Devotion - Tuesday, October 20

Winter is coming.  Or least the chill of fall.  I finally broke down yesterday morning and turned on our heat at the house.  This is a bit of a process.  I wanted to check the furnace to make sure it was functioning properly.  I needed to re-set the programmable thermostat so it didn't heat to the temps desired when we had the air conditioning running.  Laura had asked me to turn it on the previous day.  I reminded her it wasn't that simple.

But it really is - that simple.  And after a short crawl under the house; a bit of time interacting with that micro-computer hanging on the wall; and changing filters - our home warmed up.

Winter is also coming in eastern Europe.  There, the refugees of middle eastern wars are huddled under umbrellas.  Heated tents have been requested from Finland, but they are yet to arrive.  There is no way for these mothers to keep their children warm.

"Love your neighbor.." Jesus says.  Showing love to these neighbors surely involves a dry warm place to sleep.  

This devotion is not intended to comfort you or to send you on your way with encouragement.  God's people must express our unwillingness to allow the human suffering going on in the world as a result of war and violence.  God's people must speak of the way of Jesus, a way which does not respond with hate but with an unwavering commitment to justice.

Such a change will end up making things different in those eastern European camps; but it needs to start here, among us.