Some of the stories we heard reminded us of the importance of this work. We will quite literally be saving lives, especially among our LGBTQI kids, in whom isolation and rates of suicide are skyrocketing; but studies show that having a safe place to belong and be one's true self can make all the difference in the world.

Let evangelism move at the speed of relationships, learn from your mistakes, and point people to Jesus. If you do these things, you will be fishers of people in the tradition of St. Andrew.

Author L.R. Knost writes: “Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break and all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you."

For these reasons and many others, compassion is not a quaint idea but in a fallen world, it is a revolutionary act. Compassion is not a noun. It is a verb. Compassion compels us to connect with others.

Our healing doesn’t take place in isolation. The blind man, Job…even Jelly Roll…return to their community healed. The lives of the people around them benefit from that. Redemption has a ripple effect.

God is present in the morning stars and the heavenly beings, in the clouds and rains and lightning, in the lions and ravens and their prey, because God brought them all into being and sustains them on their course.

In being an everyday mystic, St. Francis believed that his spiritual practice should have a positive impact on the world around him.

As Meister Eckhart, the 13th century priest and mystic, said: “God asks only that you get out of God’s way and let God be God in you.”

I found such solace in a daily meditation I read recently by the Franciscan priest, Richard Rohr.  In his blog post, he quoted the novelist Marilynne Robinson. When she was asked by an interviewer, “What single thing would make the world, in general, a better place?”, she replied, “Loving it more.”

May you know that the same breath of God that is keeping you alive is keeping your neighbor alive and is given equally and indiscriminately to each one of us.

In today’s gospel reading, we have a profound but not uncommon, difference of opinion between the Pharisees and Jesus. It is a difference of opinion between rituals and one’s motives. Between the head and the heart.

“As shoes for your feet, put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.”

Wisdom doesn’t just come from reading the right books or having a good education. Wisdom draws on all of our knowledge, intelligence, and life experience and applies it to make just decisions, and to take just actions, for the good of ourselves and others. But there is another element in defining wisdom, when we look at it from a spiritual perspective, and that is being attuned to the Spirit in each one of us to discern what is true, and to be guided in ways that transcend our understanding.

At this table, everyone is invited and everyone receives bread, wine, and a blessing. And everyone leaves differently than how they came here: fed, nourished, and blessed.

Through our efforts as a community, God will help us work toward liberating others, as we ourselves are liberated.

Agape love is the kind of love that challenges us to see beyond our biases and our disagreements. It is the kind of love that allows us to pray for peace and goodness for those whom we don’t like. 

Agape love, which is not always easy to achieve, is the type of love that causes us to see the full humanity of all of God’s people. 

Are we willing to speak truth to power and speak for those who cannot speak for themselves? Are we willing to leave our comfort zones long enough to be God’s hands and feet in the world?

The assumption in contemplative prayer is that God is already here—within us…around us—waiting for us to become more aware of God’s presence.