October 14th - Reflection

Acts 17:22-34 (NRSV)
God has fixed a day of judgment

Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, "Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, 'To an unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him - though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For 'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we too are his offspring.' Since we are God's offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."

When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed; but others said, "We will hear you again about this." At that point Paul left them. But some of them joined him and became believers, including Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

Reflection
Reach out; feel your way; grope for God, for God is not far from us. God is closer than you think. It's just that sometimes, in the midst of sin, we believe that we can do this thing on our own. We believe we don't need God to help. Yet we depend completely on God. God is our Father and all we have comes from him. In God we live and move and have our being. Away or outside from God we curl up and die to ourselves and others.

But, thanks be to God, he has chosen to overlook our ignorance, and has commanded all of us to repent. Repent and turn to God. Once again be free to live in God and move and have our being, for life is in God and from God.

Prayer
Lord, you are closer than I could ever imagine. Even in my sin, you are there. In illness, you are there. In sorrow, joy, pain, mourning and laughter; you are there. Be with me this day. May we move together in unity and dance the dance you have called me to dance. --- Amen