Saturday, July 4, 2009

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July to everyone. I offer the same greeting / blessing to friends who live in other countries. For us, it is about the events of July 4 233 years ago that made all the difference. But we pray freedom for all the peoples of the world as we celebrate here in the USA.

Independence in this day and age seems to be a moving target. We celebrate individual freedoms but we also recognize that we live in a world that is increasingly interdependent. The global economic crisis tells the tale. When one major country struggles ... all others are impacted. Even the small villages feel the pain. It is a shared phenomenon that does not respect boundaries on the map. We are interdependent with every tribe and nation.

I wonder what would happen if our spiritual lives really became interdependent as well. Don't get me wrong, I don't want every one to believe exactly the same thing. But what if we could respect one another, learn from each other, and discover that love transcends (make us interdependent) everything that divides.

Today, we might take a moment to pray for those who find our faith difficult to understand or accept. We definitely need to pray for those who stand in the gap to insure that our freedom to worship remains intact. And please, don't forget to pray for people who are desperate to discover the reality of faith. Pray that they will discover hope and find joy.

Happy 4th with special greetings to members of the lawn mower brigade in the holy city!

Day one was Wednesday...first worship is tomorrow!

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