My new home office, formerly the dining room, has a wonderfully large table that holds all my needs for productive days. To make the most of the space, we have moved the table forward to the window. That placement opens a path behind me and allows me to work without interruption when others need to pass through the room. In addition, I am able to enjoy natural light while working, and I get to see life moving about in the great outdoors. To make the most of this new arrangement, I have placed a candle in a large red vase just between me and the large window. I like the pop of color, and the greenery wreath surrounding the glass holder is lovely. It’s a wonderful contrast to the drab black and white of my computer screens.
These past two mornings, I have been thrilled to have a fun little visitor come to exchange thoughts with me at my window. This smallest among my new friends is quite chatty for a just a moment or two before flitting off to his next adventure. I think he was first attracted by the bright red of my candle, but I like to think it’s the company that brought him back today. He simply appears at the window, chatters away, waits for my response and then continues on his way.
I do not know his name. I think Mr. Hummingbird is too mundane for such a beautiful and graceful creature. Surely he is some kind of royalty requiring a majestic designation but nothing as prosaic as Charles or Edward. Clearly he is not Henry for that is what I call the new robin who screams for his worm breakfast from the nest in the nearby holly tree. No, I think my hummingbird friend is more of a Solomon – wise, wealthy, king-like, and a builder of relationships. These mornings, when I might have felt a bit displaced in a pandemic-driven existence, he has brought me to a feeling of belonging, chosen as a desired presence in his life. He inspires me to sit a little straighter in my desk chair and live a little better through my day. He fills my window with light, and I want to talk about him to others.
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people who are God’s own possession. You have become this people so that you may speak of the wonderful acts of the one who called you out of darkness into his amazing light. Once you weren’t a people, but now you are God’s people. Once you hadn’t received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, since you are immigrants and strangers in the world, I urge that you avoid worldly desires that wage war against your lives. Live honorably among the unbelievers. Today, they defame you, as if you were doing evil. But in the day when God visits to judge they will glorify him, because they have observed your honorable deeds. (1 Peter 2:9-12, CEB)
Peter’s letter uses Old Testament words that are usually reserved for Israel to talk about the church. This wonderfully large foundation holds all our needs to be the continued people of God. It’s not enough that we are called by God and set apart for salvation, we are also called to service and witness. We are meant to chatter away and build the relationships of the Body of Christ. We visit with others encouraging one another to sit a little straighter and live a little better. We are the chosen instruments through which Jesus fills the window with light.
My friend "Solomon Hummingbird" may have no inkling that he fills my morning with the love of Jesus, but I thank God for the reminder that I have received mercy.
Humming through my day,
Pastor Beth
These past two mornings, I have been thrilled to have a fun little visitor come to exchange thoughts with me at my window. This smallest among my new friends is quite chatty for a just a moment or two before flitting off to his next adventure. I think he was first attracted by the bright red of my candle, but I like to think it’s the company that brought him back today. He simply appears at the window, chatters away, waits for my response and then continues on his way.
I do not know his name. I think Mr. Hummingbird is too mundane for such a beautiful and graceful creature. Surely he is some kind of royalty requiring a majestic designation but nothing as prosaic as Charles or Edward. Clearly he is not Henry for that is what I call the new robin who screams for his worm breakfast from the nest in the nearby holly tree. No, I think my hummingbird friend is more of a Solomon – wise, wealthy, king-like, and a builder of relationships. These mornings, when I might have felt a bit displaced in a pandemic-driven existence, he has brought me to a feeling of belonging, chosen as a desired presence in his life. He inspires me to sit a little straighter in my desk chair and live a little better through my day. He fills my window with light, and I want to talk about him to others.
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people who are God’s own possession. You have become this people so that you may speak of the wonderful acts of the one who called you out of darkness into his amazing light. Once you weren’t a people, but now you are God’s people. Once you hadn’t received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, since you are immigrants and strangers in the world, I urge that you avoid worldly desires that wage war against your lives. Live honorably among the unbelievers. Today, they defame you, as if you were doing evil. But in the day when God visits to judge they will glorify him, because they have observed your honorable deeds. (1 Peter 2:9-12, CEB)
Peter’s letter uses Old Testament words that are usually reserved for Israel to talk about the church. This wonderfully large foundation holds all our needs to be the continued people of God. It’s not enough that we are called by God and set apart for salvation, we are also called to service and witness. We are meant to chatter away and build the relationships of the Body of Christ. We visit with others encouraging one another to sit a little straighter and live a little better. We are the chosen instruments through which Jesus fills the window with light.
My friend "Solomon Hummingbird" may have no inkling that he fills my morning with the love of Jesus, but I thank God for the reminder that I have received mercy.
Humming through my day,
Pastor Beth