WORD WEEK 10-30-05 ANSWERS IN THE GRAY

ANSWERS IN THE GRAY

Psalm 27: 1-14 KJV

1The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. 3Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. 4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple. 5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. 6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD. 7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. 8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek. 9 Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. 10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.11 Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. 12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. 13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

On any given day and at any given time we, GOD'S PEOPLE, are given both explicit and subliminal messages that our successes are measured by status as well as by the acquisition of materialistic possessions. While we live in a world where some access to materialistic possession is an essential ingredient in basic survival, our focus on this entity appears to have become so extreme and obsessive that our perception of the lack of materialistic possessions has the propensity to cause even the most deeply spiritually anchored person: 1] to question the foundation of one's faith, 2] to develop a distorted perception of GOD, 3] to surmise that one is forgotten in the heart and eyes of GOD, 4] to gravitate to an assembly of others that prescribe a regiment of candy machine faith, and/or 5] to struggle to remain in a community that expresses and affirms the desire of one's presence, gifts, and contributions on one hand, but closes one out of fellowship of that same community on the other hand according to its definition of success.

Some of the theological treaties that are being both forged and perpetuated by the uninformed have removed the tenants of paradox and inconsistency from the equation of our existence and from our faith to the degree that there remains little to any room for the LORD and his infinite wisdom to illuminate our circumstances and our lives.

In essence, far too often, the responses to the difficulties that we face, the challenges which threaten to overpower the lives of those whom we love, the distress that permeates the lives of those about whom we care, the inability for faith-anchored people to sit with and be present to PAIN, and the inability for faith-anchored people to sit with and be present to the fact that many of life's answers do not reside in the "black and white," has caused far too many Christians to ascribe to an escapist, quick-fix, and prosperity driven mentality and spirituality that manufactures a response that is based on the acquisition materialistic possessions as a determination and indication of GOD'S movement in the life of the believer.

Oftentimes, GOD'S PEOPLE are tenaciously searching for the indicators of GOD'S presence in their lives in the acquisition of materialistic possesses to the degree, that many persons have neglected to turn their focus and their attention to the critical places where the presence, scope, depth, and breadth of GOD must reign supreme in order to hear and respond to the answers that are not necessarily in the "black and white," BELOVED OF GOD, but in the GRAY!

The irony and danger of one's ascribing to the places that society has circumscribed as markers of success is that the consequence of this obsession has caused far too many believers to give up on the LORD! BELOVED, as you are reading this reflection right now, in this very minute, GOD is trying to get your attention in order to refocus you for authentic deliverance and to enable you see the places where GOD is BREAKING your life OPEN, literally, for the good of them who love and cling to HIM...this means YOU!

BELOVED, the authentic successes that are being referenced are manifesting themselves not so much in the places that will necessarily grant you extensive revenue, a larger home, a new vehicle, a higher property value, or access into the "Club of the Nines!" However, the successes of GOD are manifesting themselves in the places 1] where in your weakness, GOD grants you STRENGTH, 2] in the places where dangers are seen and unseen, that GOD grants you an escape to safety, 3] in the places that when sanity should have evaded you such a long time ago, that GOD grants you PEACE, that surpasses all understanding, 4] that in the places when sickness had the potential to wipe you out or even CANCEL you, that the GREAT PHYSICIAN regulated your heart with his stethoscope of love , 5] that in the places when you doubted that you had the capacity to be resilient that the LORD lifted you up, 6] that in the places where gloom, brokenness, loneliness, grief, isolation, depression, fear, and uncertainty companioned you both day and night, that the LORD granted you JOY unspeakably, and 7] that in the places where it appeared that the bottom had fallen out, that GOD was simply removing your false sense of confidence on the shallow promises of man in order to assist you in anchoring your promises on those of the LORD!

Yes, GOD does respond as it is such an innate part of his DIVINE NATURE. Perhaps, HIS ANSWERS are rendered more in the GRAY because our presence in the GRAY causes each man, woman, boy, and girl, to release the reigns of our pseudo-controls and LET GOD BE GOD!!!

This invitation for one to become more amenable to the presence of the LORD in the GRAY is illustrated even in the fairy tale of Cinderella by the Brothers Grimm. Cinderella, a believed to be forgotten maiden, who did not fit her stepmother nor sisters' perception of beauty and royalty, lived her life in the gray among the ashes and cinders of life to the degree that she believed herself unworthy of being blessed and granted any serious consideration of a power much greater then herself! You know the remainder of the narrative, GRACE showed up in the GRAY and used every impossibility and transformed it into possibilities...that is why we need the GRAY as it is the mixing of joy with sadness, and triumph with defeat that creates the climate of our transformation and deliverance! In other words, THE ANSWERS IN THE GRAY produces the COLOR in our lives! David, reminds us that world in which we live is moving at such a pace of frenzy, that he would have fainted in the "now here" unless he believed that he would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Trust GOD my brother and my sister and look for the "breakout" of HIS presence in the places where both inconsistencies and paradoxes inform you of the certainty of GOD'S GRACE and GOD'S LOVE...that place is called

ANSWERS IN THE GRAY!


K. Mason

(c) 2005

For your convenience, all of the links to Plethora Ministries sites are listed below. All you are required to do is "click" and be blessed! Please pass this on family members, friends, co-workers, and other travelers on their journey to spiritual integration and wholeness.


Blessings
Plethora MinistriesPlethora Ministries

Click here for Web log Page [contains additional reflections not sent via mail and pictures]Comments may be entered in any entry of your choice

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/i/t/i/itiswell.htm

Click here for "IT IS WELL" Musical Midi

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Plethora Ministries
Please spread the word to others you know and if they are interested in receiving the WORD Of Reflection Devotion weekly , please have them send an email to plethoraministries@yahoo.com

and state in the subject line: "Request for WORD."

Please feel free to write Plethora Ministries with your comments:

K.Mason (c) 2005

WORD WEEK 10-23-05 WAIT ON THE LORD!

WAIT ON THE LORD

Psalm 27: 1-14 KJV

1The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. 3Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. 4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple. 5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. 6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD. 7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. 8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek. 9 Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. 10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.11 Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. 12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. 13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

We live in a rapidly paced world that blatantly beckons to each of us that anything worth having must be accessed, not later, but immediately...right now! We live in a paradox of some of the best times, yet some of the worst times. So very often people long to be set free of their burdens and long for relief that seems to be ever-fleeting!

Ironically, in a world of ATMs, microwave ovens, Internet, emails, cellular telephones, Fax's, widescreen television, and accelerated travel, GOD'S people are still left, when it is all finished, with a sense of no fulfillment and a deeper sense of longing; i.e., for soul satisfaction! This yearning, oftentimes, leaves even those who can readily access the aforementioned in a state to quest for even more at an even faster pace. Consequently, we aspire to achieve and acquire more at a more accelerated pace like that of mice on a treadmill; i.e., running fast and tiring ourselves out, but going nowhere!

Significantly, patience has become a high-ticketed item, while impatience, a lack of tolerance, a shortage of empathy, and convenient compassion are all the amenities of the day. Patience and the desire to defer and wait to be blessed by the LORD are such rarities that are encountered in a world that is in dire need of the balm of healing and the healing-agent of time coupled with the orchestration of GOD'S DIVINE GRACE, which cannot and will never be rushed!

David in Psalm 27 reminds us 1] that the LORD is our light in the midst of darkness; 2] that instances in which our undermining is plotted, that GOD always provides a way out; 3] that the LORD GOD will elevate us when it appears that all opportunities have closed to us; 4] that when we cry unto the LORD, that HE always responds with attention and tender care; 5] that when false witness are risen up against us socially, economically, politically, ethnically, and spiritually, that the LORD is faithful and plenteous in liberation!

However, BELOVED, the one critical requirement that is before us each of us warrants that each man and woman WAIT ON THE LORD!

Yes, WAIT ON THE LORD, which is a very active process because it requires temperance, modulation, patience, trust, hope, and faith!

David, reminds us the act of waiting is a blessed gift from GOD which enables us to rest, grow, reflect, and develop insights necessary for the our journey to integration and wholeness! David, reminds us that world in which we live is moving at such a pace of frenzy, that he would have fainted in the "now here" unless he believed that he would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!

So, you are probably asking yourself, "What does it mean to WAIT ON THE LORD? WAITING ON THE LORD means that in the meantime that we are required to place our trust in the triumph of our hope over the presence of our experiences through JESUS CHRIST who can do ALL THINGS!!! Consequently, WAITING ON THE LORD requires that we turn it loose and turn not some of it, but all of it over to the auspices of GOD!

Isaiah, who predates David, knew the divine benefit in waiting on the LORD.

He tells us, "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Isaiah 40:31

Will you turn it over today?

Will your continue to run like mice on a treadmill?

Will you trust GOD?

Will you wait on the LORD today?

THE RESPONSE:

"Wait on the LORD and be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait I say on the LORD!"



K. Mason
(c) 2005

For your convenience, all of the links to Plethora Ministries sites are listed below. All you are required to do is "click" and be blessed! Please pass this on family members, friends, co-workers, and other travelers on their journey to spiritual integration and wholeness.


Blessings
Plethora Ministries
Plethora Ministries

Click here for Web log Page [contains additional reflections not sent via mail and pictures]Comments may be entered in any entry of your choice

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/i/t/i/itiswell.htm

Click here for "IT IS WELL" Musical Midi

plethoraministries@yahoo.com
Plethora Ministries
Please spread the word to others you know and if they are interested in receiving the WORD Of Reflection Devotion weekly , please have them send an email to plethoraministries@yahoo.com and state in the subject line: "Request for WORD." Please feel free to write Plethora Ministries with your comments:

K.Mason (c) 2005

PEACE

May the LORD grant you sweet peace right now.

WORD FOR THE NEW YEAR: TRUST GOD

TRUST GOD

1 CHRONICLES 5:20

They were helped in fighting them, and God handed the Hagrites and all their allies over to them, because they cried out to him during the battle. He answered their prayers, because they trusted in him.

Beloved, GOD KNOWS ALL ABOUT IT! Yes, in life some rain must fall, some leaves must wither and die, and some flowers must fade. However, subsequent to the dark is the approach of light; a brand new day!
    

Relationships, marriages, occupations, the faith community have, on many levels, invited each of us to love more freely and to trust more deeply. However, human frailty often takes the center stage and causes TRUST to go into seclusion as trust becomes hurt.
   

Many of us have been bruised, hurt, and/or betrayed, not necessarily by those who are arms distance away, instead, by many of those who are the most intimate with us. While our concerns, challenges, aspirations, and those things that we hold most sacred may not rank as a priority on the minds and hearts of some of those with whom we are connected; nonetheless, they are, however, on the heart and mind of GOD! David tells us that GOD saves even our tears in a bottle. He reminds us to trust the LORD [Psalm 56: 3-4] "When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?"
    

On any given day, we are inundated with an array of instances where TRUST has turned to mistrust. Despite this type of information, as a believer in he who is able to bless us beyond that which we could ever ask or imagine, we must and are required to TRUST GOD!
    

The spiritual journey is one that requires that we shed the garments of mistrust daily to allow ourselves the blessed opportunity to deepen our capacity to TRUST each new day! TRUST is anchored in faith! It would become increasingly difficult to develop spiritually without TRUST.


Thus, the question that might arise is: "What is trust?" TRUST is one's ability to take full assurance and confidence in the fact that because GOD is for you, who can be against you! TRUST is knowing that in both life and death, that GOD reigns and that his love consumes all! TRUST is acknowledging that despite the fact that numerous obstacles are distributed along your path and that you cannot see your way through, that GOD has the final answer which is your liberation, elevation, and victory! TRUST requires that you let go and that you allow yourself to fall into the loving hands of GOD who will always catch you! TRUST is triumph over experience!


TRUST is the triumphant revelation of understanding our spiritual transformation through JESUS CHRIST!

Triumphant

Revelation

Understanding

Spiritual

Transformation




This Blog Reflection is dedicated to the memory and legacy of  3 phenomenal Clergymen of God who were Bulwarks of The Gospel Truth and Integrity and who exemplified what it met TRUST GOD no matter what the price!


The Late Dr. Reverend Vernon Nathaniel Dobson
The Late Dr. Reverend Richard Ishmael McKinney
The Late Reverend David Major

K. Mason
(c) 2005 (c) 2015   

For your convenience, all of the links to Plethora Ministries sites are listed below. All you are required to do is "click" and be blessed! Please pass this on family members, friends, co-workers, and other travelers on their journey to spiritual integration and wholeness.


Blessings
Plethora Ministries

Plethora Ministries

Click here for Web log Page [contains additional reflections not sent via mail and pictures]Comments may be entered in any entry of your choice

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/i/t/i/itiswell.htm

Click here for "IT IS WELL" Musical Midi

plethoraministries@yahoo.com
Plethora Ministries

Please spread the word to others you know and if they are interested in receiving the WORD Of Reflection Devotion weekly , please have them send an email to plethoraministries@yahoo.com and state in the subject line: "Request for WORD." Please feel free to write Plethora Ministries with your comments:

K.Mason (c) 2005
This message is confidential, intended only for the named recipient(s) and may contain information that is privileged or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient(s), and If you receive this message in error, or are not the named recipient(s), please notify the sender at the e-mail address or by telephone, and delete this email from your computer. Thank you.

THE ETERNAL FLAME OF GOD

Afternoon Prayer Reflection:

LORD in our service to you on this day
Let us take refuge inside of thy eternal flame
Let us die inside of your flame of wholeness, healing, and love
Let us be comforted by your DIVINE PRESENCE

In your presence we have our being, our identity, our purpose
We thank thee for grace and for lovingly leading and ordering our steps
Inebriate us with thy SPIRIT,
Feed our mortal flame, and ignite our eternal fire.
GOD we thank you

We render thee a cornucopia of prayers and thanksgiving for this day
In thee we pray
Amen.

K. Mason
(c) 2005

Autumn Blessings

Autumn Evening Prayer

Autumn is a time of harvest
Reflection
Release
Rest
Anticipation.

May you be blessed with comfort.
May you be blessed with love.
May you be blessed with peace.
May you be blessed with warmth.
May you be blessed with love.
May you be blessed with the stillness of this season!

WORD WEEK 10-09-05 GOD HAS GOT IT!

GOD HAS GOT IT!
ROMANS 8: 18, 24-26, 28, 31, 35, 37-29 KJV

18For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us...24For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. 26Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered...28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose...31What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?...35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword...37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

While many persons have made admirable, authentic, praiseworthy, and faithful attempts to surge forth and pick up the pieces of their lives in light of Hurricane Katrina, we, GOD'S people, are struck once again with earth shattering news: "The earthquake toil in Asia and the fear that 30,000 thousand people are dead!"

As referenced in the Plethora Ministries 9-26-05 WORD Reflection, "Life is a journey full of beauty, joy, anticipation, surprise, paradox, and pain. During the course of our lives, many of us have witnessed joy as well as a those things that have caused us to experience profound lamentation and heaviness. Over the past 50 years, many of our lives have been radically transformed by such events as the assassination of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and President John F. Kennedy; the Vietnam War; starvation in Somalia; the HIV epidemic; the explosion of the space shuttle; 911; the War in Iraq; the derailment of trains; numerous terrorist attacks; Tsunami; Hurricane Katrina and the lists continues."

The pervasiveness of such pandemic suffering causes even the most faith-anchored and spiritually connected person to become nothing short of stunned! We, the people of the earth, hardly have the time to establish psychoemotional and psychospiritual footing before another catastrophic event shakes the foundation, both literally and figuratively! "Oh, if we had wings of a dove, we would fly away and be at rest." [Psalm 55:6]

Over the past 50 years, numerous unparalleled life-changing events have transpired that will have significant implications for history in light years to come. Consequently, it might be apparent to some and oblivious to others that GOD WANTS OUR UNDIVIDED ATTENTION and that the EARTH is nor longer allowing itself to the recipient of humankind's abuse/neglect!

Each man and woman; Black, White, Red, and Yellow; Upper class, Middle class, Lower class, No class; Christians, Buddhists, Islamic, Believers in the Great Spirit, Jewish, Hindu, and the Unprofessed are invited to take a deeper look at the cosmic invitation and implication of the occurrence and orchestration of many of these events. The idea that what YOU have to offer being deemed as not important is a fallacy!

Simply stated, "BELOVED, it is not just about you, what you see, or what happens in your own backyard!" Yet, your actions, no matter how small you believe your presence or yourself to be in the world has a critical impact on living and breathing history! YOU MATTER! Every aspect of YOU matters as these events are connected, intertwined, and have a ripple effect, many of which we shall see in days, weeks, months, and years to come. Some of which will reveal themselves when we have rendered ourselves to the dust from which we have originated.

Moreover, the striking part of all that which is transpiring causes many of us to feel helpless and anesthetize our feelings and thoughts in relationship to our attempt to fathom the psyche of GOD! What many of us are asking ourselves, quietly, for the fear of being misperceived or being perceived as lacking faith is, "GOD what is going on? Why are all these horrific things being allowed to happen and eradicate the lives of thousands of people, many who are devoted to and serve you? What is all of this sacrifice really about?"

Beloved, while the answer is not a blanket one nor one which has an easy response nor a single response, we are required to "LIVE OUT THE RESPONSES AND ANSWERS IN LOVE OF and LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER! Significantly, GOD does offer and promise us several things: Paul reminds us "Who shall separate us from the love of the LORD? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword...37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God."

Simply stated Beloved, no matter what we have been through, what we are going through at present, and neither that which we have yet to experience, it is the LOVE OF GOD that breaks the strongholds of human suffering! GOD reminds us, via the passage of Romans 8, that death, life, suffering, power, the past, the present, the future, the height of no mountain, the depth of no ocean, and the width of no valley, can nor will separate us from the transformative power of GOD'S LOVE!


Be of good courage, for you see my brothers and sisters,
"GOD HAS GOT IT!"


K. Mason
(c) 2005

For your convenience, all of the links to Plethora Ministries sites are listed below. All you are required to do is "click" and be blessed! Please pass this on family members, friends, co-workers, and other travelers on their journey to spiritual integration and wholeness.


Blessings
Plethora Ministries
Plethora Ministries

Click here for Web log Page [contains additional reflections not sent via mail and pictures]Comments may be entered in any entry of your choice

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/i/t/i/itiswell.htm

Click here for "IT IS WELL" Musical Midi

plethoraministries@yahoo.com
Plethora Ministries
Please spread the word to others you know and if they are interested in receiving the WORD Of Reflection Devotion weekly , please have them send an email to plethoraministries@yahoo.com and state in the subject line: "Request for WORD." Please feel free to write Plethora Ministries with your comments:

K.Mason (c) 2005

This message is confidential, intended only for the named recipient(s) and may contain information that is privileged or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient(s), and If you receive this message in error, or are not the named recipient(s), please notify the sender at the e-mail address or by telephone, and delete this email from your computer. Thank you.

REMEMBER

"We spend a great deal of our lives attempting to find out who we are,

when the real task that lies before us

should be in remembering who and to whom we belong."

K. Mason

THE ORIGINAL WORKING MOTHER

DEDICATION TO THE ORIGINAL WORKING MOTHER

1. GIVER OF LIFE
   
2. SAGE
   
3. MIDWIFE
   
4. SOOTHSAYER
   
5. QUEEN
   
6. PRIESTESS
   
7. PIONEER
   
8. WIFE
   
9. CHATTEL OF THE OPPRESSOR
   
10. MISTRESS OF THE OPPRESSOR
    
11. CONFIDANTE OF THE OPPRESSOR'S WIFE
    
12. HEROINE
    
13. CABIN MOTHER
    
14. SONGSTRESS
    
15. LOVER
    
16. MOTHER
    
17. MAMMY
    
18. CONFIDENT
    
19. MATRON
    
20. SISTER
    
21. DEACONESS
    
22. MISTRESS
    
23. PROPHETESS
    
24. COMPANION
    
25. ENCOURAGER
    
26. TEMPTRESS
    
27. MAID
    
28. POLITICIAN
    
29. BUSINESS WOMAN
    

THE AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN

FROM HER PRIMORDIAL WOMB SHE SINGS TO THE WORLD,

"YOU CAN ALWAYS DEPEND ON ME! MY WEAKNESS IS TRANSFORMED INTO MY STRENGTH. I WILL ALWAYS BE THERE, TO SEE YOU THROUGH, TO SHELTER YOU, TO LOVE YOU AND TO COMPEL YOU!"

Plethora Ministries

(c) 2005

WORD Week 10-02-2005 PASSED: THE EXODUS

Exodus 33

8 And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. 9 As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses. 10 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to his tent. 11 The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent, Moses, and the Glory of the LORD 12 Moses said to the LORD, "You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, "I know you by name and you have found favor with me. 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people." 14 The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." 15 Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? ..... 17 And the LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name." 18 Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory." 19 And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." 21 Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."


PASSED: THE EXODUS

Since the occurrence and horror of Hurricane Katrina, each of us have been provoked to take a personal pyschospiritual inventory, to make a radical paradigmatic shift, or make a cognitive restructure in our perception, expression, and appreciation of life and about those whom we love. While this occurrence is undoubtedly paralyzing, traumatic and tragic at the very least, simultaneously, it is an invitation and a metaphor for each man and woman to embrace the bond of love that is action that warrants expression in touching others and being touched by others, which is a requirement of what it means to be human. Such an invitation is one that we have been invited to learn and integrate, repeatedly, on numerous occasions into the manner that we live and love on a daily moment by moment bases. What is it that makes it so challenging for far too many of us to keep these lessons "up front?"

It has been several weeks subsequent to this devastating occurrence and even at present, we are still witnesses to brokenness, desolation, distress, displacement, uncertainty, unanswered inquisitions, and pandemic suffering relative to GOD'S people and GOD'S land.

If many of us were to quiet ourselves for a moment, remove the facade, and the distractions, we would admittedly acknowledge that it still remains increasing difficult to effectively articulate the breath and scope of such prolific suffering juxtaposed as a consequence of the cohabitation of life and death which this event presents to each of us. We have, more than likely, in the secret of our places of refuge, asked the questions, "GOD, have you passed by all of this? What is next? Will we or can we rebound from this?"

Irmgard Schloegl in the work entitled The Wisdom of Zen Masters, offers us a paradoxical perspective on what it means to be passed, significantly so, by the breath of GOD. Moreover, this narrative teaches us that, oftentimes, we are far from cognizant that something momentous has happened to us until we get a retrospective glimpse! The narrative is called Two Monks and reads as follows:

Two monks on a pilgrimage came to a ford in a river. There they saw a girl dressed

in all her finery, obviously not knowing what to do since the river was high and she did not want to spoil her clothes. Without much more ado, one of the monks took her on his back, carried her across and put her down on dry ground on the other side.

The monks continued on their way. But the other monk after an hour started complaining, "Surely it was not right

to touch a woman; it is against the commandments to have close contact with women.

How could you go against the rules of the monks?" The monk who had carried the girl

walked along silently, but finally remarked, "I set her down by the river an hours ago,

why are you still carrying her?"

Moses, as he was instructed to lead GOD'S people into the land that flowed with milk and honey, faced similar circumstances. He expressed to GOD that he had submitted to the request of the LORD to lead the people, but had no insight nor inclination as to how the process would be facilitated, much less successful in light of numerous obstacles. GOD responded in telling Moses about his pleasure in his having submitted and Moses further yields himself to GOD in having asked GOD to "teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you."

The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." I know you by name." 18 Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory." 19 And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."

While we are able to anchor ourselves in the action of Moses' account, it still remains, at best, challenging for many of us to witness GOD'S movement if we are recalcitrant about relinquishing our prewritten scripts about others, GOD, and even ourselves. Consequently, the question that you must ask yourself today, right now, as you conclude this reflective reading is, "Have you been passed today, right now, in this moment?" If you have answered in the affirmative then live into the manifestation of GOD'S presence!

Lastly, what Moses as well as the Tale of the Two Monks offers and teaches us about being passed and experiencing the benefit of the passing, THE EXODUS, is the fact that, often, we are not aware that GOD has passed (GRACED) us until after the passing has transpired and that we are living on the residue of the event! Significantly, this passing is like unto an EXODUS as it moves us from a den of danger to a refuge of safety, from a state of destruction to a state of construction, and from a place no possibility to a place of multiple possibilities! Can you see it now! GOD has passed each of us indeed...not passed us by, but passed over our lives with his unmistakably loving, affirming, holy, grace, and abiding presence from which there is no escape! MAY YOU CONTINUE TO BE PASSED! REJOICE!

K. Mason

(c) 2005

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