Thoughts on...
June 14, 2009: 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Old Testament Lesson: I Samuel 15:34-16:13
Gospel Lesson: Mark 4:26-34

The word for the week is Imagination. Dreaming up the impossible out of the highly unlikely. Samuel is guided by God to pass through all of Jesse's boys in search of the next king. Imagination is openness, openness to see the possibilities, to hope against hope. It was imagination that was needed to see the little boy in the pasture who was not allowed into the sacrifice because he was still too young, to trust the power and presence of God to shape David's character and anoint him as king long before he was ready to take the throne.

Parables spark our imagination as well. They lead us to openness of understanding, to look at common experiences in a new light. Parables spark us to "perceive the power and presence of God in a new and immediate way."(Feasting on the Word)

What can we imagine about our church? How might the power and presence of God shape our congregation? What can we imagine about our individual lives? How might the power and presence of God shape our every day activities?