Facebook | Victor Chatham

Facebook | Victor Chatham: "Day 21 in June; It Rained

Sitting on the front porch the sun gone from my face
The summer solstice brings showers and cools the place
Enjoying the moment; not thinking much about future or past... See More
Looking out at trees and a variety of growing grass
I hear the distance rumble of US Highway 45 sounds
South and north they go; I care not where they are bound
Louder than thunder is the afternoon songs of the birds
They seem to sing for sheer joy and not to be heard
The thunder rolls from south to north in the western sky
At peace and no need to ask the question “Why?”
A cardinal flies across the plain of my quiet rest"

Facebook | Victor Chatham

Facebook | Victor Chatham: "An Afternoon Cloud

In the northwest sky a “thunderhead” slowly rises
It seems to change in shape and size
The sun changes the cloud colors with bright rays
The cloud morphs a bit; will it go completely away?
Now there is a gray blob where once there was beautiful white
Strange how we judge with our taste and line of sight
Now the” thunderhead” is hid away by the shining sun
Now wait to see if play time is over and done
Entertaining one’s self with the clouds, grass, and trees
A gift from God the imagination and what it sees
Thank you creator God for these majestic sights
The likes of which your children can enjoy and take delight"

A Matter that Moves One Toward Faith

Three in one, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Spent my life time trying to understand it
Father, Mother, the Holy One created
Evil, good, chaos, order; toward goodness order was weighted
Then there is Jesus; God in person to be seen
Making his way in the world our sorry lives to redeem
The spirit Holy comes to allow for singing God’s refrain
The Holy Spirit presents in our lives God and Jesus to sustain
Three in One; a tedious difficult rational precept
The mystery, not understood, as an act of faith accepts

The Pentecost of the Human Spirit

War’s raging fires smothered the youthful fire to a smoldering ember.
Now it flames forth in those coming to life’s October and November
We are cojoled to be quiet and not speak of the loss
We are encouraged to confront God’s spirit at Pentecost
How does one accept the burning spirit of the living God
When we refuse to give the fullness of our human spirits a mere nod
We symbolize this day with a bright fiery red
Yet we fight to smother the fire burning in our own heads
A conversation, a touch, a look or maybe a lost word
Breaks open the fire to babble its truth that seeks to be heard
So come now Holy Spirit of God our Creator
Flame our human spirits that with your spirit we may eternally soar.

Tax Day

Some will anticipate the return they will receive
Others, for what they owe, money will give
With this comes a freedom hard to believe
As in a beautiful vast free country we live

A Simple Look At Holy Week's Beginning

The smell of coffee creeps into the room
I’ll get myself a cup to watch the sun rise soon
It’s Monday, the beginning of Holy Week
Once again to understand God’s and human behavior I seek
Isaiah says of God’s servant, “He will not cry or lift up his voice”
Humankind makes its own good/horrible choice
Politicians and pundits of all stripes would speak for the divine
Let us pray to God that this Holy Week God our dross will refine
Every year, to my despair, the journey nears its end
God an incredible message continues to send

Spring"Oddball Theology for the Fifth Sunday of Lent"

She washed his feet with sweet perfume; I revolt at the smell of a flower's too sweet bloom. Perhaps she spread the fragrance with her hair; I would be uncomfortable with such intimate care. The Christ readily accepted the gift; such acceptance, like a quake in the earth, causes my soul to shift.

Spring

Come now to spring
where one can get lost in the hope it brings.
The budding of all things green
can lure the heart to dream.
So free yourself to frolic in the season's sheen
as God makes a weed to become a flower; the world is redeemed.

A Rainy Afternoon Prayer

God be in this day our lead
Waiting to look at something I may buy
Wondering what I can do to help those who cry
Let me not be deaf to the cry and respond to the need
Lead us all the cry of the needy to understand
Let us listen with compassion to their words
Let us act in way that tells them they have been heard
God help us all by your redemptive hand

“I ate too much for Supper”

Full, of food I’ve had and possess plenty
Empty and hungry there those without any
“Wrap up your extra and send it to them,” some snidely say
Well it seems we have come to that day
Thank you for asking how
A food program called “Stop Hunger Now”
For a quarter Bubba can buy a meal
Why he can even help pack it and close the seal
Jane can help and not even break a fingernail
As the food is packed with money she put in the mail
I believe it is time we all a quarter, a dollar, etc. freely give
Why by sending a little money to make a lot someone can live
Victor Ronald Chatham

Stop Hunger Now: Welcome to Stop Hunger Now

Reflection on Morning Reading

The voice of God powerful and loud piercing a cloud. The voice of God gentle and low speaking direction as the way God shows. The voice of God making our preceived injustices right. The voice of God bringing to ALL people the divine light. The voice of God blessing our present thought. The voice of God where newness is wrought. The voice of God calming fear. The voice of God, our hope, saying be of good cheer.

"Oddball Musings"

Love of one's neighbor is a holy labor. Our neighbor is anyone in need; our love of neighbor appears as good deeds. Those who are blind call some folk trash without even realizing they are being rash. God allow us to see our neighbor's plight and use us as an instrument of your peace and light.

"Hibernating"

Perhaps a part of life’s sin is refusing to quit taking in. Constant stimulation for some may be great but then there are those of us who must hibernate. Perhaps we withdraw because we are slow; it takes us a while to understand what we should know. Hibernation may be the will to simply live as the grace we have received we give. With God’s love our hearts are filled giving us strength to do God’s will. So come away from the ever full plate to share with the world a God so great. Let us use the new life we receive that others might believe.

Musings

A soul defining art
I touch, smell, taste, hear, see
As I seek to open my heart

Spanning the depth of joy and the height of depression
Scribble, mumble, dab, chip, stir
My soul seeks expression

Expression of the true soul; God’s gift
Hope overcomes despair; Light trumps darkness
My spirit lifts

What Sunday Might Say to Wednesday

Sunday we preach on the story where Jesus turned water into wine; what would we say to the people in Haiti who think some good water would be fine. Jesus’ mother Mary called him out; we have opportunity to show the world what our Christian commitment is all about. Jesus informed her his time was not yet; the time has come to call out the Christ as needs will be met. Mary said, “Do whatever he tells you to do;” the people of Christ will give to the Haitians and help their faith in humankind renew. Because of Jesus’ miracle the host of the party saved face; now pray Jesus will share with the Haitian people his grace. Let us go with Jesus to that same wedding feast as we give unto these; the least.

Sharing Prayer

How should I pray as I bow before the Lord God today? Should I pray for the lost on life’s path that they may escape consequences wrath. Perhaps a prayer for those who lack something to eat as the morning, evening, and night they greet. Always one should pray for peace that the wars in the world will cease. Maybe I could pray like one of mine friends “awash with gratitude” for vocation, family, shelter, and food. For the better part of my career I prayed for the physically ill that with God’s healing power they would be filled. Dare I pray for the schizophrenic or depressed that God their illness would address. Can one pray only for their home land or should we pray for the world to be blessed by God’s hand. Well I suppose there are a myriad of questions about prayer so I will strive to pray for all things and people with whom the experience of life I share.

"Who do We Reject Next?"

Corinthians 12:3-7 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says "Let Jesus be cursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

“Jesus is Lord” is not a phrase meant to exclude but rather include. It comes forth from God’s spirit present in the soul and marks one as a part of God’s fold. Well now there are many who utter this phrase and believe that Jesus their soul saves. Yet they are rejected out of hand by other Christians that do not understand. Perhaps it is time to listen again to Paul as he writes in this letter so that our “holy” vision can be made better. When we the witness of one reject then we tend their souls to neglect. When we seek to make our gatherings “pure” then our failure to proclaim the gospel becomes sure. Stop a moment to listen and see; God’s spirit works in those we do not understand as well as it works in you and me.

God on Cold Days

Days now have been a bit cold as a warm blanket unfolds. Did you thank God today for your home where you can be warm and not chilled to the bone? God has blessed you and me and can the wonder of it all we really see. How much more do we really need before God’s command to care for others we heed? Life has to become more than “just business” for us as we turn our future over to the loving God we trust.

God Enthroned, Imagine that...

Psalm 29:11 May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!

Have you ever noticed how people try to protect God; I find this practice very odd. God, it seems to me, protects us as God preserves our spirits beyond our bodies return to dust. Some spend great sums of money to get us to protect God in the voting booth; I must really protest at such bending and breaking of truth. The devil uses such notions our soul to trick; you really want to trust spiritual truths to politics. Such politics seem to support a religion of more and a holy blessing on war. The good book says God is our strength and power; now is the time to return to God; this very hour. When we return to God we will find peace and our great inner fears will cease.

For Those Who Seek Perfection

Psalm 72:10-14 May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles render him tribute, may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts. May all kings fall down before him, all nations give him service. For he delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight.

The King, the Lord Christ, calls for community that includes all; he calls us to help one another lest we fall. He calls for help when a person is poor and in need; forgive us Lord for we have so qualified “need” that your call we no longer willingly heed. Those who have no help the Christ would deliver; many less vocal types who need help hide in fear and shiver. Forgive us Lord for many times our community only includes the blonde, blue-eyed, and the slim; not the unlovely because it requires much to include them. God forgive us when we hold to our power of plenty while there is less and less help for the many. We fight over how to protect your “book” while at the world’s oppression and violence we refuse to look. Send the powerful hand of King Jesus to reorder our souls as we learn to share our gold. God, in our midst, create a community that includes all of us as in King Jesus we put our trust.

“When the saying on our coins is written in our hearts a new community will come to be.”

Epiphany

Matthew 2:1-2 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage."

We come this day of Epiphany to remember the kings came to worship Jesus, perhaps on bended knee. Let us this day open our hearts to see what called to the wise men three. A star shining bright as a sign they set out the child to find. Let us come this day and ourselves bring our everyday life as we allow for Jesus to be our king. The kings brought gift of gold, myrrh, and frankincense to the young child to present. Little did the kings know that God has sent a gift to give; baby King Jesus had come that all humanity could wholly live.

Christmas Twelve; A Day Late

The tree will be taken down and used as mulch for the ground. Time will dim the memory of lights shining brightly in the night. We will stop doing our Christmas thing and turn to merry making as we eat the cakes of the kings. Gone, now for a year, are the carols we sing and we replace the purity of white with gold, purple, and green. Let the spirit of the Christ child continue to grow and his love for each other on Christmas Twelve we show.

Christmas Eleven

It is good to believe God spoke a gentle word; a word that can still be heard. A word gentle enough that when believed takes away fear and allows for one’s soul to be of good cheer. A word gentle as it protects the soul from evil attacks and gently brings one’s wholeness back. We could use God’s gentle word in amongst us that we may find the ultimate good to trust. In a world more and more driven by suspicion and greed it is exactly God’s gentle word that we need. When we find ourselves collectively lost and at cross purposes we can know of direction, grace, and gentleness of which God has a great surplus. On earth in a manger a new born baby’s cry is a gentle echo from heaven to remind us of God’s redemptive gentle word on Christmas Eleven.

Christmas Ten

Building was empty of a congregation while God kept watch in this rural church station. The air was crisp and cold and soon would be warmed by the gathering souls. God was in the their midst all the while as they greeted each other with hugs and smiles. Their singing was strong, not loud, as they worshipped, this small crowd. They stood with faith and witnessed with their creed and they opened up to each other and shared their needs. Another song of praise they did lift and with God and the world shared their gifts. Look this day, Christmas Ten, at the joy on their faces as they experience, in community, God's grace.

VRC

Christmas Nine, Gumbo Grace

The blue of the day turns a bit pale as the goodness of God we hail. The sun going down makes an orange fire in the sky as we give ourselves over to a God on which we can rely. God’s love moves in the ending of day as it touches people of every class from the best heeled to those the uncaring term as “trash.” After all God’s gift did not come to life in the best of places and only survived by God’s grace. Like the many ingredients added to well browned rue, God’s gift was given everybody else and you. God’s young son was worshipped by shepherds who responded to good news on angel’s wings and later by the star reading kings. God gift of love in the Christ child is big enough to cover persons the most assertive and the gentlest mild. God’s gift of love is available to the person well known around town and to the old man or woman digging in the ground. The child, Christ Jesus, came into the world for “all” and that means any of us upon his holy gracious name can call.

Christmas Eight

Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 (KJV) To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.

Much in life is difficult but with time taken joy can be life’s result. We take time to build something that will last and soon find that it is simply a memory of the past. Many are lost in the midst of sadness and crying yet with time they can be found rejoicing. When we look at time we find a lovely gift of the divine. In time we invest our labor seeking to curry life’s favor. When time we try diligently to control we risk losing the notion of our very souls. Perhaps on Christmas Day number eight we can faithfully find a new way in life to relate. “Every person should eat and drink and the good of their labor enjoy” as we turn with faith in time to Mary’s baby boy.

VRC