Thought for Today
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,
Micah 6:8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God--
James 2:26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.
This week, I have been thinking a lot about that quotation I read on Monday, “Today Christ is heart-shocking you and me to become ever-flowing channels of the miracle of light.” (These Days, September 15, 2025) Most of my thoughts have centered on “ever-flowing channels of the miracle of light.” I even asked, “How are your channels flowing?” I have been focused on the channels and what was flowing in them.
This morning, I am thinking about “ever-flowing,” about time and the time we are each allotted in our lifetimes. Despite all of the miraculous advances in modern medicine, none of us expect to live as long as Methuselah. I often think about lifespans, because I am older than either my father or older brother lived. They both died far too young and missed out on much of the kind of joy I have experienced my later years. At an early age, I read Robert Browning’s Rabbi Ben Ezra, including my very favorite stanza of poetry, Grow old along with me! / The best is yet to be, / The last of life, for which the first was made: / Our times are in His hand / Who saith "A whole I planned, / Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!''
Today, I am asking myself (and you) not so much about how your channels are flowing, but rather “Are your channels ever-flowing?” What are you doing with the time you have? I am now in what Walter Wright wrote about in The Third Third of Life. (InterVarsity Press, 2012)
Another sentence by the same devotional writer in These Days this morning leaped out as I read it, “We can unleash our gift of time, attention, and caring into our community to make a difference for forgotten children of God.” Two things about that sentence bothered me as I read it. First, I’m sure the author did not intend this, but the grammar might suggest that God has forgotten some of God’s children. God never forgets any of God’s children. I believe that when Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus he believed that the gift of which he wrote was obviously offered to all of God’s children. The idea is so ubiquitous, so obvious that it is often unstated. Remember, “Matthew 5:44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” The gift is freely offered to all; we must deliberately and consciously accept God’s gift.
The second troubling thing about that line this morning is the word “forgotten” itself. I believe it is possible to so focus on those whom society has forgotten that we forget that all of God’s children are included in God’s promise. It is true that “1 Timothy 6:10 the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.” But, the problem is not the money, it is the love of the money, the obsession with wealth, its accumulation and the wandering away from our faith.
Our society certainly has a plethora of problems and issues, an abundance of those facing food-insecurity, housing-insecurity, abuse and other issues desperately needing our time, attention and caring. Those of us in that third third of life have definitely been offered an opportunity to direct our “ever-flowing channels of the miracle of light” towards alleviating and eliminating those issues. The First Parish Community Food Pantry is one of the ministries that most attracted me to answer the congregation’s call.
It is important for us all to “unleash our gift of time, attention, and caring into our community to make a difference for forgotten all the children of God,” including each other. God’s love and care is for all of God’s children, “the evil and . . . the good”, “the righteous and . . . the unrighteous.” As it always does in the Bible, all means all. For some, the difference might merely be to become aware that God loves God’s children.
Stay safe, spread the good news of God’s love, trust God,
Pastor Ray