9-30-11 Friday, 5:23 am Springfield, 49 degrees, sunny
We arrived home last night around 9:30 pm from our 9 days away. We flew from England to Amsterdam, to Memphis, and then Springfield, following the sun and gaining 6 hours. My Circadian rhythm tells my body that it is currently 11:23 am, thus I am wide awake. I will enjoy these quiet moments with God’s word and this journal, and then begin the process of settling back into the routine of home, church, and community.
Philippians 1:27-2:18
Yesterday I read the first 26 verses of Philippians, remembering why it is one of my favorite books of the Bible, as Paul is so full of joy for these believers, even as he writes from a prison cell. He articulated that to “live is Christ, to die is gain.” (1:21) This is also my aspiration, even as it is “weird” or counter cultural to orient oneself to the gain of dying (almost sounds akin to the rational of fanatical Muslim suicide bombers.) The key of this phrase is the first part, “to live is Christ” and this is my focus today.
In Chapter 2 Paul instructs the readers to have the same mind that he does, and to “do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself.” (2:3) These first 5 verses serve as an introduction to the great verses (2:6-11) which describe His self emptying, “taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of humans” (Verse 7).
Empower me today Lord to live with Your mind and heart in all that I do, filled with joy and unselfishness, serving, shepherding, nurturing. Guide me steps, my schedule, my interactions both planned and unplanned. I give you thanks for Wesley United Methodist Church in Springfield, Missouri.
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