Inspirations for Today: A Daily Devotional

By Dorothea Erdmuth Lotze-Kola

Life can be overwhelming. Life can even leave us raw and broken, both spiritually and physically. And as Christians, we may often wonder how God is present in our personal and global world. Yet God is there for us, even in these moments of brokenness and struggle.
In Inspirations for Today, author Dorothea Erdmuth Lotze-Kola responds to the pressures of the world with a heartfelt daily devotional that you can use to find inspiration in prayer and meditation. Offering biblical verses and quotes of wisdom from noted authors, poets, activists, and world dignitaries, Dorothea engages in a daily dialogue where she shares her perspective on faith and life as a marriage and family therapist, as a pastor, and as a wife and a mother with teenaged girls.
It can be hard for Christians to engage with today’s world—especially when they feel doubt about God’s presence in their lives. But with daily reflection on God’s Word and time set aside for spiritual meditation, you too can be reminded, each and every day, that God is with you and that he is working in the world as the Holy Spirit.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Sep 27, 2018
• ISBN: 9781532054013

Dorothea Erdmuth Lotze-Kola

Dorothea Erdmuth Lotze-Kola is the seventh-generation granddaughter of Earl Zinzendorf, the German founder of the Moravian Church in the early eighteenth century. Dorothea grew up and studied theology in Germany before immigrating to the United States in 1993 to pursue her passion of working as a clinical chaplain. She later worked as a chaplain educator, and she worked in several hospitals for more than seventeen years before becoming a licensed marriage and family therapist. As an ordained pastor in the United Church of Christ, Dorothea serves the German church in Atlanta, Georgia, and she and her husband have twin daughters.

Book preview

INSPIRATIONS FOR TODAY

A DAILY DEVOTIONAL

Copyright © 2018 Dorothea Erdmuth Lotze-Kola.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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ISBN: 978-1-5320-5400-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-5401-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018908569

iUniverse rev. date: 07/20/2018

Contents

January 1    Our Brokenness; God’s Beginning

January 2    Make New Year’s Goals

January 3    Death and Resurrection

January 4    If You Love Someone, Set Them Free

January 5    I Hope You Make Mistakes

January 6    Inviting the Stranger

January 7    Married Not by Change but with the Help of God’s Spirit

January 8    True Friends Are Knit to Our Souls

January 9    Doubt Is an Element of Faith

January 10    I Am Not What Happened to Me

January 11    Healing Instead of Controlling

January 12    Our Relationship with Food

January 13    Being Double-Minded

January 14    Right Is Stronger than Evil

January 15    Being Still Means Not Reacting

January 16    Our Exhaustion; God’s Opportunity

January 17    God’s Mystery of Butterflies

January 18    Who Am I?

January 19    Forgiveness

January 20    The Strength of a Country

January 21    Who Is a Prophet?

January 22    Kill the Wicked?

January 23    Belonging

January 24    Contract versus Covenant

January 25    Love and Self-Respect

January 26    Stepping Out

January 27    The Two Kinds of Power

January 28    Us, the Next Generation

January 29    And God Says, Me Too

January 30    If the Blind Are Leading

January 31    Emotions Too Deep

February 1    Us? Poor?

February 2    How to Respond

February 3    Sin as Going Astray

February 4    God’s Spirit Is Humming in Our Hearts

February 5    Arbitrary Power

February 6    Healing Instead of Controlling

February 7    Places of Calm

February 8    An Eye for an Eye

February 9    Dignity

February 10    Detoxing

February 11    Exhaustion

February 12    True Self

February 13    Intercessory Prayer

February 14    Narcissism

February 15    Deportations

February 16    Being Safe

February 17    Start with the Children

February 18    Never Stop Loving

February 19    Prevailing

February 20    Feeding Just One

February 21    Our Unknown Future

February 22    Carpe Diem

February 23    It Affects Us All

February 24    When It Hurt So Bad

February 25    Being Present

February 26    And There Was Light

February 27    Bankruptcy of Love

February 28    We Do Not Use the H Word

February 29    Caring for Your Inner Child

March 1    Never Doubt

March 2    Be Kind to Strangers

March 3    Gratitude Unlocks the Fullness of Life

March 4    The Last Lecture

March 5    Generosity

March 6    No Enemies

March 7    Insanity

March 8    If You Fall

March 9    In Our Hands

March 10    God Far Away

March 11    The Mystery of Friendship

March 12    Holy Kiss, Healing Kiss

March 13    Second Level of Maturity

March 14    Despite the Gospel, On the Side of the Strong and Powerful

March 15    And Let It Begin with Me

March 16    Re-membering

March 17    The Joy of Being

March 18    Tired of Giving In

March 19    Interrupted

March 20    And There Was Stillness

March 21    Being Saved in New Terms

March 22    The Blessings of a Storm

March 23    The Seasons of Marriage

March 24    We Are More

March 25    Freedom to Choose

March 26    Today Is Life

March 27    And God Whispers Grow

March 28    Mothers Give Up So Much

March 29    Being New Is Not What I Thought

March 30    Christian Responsibility

March 31    Too Weak to Dance?"

April 1    Be Bold

April 2    Together, We Will Succeed

April 3    The Secret to a Happy Marriage

April 4    Listen to Your Heart; It Knows

April 5    The Art of Letting Go

April 6    Decay or Integration?

April 7

April 8    Always Stay True to Yourself

April 9    The Unforced Rhythms of Grace

April 10    Respect and Culture

April 11    The Mystery of Parental Love

April 12    What Is Love?

April 13    Uncertainty

April 14    Why Have You Forsaken Me?

April 15    Black Saturday

April 16    Finding Your Bliss

April 17    God Leaps

April 18    A Day Away

April 19    From Enemies to Partners

April 20    I Am a Friend

April 21    First They Came for the Mexicans

April 22    Gratitude

April 23    Free from Control

April 24    Courage to Grow Up

April 25    Resurrection

April 26    Indivisible

April 27    Depression

April 28    Spirit of Gentleness

April 29    Resurrection from the Past

April 30    Loving Means Striving and Struggling

May 1    Success

May 2    Each Day Is a Little Life

May 3    Recovering Myself

May 4    Consult Not Your Fear

May 5    Collective Narcissism

May 6    The World Suffering

May 7

May 8    Cross-Cultural Transformation

May 9    No Longer Crazy

May 10

May 11    And God Whispers, Grow

May 12    My Grandmother’s Life

May 13    No matter how difficult and painful it may be, nothing sounds as good to the soul as the truth.

May 14    Blessed Are the Motherly

May 15    Imperfect Couple

May 16    Concepts Have Their Time

May 17    Through the Mouths of the Young

May 18    God Is the Friend of Silence

May 19    Loving Myself—Really?

May 20    Retirement Every Day

May 21    God, Ever Present

May 22    Wisdom Is More than Knowledge

May 23    Self-Love as Bliss

May 24    The Spectrum of Injustice and Human Rights Violations

May 25    You Go, Girl

May 26    Thriving and Not Just Surviving

May 27    The Journey Is Long

May 28    The Dregs of Exhaustion

May 29    Dance Like No One Is Watching

May 30    Faith Means Living with Uncertainty

May 31    Those Big Brown Eyes

June 1    Excellent Imperfection

June 2    Love Is the Answer

June 3    Living in the Area of Deception

June 4    You Are Beautiful!

June 5    Working Out Who to Be

June 6    Home in God

June 7    Body Prayer

June 8    Cancer Affects All of Us

June 9    Pray and Something Wonderful Happens

June 10    Evil in the World

June 11    The Seasons of Love

June 12    The Power of Two Words: Thank You

June 13    Discipline Means Freedom

June 14    Prayer Changes Us

June 15    Setting Boundaries

June 16    Violence against the Self

June 17    Father’s Day

June 18    Don’t Twist Me to Fit Your Image

June 19    The Pain and Peace of Being Alone

June 20    I Need My Education

June 21    Our Sins Are Covered

June 22    Still Experimenting

June 23    Sisters Make the Best Friends

June 24    Sorrow Comes in Great Waves

June 25    Rage That Needs to Come Out

June 26    Aging with Grace

June 27    Disconnected and Dispirited

June 28    A Book Is a Friend

June 29    Young Summer Days

June 30    The Loss of a Loved One

July 1    Two Generations from Now

July 2    The Powers of Empathy

July 3    The First Love of Teenagers

July 4    Being with Old Friends

July 5    Where We Love Is Home

July 6    Moments of Prayer

July 7    Overcoming Suffering

July 8    The Power of Culture Shock

July 9    I Am Just a Human Being

July 10    One Foot on the Brake

July 11    Prayer Is an Act of Love

July 12    Do I Know My and Your Love Language?

July 13    When I Am Anxious

July 14    Daring to Set Boundaries

July 15    Unconditional Trust

July 16    Becoming Real

July 17    Vulnerability—the Space between Hiding and Oversharing

July 18    God as Change Agent

July 19    Friendship

July 20    The Courage to Be

July 21    Soulful Spiritual Leaders

July 22    The Life That Is Awaiting Us

July 23    Sin—How Can We Change?

July 24    Yoga and Prayer

July 25    Becoming Who You Really Are

July 26    Aging

July 27    Transgender

July 28    Risk-Taking

July 29    The Mystery and Paradox of Faith

July 30    Mental Illness

July 31    God Is Nourishment

August 1    Depression As Anger Turned Inward

August 2    Grace—the Most Beautiful Things

August 3    Irritation Leads to Self-Understanding

August 4    Resilience Tested

August 5    Obsessed with Negative Things

August 6

August 7    New Beginnings

August 8

August 9    God’s Spirit, Bridging the Gap

August 10    Nuclear Threats

August 11    Life-Giving Communities

August 12    I Am My Body

August 13    Expect the Good

August 14    Group Isolation and Hatred

August 15    God Dreams Us

August 16    Do Not Be Silent

August 17    Surrendering and Letting Go

August 18    Interrupted by God

August 19    Nothing but Fear

August 20    Do Not Despair

August 21    Trust a Known God

August 22    Let’s Be Mindful

August 23    The Paradox of Faith

August 24    Falling in Love Many Times

August 25    The Ones Worth Suffering For

August 26    The Tough Take a Nap

August 27    God Weeps with Us

August 28    Christian Hope

August 29    The Grief of Losing One’s Home

August 30    The Power of Being Connected

August 31    Forgiveness Is Not Easy

September 1    I Am Enough

September 2    Happiness Is …

September 3    Recovering Compassion

September 4    Healing as Becoming

September 5    Our Deepest Fear Is Being Powerful

September 6    Endless Possibilities

September 7    The Urgency of Our Times

September 8    Being Different from Our Children

September 9    No Longer Intimately Involved

September 10    The Gift of Inspiration

September 11    Being Content and Grateful

September 12    Beauty Is

September 13    Grief and Joy at the Same Time

September 14    Like My Father

September 15    Religious Arrogance and Pretense

September 16    Lived Ecumenism

September 17    Parenting Teenagers

September 18    Nature Meets the President

September 19    Saved by Hope

September 20    Our Tears; God’s Tears

September 21    Motivating as a Spiritual Art

September 22    Holding Fame Lightly

September 23    Living Our Values with Courage

September 24    Self-Discipline

September 25    Having Faith

September 26    God Has No Other Hands than Ours

September 27    An Animal’s Eyes

September 28    Jesus Living in Us

September 29    Love Can Never Be Lost

September 30    Religion of Salvation or of Wonder?

October 1    All Things Work Together for Good

October 2    The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.

October 3    When Is a Church No Longer Christian?

October 4    There Is Sacredness in Tears

October 5    What Is Hope?

October 6    Mental Health Care

October 7    Being Comfortable in Your Own Skin

October 8    At the End of the Day

October 9    What Makes a Friend?

October 10    A Million Different Centers of Energy and Daring

October 11    Overcoming Shame

October 12    Who Looks Inside, Awakes

October 13    Life Put to the Test

October 14    Silence—How Does This Help?

October 15    Freedom from Having to Control

October 16    People and Church Need Saving

October 17    Tipping Points

October 18    Gratitude Transforms

October 19    Nature Moments

October 20    The Mark of a Good Marriage

October 21    Don’t Just Think; Embody

October 22    Walk Away and Seek

October 23    Raising Adolescent Kids and Systems

October 24    Old Emotional Pain

October 25    False Guilt

October 26    Those Beautiful Moments of Stillness

October 27    Underneath the Thinking, the Noise, and the Pain

October 28    The Discernment of the Spirits

October 29

October 30    Truth Matters

October 31    Separation and Divorce

November 1    When the Soul Gets Sick

November 2    I Will Be Fine Either Way

November 3    Consult Your Hopes

November 4    Maturing in Love

November 5    Believing in Ourselves

November 6    Defensiveness

November 7    Mental Health Neglect and Violence

November 8    Feeling Real and Having a Self

November 9    Every Time God Forgives Us

November 10    Finding Joy in Another’s Joy

November 11    False Humility versus True Humility

November 12    Happiness Is Today

November 13    Nurturing Communities

November 14    Be Angry and Do Not Sin

November 15    Where, Then, Is My Hope?

November 16    Seize the Day

November 17    Leading with the Heart

November 18    Twelve Hugs for Growth

November 19    The God beyond God

November 20    The Least of Things

November 21    Finding Your Gift

November 22    Most Evil Is Done

November 23    Having a Different Thanksgiving

November 24    Getting Rest

November 25    The Little Things in Life

November 26    Independent but Nurtured

November 27    Being Empowered

November 28    You Have a Right to Say No

November 29    I Have a Friend

November 30    Vulnerability

December 1

December 2    Shaming Is Dangerous

December 3    Let Justice Roll

December 4    Hidden Healing Is Going On

December 5    Over-functioning

December 6    The Anger at Death Being Unfair

December 7    Sleep Is a Bridge between Despair and Hope

December 8    Advent—Waiting for God’s Possibilities

December 9    Advent Means Being Rather than Doing

December 10    Giving Means Mimicking God

December 11    God Comes Uninvited

December 12    To Be Whole Means to Change Often

December 13    Hope Is Like the Sun

December 14    Faith Feels the Light

December 15    God’s Secret Work of Healing

December 16    One Year of False Gods

December 17    I Will Never Forget How You Made Me Feel

December 18    How We, as Parents, Influence

December 19    Simplify the Holy Days

December 20    Christmas—A Great Opportunity

December 21    Intimacy

December 22    Christmas Means We Are Never Alone

December 23    It Is in Pardoning That We Are Pardoned

December 24    God Is Born

December 25    God Comes into Our Messes, No Matter What

December 26    At the End of Your Life

December 27    For Everything There Is a Season

December 28    Be Still and Know

December 29    Wait with Making Life Decisions

December 30    Every Year We Are a Different Person

December 31    God Reaching Out to Us from the Future

- Scriptures marked as (CEV) are taken from the Contemporary English Version Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.

- Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®). Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

- Scripture quotations marked GNT are taken from the Good News Translation — Second Edition. Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

- Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. Website.

- Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from The NET Bible® Copyright © 2005 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. www.bible.org All rights reserved.

- Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Website

- Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Website

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Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]

- Scripture quotations marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

- Scripture quotations marked RSV are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission.

- The Holy Bible: International Standard Version. Release 2.0, Build 2015.02.09. Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.

- The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

January 1

Our Brokenness; God’s Beginning

God uses broken things. It takes broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to give rain, broken grain to give bread, broken bread to give strength. It is the broken alabaster box that gives forth perfume. It is Peter, weeping bitterly, who returns to greater power than ever.

—Vance Havner

Meditation: Sometimes life leaves us raw and broken. It might be that our physical bodies are weakened or our emotional or spiritual bodies are going through turmoil. I noticed that when I feel thin-skinned or when I feel broken, I develop more compassion toward others who go through times of brokenness. Though we feel at times that something in us is dying, often we are more broken open than we are destroyed. Being broken open can sometimes mean receiving new strength or becoming able to give more of ourselves to others than ever before. Sometimes when we think we are dying, God is taking us to the next level. Sometimes after our bodies, minds, or spirits shut down and say enough, we experience the gift of new life. At the beginning of this New Year, let us embrace those times of brokenness as God preparing to do a new thing in our lives.

Prayer: God, I pray for courage and a new perspective. Sometimes when I come to my wit’s end, it is just your beginning with me. When I think that life as I know it is over, you take my endings and transform them in ways I could not imagine. I am amazed that my human brokenness is your opportunity. Speak to me in new ways, and renew my body, mind, and spirit. Amen.

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer (wo)man is decaying, yet our inner (wo)man is being renewed day by day. (2 Corinthians 4:16)

January 2

Make New Year’s Goals

Make New Year’s goals. Dig within, and discover what you would like to have happen in your life this year. This helps you do your part. It is an affirmation that you’re interested in fully living life in the year to come.

—Melody Beattie

Meditation: My daughter created a poster board yesterday that displayed images and sayings that encourage her or indicate certain goals she has for herself. She wrote playful and encouraging teenage sayings like these: Breathe! It’s just a bad day, not a bad life. So far you have survived 100 percent of your worst days. You are doing great! The images are of people she admires. I haven’t done that yet, though I will probably write some goals instead of artistically displaying them. As I formulate goals, I want to leave room for life to happen when I’ve made other plans. I also want to plan and set goals with the awareness that I will do my best to reach them but that certain outcomes are not in my hands. And so three concrete goals I have for this year are to (1) continue eating healthily and exercising; (2) sleep more hours every night than I do now; and (3) enjoy time with my daughters each day, as they are growing up quickly. These seem like minor goals, but because I need to practice those every day of this year, they are major goals. What are your goals for the New Year? Let’s be invested and interested in fully living life this year!

Prayer: God of new beginnings, we commit our New Year’s goals to you. If you have other goals for us than those we have for ourselves, please make them clear. Give us joy and strength to pursue the goals we set for ourselves. May they serve to increase health and love in our lives. Amen.

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. (Proverbs 16:3)

January 3

Death and Resurrection

Every parting gives a foretaste of death, every reunion a hint of the resurrection.

—Arthur Schopenhauer

Meditation: My dear childhood friend died last year. She was surrounded by family and friends. I knew only that she was in intensive care, but about two hours after she died in Germany, I suddenly felt her presence. I texted her and her family; I felt the need to reach out to them. I then learned that was exactly the time when her friends and family were saying goodbye to my friend. The Spirit works in amazing ways! A day later, a close friend of twenty-three years emailed me. She was in town with her family and wanted to see me and my family. We met in a restaurant and spent three hours together. It was so healing to see each other. My daughters teased me that I had a bestie. It felt like the universe took away one of my beloved friends and then sent me another beloved to comfort me.

Prayer: God of death and God of resurrection, I pray for all who have lost loved ones in this past season, for all who mourn and feel deeply saddened. Be our comfort, be our strength, and send us your messengers of love and of hope of resurrection. Raise our weary hearts up to you. Hold us all, living and deceased, in your care and in your never-ending love. Amen.

Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power. (1 Corinthians 6:14)

January 4

If You Love Someone, Set Them Free

If you love someone, set them free. If they come back, they’re yours; if they don’t, they never were.

—Richard Bach

Meditation: When we love somebody, we do not love that person the same all the time. Sometimes we try to but it does not work. Love changes over time, and sometimes love requires us to let the other person go and be free—free from expectations, free from certain patterns and certain roles. If we allow those we love to have that space and freedom to choose to come back or to leave, and we allow ourselves the same freedom, then love does not become a prison or a way of holding another hostage. Love allows for change, even if that means to painfully let the other person go. Sometimes the only way to preserve love is to set the other person free.

Prayer: Gracious God, your love is a love that models freedom. You do not force us to be in an intimate relationship with you. You allow us times of going away from you, times of not wanting you in our lives, times of doubt, and times of rebellion against you. And at the end of the day, this is why we can come back to you. Your relationship with us transforms over the years. Help us to allow our human relationships also to be transformed. Help us to set one another free. Amen.

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)

January 5

I Hope You Make Mistakes

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something.

—Neil Gaiman

Meditation: It’s a strange wish for the New Year—wishing someone will make mistakes. Usually, we wish for others to obtain the good stuff—happiness, prosperity, luck—so why wish they will make mistakes? Simple: If we make mistakes, we are making a new thing, trying a new thing, learning, living, and pushing ourselves. We are changing, and we are changing our world. And that can’t happen without our making genuine mistakes. This refers not to intentional mistakes but to those mistakes that happen when we try something we have not done or tried before. These are mistakes we make because our intentions are to make things better but we discover that our intentions and the outcomes don’t match. Or they are mistakes that sometimes come with the anxiety of changing. If we make mistakes and are open to learning from them, we learn and change. We actually are being courageous. Genuine, unintended mistakes can be easily forgiven, as they are a by-product of trying something new. And so we dare imperfection and dare to make mistakes while we are on our way. And as we are on our way, we keep our eyes on the goal of becoming more loving and more accepting of ourselves and of others, just like Jesus was.

Prayer: God of new beginnings, we ask you, on this first day of the New Year, for courage to make mistakes, to admit mistakes, and to forgive mistakes. We ask you also for the humility to know that we haven’t figured out yet what your love in our lives really means and for patience with ourselves and others as we keep trying to become more like you. Bless us, and bless this New Year. Amen.

I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. (Philippians 3:12–14)

January 6

Inviting the Stranger

We can bring positive energy into our daily lives by smiling more, talking to strangers in line, replacing handshakes with hugs, and calling our friends just to tell them we love them.

—Brandon Jenner

Meditation: I recently attended the wedding of my stepdaughter, at which I was the only white person among Jamaican, African, and African American attendees. I obviously did not share the same culture, race, or background. I am the second wife of the bride’s dad and have not had much contact with that side of the family. Flying to Jamaica for the wedding, I wondered, Will there be hostility or hospitality? I left three days later feeling overwhelmed and grateful. I’d received many hugs from strangers and a warm welcome from all those gathered. It felt good to smile at, talk to, and hug strangers. Often, I didn’t know if the person was a relative or a friend; I wouldn’t have the story of how this person belonged in my stepdaughter’s life. Yet we were all there to celebrate love and life and to allow for some healing of the past to happen, if it could. And it did.

Prayer: God of new beginnings, thank you for the gift of my being a stranger yet welcome. Thank you for my sharing meals with strangers who would smile at me and even give me hugs. Thank you for the opportunity to be part of a celebration that brought family together in an unforgettable way. Thank you for the healing that happened during this time. Amen.

For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited me in. (Matthew 25:35)

January 7

Married Not by Change but with the Help of God’s Spirit

We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person.

—W. Somerset Maugham

Meditation: My husband and I have been married for twenty years. Attending his daughter’s wedding gave us the opportunity to also renew our wedding vows with each other. Although we both have changed a lot in many good ways, at the same time we have not changed at all. We still struggle with some dynamics that have been there from the beginning. Our personality differences still collide at times, and we still misunderstand each other occasionally in significant ways. At the same time, we feel deep love and respect for each other, as well as admiration and tenderness. In this twentieth anniversary year we are called by God’s Spirit to attune and attend to each other more than in all the years before. We are called to renew our marriage, which will take time. I am looking forward to a year of prioritizing us. We plan to take intentional times away and create safe spaces to be with each other without the stressors of daily life. We don’t want our love to be a happy chance; we want it to be a happy (and challenging) work of change.

Prayer: God of love, we thank you for the gift of love, the gift of change, and the gift of renewal. I pray that you help us and all couples who are married for many years to renew our love for each other and to continue to work on things that need to change so we truly can be happy with each other. Help us to leave it to your patient, gentle, and humble Spirit to help us change as we need to as a couple so that our love will have a future. Amen.

With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:2–3)

January 8

True Friends Are Knit to Our Souls

True friends are the ones who never leave your heart, even if they leave your life for a while. Even after years apart, you pick up with them right where you left off, and even if they die, they’re never dead in your heart.

—author unknown

Meditation: It is so difficult to lose friends or loved ones. When they move to different cities, states, or even countries, there is still a special bond, but the daily connection and interaction is no longer possible. Some relationships are forgotten and fade away when physical distance becomes a factor, but other relationships move to another level. Similarly, when a beloved person dies, we often respond by either forgetting about the person or taking the relationship to another level. This new level can be understood as forming a spiritual bond. Friends who depart now become an internal reality as much as they initially were an external reality. When relationships transcend in time and space onto this new spiritual level, it becomes a powerful new experience of loving and connecting. These are the friends who we see only every few years, but it feels like we were together just yesterday. This is because each of us has kept a space open in our hearts for the other. Similarly, when a friend or loved one dies, we can keep a space open in our hearts for that person. His or her voice, smile, and life story will become part of our inner world. The other person lives on, in some mysterious way, in our hearts and in our life themes. We will never be the same, whether the other person lives far away or dies. Love is the powerful experience of being knit to another person’s soul.

Prayer: God of love and friendship, one of the greatest mysteries of humanity is our capacity to love. And this love is a reflection of who you are. We are knitted to your soul. And you love us as your own soul. All other relationships that are long-lasting and enduring, despite distance, time, and space, participate in this mystery of spiritual and transcendent connection. Help us to attend to those special relationships and not dismiss or forget them. Let us not miss the spiritual presence of those we have loved but who have departed from us. They will always be part of our souls. Amen.

The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. (1 Samuel 18:1)jjj

January 9

Doubt Is an Element of Faith

Doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is one element of faith.

—Paul Tillich

Meditation: When we experience painful events like death, divorce, sudden loss, or trauma, it feels like God’s right hand has changed. We do not recognize the God anymore in whom we once believed and even delighted or whom we trusted. It is like we’ve lost our naiveté; as if our childlike faith has been wiped away. God was an unquestioned presence, but suddenly he became a stranger. Some Christians try to prevent this experience from happening. Some say that having doubts means being far from God. Doubt, however, is not the opposite of faith but an important and necessary element of it. Doubting shows that something essential to us has been put into question. Doubting is wondering if God can still be trusted after all that has happened. The psalmist acknowledges his grief that God has changed and at the same time says, I will remember. This is just like when the spouse of a person who has dementia sometimes doubts if there is any love left between them, but the very act of remembering the other person and how he or she was in years past can restore a sense of love and connection. Yes, doubt is part of faith. To remain faithful and hopeful, we need to go through times of doubt. As the valley experience is naturally part of the mountain experience, doubting is part of the experience of faith.

Prayer: God, in our dark hours and our night of the soul, when doubt grabs us as if there is no morning, as if life and love have ended, help us to remember. We will remember those times when you sustained us, moments that were true and built on love and trust. We will meditate on how you, God, held us in the midst of strife. And we are doubtful and thankful at the same time. Amen.

Then I said, It is my grief, that the right hand of the Most High has changed. I shall remember the deeds of the Lord; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will meditate on all Your work And muse on Your deeds. (Psalm 77:10)

January 10

I Am Not What Happened to Me

I am not what happened to me; I am what I choose to become.

—Carl Jung

Meditation: A few days ago I watched an episode of Parts unknown with Anthony Bourdain, who traveled through the Congo. After the US president recently made disparaging and racist remarks about Africans and Haitians, CNN aired footage of different African countries to educate US citizens. The Congo’s leadership arose in the 1960s and was endorsed by the West, but that turned out to be deeply exploitive of its people. The country’s railroad system has been left to decay for many decades. I was struck by a group of about thirty people who are not paid by