Riddle me this...

Jeremiah 29.11 (RSV)
For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

I shared this riddle with the elders this year’s retreat and it is this:
Q. What animal walks on all fours in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three in the evening?
A. People as they move through life stages understood as times of the day. A baby crawls in the first part of in the morning, we walk with two legs in the “prime” of life in the afternoon, and in the evening we need a little help with a cane.

Thinking about the future during these times each will have its own perspective. The child will think, “what will I be when I grow up?” In the middle of life, now that I am somebody, “how will I continue to live with integrity, honesty, and passion?” In the evening of life,” what will I be as the things that defined me once shift to something different?”

God has a certain fondness for the future. We know that to be true in our own lives because what happens in the past becomes the stuff that supports the future. The future itself is not so much determined, but rather has echoes of the past as the future unfolds. Hope is born out of the crucible of living a life of faith. It is this hope we have found in Jesus Christ’s salvation of us all leading us to view the future not so much with a tight grip, but loosely moving us to live our lives in service of God.

​And Sunday, we will be invited to imagine what service means for us no matter if it is morning, noon, or night…

Grace and peace,
Rev. Brian