Thursday, October 27, 2022
           (click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Take off your old coat, put on the armor of God
Brothers and sisters, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God.
The sun set so slowly. Just as at dawn, tremolos of light shaded the sky as the music of the day faded away. And we … audaciously, expectantly, thoughtlessly … turned on the lights. So much electric, pounding on our senses, buzzing, bright, endless, bowing to us and our fingertip control.
Like yesterday, like tomorrow.
Our struggle is not against flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness and against the spiritual forces of evil in high places.
TV turned off. Silence from Alexa. Tit-tat-tit from my keyboard, and all that light broken on my computer screen by just these letters, these words, these sentences. I am listening to see what comes next. The well feels full, so drink the living water, press up against Jesus and know he is pressing up against you.
Put on the armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand.
This world is not my home. I’m just passing through, to somewhere beyond the blue. Mystics like Julian of Norwich and Catherine of Siena invited death, prayed for mortal illness, to be with Jesus sooner rather than later. Catherine died when she was 33, which for her was ten years too late. Julian lived much longer than she expected, as an “anchorite,” walled up in a small room adjoining the church at Norwich.
Hold fast! Buckle the belt of truth around your waist, wear righteousness as a breastplate. Let your feet be fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
I, on the other hand, hold out for as many days of sweet life as I can get. At least I felt that way today. The air breathed against my skin, rustling with cool goodness. Jasper and Margaret and I explored our corner of the world and ended up reading books at the library on a beautiful carpet-map of the whole world.
We slept. We sat outside on our apartment patio with strawberries and fried bologna, and canned peas, pickled beets and grape juice … it tasted better than it sounds!
And when Miles came after school, Jasper set up traffic cones to reserve the hallway for their construction site, and they played with every tool I had in my tool box. Of course, they wore goggles. Which tussled up their hair. Which made them very cute, hard workers that they were.
Finally, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Put on the helmet of salvation and wield the sword of the Spirit, which of course is the Word of God.
Even at midnight, when I sit outside in the nighttime air, nearby highway sounds never stop. Cars fly by. Motorcycles weave through traffic. Sirens pierce the air. We are at the center of Austin’s “second downtown,” where three major highways merge.
But the church we love is just across the street, enthusiastically named Jollyville Road. Andi, Aki, Miles and Jasper are just twenty minutes away. The 160 apartments in our small world are quiet. Our little streets are empty. The streetlights, those electric intruders, sit up high in the sky and I feel protected, watched by benevolent eyes. Andi, Aki, Miles and Jasper are just twenty minutes away.
I can make some toast, and spread strawberry cream cheese on the toast, and eat it bite by bite. No rush, no time like the present, this is the day that the Lord has made.
And I tell you, Jesus said, you will not see me again until the time comes when you say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
(Ephesians 6, Psalm 144, Luke 19, Luke 13)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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