Steve-o's Devo: Listening to Live

The one thing we do a lot of at By The Way is listen. Even our primary phrase, "listening and exploring faith together" empashizes this very important piece of Christian community. We still are an early community. A community of people on the fringe who have perhaps had an encounter with the holy and desire deeply to discover what truth looks like after that encounter.

It is in our human nature to want to test everything to see just what it might be about, or if the people we meet are who they say they are. We see this played out in our daily lives at school, work, in our relationships. The hardest thing for many of us comes when we discover the truth that we are loved, just as we are, where we are at in our lives. That seems almost unbelievable. And yet, it is a core reality of God's grace.

In Paul's letter to another early church, one in Corinth, he reminds the people that it is less important to worry about the testing of our faith or of living in community. He reminds them it is not so much the fact that you are tested, but that you had the opportunity to pursue what was right. He hopes that the people followed the path laid out to them by Jesus--a path that can lead to the ability to listen to one another, come to an agreement and live in peace. This happens when we are able to accept God's love as always present and manifested in those around us called to live as followers of Jesus.

The path is not an easy one and this weekend I was reminded of this when I saw a bumper sticker that said: No Jesus, No Peace....Know Jesus, Know Peace. I laughed at first because as a person who works with other Christian communities, often ones in conflict, it seemed that this "peace" had been forgotten. But then I realized something deeper that gave me pause for reflection throughout the weekend. When we forgot who we are, and whose we are, peace is a difficult thing to come by. When our communities get bogged down in what we think, instead of discerning together and listening to what God may have in store, peace cannot exist. Conflict will begin to arise and we enter paths that cause more problems for us and our relationships. Is it any wonder so many people have come to church to discover Jesus and the peace that passes all understanding, only to discover a surly bunch of frustrated and distracted people. As I thought about this, I realized, it is our responsibility as disciples of Jesus to remind these communities that they are forgetting whose they are as they descend into bickering. And it is our responsibility to encourage them to rediscover Jesus.

It's not easy living in community. There will always be frustrations and contentions and I do not expect even our community of By the Way to be without them. But I think if we practice listening to one another, trying to discern what God is loving us into, we have an amazing opportunity to re-discover a world overflowing with grace and abundance. My prayer is that we can be one of those glimmers of hope that calls others, even those already connected in Christian communities, to re-discover and revitalize their lives in Jesus.

If you are stuggling this week, finding it hard to focus, perhaps feeling unsettled or frustrated, I hope you will consider stopping by to regroup your spirit, and discover how you can truly know peace. Or perhaps, you may just have to turn off the noise...and listen.

Dialogo: How much water does it take?

While traveling a couple of weeks ago, I caught comedian Lewis Black's stand-up routine on The Comedy Channel. Black has a kind of matter-of-fact, agitated style that reveals microscopically the weird and crazy things people do, both individually and as a society. When I read Bill's devo this week, it reminded me of Black's observation about water.

Black reflected that when he was a kid, if you were thirsty you just went and got a glass of water. No one was telling you you needed to drink it, you just knew that you needed it. He went on to say that now we have people telling us we need to drink water and that these people are often selling water as well. Water that is bottled, in many cases, by soda companies--"This is the water that they won't even put in Coke, people!" Well, that made me laugh, but it also made me think a little bit.

Too often we are thirsty for something different in a landscape that wants us to quench are thirst with something not always good for us. We can mask our own desires and needs, or suppress our own insecurities for only a moment by staying constantly in motion, or by filling our lives and homes with stuff.

So, my question to ponder this week, is when did you realize you were thirsty for something more than the same old bottled up stuff available on any street corner? What helped you to see a deeper, more refreshing way to look at life?

If you are still seeking, join us one of these Mondays or Thursdays. Together we will explore the deeper refreshment available through the Spirit of God.

Living Water

In John Chapter 7, Jesus describes the abundance of God’s Spirit as a river of living waters, a river that suddenly flows into the people of God as mighty water. John’s writing reminded me of the waters of the Merrimack. Waters rushing this week swelled by melted snow up north and the cleansing spring rains of the past week.

The Merrimack “riverscape” changes seasonally but today it churns and rages as it flows down toward the Atlantic. Today this living water is the source of fun for kayakers, habitat for fish and wildlife, and the key ingredient for Budweiser Beer. Generations ago it was the lifeblood that powered the American Industrial Revolution. The mills along its banks in Manchester, Nashua and Lowell stand in tribute to the blessing of a river whose depth varies with the season, but gives life even on the driest of summer days.

But water images can be overwhelming… Sometimes the demands of life drown out what matters most. Relationships and jobs seemingly dry up overnight. Our cups go from seeming half-full to half-empty. Our hearts and mouths get parched and we thirst for meaning. We yearn for living water to quench our thirst and sustain us.

Jesus says, come drink. Be drenched in this water which is the Spirit. You will drink in the abundance, and life-giving water will flow from deep inside you. Here at By The Way the waters of the Holy Spirit move, flow, sustain and enrich in many ways. From conversations over coffee, tea or a beer, connections through Facebook, blog, IM or cell, to prayer lifted and concern for one another. The Spirit moves in and through us all, often whether we sense it at the time or not.

Jesus came so we as individuals, and together in community, may have life and live it abundantly. Life lived here and now in the Merrimack River Valley, and life forever, where we will never thirst again. The creator moves upon the waters, breaths through the rush of wind and flame, and makes us living vessels filled with God’s Spirit with living water to share with others.

Come on in, splash around, the waters mighty fine!

+Bill Petersen

New for BTW

We are making some adjustements in May to our weekly schedule.

First we are starting some gathering times Monday nights downtown Nashua. On May 12 & 19 we will gather at Martha's Exchange downtown Main Street to check in and see how people are doing spiritually and otherwise, focus on a little Bible passage for reflection, and dream a bit about how we want "worship" to look.

Then coming in June we will move to a Tuesday night worshipping opportunity for the community. We will be talking about where that might be at our Monday night times.

At the end of the month we will gather Wednesday the 28th for a pizza party. For more info on this and other upcoming BTW activities, email us at bytheway.Nashua@gmail.com.