Wednesday, July 19

Colossians 1:18-20
He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
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I sat in the vulnerable tilt of the dentist's chair waiting for the numbing injections to turn my tongue into something about as functional as an upside-down turtle. It is then I hear how frustrated the dentist had been once having served on the budget committee for his church and how the pastor had taken it upon himself to draft a budget allocating himself a substantial raise. And then the dentist asked me to turn toward him, open wider and allow him to direct razor sharp pointy things at my flopping turtle of a mouth.  It was precisely in that moment that I found comfort in remembering that Jesus is the head of the church and somehow, despite our best efforts to screw it up, God will go to great lengths, the cross, to reconcile all things to himself and make for peace.
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Lord God, make us ever mindful of the harm we can do in your name and the good we can become by your grace.  Amen.