SUPER BAD

For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God. Psalm 62:5-7

 

Minneapolis will be the host city for the 2018 Super Bowl. Our state is preparing exciting activities to entertain the locals and those traveling from great distances. But there is another flurry of activity afoot as well: a combined effort by social service agencies, volunteers, and survivors of sexual abuse to put a halt to the sex trafficking that will also be available for the right price. “Party buses” and online sex trafficking operations are commonplace alongside our nation’s large sporting events.

 

The FBI reports that sex trafficking, much of it involving children, is the fastest-growing organized crime in the U.S. and that victims are regularly transported for sale at “lucrative venues” such as major sporting events. Many previous drug dealers have turned to sex trafficking because they can only sell drugs once, but they can “sell” young girls multiple times.

 

Joy McElroy, Cherish All Children Executive Director, wrote this in her weekly email: “At our Super Bowl Kick-off event this weekend in Minnesota, one of our speakers, a survivor of sex trafficking, shared how God is at the core of her healing and well-being. As…Executive Director of a survivor-led organization…, she offers a Bible study to the women in her program, (offering) them the hope and refuge of a loving God, eager to provide a fortress from evil.

 

“A question came from the audience about what people of faith can do to support survivors. Each of our panelists responded, ‘You can pray.’ We can help build (a) verbal fortress….They went on to say we can support them with our donations, whether food, clothing, specific life or job skills training we possess. One shared how beautiful it was to watch young people in her program learning to knit with a volunteer. They were in a safe place, with a safe person, doing a simple craft they had never experienced before. Make a connection with an anti-trafficking organization in your community to find out what you can do. And pray. We can pray.”

 

O God, on You rests our deliverance and honor. Keep our children safely in Your loving arms. Amen

 

Cherish All Children is a ministry that equips congregations to prevent child sexual exploitation. For more information, visit their website at http://www.cherishallchildren.org/home .

MALAPROPISMS

Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to Your love remember me, for You, Lord, are good. Psalm 25:7

 

According to the website, yourdictionary.com, “Malapropism is the (use of) an incorrect word in place of one that is similar in pronunciation. The word comes from a character named Mrs. Malaprop in the play ‘The Rivals’ by Richard Sheridan.” Mrs. Malaprop said, “She’s as headstrong as an allegory” (alligator). Former Chicago mayor Richard Daley once called a “tandem bicycle” a “tantrum bicycle,” and referred to the Twelve Step program as “Alcoholics Unanimous,” not “Alcoholics Anonymous.” Archie Bunker, the lead character in the 1970’2 sitcom “All In The Family,” spoke of a woman in “her elastic stockings, next to her very close veins” (vericose veins).

 

Our youth group conducted the entire service one Sunday. A young man stepped up to the microphone and announced, “We will now read the Psalm of the day responsibly.” I did a double take. I believe, for all intensive purposes—I mean, for all intents and purposes—he meant to say responsively, as in, he would read one line and the congregation would read the next. He then preceded—uh, proceeded to lead the congregation through the verses.  Nothing auspicious—er, suspicious in his delivery. Of course, the poor little fellow was probably putrified—I mean petrified. But maybe he did have a point. So often, when we read or hear or repeat Scripture in church, we are on autographic pilot, and we are not paying retention. We are thinking about that cup of decapitated Loco latte we’re going to have on the way home from church. And besides, why was a young boy reading a Psalm about his oh, hell yes! ways? That’s no way for a child to talk. (Or did he say rebellious ways?) Maybe we should have listened more carefully….

 

Of course, the poor boy got through his reading of the Psalm just fine and no one mentioned his mistake. But it did make me think about how responsibly we read the Word of God. The Lord said, “My Word…will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). Maybe the child said what he meant.

 

Word of Life, even when we get it wrong, You make it right! Amen

Meg Blaine Corrigan is the author of three books: Then I Am Strong: Moving From My Mother’s Daughter to God’s Child; Perils of a Polynesian Percussionist; and Saints With Slingshots: Daily Devotions for the Slightly Tarnished But Perpetually Forgiven Christian. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling from the University of New Mexico and has worked with survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and war veterans.  Her books may be purchased through her website, www.MegCorrigan.com or from www.amazon.com .

SHAPESHIFTER

I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me. Matthew 25:35-36

 

According to Wikipedia.com, shapeshifting “is the ability of a being or creature to completely transform its physical form or shape. This is usually achieved through an inherent ability of a mythological creature, divine intervention, or the use of magic.” The most common form of shapeshifting in legend and myth is human beings morphing into an animal or vice versa. Many legends also depict humans changing into plants or objects, or humans suddenly developing new and unusual physical characteristics. In the science fiction television series, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a fictional character named Odo belonged to a shapeshifting species called Changelings. This species was “intelligent, observant and taciturn,” and Odo used his abilities to help maintain security on the DS9 intergalactical space station. In several episodes, Odo performed many feats of shapeshifting and became a beloved character of many of the show’s fans, called “Trekkies.”

 

Although He is fully God, Jesus shapeshifted Himself into a tiny Baby and came to live on earth as fully human. Quite a feat, for a Being Who created all that is and was and is to be, and rules over everything in the universe from the beginning of time throughout eternity. That’s a lot to pack into an infant-sized body. But Christ didn’t stop there. He also transported Himself across a lake to reach the disciples in their boat (Matthew 14:25), passed through a wall (John 20:26), and disguised Himself to two men on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-32). The most amazing shapeshifting feat Christ accomplished was dying a tortuous and horrid human death, appearing to all the world to be deceased, and then tossing off His grave clothes and moving the huge stone from the entrance to His tomb. He then appeared alive and well (except for the nail marks on His hands) to “more than five hundred” people (I Corinthians 15:6). And that’s not science fiction. That’s truth!

 

Jesus, cause us to see You in all the faces of our fellow earth dwellers, as you asked Your disciples to do. Amen

REMEMBER THIS

Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. Exodus 14:13

 

“Thirty days hath September; all the rest I can’t remember…!” We all have trouble remembering things, and the problem only gets worse with age…or stress overload! Much is written about how to improve memory. Converting words or names into pictures is one method. I meet Gene Klass, who becomes “green bass” An interest in what you hear can help. If you know that Joel Roberts Poinsett was a doctor, botanist, and the first US ambassador to Mexico, you might be able to remember that he was the person who introduced the flower to our country and gave it the name pointsettia. Rhymes and mnemonics help too. The “Thirty Days Hath September” poem, if remembered correctly, helps in knowing how many days there are in each month. And formally trained musicians all know that the sentence “Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge” gives you the notes that make up the five lines on a musical treble stave in order from the bottom to the top: E G B D F.

 

One thing we all need to remember is that the phrase “fear not” (or “do not fear”) appears 365 times in the Bible. I’m not sure what we’re supposed to do on February 29^th during a leap year, but I think the point is, God wants us to know that He is there to watch over us and protect us every single day of our lives. He is there in both good times and bad, during times when we know without a doubt we are safe, as well as times when, from a human point of view, we are most assuredly not safe. He wants us to remember that the opposite of fear is not courage. Courage is doing what we must in spite of our fear. The opposite of fear is love, and God gives us that in spades, all the time. In fact, the word love appears in the New International Version of the Bible 514 times, which is more than enough for all the days of the year and all the days of our lives. Remember that!

 

Father, we are so grateful that Your love is stronger than all our fear! Amen

 

Meg Blaine Corrigan is the author of three books: Then I Am Strong: Moving From My Mother’s Daughter to God’s Child; Perils of a Polynesian Percussionist; and Saints With Slingshots: Daily Devotions for the Slightly Tarnished But Perpetually Forgiven Christian. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling from the University of New Mexico and has worked with survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and war veterans.  Her books may be purchased through her website, www.MegCorrigan.com or from www.amazon.com .

NEW YEAR’S RESENT-SOLUTIONS

 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:2-3

 

There is no getting around it: this past year was a bummer in many ways. I had two painful surgeries, a bout of severe headaches requiring a nerve cautery to stop them, and a bad fall resulting in a gash on my forehead and a month-long concussion. Our nation was on edge all year, with a divisiveness that surfaced in many ways. My husband also had some health issues, and somehow, we found ourselves picking at each other for no reason other than just being worn down from life’s trials. We determined that we wanted the disagreements to stop, and we worked hard to make that happen. I learned a few lasting life lessons in the process.

 

In his book, Barking To The Choir: The Power Of Radical Kinship, Gregory Boyle speaks of the need to “welcome our own wounds.” If we don’t embrace our own brokenness, we are left devoid of the ability to love others who are wounded—which is to say, all of us. Boyle goes on to say that we must look, always, every day, for the “moments of spaciousness and calm,” in which we can truly hear God’s voice telling us that we are worth it. This is the same philosophy as the “serenity” for followers of Alcoholics Anonymous and other Twelve Step Programs. And it is the basis for Christ’s Beatitudes (Matthew 5:2-12), that each of us is blessed immeasurably in our brokenness and still fit for the Kingdom of God.

 

This “principle of universal brokenness” reminds us of our higher calling as children of the Holy of Holies. We are challenged to be willing to accept others’ imperfections without becoming discourteous or ill-tempered. It is what we wish others would do for us. For when we allow ourselves to attempt to inflict pain on another, we are inflicting pain on ourselves too. Christ came to deliver us from the sins of self-absorption and of judgement that is not ours to dispense.

 

In those “moments of spaciousness and calm,” we must examine our motives in the light of Christ’s love and be willing to choose the path of kindness in all our interactions.

 

Lord, let peace begin with me. Amen

 

Meg Blaine Corrigan is the author of three books: Then I Am Strong: Moving From My Mother’s Daughter to God’s Child; Perils of a Polynesian Percussionist; and Saints With Slingshots: Daily Devotions for the Slightly Tarnished But Perpetually Forgiven Christian. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling from the University of New Mexico and has worked with survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and war veterans.  Her books may be purchased through her website, www.MegCorrigan.com or from www.amazon.com .