Text: John 4: 23-24

²³ But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. ²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Aspirate means to breathe. Can you see the word spirit in the word aspirate? The word spirit in Latin actually means breath, so these all seem very related to each other. Then there is the Greek word for spirit, which is translated for us pnuema, which again means air, or breath, or moving air. We still see the impact of this today with words like pneumonia or certain tools that are powered by air are called pneumatic tools. So you can see that we could build a case fairly easily that the words spirit and air, or spirit and breath are almost interchangeable. This is quite interesting when we begin to apply this concept to the scripture I read just a few minutes ago. Let’s look at it again…

…true worshipers will worship the Father in breath and truth…God is air, God is breath, God is spirit and those who worship God must worship in breath and truth.

I know there is always wiggle room in the scriptures, and I also know that is particularly true when it comes to John’s Gospel, however I do want to point out that the author didn’t say maybe it would be a good idea to worship God with breath or with air, but the author said those who worship must worship in spirit and truth. Must is a fairly demonstrative word. It seems the author of John at this point is really trying to be clear.

I have mentioned a number of times about the perils of imaging God in what I call anthropomorphic terms, that is with human qualities. Here in the Gospel of John, we have Jesus also trying to communicate that with this reference to God as spirit – or in other words, God is like air. But it is not that simple, because in the very same sentence, God is also referred to as father. So, what seems to be the case, at least for this scripture, is that God is perhaps both and. When it is appropriate, we would do well to image God in non-human, non-being ways, like the reference to spirit, or air suggests. There may be other times when it is appropriate to image God in human terms, but we perhaps should pay attention to when those times are, and why it becomes necessary.

I wanted us to take a look at our opening hymn that we sang a few minutes ago for a few more clues about this issue. This hymn was written about 250 years ago by Charles Wesley, brother to John Wesley, who we credit for founding the Methodist movement. The opening line of the first verse, I think sets the tone for the entire message; “Maker in whom we live, in whom we are and move”. If you really look at this, the words say we live in God, not that God is apart or separate from us, but rather God is something that we live inside of. Sort of like air. Verse three identifies God as a spirit in the opening line, and then God is called a “sacred energy” in the next line. Imagine, 250 years ago, before physics, before microscopes, before a true scientific understanding of the universe, before atoms and electrons, before telecommunications, before electricity, before microwaves, TV’s or telephones, before flight, before automobiles, before gasoline, before nuclear power, before almost anything that we associate with energy in the present time; Charles Wesley identified God as a sacred energy. That is extraordinary! It also helps us image God in ways other than anthropomorphic terms.

But there is a basic problem that we encounter when God is only air or only energy. That problem lies in our ability to communicate. How do you talk to energy? How do you talk to air? The anthropomorphic God allows us to more easily comprehend the notion of communication than does the non-anthropomorphic God. This can be helpful for some of us. When we construct an image of God in our minds that is a being, or perhaps some of us picture the person of Jesus, it becomes easier for us to communicate. It creates an area of comfort for us that we can relate to and becomes a useful image of God. This can be a tricky balance because if we overemphasize the human qualities of God, there are any number of downsides and pitfalls, many of which we have already talked about. But if we create a God that is completely void of all human characteristics, some of us may have problems finding comfort, companionship or have trouble communicating with such an image. For this reason, I don’t believe the two images of God must be mutually exclusive; in other words all one way or all the other, God can be a “both and” construct of our own creation. Keep in mind, that how we choose to image God in our own imaginations does not change God. Even in our hymn, which I pointed out how remarkable it was that Charles Wesley was able to identify God as a sacred energy 250 years ago, that same Charles Wesley in the fourth verse speaks of God’s glorious face; a very anthropomorphic image. So even in our hymn, we have a God that is imaged with both spiritual and human qualities.

Sometimes it is less difficult for us to explore concepts when we create some distance for ourselves from the subject matter. What I mean by that is when we speak of God, most of us already have an image of God created in our minds which we are very close to. If we are close to that image and it is important to us, we will seek to protect that image and resist or ignore anything that is counter to that image. This is just human nature; I think it is a form of self-preservation. Because we already have an image of God in our minds, it becomes very difficult for us to see God in other ways or other forms because we want to stay in our area of comfort and the image of God that we already have brings us comfort.

With that in mind, I thought it might be interesting for us to explore some of these constructs in a different process that does not threaten our current image of God but still is relevant to the conversation. This may seem like a difficult proposition, but I think I have just the ticket.

How many of you remember the movie “Castaway” with Tom Hanks? This film was released about 15 years ago and the story revolves around a Fed-X employee who survives a plane crash and ends up stranded on a deserted island. Over the years that our character is alone on the island, he creates a persona in his imagination that is physically represented by a volley-ball that washed ashore a few days after he did. During his time on the island this volley-ball is the only thing that our character has to talk to, and the volley-ball slowly becomes much more than just a volley-ball. The ball also begins to become anthropomorphic in the sense that he gives the ball a face and hair and so on. He even names it Wilson. If you saw the movie, you are sure to remember Wilson. When our character decides he must leave the island or he will never be rescued, he takes Wilson with him on the raft that he built. After a storm, the raft breaks apart in a few places and Wilson falls off the raft while our character sleeps; as he wakes up, he realizes Wilson is missing.

Play movie clip

This scene where Wilson is lost at sea is a very powerful moment in the movie; particularly when you have been watching the movie for a couple of hours and you have become familiar with and friendly towards Wilson. He is a character in the movie, even though it is just a volley-ball.

I also think this scene can offer us the opportunity to make some interesting observations regarding or own relationship with God, the use of anthropomorphic images and our need as human beings for companionship. For example, I think it is an interesting question to ask if Wilson actually exists or not? An interesting follow-up question could be to ask if Wilson did exist, after the volley-ball was lost, did Wilson cease to exist?

I think it is also interesting to realize that many of the things we seek from God, things like comfort, compassion, companionship and connection, were manifest in the character of Wilson. In the same way we see God manifest in the person of Jesus, was God also manifest in Wilson? If you think it is possible that God was manifest in Wilson and provided comfort to our character through that manifestation, how does that inform our thoughts about other faith traditions? If God can be present in a volley-ball can God also be present in some other way in a different faith tradition other than our own?

I know this is just a movie and all this is hypothetical and didn’t really happen, but that is what makes it safe territory for us to explore. I’m just asking the questions; it is up to you if you decide to try to answer them or not in your own mind.

If the character of Wilson had not been so physically attached to the volley-ball and if Wilson had not been so anthropomorphic in nature, would the level of communication, comfort and companionship have been diminished?

One final question that I think is very interesting for us to consider is this; what does the experience of Wilson tell us about our human need for relationship and companionship?

For me, the example of Wilson points out that there are multiple right answers to our questions about the Divine, there are many ways to relate to the energy, the spirit, the air that we consider to be God. When necessary, we put a face on that energy and it becomes even more comforting, even more compassionate and perhaps even more real. What speaks the loudest is our desperate need as human beings to connect and be in a relationship with each other and to be in relationship with the Divine; we simply must have companionship, even if that means we find our companionship in the form of a volley-ball that becomes our best friend. Wilson does not represent a new religion, Wilson does not challenge any long standing theological traditions, Wilson is about as non-threatening as possible-and yet for me, Wilson in a very real way allows us to experience the heart of God.

Go in peace and go with God. Amen.

Text: Luke 15: 11-32

Parable of the Prodigal and His Brother

¹¹ Then Jesus^[a] said, “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. ¹³ A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. ¹⁴ When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. ¹⁶ He would gladly have filled himself with^[b] the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. ¹⁷ But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! ¹⁸ I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’ ²⁰ So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. ²¹ Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’^{[c] 22} But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; ²⁴ for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.

²⁵ “Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. ²⁷ He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ ³¹ Then the father^[d] said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”

Quite a number of years ago I was working for an electronics firm in the Dallas, Texas area as the marketing manager for that firm. We were living in an area called the Mid-Cities and the offices of this company were in Plano-which is north of Dallas a little ways, which meant that every morning I had a lengthy commute to get to work. I normally left the house pretty early to avoid traffic and this allowed me to leave early in the afternoon as well, for the same reason. On my way to work each morning, I would normally listen to the radio, there was a news/talk radio station that was pretty good and part of the regular routine every morning was the Paul Harvey news and comment, followed by a little story that was called “The Rest of the Story”. You may remember some of these; they were usually quite interesting and sometimes even informative.

When it comes to our text this morning, I know that it wasn’t that long ago that I read this same scripture and built a sermon around it, but today I wanted to look at it again from another perspective. It occurred to me that the scripture ends with the brother a bit disgruntled and the party or celebration about to take place and we are left to our imaginations to fill in the balance of what happened. Have you ever given any thought to what things might have been like the next morning? Or the next month of mornings? Or for however long the prodigal decided to hang around this time? In the spirit of Paul Harvey, I want to know the rest of the story.

I don’t know if you will remember this or not, but in the early 1970’s there was a movie released called the Poseidon Adventure. It was about a luxury steam liner that gets capsized by a tidal wave on New Year’s Eve. If you remember the movie, you might remember the Oscar-winning theme song for the movie; “There’s Got to Be a Morning After”. This song was in the movie, but during that time it was also at the top of the charts for a few weeks being performed by Maureen McGovern. This song was specifically written for the movie and it did win an Oscar for an original song for a motion picture.

This text reminds me of that song; the son comes back, there is great forgiveness and great demonstrations of unconditional love and even a little bit of jealousy on the part of the brother; but then the story ends. I’m thinking in my own mind, there has got to be a morning after; the morning after the party, the morning after the celebration, the morning when reality begins to set in. It may not have been the very next morning, but I’m sure it wasn’t long before the prodigal was reminded that there was work to be done. My question is what happened in the rest of the story? How did the prodigal respond to this demonstration of unconditional love? How did the prodigal respond to grace?

If it were up to me to finish the rest of the story, I know how I would like it to read. I would have the prodigal up the very next morning, ready to work and ready to take on the challenges of the day. I would have the prodigal earn back the trust and respect of both his father and his brother as he works harder and longer than most of the hired hands. I would have the prodigal begin to be involved in different ways with the community and become a leader and volunteer in the community. I would have the prodigal help to make the family farm more profitable and perhaps introduce some new ideas or new techniques that result in less work but more productivity. I would have the prodigal perhaps meet his soul mate and bless his father and mother with grandchildren. I would have the prodigal become a source for information and learning that the younger men now sought out, I would have the prodigal helping others solve problems and helping others in any way he could. More than anything else, I would have the prodigal rise each morning with gratitude that he has enough to eat and a roof over his head and a place to call home. I would have him rise each morning giving thanks for his father and his brother and for the blessing of forgiveness and unconditional love. I would have the prodigal never forget that day in the rain when he came to himself while he was feeding the pigs. If it were up to me, that is what the rest of the story would look like, that is how the rest of the story would read.

But we don’t have the rest of the story, do we? I’m wondering if it was intentionally left blank for us to fill in our own response to this unconditional love, this remarkable grace, this loving forgiveness demonstrated by father. Perhaps it was left blank for us to fill in our own response.

We are greeted each day with every bit as much grace as the prodigal received the day he arrived home. We are greeted each day with the same blank slate, the same opportunity to begin again that the prodigal had on that morning after.

Do we greet each day with gratitude? Do we do all we can to help others and demonstrate grace to everyone we meet? Do we paint the new canvas of a new day with all the color and spectacle of the love of God? Do we sometimes forget how easily we could be one of the homeless or one of the sick or one of the imprisoned? Do we sometimes forget that with the dawning of each new day, we have a new opportunity to bring love and grace to the rest of our stories?

If it were up to me to write the rest of the story for the prodigal and his brother, I know what I would write and I know how I would have him respond.

How will I respond? How will you respond? These are the more pressing questions, for each of us have the rest of our stories to finish. Let us respond in love and let us respond with the grace of God and let us never forget to greet each new day with the gratitude of knowing that we can begin again.

Go in peace and go finish the rest of your stories and go with God.

Amen.

Text: Jeremiah 31:31-34

³¹ The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ³² It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband,^[a] says the Lord. ³³ But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴ No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

I wanted to begin this morning with a brief reminder of how frustrating it can be if we want to communicate, but for whatever reason or reasons, we find it impossible to do so. In the movie “Mr. Holland’s Opus” which was released about 20 years ago, there is a scene where this frustration comes to the surface. Mr. Holland, played by Richard Dreyfuss and his wife had a son who was born deaf; for a music teacher, this seems particularly ironic. The son is now at an age where they are thinking about sending him to a special school to learn how to sign. The school is a little expensive and on a teacher’s salary, money is always an issue. Cole, the son, is being a little demanding; he wants something and his mother doesn’t know what he wants, and he can’t tell her. Between the argument about money and the frustration of not being able to communicate the mother begins to sort of lose it.

By the end of this clip, Iris is just about to explode; “ I don’t care what it costs or what we have to do, I just want to talk to my son!” Can you imagine how difficult it can be for parents who cannot communicate with their children, to know what they want or what they need, to be able to tell them they are loved or to keep them out of harm’s way. To not be able to communicate effectively would be very difficult indeed.

I think this is the gist of the text I read a few minutes ago. God wants to communicate with God’s children, and God’s children want to communicate with God. But all attempts seem to always end badly. Over and over again in the Old Testament we have stories of the children of Israel not quite hearing and not quite understanding all there is to know about God. Time after time the attempts at communication seem to fail.

Now it seems God has a new idea! No longer will it be necessary to teach or instruct, no longer will it be necessary to learn all the proper techniques for talking or communicating with God. The ability to communicate, the knowledge of God will be written on their hearts, and all will know me, says the Lord. From the least to the greatest, all shall know me and they will instinctively know what to do and how to communicate. That will be the new covenant; the law will be written on their hearts.

Even though this is an Old Testament scripture and even though we are supposed to have had this new covenant around for the last 2000 years, I still think it is difficult for some of us to feel like we effectively communicate with God. We still struggle; at times our prayers may feel forced or empty and then after we pray we are not certain we have been heard. The entire process still seems a little “iffy” in a sense, like if it works at all, it just barely works.

What can we do to communicate more effectively with God? What can we do to have God more effectively communicate with us? This whole communication thing seems to be a little problematic at best and perhaps impossible altogether in the worst case scenario. Have you ever felt like Iris in our movie clip and you want to stomp your feet and scream and say “I just want to be able to talk to my God!”

Well, I think all of us have times in our lives that are like that. I know the apostle Paul had those same kinds of feelings. But Paul also had some insight into the matter as well. Consider what Paul wrote in Romans-chapter 8, verses 26 and 27.

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes^[a] with sighs too deep for words. ²⁷ And God,^[b] who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit^[c] intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

In these two sentences Paul admits that we don’t always know what to say or how to pray; it is a condition that I think is almost universal. He says we do not know how to pray as we ought. But then he goes on to say something more, something I find very interesting-he says that the Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. We no longer need to try to think of the right words, we don’t have to use words; we don’t even have to use sign language; if we just sigh to ourselves, Paul says that God will understand; we will effectively communicate with just sighs or some translations even say groaning.

Now I want you to think about our text in Jeremiah where God said he would write the new covenant upon our hearts. Isn’t that a little like just giving a big old sigh and not knowing what to say? Isn’t the message already in our hearts when we don’t know what to say, but can only muster a sigh instead of words? I see these two verses of scripture that are perhaps 1,000 years apart from each other as remarkably similar.

I don’t know if you are beginning to see this or not, so I really need for you to pay attention here and really get this. So often we try to use words and it leaves us empty. I have experienced situations where a person’s language will actually change when they think they have begun to pray; not just the language but sometimes the voice itself is different. Is it just me or have you seen this as well. Someone begins to pray and everything changes, the body language, the voice inflection, the word choice-it is all so unnatural, no wonder it leaves us feeling empty! I want you to re-read what Paul said in Romans-he didn’t say that sometimes we lack the right words, he said we do not know how to pray as we ought-period, as in ever. We don’t ever know how to pray. Paul didn’t say it happens to us every once in awhile, he said we do not know how. He seems to be advocating that we use sighs instead.

Could that be right? Maybe. I think it works for me; at least that is what I do a large percentage of the time.

Obviously there are times when words are required. Like when you are praying on behalf of a group; the words are necessary for everyone else to follow along, but God doesn’t need them. Let me say that again; the words allow everyone else to follow along, but God doesn’t need them. God already knows what is in your heart and on your mind. A sigh is a way of acknowledging God’s presence. I need to say that again as well; make sure you get this-a sigh is a way of acknowledging God’s presence, and the more you sigh, the more present God becomes. It’s seems too simple, but it is true.

Now I will let you in on a little secret. If you pay attention to creation, you can utter little mini sighs all the time. Everywhere you go, everything little thing you see is an absolute miracle of creation. You see a cloud; give a sigh and God moves closer. You see a flowering bush, give a sigh, and God moves closer still, you see a bird in flight, and give a sigh and God moves closer still…you get the idea. If praying with words is difficult for you, if you have ever felt like God is deaf, if you have ever needed to feel more connected to God-know this; what you need has already been written on your heart and all you need do is to move closer and connect with God and communication will happen.

Here is another secret. When you notice God, or when you notice creation, you feel good. If you can do this throughout the day, you will feel good most of the time. When you feel good, you become an instrument through which God can work and communicate, when you feel good, you function at a higher level, when you feel good-things just go better. Actually when it gets right down to it, that is the main reason most people come to church; they want to feel good. I’m telling you how to feel good almost all the time and how to connect with God and how to pray like you are supposed to all in one little practice. Find something to appreciate and sigh. It is that simple. Everything else will take care of itself. Really.

I know some of you think I am a little crazy, so I’m not going to ask you to believe me. I’m going to prove it to you. In the front yard of the parsonage there is a magnolia tree-it is spring and it is in bloom. The other morning it was particularly stunning, so I went outside and took a few pictures of this tree. Keep in mind that I’m not 50 feet from my front door, I didn’t have to attend a special seminar or travel thousands of miles to find God.

I’m going to ask you right now to pay attention to your feelings. Are there things in your mind right now that are creating anxiety? Is there a list of tasks that are still left to do? Are there situations which bring you worry? Are you as blissfully happy right now as you could be? Probably not. Pay attention to how you feel, right at this moment.

Everybody in touch with their feelings? Good. I’m going to show you a few of the pictures of that magnolia tree-I want you to empty your mind of all words and simply sigh and look at the photo. I don’t care if you groan or sigh or go mmmm or ooh or ahh, just don’t use any words; and try your best to keep the words out of your head as well, but don’t stay silent-breathe loudly if that is all you can do, but utter a noise of some kind. Everyone ready? Here we go.

We probably just spent less than 60 seconds in prayer; Less than a minute. Let me ask you a question-how do you feel? Could you notice a difference? Do you feel like you connected with God? Do you feel like communication took place? Was this difficult?

You can do this all day long every day and speak with God in ways you didn’t know existed and pray for all the things you should stress and worry free. Have you ever finished your prayer time and then realized you had forgotten to pray for someone or something? Isn’t that a little silly? It is because we want to use words, and words are clumsy. We don’t know how to pray as we ought, Paul said it, Jeremiah said it-and what we need to pray is already written on our hearts.

So go in peace, go pray in new and wonderful ways, and go with God.

Amen.

Text: Matthew 2: 1-12 Visit of the Magi

There are a lot of directions one could take from this text and there are a lot of things we could talk about. This is an interesting story and it is full of intrigue and a fair amount of controversy as well. As I have mentioned before, we tend to group the visit of the magi into the rest of the Christmas celebration even though most scholars agree that it was a separate event in a different place than where Jesus was born. The best guess, as far as I am concerned, is that the magi visited Jesus sometime when he was around two years old; we don’t know for sure there were three of them, only that three types of gifts were presented and we are not certain what country they were from. We are told in the scripture they had traveled a great distance, came from the east and followed a star, which isn’t surprising because they were astrologers, after all-probably not kings as the tradition teaches.

Not withstanding all of this misinformation and misconceptions about the magi there is still one thing that seems to ring true about the visit. For some reason, perhaps in a dream as the story goes, or perhaps it was a culmination of events, but for some reason-perhaps a number of reasons, the magi became suspicious of Herod and consequently became aware of the importance of this child. This series of circumstances is why we call the entire event epiphany; the magi had an experience where the Divine had been manifest in their lives. They encountered God and were transformed. They met the Christ child and were called to change course and take another road home.

The experience of encountering the Divine, being transformed by that encounter, and then recognizing the need to do things differently is the process of epiphany. In the case of the magi, taking another road home fits into the story literally, because they wanted to throw Herod a curve ball, but it also works metaphorically. Taking a different road home is metaphor for the transformation that occurs when epiphany happens or when we encounter the Divine.

This can happen to us all the time, if we watch for it. We can encounter the Divine on a daily basis, but most of us are too busy to notice or too busy to take the time to allow the transformation to really sink in. But that doesn’t mean that God isn’t there, it simply means we failed to pay attention. There have been a few times in my life when the experience has been so overpowering that I could not help but pay attention, and when I did, the transformation began and I took another road home.

One of those experiences I remember took place for me while Heidi and I were on vacation. We were on a European tour with my sister Sharon and part of that tour was the city of Amsterdam. In that particular city is Anne Frank’s house-the setting for the now famous Diary of Anne Frank, which tells the tale of hiding Jews and the influence of Nazi Germany as they moved methodically through Amsterdam and most of Europe. While in Amsterdam, we toured Anne Frank’s house.

The house itself is small and narrow and full of steps. As you tour, the energy of the place begins to take its toll. There is an overwhelming sadness, an emotionally charged atmosphere, which while you breathe becomes a part of you. Not everyone experiences this exactly the same way that I did; there are certain sensitivities that I have learned that I have to energy and environment that others seem to miss. However, the energy in Anne Frank’s house is so thick, most people-even those who are not all that sensitive, come away with some level of transformation. For me, by the end of the tour I was physically weak; the steps became a chore and I simply could not spend any more time there. And I definitely was not the same person as when the tour began; I took another road home.

A few years ago I had the opportunity to visit Nashville as part of a fairly elite group of community leaders that had gathered together to learn more about climate change. This event was called the Climate Project and it was hosted by former vice-president Al Gore. It doesn’t matter to me what you think of Mr. Gore politically, because this is not a political issue involving just our country. This is a moral issue enveloping the entire planet.

Over the course of an entire week, I heard and learned from scientists and researchers from all over the world. I was witness to the changes that had been measured over time and the consequences of those changes. I began to understand the vast and well organized and well financed mis-information campaign that exists around this issue and the economic reasons for it. Even though this took place over 7 years ago, the memories and the experiences are fresh in my mind. The impact of this experience cannot be overstated, the importance of this message cannot be overstressed and the damage we have inflicted on our planet cannot be over emphasized. Over all the Climate Project was a transformative experience where I encountered the Divine and certainly took a different road home.

A little over a year ago I was invited to speak at a global conference for Habitat for Humanity held in Atlanta, Georgia. The level of energy and spirit of cooperation present at that conference was inspiring. We heard stories from families and individuals that had been utterly transformed because of their involvement with Habitat. Some of the transformation came as a result of receiving affordable housing from Habitat and some of the transformation came as a result of giving through Habitat. The need for adequate housing on a global scale is simply overwhelming; there are billions of people living in sub-standard and inadequate housing and this appears to be a situation beyond our control. In spite of the numbers, there is a spirit of hope, there is a spirit of accomplishment and there is certainly a spirit of harmony as hundreds of thousands of volunteers come together and work on behalf of others all over the entire planet. It is remarkable. And it is Divine. And after the conference, I took a different road home, because I was no longer the same.

There are many other epiphanies I could tell you about; some took place in National Parks or places of exquisite beauty, others took place in the presence of the sick, the aging or the dying, still others involve family members or friends and loved ones. The point is that you don’t have to travel a great distance or attend some special event to encounter the Divine. Epiphany can happen in your back yard, or while driving to work or around the kitchen table. God is everywhere and our opportunity to encounter God exists continually. As a matter of fact, epiphany should be the norm rather than the exception-but it doesn’t seem to work that way.

So what can we do to encounter God more frequently? How can we have our own epiphanies on a more regular basis? How can we be transformed to the point where we are called to change course and take another road home?

My answer to these questions may sound over simplified, but I believe it to be true. Just pay attention. Be observant of what is around you. Be open to the leading of the Spirit and make an effort to read the energy that is present. Sometimes it is helpful to keep a few thoughts or mantras in your mind. A couple examples are things like “what you do to the least of these, you do to me” or with regard to our planet, “the earth is the Lord’s” or about how we are to be in the world, “Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace” and of course one of the most basic and instructive of all is simply “love one another as I have loved you”.

We can encounter the Divine anywhere and at any time and experience our own epiphany. Here is just one more thing to think about; your epiphany experience is out there waiting for you, but it is not up to God to be present, it is up to you to be present with God. Go and find the Divine in your everyday experience, go and find God in the extraordinary as well. To find God you must be present with God and when you are present with God, you will be transformed and when you are transformed, you will no longer be the same and when you are no longer the same, you will take a different road home.

Go in peace, go with God and seek your epiphany.

Amen.