Katie Comfort reminds us in this morning's Fruit of the Vine that, where God is concerned, covenants "go beyond generations. The covenant God made with Abraham is ongoing. The covenant God made with David was finally fulfilled through Christ." And what about God's covenant with me? with you? with us?
Looking out my office window here at Barclay Press, I count three buildings that are part of the George Fox University campus. If I walk out to the parking lot, I can see the yearly meeting offices. Just like the existence of Barclay Press, these buildings are physical reminders of covenants that "go beyond generations." More than one hundred years ago, a generation of small-town Quakers allowed God to use them "to orchestrate elaborate plans for the future," plans that my generation - "both precious and temporary" - gets to be part of as well.
Sometimes, I'm only aware of the temporary part, especially in the day-to-day tensions of unfinished tasks, of looming deadlines, of fear that I'm not enough. I forget that God has been working. Is working. Will continue to work. That I need not fear.
Katie's devotional reflection on Genesis 15:1-6 reminds me that "covenants go deeper than promises," and "they often require more faith." Which is why I find comfort in her prayer "that God will reveal how he is using [me] for his glory in his covenant promises with the church, and that [I] will be faithful to that."
Eric Muhr
To see through fresh eyes
Maurice Roberts offers a friend's paraphrase of Ephesians 1:18 in this morning's Fruit of the Vine: "My prayer for you is that your heart will be able to see through fresh eyes so that you can comprehend the reality of the hope that is yours." Not tomorrow, but today. Right now. Just waiting for us to notice "that, with God in control, he has the whole world in his hands, including my world - today."
Today, I'm working on two books that we hope to have ready by the middle of July. Close to the Ground is a beautiful collection of poems from Nancy Thomas with cover art from Donavon Aylard. Face to Face: Early Quaker Encounters with the Bible from T. Vail Palmer is the first of a three-volume study on Friends, God, and the Bible. I'm proud of the role Barclay Press gets to play in the making and distribution of these books. Part of that work, though, requires that I figure out how to finance editing hours, design work, the initial print run (and a whole host of details that don't make sense to me yet [because I've never done this before!])
So today, I am thankful for this prayer from Maurice: "Lord, we want to be able to see your ways and your will through fresh eyes today. Deliver us from getting caught up in expectations of our own choosing."
What are you facing today? Whatever it is, remember that our hope comes from "knowing who holds the tomorrows as well as each today."
Eric Muhr
The center of every relationship
In this morning's Fruit of the Vine, Cliff Loesch tells of his growing up years at Booker Friends Church, a worshiping community "in the panhandle of Texas." Looking back, Cliff remembers games of volleyball, gathering with friends at Dairy Queen, discussions about faith: "My family went to church whenever something was happening." It brings up a question. What happened? Cliff wonders, in his reflection, why "this kind of community is hard to find," why it is today that we're unable to have these kinds of experiences: "We lead such fragmented lives."
It doesn't have to be this way.
Cliff notes that Thomas Kelly described back in 1941 how "horizontal (person-to-person) relationships . . . often displace the horizontal-vertical." These shallow, horizontal relationships are ultimately unsatisfying in comparison to vertical relationships in which "the person-to-person relationship is in God." We miss out on deep community because we "get too wrapped up in the horizontal-only part of it."
But if we want something different, we have to start somewhere.
Cliff suggests something as simple as "placing ourselves in the company of others - having friends over, meeting someone for coffee, getting involved at church - is a good start." And he offers this prayer: "God, our Maker, anoint our community in ways that make you the center of every relationship. May we carry the sweet fragrance of Jesus to one another and to the world."
Eric Muhr