhelming amount of wine.  There is far more wine there than that which is required or needed to satisfy the joyous celebration of a wedding in anyone’s book.  That is what I get out of this story. The quantity of wine is not only generous but the quality superb as well. 

            Martin Luther calls this text a lesson of love, visible in the difficult but finally happy relation of Christ with his mother, but then even more he sees the lessons of divine grace and discipled faith: “Thus Christ lures all hearts to himself, to rely on him as ever ready to help, even in temporal things, and never willing to forsake any;… Christ waits to the very last moment when the want is felt by all present, and there is no counsel or help left. It is like I was taught about one of the principles of counseling:  frequently, the best time to be ready to change one’s habits is when you are most in crisis, when you have hit bottom, so to speak.  It is a concept that is used widely in Alcoholics Anonymous.  Change is not going to happen until you yourself can see it with your own eyes. If I perceive that all is going well, there is no need for me to change.  Even if all in the room can see what I need, unless I see it myself, my motivation for change will be lacking.  Change will come sooner when we are willing to entertain someone else’s observation.

            Jesus’ mother has made an observation of what is going on.  The celebration, to be a true celebration needs wine.  The wine had run out. No commentary I have read has suggested this, but perhaps this also could be a reference to Judaism.  The joy of being in relationship with God has run out due to the Pharisees’ insistence on the observance of every letter of the law.  The law weighed people down and it became not a joy to worship God, but drudgery.  Those that thought they were living by it were actually hardened by it. They were proud of their standing before God and felt entitled. They believed that they were first in the Kingdom of God and deserved to be honored by God. Luther says, “Whoever still deems himself wise, strong, and pious, and finds something good in himself, and is not yet a poor, miserable, sick sinner and fool, the same cannot come to Christ the Lord, nor receive his grace.”  Luther is referring to the other purpose of the law which is to drive us to Christ. The other people encountered by Jesus in his ministry were those who had been broken by the Law, and were humbled by it. They knew they were condemned under it and found Him to be a source of redemption and a savior which they longed for. Luther makes a distinction between those who are filled with pride and do not have any room for grace.  If you see no need for God, you will fill yourself with other things, including what you think are your accomplishments when in fact everything you have is from God and owed to God.  Sometimes we need reminding about this.  Sometimes we are content to think that it has all come from us and we want to pat ourselves on the back.  We forget to give God the credit.  Instead of filling our vessels with the wine of God’s grace, we have filled them with our own pride.

            But now, let’s return to the text.  In John, the whole life and purpose of Jesus culminates where God is glorified.  God is glorified ultimately in Jesus’ death on the cross.  Crucifixion is glorification for John, no more and no less.  Throughout the gospel of John, we read, just as in this gospel text, that Jesus’ hour had not yet come.  However, just as every Sunday is a mini Easter, every story about Jesus is a glimpse of what the glory of God is all about.  The glory of God is the defeat of sin and death which is accomplished only by the death of Jesus on the cross.  According to John, that is the defining moment.  As Schnackenburg has noted, “This first Johannine miracle story points---as do all the Johannine miracle stories---beyond the narrated incident itself to Jesus’ work as a whole and to the fundamental saving event of the ‘Hour of Jesus.’  In the transformation of water of ‘Jewish purification’ into Jesus’ gift of wine, which was a sign of the Time of Salvation, the scene is set for the end-time Turn of Times. The Cross.”

In Christ, that promised day, that promised hour of Jesus has arrived and all the abundance of God’s blessings are poured out onto the people.  Their depleted resources are filled to the brim with God’s grace. The water for purification is transformed into the wine, which is God’s gracious offering of himself in Christ.  As the people during Jesus’ life on earth apparently demanded, “Give us a sign,” realize this: This is a sign along with others, but the most profound sign that Jesus is who he says he is, is his complete sacrifice for us in which he poured out love and grace unbounded for all.  Give us faith every day, gracious Lord to believe it and live into it. In the words of the second half of verse 4: “By words and signs and actions thus Still seeking not himself, but us.” Amen.

 

BaptismofOurLordJesus

BaptismofOurLordC, Sullivan Park Care Center, January 13, 2013 by Annette Fricke

            The snow falls silently and softly to the ground and onto everything not sheltered.  It blankets all with its cold caress.  People hurry to and fro outside the walls of this place where you reside and some do come to visit.  However, in this season of winter, people sometimes forget to slow down, and they don’t think to visit, and being here can get lonely.  Some people get into car accidents like the three car accident on the South Hill on 29^th on Friday. People sometimes forget to take care of themselves and care for others as well and end up doing the opposite.  Sometimes we are tempted to go about taking care of business in a way that does not do justice, it is simply task-oriented with no special thought as to intention or consequences, with no thought except maybe to complete the task and get it over with.  Sometimes we delude ourselves into thinking that we are controlled or that we are in control when in fact, it’s probably a bit of both.  We see a statement that declares, “Our destiny is determined by our decisions.”  Well, yes it is, but not entirely. I don’t pretend to know how people get to where they are today and yet because of that, I think we are all called to live in the present and to make the most of the present moment. A resident of mine declares, “I would not have bought a new car had I known I would have a stroke.” Here are the details: his mind has not been affected by the stroke, but his body has. Sometimes, my co-workers and I forget that not all of our residents have dementia and really do remember the details of how they are treated and what we say and do that triggers feelings in them. As a caregiver in a similar place as this, I appreciate the perspective you have to offer.

            Most of us have probably read the accounts of Jesus’ baptism as found in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John many times in our lives.  I don’t know about you, but I forget the details.  I forget how Luke and Matthew’s accounts use the same source for their gospels, which goes to Mark and to a source before Mark.  Yet, I know it is the nuances that make each gospel story unique in what gets emphasis and what does not.  And it is always interesting what the crafters of the lectionary readings leave out.  This morning’s gospel leaves out the context of John the Baptist being imprisoned by Herod. We are commemorating the Baptism of Jesus today and yet Luke gives us very few details.  It is almost a non-event when Luke says that the people were baptized and then Jesus was baptized, “When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too.” Robert Brearley notes, “Jesus got in line with sinners and was baptized with them.” Simple---kind of like all of us: we were baptized, period.  Luke’s emphasis is not on the people’s baptisms nor on Jesus’ baptism, but rather on what follows. And that is why we need to pay attention to the details.  Those of you who have read Luke many times may have noticed the detail that Luke talks a lot about the working of the Holy Spirit in both his gospel as well as the book of Acts.  As Richard Jensen observes, only in Luke is the Spirit of God described as a bodily descent of the dove upon Jesus. Bodily descent has the character of permanence.  The Spirit will remain with Jesus, unlike the prophets and kings of old when the Spirit would only last the length of their ministry or kingship. The Spirit in those cases was temporary.  Take notice of the details!

            Take notice of another detail: according to v. 21, Jesus had been baptized and was praying.  Where do we first hear about prayer in the gospel of Luke?  That would be chapter 1, verse 10 where we are told that the whole assembly of the people was praying outside the sanctuary. The angel Gabriel came to Zechariah and said that the baby John the Baptist would be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Then we read about the Holy Spirit will do even greater than that by coming upon Mary whose child will be holy, he will be called the Son of God.  And then we are also told that nothing will be impossible with God.  All of this is in chapter 1, where Luke establishes from the very beginning the distinction between John the Baptist and Jesus.  The difference is in the details.  These visitations of the Holy Spirit seem to be private visitations whereas, at Jesus’ baptism, the working of the Holy Spirit is very public.  You can see now some of the reasons that historically may have been behind the Eastern Church’s melding all three stories of Jesus into one feast: the visitation of the Magi, the Baptism of Jesus, and the changing of water into wine at the wedding in Cana. You can see now the Lutheran emphasis I was taught in the seminary, that baptism is a public act and there should be no private baptisms.

            It is never about me and mine and what I want.  It is never about my will.  It is always the community that surrounds us, the saints in heaven, and God.  All of this points to God and our relationship with others in our lives, even if they are now a fading memory.  God loves us so much that we have nothing to fear, not even our death when the time comes. God stands with us, just like Jesus so many years ago waiting in line with every other Joe, Barbara, Harry, and Mary and their neighbors.  God is not against us, but has proven in Jesus, that the love of God is far greater than we can ever imagine.

            I share with you the words of an Epiphany hymn: Songs of thankfulness and praise, Jesus, Lord, to thee we raise; manifested by the star to the sages from afar, branch of royal David’s stem in thy birth at Bethlehem: anthems be to thee addressed, God in flesh made manifest. Manifest at Jordan’s stream, prophet, priest, and king supreme; and at Cana wedding guest in thy Godhead manifest; manifest in power divine, changing water into wine; anthems be to thee addressed, God in flesh made manifest.  Grant us grace to see thee, Lord, present in thy holy word; grace to imitate thee now and be pure, as pure art thou; that we might become like thee at thy great epiphany, and may praise thee, ever blest, God in flesh made manifest.

                The snow falls silently and softly to the ground and onto everything not sheltered.  It blankets all with its cold caress.  People hurry to and fro outside the walls of this place where you reside and some do come to visit.  I don’t pretend to know how people get to where they are today and yet because of that, I think we are all called to live in the present and to make the most of the present moment. I think we can begin like the first verse of that hymn written in the 1800s.  We can sing songs of thankfulness and praise to Jesus, for all that we have and for that grace bestowed on us by God who loves and cares for us so much that he also sent the Holy Spirit and invited us to pray and to strengthen us on our journeys here on earth. In the words of The Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston, Choctaw "Religion is spirituality shared. I know there are many people who say they are spiritual but not religious because they do not like the idea or experience of organized religion. Often they have been hurt by their religious institution. I can understand that because, like so many others, I have also been gravely disappointed by institutional faith. But I also know that my spirituality alone is only half the truth. Unless I share it in community I will not complete the dance of wisdom. Spirituality encounters the self. Religion encounters the other. Both encounter the wholeness of God." Amen.

Epiphany C, 2013

EpiphanyC, Sullivan Park Care Center, January 6, 2013 by Annette Fricke

“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”  The days of preparation in Advent which led to the birth of Jesus have now led us to the significance of that birth: Jesus is the Lord and giver of salvation to all humankind.  Epiphany is the bright light, the bright and shining star of dazzling brilliance.  Jesus is the lux aeterna, the eternal light, inviting all people into relationship with him forever.

An old tradition has been brought back, thanks to those who insist that the old ways are somehow better.  In this case, I think those who say it are correct. Here is the modern version of an old tradition:  Dear brothers and sisters, the glory of the Lord has shone upon us, and shall ever be manifest among us until the day of his return.  Through the rhythms and times and seasons, let us celebrate the mystery of salvation.  Let us recall the year’s culmination, the Easter Triduum or three days of the Lord: his Last Supper, his crucifixion, his burial, and his resurrection celebrated between the evening of the 28^th of March and the evening of the 30^th of March.  Each Easter, as on each Sunday, the holy Church makes present the great and saving deed by which Christ has forever conquered sin and death.  From Easter are reckoned all the days we keep holy.  Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, will occur on the 13^th of February.  The

Ascension of Our Lord will be commemorated on the 9^th of May, and the joyful conclusion of Easter, the Day of Pentecost, will be celebrated on the 19^th of May.  Likewise the pilgrim Church proclaims the Passover of Christ in the feasts of the holy mother of God, in the feasts of the apostles, martyrs, and saints, and in the commemoration of the faithful departed. To Jesus Christ, who was, who is, and who is to come, the Lord of time and history, be endless praise, forever and ever. [pause] I guess I should have asked each of you to bring your calendars to write all of this down, although I am sure that there are other ways of knowing when all these important parts of the church year will be taking place.  This tradition has been revived in some churches because it teaches that the celebration of the birth of the Christ child is only the beginning of the Church’s celebration of the life of Christ and has it’s culmination at Easter, the resurrection of Christ.  Easter, not Christmas, I and others contend, is the center of the Church year. 

            Today is the Feast of the Epiphany.  It is the day that as a child, my mother said it was time to take the Christmas tree down.  It is also the 12^th day of Christmas for those who know that tradition. But most importantly, it is the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles, an anticipation of the second coming of Christ when he will come again in all his glory to gather the nations under his gentle rule. As one of my classmates from seminary likes to put it using the words

of an Epiphany hymn, “God in flesh made manifest.”  The God of Judah and Israel, the God of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rachel, Leah, Rebecca, Jacob, and Moses is now, most clearly made known as the God of all.  God is even God of the non-Jews, the Gentiles. God comes to bring life so that none may perish.  One of my favorite Epiphany hymns begins like this: O Morning Star, how fair and bright! You shine with God’s own truth and light, Aglow with grace and mercy! Of Jacob’s race, King David’s Son, Our Lord and master, you have won our hearts to serve you only! Lowly, holy! Great and glorious, all victorious, Rich in blessing!  Rule and might o’er all possessing!  It is one of two hymns written by a pastor who had lost 1300 of his parishioners to the plague in Germany, most in the second half of the year of 1597, 170 in one week. The light of Christ can pierce even our darkest hours, when we struggle to make sense of our lives both as those who see others dying around us as well as those drawing their last breaths. 

            Epiphany is a short journey to Lent and it used to be that the length of Lent was longer and also there was a time when there were three Sundays preceding Lent called Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima.  Never mind what any of those Latin words mean because they do not coincide with the actual Sundays in relation to Easter. When I was a child, these three Sundays were preparation for the season of Lent, therefore taking on a penitential nature. But, when I was a child, I just marveled at the sound of the Latin names!  Epiphany itself was also different than today.  It used to include the visit of the three kings or magi, the baptism of Jesus, and the wedding at Cana otherwise known as Jesus’ first miracle.  Now, those are spread to three Sundays. If we see Epiphany as simply the celebration of God in flesh made manifest, we lose the point of Epiphany because every Sunday is a celebration of God in flesh made manifest.  We always celebrate God becoming flesh in the form of Jesus, don’t we?  Yet I get communications from my sister and my friends that somehow God is not being celebrated nor is God being prayed to—at all.  We have all somehow lost God, even those of us who faithfully attend church and really do pray.  That sentiment keeps circulating—we are not allowed to have God in school or the military.  We are somehow shutting God out.  Nobody really prays anymore.  The atheists are out to get us.  And my answer to that is that it begins with the family.  Read the Catechism and the Bible at home, pray with others before and after meals and other times of the day.  If worship or Bible study is offered at other times than this, take that opportunity to strengthen your faith journey with God and each other. Christianity is not practiced faithfully by our-selves.  I am told that Jesuit monks are taught to pray as they put each article of their habit on, but they too live in community. There is a reason that being a desert father only worked for

Jesus and that practice, when others tried it, died out. We need the community and fellowship of other believers.  We need each others’ support. We need to gather with other Christians to strengthen our faith.  We need to be fed and nourished by God as God speaks to us in the scriptures and in each other.

            As we look at the gospel lesson we see dueling ideas.  Jesus is the hope of the world, yet a threat to the power of the reigning King Herod.  The announcement of Jesus’ existence and identity as king of the Jews brings fear to King Herod and his whole entourage that has become the supporters of his reign.  The kingdom of Herod is at stake.  What if the world as we know it, King Herod is thinking, should suddenly change and I am no longer in power? Herod is not above using violent means to stay in power or deception in seeing how he can stay in power.

            We don’t have to look far to see that violence continues in our world today, not just in places of declared war.  After the shooting in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, many more shootings throughout this country and others have occurred, including at a previous location, a movie theater.  People have every reason to fear for their safety because all of these have happened in public areas previously assumed to be safe places. In a very real way, Jesus cannot protect us in a way we

might prefer.  Jesus is not likely to suddenly take care of all the problems we face.  Jesus does not do magic or pretend to do magic.  Our increased faithfulness in prayer and worship does not mean that God will respond in the way we think God should.  Our only hope in this world is that we will find ways by talking to one another and our governing bodies about making our world safer. But despite what is happening in our world today on both a personal and global level, God is still there to be with us, dispensing grace universally and freely to all who would have it.  That is good news. And may we always remember this: In the heavenly country bright Need they no created light;  Thou its light, its joy, its crown, Thou its sun which goes not down; There forever may we sing Alleluias to our King.  Amen.