Devotion 8/12/2021

Last week, I was attending the Minnesota American Choral Directors’ Association Summer Dialogue conference at St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN.  While there, I took the opportunity to visit an on-campus exhibit displaying original pages of the St. John’s Bible.  St. John’s Abbey and University commissioned this hand-written and hand-illuminated Bible in 1998.  First Lutheran owns a reference copy, which can be viewed in our church library.  I encourage you to take a few minutes and look at this beautiful Bible.

 

The St. John’s Bible is an impressive and moving piece of art and human creation.  For me, seeing the original pages of this Bible brought the Word of God to life in a profound and meaningful way.  I found myself thinking of our calling and responsibility as Christians to bring the Word of God to life in our lives.  We do this through word and sacrament in our lives of worship.  As a choral musician, I am particularly drawn to the process of bringing the Word of God to life through song and art.  But, I think that the most important method through which we bring the Word of God to life is in our daily journey.  We can illuminate the Word of God for our community through how we love and care for each other and our world.   In these divisive and disheartening times, it is important for me to remember that my calling as an individual and our collective calling as a faith community has not changed.  We are, and always have been, called to bring the Word of God to life in the world that needs to so badly.

God, Grant us your strength and courage to live your Word in our daily lives.  Help us to love one another in all that we do, following Christ’s example of servanthood.  Amen.