Daily Devotion - Friday, March 26

Transformation

“The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
the world and those who live in it.”
--Observations by a wisdom writer

Finally, it appears the long awaited warm-up weeks have arrived, offering the transformation people long for after the gray days of winter. This is a life-giving transformation — barren trees bud; brown grass becomes green; cocoons yield butterflies…. The list could go on and on!

In addition to the visible transformation observed in nature, religion (particularly Christian religion) reminds us of spiritual transformation, too!

Transformation is more than just changing. “Trans” is a Latin word meaning, “to move across.” A working definition of transformation is “the moving of our formation.” This may make resurrection, that Easter term, a bit more understandable.

You may want to try this concept on a passage of Scripture. Try reading John 20: 11-18. How does Mary experience transformation?

Or, you may want to try the following exercise to aid in understanding resurrection/transformation: Find a tree that is starting to bud and observe the transformation of those buds in the next 6 weeks. It will still be the same tree, but it will have a totally different look.

Have a good day.

A prayer: God of transformation, walk beside me on the roads that lie ahead.

--Ben Keckler
03.26.10

Daily Devotions - Monday, March 24

It's Warming Up

“The heavens are telling the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. ”
--From Psalm 19: 1

Good morning! Spring has sprung and the renewal of nature sings mighty songs! Along with a song of anticipated beauty, we can hear a song proclaiming the steady rhythm of life. Season after season declares the glory of God. (Candidly this writer is glad that winter is behind us, I’m ready for a season of new life!)

We continue to deal with another song as well. The drumbeat of rhetoric about Iraq continues daily. The painful stories continue to surface and, quite possibly, we will be hearing stories of trauma, death, destruction, courage, bravery and patriotism for some time to come. Each of us have personal perspectives to this international conflict, and respecting each person’s opinion is difficult, if not impossible. Five years ago, I wrote: “The challenge of prolonged war will be to stay the United States of America and not become the Untied States of America.” We are not totally “untied” but we are certainly far from “united.”

The song of springtime is a song of new life. Nature is telling the glory of God. I pray that we can at least carry a united song of new life to those we encounter this week.

A prayer: God of springtime, bring peace. Amen.

Ben Keckler
03.24.08