August Advent, part 13: Wildfires and Murmurations

As we continue to Advent (wait with hope) this August, a friend and colleague invited us to join a clergy sermon preparation gathering in Oregon (more info on this below). So we rented a car and made the drive from Denver CO to spend a few days at the Collins Retreat Center in Eagle Creek OR.

We made this drive back in June, and we looked forward to seeing the beautiful landscape as we drove through eastern Oregon and alongside the Columbia River on our way to Eagle Creek.

This time we had a different view, if you could call it a view. Smoke from the wildfires outside Spokane WA clouded the air and almost blocked out the sun.

As we drove a familiar road with an unexpected and unfamiliar view, I thought how the wildfires in another place affected the view in this place. Eventually the smoke will clear and we will see more, yet until then we continue to drive the road as best as we can. At one point, I saw a huge murmuration of starlings flit one way and then another. They still did what they normally did, even though the sky seemed different.

And this brought a bit of perspective for me as I try to understand God’s timing.

Sometimes on this journey to serve in Ireland the way has seemed amazingly clear, yet recently I find it hard to see beyond the next few days. The limited view has nothing to do with the road we are traveling - as if we are going the wrong way; rather things outside of our control and circumstance affect our view of the time ahead. We know eventually things will become more clear, until then, we need to approach each day as best as we can.

The verse from Matthew 6 comes to mind. “Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? … Indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

We can’t see clearly into the next week or week beyond. We can see today - this moment now. I need to fill this moment with hope, with joy. Maybe the long view distracts me from seeing and noticing what is right in front of me right now.

Maybe in this moment I need to breathe - or maybe I could say that I need to breathe-in - take in, embrace - this moment, and in doing so realize that God is here, now. Maybe that’s enough. Amen.

The Clergy Gathering is called "A Time to Sow"

We take time to read the Revised Common Lectionary for the coming Church Calendar year (December 2023 through November 2024), discuss the passages, pray about themes, and begin to discern an overall direction we sense God leading our worship and preaching.