Month: August 2015

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PWTE Daily Devotion

Seeing with (im)Perfect Clarity

Eugene, Oregon Copyright Douglas P Brauner

Though we cannot fully see God now, the day is coming when we will see his full glory.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror,
but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.
All that I know now is partial and incomplete,
but then I will know everything completely,
just as God now knows me completely.
1 Corinthians 13:12 New Living Translation
Eugene, Oregon Copyright Douglas P Brauner
Eugene, Oregon
Copyright Douglas P Brauner

Though my hometown of Eugene, Oregon was in the grip of a severe drought when I took this picture, there was a great deal of life reflected in the birds that inhabited the Delta Ponds. When I first saw this bird I thought it was a baby blue heron (you can stop laughing all you ornithologists) until I discovered it was a much smaller green heron.

Though there were many blue herons feeding in the ponds, this was the only green heron I spotted, and I didn’t see him for long (and yes, if you read yesterday’s blog, this is the same log on which the duck and duckling stood). In fact, most of these herons only spend the summer among the marshes and ponds of the Willamette Valley.

Personifying this bird, it looks like he’s checking out his reflection in the water (yes, I know it’s fishing). What does he see? The water distorts his image. What he sees isn’t what he actually looks like. Will he forget his portrait when he flies away? Many of us forget what we look like the moment we step away from a mirror.

Paul refers to our life as looking into a mirror and dimly seeing our reflection. The people of Corinth made polished bronze mirrors, but these mirrors were imperfect and didn’t reflect a true image.

Seeing God is much like looking into an imperfect bronze mirror. His glory is reflected all around us. We  see his imprint in creation, yet this creation also hides a perfect view of our God. We know his image but only dimly. His image is best reflected in a cross and an empty tomb. We see God in what Jesus did for us.

The day is coming when there will be no ripples in the water, no imperfections in the polished bronze and we will see God. Our comfort today is not that we fully see or understand God, but that he fully knows us, loves us, forgives us and walks with us.

Copyright Douglas P Brauner

 

Categories
PWTE Daily Devotion

This Job Isn’t for Crybabies

Eugene, Oregon Copyright Douglas P Brauner

Parenting requires  faith to let go and hope to stay sane.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

Train a child in the way he should go,
and even when he is old he will not turn away from it.
Proverbs 22:6 God’s Word to the Nations
Eugene, Oregon Copyright Douglas P Brauner
Eugene, Oregon
Copyright Douglas P Brauner

You’ve gotta wonder what this hen was thinking as her duckling walks away from her. “Why can’t he just stay still for a few minutes. I can’t take anymore of his wayward ways! God I need a break!”

Or maybe she thought something completely different. “She’s in for a surprise when she reaches the end of the log. Let’s just see how far she’s willing to wander before she panics.”

Raising children isn’t for cowards, crybabies and wimps.

Everyday our children walk further and further away from us. Daily we hand over control of their lives into their own hands.  At times we panic and at times we watch.

Many of us have memorized this proverb as we raise our children. We want assurance that our children will not “go astray,” and that they will stay on God’s “narrow path,” but we cannot control them. As we give our children authority for their lives we also give them responsibility. It’s what we do even when it scares us, breaks our hearts, and nearly sends us to a mental institution.

The Hebrew of this proverb is a little more explicit than most English translations. “Train (or, Dedicate) a child on the mouth of his way…” I know that sounds awkward, but it’s a good picture of what we do as parents. We start the process by bringing our children to baptism and training them on the beginning of their journey of faith. We then trust that God will do his work in their lives.

As we let go of our child and watch them walk away from us on the log of life we do so with faith and hope in the one who will never leave them.

Copyright Douglas P Brauner

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PWTE Daily Devotion

The Importance of Community in Drought

Eugene, Oregon Copyright Douglas P Brauner

We are Christ with flesh when we walk with each other through painful times.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed.
If one person falls, the other can reach out and help.
But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. 
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 New Living Translation

No, this is not another blog about how being married is better than being single, in fact Paul wrote some things that would suggest that the opposite is true. But I’m not going to deal with Paul’s thoughts since Janice and I just celebrated our 37th wedding anniversary, and I’d probably take issue with him.

When you finish reading the book of Ecclesiastes you might believe that the Preacher was an old, depressed codger. At times he can’t find satisfaction in work and at other times he says work is blessing from God. He can’t stand being around people, then he says that two are better than one, in fact, a threefold cord of people doesn’t easily break.

Eugene, Oregon Copyright Douglas P Brauner
Eugene, Oregon
Copyright Douglas P Brauner

Yet this is what I appreciate about this God inspired Preacher. He is real. I can relate to him because of his struggles. And he is spot on when he says that two are better than one because they help each other succeed like these bees busily collecting pollen together.

Times are tough in Oregon and the entire west coast where I took this picture. Fires rage as the drought tightens its grip in this special land. It hurts when I see pictures of smoke rising miles into the sky. It hurts when I hear of firefighters losing their lives attempting to save the lives of others as well as their property.

When we experience tragedies like these it is doubly hard to face them alone, and yet pain so often isolates us from others. It is when we experience drought that we need the community of compassionate friends; people who will listen more than speak, who will cry more than laugh, who will stay at our side when being at our side is painful. We are Christ to each other when we’re willing to walk with each other through the struggles of life.

I believe the rains will come one day, the fires will end and those who have walked through the drought together will form a bond that will carry them into eternity.

Copyright Douglas P. Brauner