Daily Devotional 5.1.20 Betty Hertz

Betty Hertz with Finn and Joy (David Jensen photography)

Betty Hertz with Finn and Joy (David Jensen photography)

Philippians 4:6-7 6 Don't worry about anything but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God. 7 Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel. (Contemporary English Version)

“Do not worry about anything”… My first reaction was “Are you kidding me?” How can I not be anxious? People are dying, people are unemployed, people are limited in activities. Our sense of community has been disrupted. On a much lesser scale, I had to give up my volunteer work; I can neither attend 8 a.m. service nor visit my friends.

Then I am reminded what I can do - pray with thanksgiving and present my requests to God. For many years, I was a crisis prayer person. Many times I demanded that God listen and fix things my way. How did that work? Not so great!

In the last several years, I experienced some incredible challenges and major losses. I often would cry out “Why” or turn away from prayer. Because others were patient with me, I have grown to know that God listens when I seek him in prayer and my prayers do not have to be finely tuned. In fact, I believe any prayer is perfect in God’s eyes. I also learned how to pray with others and pray for others. I no longer look down at the table when someone in a group asks, “Who would like to lead us in prayer?”

According to Anne Lamott, Help Thanks Wow are the three essential prayers. By praying with those three words in mind, I have honest conversations with God. I have found peace and hope. And when I move away from that framework, I lose that peace and hope. The order of these prayers changes depending on how my life is going. Sometimes it is only one word … usually HELP.

Somewhere along my journey, I heard this thought: pause, pray, proceed with patience and peace. I believe God is saying stop, talk to me and I will give you patience and peace. So, if I stay in touch with God, I truly “Do not have to worry about anything.”

Amazing and Loving God, Circle us with your love, remind us to be patient, teach us to take our joys and concerns to you always. In Jesus name, Amen.

Betty Hertz has been attending St John since 2001. She joyfully serves St John in many ways … Stephen Ministry Leader, SPRC, Wednesday Night Supper and Cold Weather Shelter. Her other interests are her dogs Finn and Joy and enjoying Alaska’s great outdoors.

Daily Devotional 4.30.20 Mary Alice Donaldson

Mary Alice and David Donaldson

Mary Alice and David Donaldson

 “Be strong and of good courage, be not frightened neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

This verse has sustained me for almost 40 years.

In 1981, while on our honeymoon driving from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, across the plains and through the mountains of Canada, it finally dawned on me just how far away Alaska was from all I knew. David sensed my “homesickness” and made up a tune to this verse from Joshua. We have continued to sing this verse and countless other scripture chorus’ and hymns of praise.

When David has seen my spirits start to sag over the years, and this past week in particular, he has encouraged me to sit down at the piano, gotten out his horn and joined me playing our favorite hymns. As a child, playing the piano, cello and singing in our church youth choir became my safe place of rest and comfort.

During this season of hunkering down it has been a challenge to not get stuck thinking about all the things we are missing. We have been grateful for the opportunity to worship together online. Hearing Andy, Emily, Freya and James lead us in worship, the choir singing “On Eagles Wings,” watching the wee ones wave their hands joyfully on Palm Sunday, listening to gifted liturgists (I was especially touched by Gabriel and Lorenzo last week) … all supported behind the scenes by the technology I do not understand but am extremely thankful for!

My days go so much better when I am able to start them with a quiet time of reading scripture and prayer. The pastor who married us, Dr. H. Pat Albright, always encouraged us to read a chapter of a gospel and a psalm before ever opening the newspaper.

“It is no accident that the Psalms, which are the devotional heart of Scripture, were written as songs. Music heals. Music carries words to their destination in an irreducible and powerful way ...The retrieval of the Psalms as song in Taize worship … or in the musical settings we find in hymn books reminds us that to “sing unto the Lord” is a commandment for a reason. The words call us to attention. The music deepens that attention into prayer.” - from “Word By Word” by Marilyn McEntrye

Dear Lord Jesus, Thank you for your life given for us. Quiet our hearts so that we can hear your voice. Please continue to guide our steps and help us to find ways this day to share your light in our hurting world. Amen

Mary Alice and David Donaldson are retired longtime Anchorage School District music teachers who remain active playing their instruments in our community. They renewed their membership to St. John in 2015. maryalicedonaldson@gmail.com  907-306-0268

 

Daily Devotional 4.29.20 Marilyn Carpenter

Marilyn and art Carpenter

Marilyn and art Carpenter

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth into joyous song and sing praises! Sing praises to the Lord” Psalms 98:4-5

I love to sing!  I sing when I clean house; I sing when I hike in bear country; I sing when doing a jigsaw puzzle.  I sang to my children and I sing to my grandchildren. I do not sing around other people; I am not a good singer.  My family is polite. They know my songs are saying, “I love you!”  I may not get the tune right and I may be off-key, but they feel my caring for them in every verse.  

I have often wished that I had a lovely singing voice, that someone would hear me sing and say, “You should be in choir!” or “We could use you in our musical!”  Alas, what I have heard is more along the lines of, “Not everyone can be in the choir.  I’m sure you have some other talent.”  As I mature, this doesn’t bother me as much as it used to.  Didn’t John Wesley say something about singing “lustily and with a good courage”?  Yes, and he added, “Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard.”

I like to think that when I sing to God, that God also doesn’t mind if my notes may not match the ones in the hymnal.  I’m pretty sure that God cares more about the feeling in my heart than the purity of my voice.  Some songs touch my heart so much that tears spring to my eyes when I just see them printed in the bulletin and know we’ll be singing them soon.  The “Hymn of Promise” and “Here I Am, Lord” take my breath away.  My singing may not be exact, but it is “joyous!”

Nature is filled with joyous songs of the Lord:  honking geese, babbling brooks, softly falling rain, calls of birds, even snorts of moose!  (A strange question pops into my mind:  do birds ever sing “off-key”?)  There are an infinite number of joyful noises in the world.  God’s creation is a symphony of life and love and joy.  This symphony is for everyone.  Some may hear it with their ears, some with their eyes, some with their hearts.  If it fills you with joy, then it brings you closer to God.

In this challenging time of social distancing, how lucky are those of us who can step outside, who can   access the joy of nature.  Yet, we can sing inside or out.  We can feel God’s love in the house or in the woods.  We can find our own way to sing God’s praises.  

What makes you feel joyous?  What ways do you sing God’s praises?  Do you use your voice?  Do you use your hands?  Do you use your mind?  Do you use your heart?  When you feel your heart fill with the love of God, then you can sing praises!  When you share that love with others, then you are making a joyful noise to the Lord!

This week, listen for the music of God.  Look for ways you can be joyful.  Share God’s love and joy with others.  Sing with whatever tune and key you want.  You are part of God’s symphony.

Thank you, God, for creating such a marvelous symphony of life and love and joy.  Thank you for helping us be a part of that symphony.  Let us be your instruments.  In Christ’s name, we pray.

Marilyn Carpenter has three wonderful grandchildren, who all live here in Anchorage, which is why she and her husband Art live in Alaska.  They moved here 12 years ago from San Diego when their first grandson was born.  A retired family therapist, Marilyn can recite the lines from “When Harry Met Sally,” as well as sing all the songs from “Sound of Music.”  (Of course, she will not sing them in public.)