IN THE MEANTIME

WORD WEEK 11-27-05

IN THE MEANTIME

I KINGS 18:43-45 43

"Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant. And he went up and looked. "There is nothing there," he said. Seven times Elijah said, "Go back." 44 The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea." So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, 'Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.' " 45 Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. 46 The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

Thanksgiving is now over, the turkey is carved, and family members have returned to their respective destinations. We are grateful to the LORD for the opportunity to reflect, pause, and render gratitude for GOD'S rich grace during the season of harvest. While many of us gathered around the table for fellowship and communion, we felt that our distresses and concerns were minuscule in the assembly of togetherness and love. Significantly, from having gathered together, we reemerged from this compelling encounter with the confidence that there is power and strength in number.

Subsequently, as the days pass into weeks, many of us are still struggling with the concerns and issues to which no resolution nor reprieve appears apparent. Many of us still have concerns about our family members, while others are confronted with the challenges of staying financially solvent, and still others are challenged with the residue of brokenness, grief, depression, loneliness, abandonment, and rejection.

Yes, we have rendered fervent thanks to the LORD for the miraculous manner in which he has protected and graced our lives with this cloak of love. Yet, we are still anticipating a much needed reprieve for agonies that linger, taunt, and haunt us oftentimes.

In I Kings 18, this narrative illuminates the struggles of a Prophet and the struggles of a People as famine was prevalent in the land of Samaria and Jezebel was killing the LORD'S prophets. However, Obadiah, a man of GOD, had taken 100 prophets and hidden them in caves; i.e., fifty in each cave with an adequate supply of food and libation.

Both Obadiah and Ahab contrive a plan so as to derail Jezebel while saving the animals commensurately. While on the Journey, Obadiah meets the Prophet, Elijah, who petitions Obadiah to inform Ahab of Elijah's presence. Obadiah is confused and fearful as he doubted that Elijah would reveal himself once he gave the message. However, Obadiah acquiesces in the request due to his trust in GOD verses his trust in his own understanding. Obadiah originally believed that he had done something wrong to incur GOD'S wrath; this was not the case!

Elijah informs Ahab, Israel, and all of the Prophets on Mount Carmel that those that be for GOD to proclaim so and that those who advocate for false gods to do the same. He tells them, though he be the last remaining prophet, that it is not he who has made trouble for Israel, but a consequence of the people and their people all of whom have turned their backs to the LORD.

After putting Baal to the test of GOD, Elijah requests that his servant look towards the sea. The servant reports that he sees nothing. Elijah requests that the servant go back a total of seven times and when he does, he reports that he saw a small cloud arise from the sea as small as the hand of a man. Elijah beckons the servant to inform Ahab and Israel to hitch their chariot because the LORD was moving. In the MEANTIME, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, and a heavy rain occurred and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. The power of the LORD came upon Elijah, and tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

Beloved, GOD offers you a resolution to your distress even while you are reading this right now. The aforementioned narrative illustrates for each of us that our journeys are full not only with the events themselves, but with MEANTIME events! While GOD petitions us to move accordingly to his plans for our lives, in the MEANTIME GOD is intervening in a miraculous manner!

MEANTIME moments are the instances when reason is elusive and hope appears to have taken a hiatus. MEANTIME moments are the instances when hopelessness and brokenness provokes the people of GOD to raise some life transforming existential questions about the purpose of our journey as far too many of GOD'S people have walked away from service in the MEANTIME; they have walked away from love in the MEANTIME; they have walked away from tolerance in the MEANTIME; they have walked away from a genuine desire to understand in the MEANTIME; they have walked away from openness as it requires too much authentic introspection in the MEANTIME; they have walked away from passion in the MEANTIME; they have walked away from integrity in the MEANTIME; they have walked away from power because they feel, far too frequently, defeated by the daily malaise of making it from one moment to the next in the MEANTIME! They have walked away without realizing that in the MEANTIME is the place where eternity meets our "NOW-HEREness" and the HOLY SPIRIT breaks open the widows of heaven and blesses us in ways that we have never conceived or imagined.

When you doubt, turn it over in the MEANTIME! When you are fearful, turn it over in the MEANTIME! When you see no way out, turn it over in the MEANTIME! When all of the odds appear to be against you, turn it over in the MEANTIME!

In the MEANTIME will you trust GOD? Have we not wondered to where/whom should we turn when things are in disarray? Have we not wondered to whom we could run to find a shoulder to lay our heads upon? Oh yes, we have wondered these things and many more? Thank GOD that we can be encouraged by him, turn to him, rest in him, and run to him! In times of distress, darkness, despair, danger, and death, thank GOD in/for the MEANTIME!

What does in the MEANTIME really mean? It means that GOD'S

Mercy

Eradicates

All

Negative

Trepidation

In

My

Existence

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

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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 11-20-05 THANK YOU

WORD WEEK 11-20-05

THANK YOU

Luke 17:11-19

11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" 14 When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. 15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" 19 Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."

SUPPLEMENTAL: SUBJECT - THANKS

DANIEL 2:23 KJV

23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.

I CHRONICLES 16:34 34

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

In the year 2005, we as a community, nation, and the world by and large have made significant advancements in agriculture, science, medicine, psychology, technology, and spirituality. However, commensurate with these laudable achievements are numerous critical issues that warrant serious consideration, responses, and empathic attention. Significantly, while the aforementioned strides that we have achieved within this millennium have caused the world to become a better place for some, these same strides have equally exacerbated greater issues of distress due to a lack of consideration as well as the absence of gratitude. While, we live in a world where the opportunity to acquire and accumulate is both pervasive and infinite, the awareness and a spirit of sincere thanks appears to be remiss.

It appears that gone are the days, when one driver allows another driver to precede him/her on the road and a waving hand of thanks is given in acknowledgment of courtesy. It appears that gone are the days when one human being holds open a door for another who is one foot or two feet behind and the words of thanks are uttered to acknowledge gratitude. It appears that gone are the days when persons show acts of kindness and consideration to others and that a simple response of "Thank You" is given.

Have we, GOD'S BELOVED CREATION, become so self-absorbed, driven, malignantly narcissistic, and post modernistic in our perspective that the words and the healing power of the words "Thank You" have been erased from our memory banks like that of tabularasa? Are we so busy in our quest to acquire that we cannot take a second to acknowledge the gift of another human being who too is a tiller in our Father's Vineyard and our Mother's Garden? What a glorious gift and privilege it is when we render thanks! When we say "Thank You" we keep ourselves open as human being to the reality that this is our Father's world and that we must live in it together. When we speak the words, "Thank You" it provides for us a mindfulness that we are interdependent and that we need each other. When we speak the words, "Thank you" our hearts are kept both human and humble!

Yes, Beloved, it is a such a reverential act of goodness the honors GOD when we render thanks to one another! Over the few past few weeks or so we have witnessed the bombing in Jordan; the war in Iraq, which continues to result in the deaths of numerous people, innocent people on both sides of this travesty; the tornado in Iowa; violence in France; the election controversy in Liberia; and a plethora of local pathos that is prevalent throughout every state in the United States! While these are undoubtedly horrific events, how many of have taken the time to thank GOD for the presence of grace even in the midst of such mind boggling massive destruction?

While such hopelessness and brokenness provokes the people of GOD to raise some very critically existential questions about the purpose of our journey on our return to the Celestial City of GOD! Many of GOD'S people have walked away from service; they have walked away from love; they have walked away from tolerance; they have walked away from a genuine desire to understand; they have walked away from openness as it requires too much authentic introspection; they have walked away from passion; they have walked away from integrity; they have walked away from power because they feel, far too frequently, defeated by the daily malaise of making it from one moment to the next; they have walked away from a spirit of rendering thanks. Help us GOD!

The aforementioned plethora of events in our society bring to mind the powerful narrative of the Ten Lepers in Luke 17:11-19. Jesus on his journey along the border of Samaria and Galilee happened upon ten men who had leprosy. In their agony, pathos, and distress they called out to Jesus and petitioned him to have mercy upon them. When he saw them, he had mercy upon them and requested that they show themselves to the priests. As the lepers proceeded as directed, they were cleansed; healed; cured; delivered! However, one of them upon seeing that he was healed, came back and praised GOD with a loud voice and threw himself at JESUS' feet to thank him. Jesus states that "were there not 10 healed? Where are the nine?"

When was the last time that you thanked a family member for just being with you? When was the last time that you thanked that friend who called to see how you where doing? When is the last time that you thanked an acquaintance who sent you an email or a card? When is the last time that you thanked the gentleman who held the door when your arms were full? When was the last time that you thanked a senior citizen for the quiet strength and smile that she/he gave you and because of the encounter, you knew that everything would be alright? When is the last time that you thanked GOD for your parents or the pilot for a safe flight, When was the last time that you thanked GOD for your health, sight, and grace? When is the last time you thanked GOD?

Have we not wondered to where/whom should we turn when things went wrong? Have we not wondered to whom we could run to find a shoulder to lay our heads upon? Oh yes, we have wondered these things and many more? Thank GOD that we can be encouraged by him, turn to him, rest in him, and run to him! In times of distress, darkness, despair, danger, and death, thank GOD, for even then, it is GOD who is keeping us and not we ourselves!

During this season of Thanksgiving, may each one of us of take the time to reflect and render thanks to one another for one another, for those near and far, for those seen and not seen, for those present and those who are now in Glory Land, and render homage to the JESUS CHRIST THE LORD our SAVIOR, ROCK, FORTRESS, DELIVERER and SHEPHERD in AGES PAST!

"In everything give thanks to the LORD, for he is good and his mercy endures forever!"


HAVE A BLESSED THANKSGIVING

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

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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 11-13-05 AGAINST ALL HOPE: DO NOT GIVE UP

WORD WEEK 11-13-05

AGAINST ALL HOPE: DO NOT GIVE UP

ROMANS 4:18-25 NIV

18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." 23 The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Destruction, desolation, despair, disconnectedness, disease, disrespect, deceit, divisiveness, degradation, debauchery, destitution, and death are all the main staples of the day. Despite the number of vacations, excursions, retreats, and respites that one takes, the presence of suffering is prevalent throughout the land of GOD. Consequently, there is no escape from its presence nor its impact in our lives. While some persons opt to bury their heads in the ground; still others opt to self-medicate; even still others appear to move through existence unscathed as long as such pandemic suffering does not happen in one's pseudoprotected private milieu; suffering and its impact on the quality of one's life is real and enervating!

Over the past week or so we have witnessed the bombing in Jordan; the war in Iraq, which continues to result in the deaths of numerous people, innocent people on both sides of this travesty; the tornado in Iowa; violence in France; the election controversy in Liberia; and a plethora of local pathos that is prevalent throughout every state in the United States!

Such hopelessness and brokenness provokes the people of GOD to raise some very critically existential questions about the purpose of our journey in the "here and now" on our return to the Celestial City of GOD! Many of GOD'S people have walked away from service; they have walked away from love; they have walked away from tolerance; they have walked away from a genuine desire to understand; they have walked away from openness as it requires too much authentic introspection; they have walked away from passion; they have walked away from integrity; they have walked away from power because they feel, far too frequently, defeated by the daily malaise of making it from one moment to the next. In essence, GOD'S people do not believe that there is "anyway" of possible rebound or hope for authentic transformative change and reconciliation, but they do believe that there "AIN'T NO WAY" of possible rebound or hope for authentic transformative change and reconciliation, which gets at something more guttural as such an utterance is unrestrained and unrehearsed! Help us GOD! LORD, we pray, "your people need you! LORD, we need you!

Significantly, there is not a domain to which any one of us can escape that is devoid of traits or blatant indicators that are suggestive of the relinquishment of steadfast hope. In the quiet of our homes, schools, communities, jobs, churches, and even in the quiet of our prayers and reflections, we have entertained the thoughts of "giving up" and/or flying right into the flames in our desperation as we are inundated with daily news that has very little to say about goodness, brotherhood, sisterhood, charity, tolerance, gentleness, or hope in the land.

The events in our society bring to mind a powerful story entitled The Story of the Three Kingdoms, written by Walter D. Myers and Ashley Bryan. The narrative illustrates that there were three kingdoms of the world, namely, the kingdom of the forest, ruled by the mighty Elephant; the kingdom of the sea, ruled by the ferocious Shark; the kingdom of the air, ruled by the powerful Hawk. And there were the People, who warranted access to the forest, the sea, and the forest for survival. However, the People were small in relation to the animals and weak and perceived themselves no match for the masters of the forest, sea, and air as each of the animals boasted about their omnipotence, thereby, causing the People to walk with their chins upon their chests and their eyes cast down.

One night, at the campfire, the places where stories were told, one of the villagers spoke about a large boulder that he had seen, which was situated at the place where the villagers desired to erect the center of their community. Subsequently, the community mobilized their strength and were able to move the boulder. Meanwhile, Elephant falls into a pit and they help him out by attaching vines to the boulder and moving it. Elephant promises to share the forest with the people. Secondly, Shark gets caught in a net and makes a vow to share the sea at his release via the People. Thirdly, Hawk is trapped as he rests in a baobab tree and makes a promise to the People that he would share the air upon his release.

Significantly, each time the People helped one of the aforementioned animals, they gathered around the campfire to narrate the event, which fortified their strength, renewed their hope, and reignited their purpose. In essence, their strength not only came from a power much greater then themselves, but their strength emerged from their ability to remember and tell their stories!

We, GOD'S PEOPLE, have been caste down and discouraged far too frequently because we no longer tell nor believe our stories! Have we not wondered to where/whom should we turn when things went wrong? Have we not wondered to whom we could run to find a shoulder to lay our heads upon? Oh yes, we have wondered these things and many more? So too did the People! Significantly, so too did Abraham and Sarah! GOD, our GOD is the force behind the power and the force of possibility against all hope!

The barren Sarah and Abraham, in the late Winter of his years, appeared ready to cross the chilly banks of Jordan and contemplated with regularity, giving up the ghost! But, the LORD, our SAVIOR, ROCK, FORTRESS, DELIVERER and SHEPHERD in AGES PAST, had other plans! GOD requested that Abraham not waver in his belief, but to remain strengthened in his faith and his reverence to the LORD. GOD promises for that kind of tenacity and commitment that he would make Abraham the father of many nations. BELOVED, GOD promises you too that he would open up the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that you would not have room enough to receive, but hold on to that FORCE that is the POSSIBILITY against all hope, JESUS!

In times of distress, darkness, despair, danger, and death, the LORD provides a prescription to the PEOPLE, you and me, to overcome the attraction to embracing those things that are against all hope; i.e., giving up! Beloved of GOD, DO NOT GIVE UP as the answer nor the resolution is in burying one's head in the sand, self-medicating, constructing pseudo structures of protection, nor flying into the flames of desperation! You must hold on even when it hurts and the capacity to understand no longer anchors itself on the banks of logic when dealing with spiritual matters! True, we live in some very difficult times, but we serve a gracious, loving, and mighty SAVIOR! GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE! YES, HE IS! GOD'S answer is couched in the request "DO NOT GIVE UP" itself!

Divine

Omnipotence

New

Options

Through

God's

Infinite

Vigilant

Eschatological

Unconditional

Power

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.


BlessingsPlethora 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

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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 11-06-05 UNSOLICITED PERSECUTION

WORD WEEK 11-06-05
UNSOLICITED PERSECUTION
ROMANS 8:28-39

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. 31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness. The foundation the Christian's development, fellowship, communion, prayer, service, mission, devotion, and a life of faithful living through JESUS CHRIST is grounded upon these virtues. Christ exemplified for the believer that the pilgrimage to a meaningful and bountiful spiritual life requires that these virtues be integrated into our lives daily.

The virtues of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness seem effortless when grace has withheld the clouds, the storms, the floods, and the earthquakes of life; all of which are circumstances that not only challenge what one believes, but the profundity of one's convictions about his/her faith significantly.

As we approach the dawning of the year 2005, we, GOD'S PEOPLE, approach this time of year with a deeper reverence to GOD and with a spirit of thanksgiving and praise as we reflect upon both the lessons learned and the joy of which we are the recipients. Commensurate with the joy is a sense of somberness as we reflect upon the pandemic suffering of which we are recipients as well.

Throughout the year 2005, each of us has been directly and indirectly impacted by far too many incidents of unsolicited persecution in our world as we have been witnesses of and impacted by: 1) The War in Iraq, 2) Tsunami, 3) Hurricane Katrina, 4) The Earthquake in Asia, 4) Starvation in Africa, 5) the death of great leaders in the world, 6) Unemployment, 7) Escalated gasoline prices, and 8) a sociopolitical milieu as well as an economic system that is in utter disarray. Moreover, while these events are in no way exhaustive of the pandemic suffering in the world and in our personal lives, they do serve as metaphors that might offer us an invitation to get at the manner by which we process our faith in the LORD and the movement of GRACE in our lives when we witness the innocent persecuted via unsolicited persecution!

Life offers us intoxicating grandeur, beauty, majesty, and wonder and at the same time presents GOD'S people with paradoxes that causes one to raise very difficult to answer theological questions that warrant prayer and listening, listening and prayer, prayer and prayer, listening and listening, and back to prayer and listening again! Help us GOD! Clearly stated, it becomes almost paralyzing when we witness innocent people suffering, not necessarily by a lack of faith, by a lack of faithfulness, nor by any orchestration of events themselves, but by the unsolicited persecution of the hands of those who are in positions designed: 1) To protect the integrity of GOD'S peoples' personal power, 2) To advocate the causes of those who are unable to advocate for themselves, 3) To protect the rights of all human beings, 4) To make accessible to all human beings the basic necessities of life, and 5) To protect, secure, and guarantee the civil rights, justice, and liberty of all! Ironically and tragically, western society has become complacent and accusatory in its response to pandemic unsolicited persecution to the degree that the victims become the inimical objects/targets of scorn as they function as the projection screen for the compelled avoidance-type to reconcile. Far too often, Christians are challenged to live their lives amidst conflicts, inconsistencies, and paradoxes because love does not seem to yield love, but generate hatred; joy does not seem to yield joy, but generate sadness; peace does not appear to yield peace, but generate pandemic distress; patience does not appear to yield patience, but generate schizophrenic frenzy; kindness does not appear to yield kindness, but generate mean-spiritedness; goodness does not appear to yield goodness, but generate evil; faithfulness does not appear to yield faithfulness, but generate utter despair!

The word of GOD reminds us that in this life there will be suffering, pain, injustices, contradictions, and unsolicited persecutions that might tempt the people of GOD to question the efficacy of the breadth, scope, might, depth, power, grace, mercy, and love of the LORD! He reminds us the there is nothing, "NO THING" Beloved of GOD that can vanquish you, annihilate you, claim you, overtake you destroy you, block you, stop you, or cancel you in JESUS CHRIST!

Paul reminds us that "33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

In essence, we learn that the persecutions, be they unsolicited, are often indicators of our movement and development with the LORD, not only to the Celestial City of our GOD, but into our present life that must not defined or restricted by pseudo constructs that validate the worth and dignity of a human being! These persecutions reminds us that in the presence and in the eyes of a loving and gracious FATHER is a peace that surpasses all understanding and all troubling circumstances through JESUS CHRIST our LORD.

This weeks "WORD" is devoted to the memory of the late Reverend Dr. Richard I. McKinney, Academician, Consummate Preacher, Theologian, Writer, Mentor, Philosopher, and Prophet

(1906-2005)

Thank you for being a beckon of light and illumination in a world that has lost its way!

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

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

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

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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