Matthew 6:25-34

“Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?  “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I woke up “on the wrong side of the bed” this morning.  Actually, I woke up quite grumpy – it was one of those mornings when I kept falling asleep and waking up over the last two hours of sleep and it wasn’t refreshing.  You see, I have some worries.  But today’s daily lectionary text (one of my favorites, btw) addresses this.  Jesus calls us to a different way of life than worrying because worrying will neither solve the situation nor bring us closer to God.  Instead Jesus calls us to look at the creation and see God’s handiwork and care.  The flowers do not worry about their beauty, they just show it.  The birds do not worry about their food, they just go and get their “daily bread” (see what I did there?), for God provides.

Today, as I am mindful of my mood, I step back and thank God for all God has done.

Father, thank you for all your blessings.  May you remove our worries and fill us with your peace.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

September 11^th.  It is a day fixed in our minds forever.  It is a date such as December 7^th is for those who grew up in the “Greatest Generation.”  It is a day we remember where we were, such as that day in Dallas in 1963.  It is a day we remember.

But what is it we remember?  Is it all about the attack?  Is it about the evil perpetrated on our land?  Or do we remember the heroic emergency workers trying to save as many lives as possible?

One leads to bitterness while the other leads to healing.

Now I’m not saying we should not remember the attack, and in fact, we must be always vigilant.  We need to take steps to keep our nation, our schools, our houses of worship and our homes safe.  As a person who lives with the memory of my home being robbed – of my place of safety being distorted – I understand this.  Places once thought safe are not anymore.  We hear of churches, synagogues and mosques attacked because of hate.  We hear of home invasions.  We hear of school shootings.  And we remember.

Every time one of these tragedies occurs we remember.  We remember heroes who ran into the smoke to save others.  We remember people who stood up to the aggressor.  We remember those who gave all so others may live.  And we remember God.

Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, instructed us to remember.  He said “do this in remembrance of me.”  And that word “remembrance” has power.  It is more than just thinking of the events of old, rather it is an ongoing act.  To celebrate the Lord’s Supper is to not only call to mind what happened, but to experience for ourselves His presence as we remember.

And God was very present on that eleventh day of September in 2001, as God is present today.

Psalm 46:1-3 – “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”

On this eleventh day of September 2019, remember.  Remember those who lost their lives, remember their families, remember the emergency workers, the police, fire department, the soldiers and all who did (and continue to do) so much for our nation.  And remember our Lord who promises to be with us…always.