Puzzling Power

"Remember only that you are not always going where you are going for the reasons you think you are." - Lawrence Kushner.

This can be my new mantra for anytime I take a wrong turn, take an impromptu diversion, or forget why I even went into a room! Maybe I just need to make seven t-shirts and wear one for each day of the week. I have a need to say it that often! :-)

In Eyes Remade for Wonder, Kushner makes an analogy that each lifetime is like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Some lives have more pieces, some are easier to put together, some come with pieces already partially assembled, and some are quite difficult to complete. But know this, you do not have within you all of the pieces to your puzzle. Everyone carries with them at least one, if not many pieces to someone else's puzzle, and someone else is carrying pieces to your puzzle. Sometimes they know it, sometimes they don't. But when you present your piece to another, which is worthless to you, you are a messenger of the Most High. Have you ever entered a room and met someone and after a while you understood there was a reason you had met? You had changed the other or he or she had changed you. The Hebrew word for angel is Malach, which also means messenger: one who is sent.

My prayer for the congregation?

Dear God, Make us messengers of your will so that your vision may be known. Entrust us with intimate pieces of knowledge and gifts of love, not to empower ourselves, but to share with others, so that together we can make a more complete picture of each one's calling and a clearer reflection of your majesty. Make us agents of change, not for the sake of experimentation, but for full transformation of spirit in ourselves and others. Send us out, seeking connection with those who may add another dimension to our understanding of you. Let us remain open and to always show kindness towards strangers; for without knowing it, angels may be our guests, eager to impart their gifts from the Most High. Amen

You go nowhere by accident. Wherever you go, God is sending you. Wherever you are, God has put you there. He has a purpose in you're being there. Christ who dwells within you has something He wants to do through you, where you are. Believe this and go in God's grace and love and power. Rev. Richard Halverson