The idea of the Trinity - a Triune God - Three beings in One is mysterious and perplexing, perhaps by design. Maybe the confusing nature of a God in three forms is intended to draw us into a sense of awe and reverence where we know the power of a God who created the world, knowing all; we sense the quiver of the wise, creative, compelling Spirit who nudges us toward good and right decisions; and we call upon the person of Jesus who is the embodiment of human and Divine perfection able to be compassionate and challenging; gentle and angry; loving and protective.
The Spirit of Pentecost
The Day of Pentecost is about celebrating the life, diversity, and vastness of the Spirit. The day of Pentecost reminds us that Jesus prepared the disciples for the work that they needed to do. This is a time to remember that most of the time the work of the Spirit defies our own expectations and reasonings.
Meditation During Eastertide
Every Thursday we have a ritual of receiving the eBlast. Perhaps, you open it in the morning and peruse it over coffee. Or perhaps, you take a peek later in the day for inspiration and to be reminded of upcoming events. I request that within your ritual eBlast engagement you slow down a wee bit more to meditate on the following Eastertide statements. If you are willing, I challenge you to set a timer for 59 seconds of meditation for each statement.
Statement 1
On Sunday, Pastor Lauren shared, “In the middle of our grief, we need to be reminded of what we know.”[1] Grief ebbs and flows. Hope lives through our cyclical or unexpected or resistant grief. In whatever state of grief you currently occupy, what do you still hope for? Invite God to that space.
Statement 2
Pastor Lauren opened her sermon with the poignant reminder that “You are beautiful. You are the people that God chose to live in, that Jesus is resurrected through.”[2] Hm, Jesus resurrecting through me, you, us. How do you feel Jesus resurrecting through you? Invite God to that space.
Statement 3
Pastor Lauren stated that “Jesus inspires us to love even in the gloomiest circumstances."[3] But what she didn’t say is that love compromises our existence or requires us to ignore or forego our and others’ very real needs. Love tends to all of our very real needs. Where do you need love to show up for you? For a loved one? For a stranger? Invite God to that space.
Statement 4
For our last meditation, we turn to Pastor Lauren’s urging to “Look in the direction of hope." We are the beauty that Jesus resurrects through. What an awe-some connection to wonder and beauty. Even if for a moment, we can venture to the mountaintop of hope to imagine life’s beauty that could be if only we “believe.” I invite you with God to venture to your hopeful mountaintop; pause to witness the beauty you can imagine; and pray “For What You Find on the Mountaintop” by Cole Arthur Riley.
God above,
We thank you for allowing us to journey up. That we would be able to see a place not just from within it but from a distance is a gift we do not readily comprehend. Here, as we look out at what seems as if it can fit in the palm of our hand, remind us of beauty’s vastness. In this moment may we be both large and small…Grow in us wonder that is willing to bow to the beauty of the natural world, [which includes our healthy imagination], that it would be a path to humility and not ego. That we would understand it does not exist for us, but it is our divine fortune that we would be moved by it. And we are moved, God. May this view form us and keep us, as we allow our souls to remain stirred when we return to the ground we’ve known. May it be so.[4]
[1] “Everything [in] Between: Sunday Morning Worship,” livestream, Grief & Hope (St. Louis, Mo: Metropolitan Community Church Greater St. Louis, April 20, 2025), http://www.mccgsl.org/live.
[2] “Everything [in] Between: Sunday Morning Worship.”
[3] “Everything [in] Between: Sunday Morning Worship.”
[4] Cole Arthur Riley, “For What You Find on the Mountaintop,” in Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human (New York: Convergent Books, 2024), 35.
Open
And yet, remaining open is essential to being alive. Openness allows us to experience joy, to share laughter, to feel the tenderness of love, and to dream new dreams. When I pause to look closely—when I zoom in on the everyday kindness, goodness, and love around me—I see glimmers of hope everywhere.
Home
I remember going to the drive-in with my family and falling asleep to the sound of The Wiz streaming through the car speaker. It was a big deal to be able to see the broadway production on film in an affordable way that my family could enjoy. Perhaps, the excitement was too much for me to bear. Up until then, the only rendition of the 1900s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz[1] I had access to was Judy Garland on TV clicking her red heels repeating, “There’s no place like home.”[2] Home. I tend to favor the The Wiz’ finale of “Home,” because its composer and songwriter Charlie Smalls wrote lines that grip me even now:
If you're list'ning God
Please don't make it hard to know
If we should believe in the things that we see
Tell us, should we run away
Should we try and stay
Or would it be better just to let things be?[3]
This voices my own existential search for home or even belonging. In this song, Dorothy believes that home is where love is abundant. She wants to go back to that place with her newfound, matured understanding of the world. The world in which she’s been chased, attacked, displaced, and lied to. How should she reconcile home or love with what she’s seeing? Is home a place to return to? Is it something that is outgrown? Can she slow down time enough to savor the feeling of home? I feel this wrestling like waves lapping the shore gently still shifting the seascape.
As a listener, I’m relieved of this dynamic tension in the song. Dorothy relieves me with her wisdom that home is a return to the heart where love chooses to live to the degree I allow.
I lost a friend a few days ago. Her mother texted me and my spouse saying that her daughter, our friend, was free from suffering and had “gone home to be with the Lord.” Home. Could it be that home is the landing place?
A soft meditation I land on because the world doesn’t always make sense, is sometimes disorienting, occasionally filled with grief, and can appear to have little place for me:
God is home.
God is love.
Love is home.
*breathe*
God is home.
God is love.
Love is home.
*soften breath*
Could it be that home isn’t a place but the absolute presence of God that no matter “where” I am, God is with me, loving me, home?
You’re welcome to listen to the version of “Home” I fell asleep to below ;^).
[1] L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (United States: George M. Hill Company, 1900).
[2] “The Wizard of Oz,” film (United States: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, August 25, 1939).
[3] Charles Emanuel Smalls, Home, Album, The Wiz [Original Cast Recording] Original Cast (New York, NY: A&R Studios, 1975).