Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Today’s Reading  |  Matthew 6:19–24          
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” (NRSV)

Reflection
On Saturday, July 13, 1991, my life changed in an instant. I was practicing the organ in Walnut Creek, California, when Kara came to visit the church. The sanctuary door was locked, but I let Kara in and we talked for three hours. The conversation never stopped after that. Kara and I had so much in common, and we enjoyed everything together—making music, going to concerts, hiking, and endless conversations. I couldn’t stop thinking about Kara. However, for a while Kara and I were separated, because she had already made plans to move to England and teach at a school near London for six months. I worked to continue the conversation with daily letters to her. I even decided to fly halfway around the world to visit her when I sensed that our relationship had cooled down a bit, and that visit brought us closer together. When Kara came back to America we decided to get married exactly one year to the day after we met in California.

Now read that paragraph again, but this time take out Kara’s name and insert the word “God.”

That is the relationship we should seek with God. Not a relationship that only lasts for one hour on Sunday morning, but one that is all consuming and endless; a relationship that is intentional and thoughtful, built on sharing and conversation. It is a relationship that may cool down at times, but it can always be revived, because there is a deep sense of knowing and being known by the other. In that knowledge of each other comes trust and faith. It takes effort every day, but every day the relationship becomes stronger, deeper, and more wonderful.

Prayer
God, lover of my soul, help me to love you with my whole being so that I may become one with you now and in eternity. Amen.

Written by John W. W. Sherer, Organist and Director of Music

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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