Tree of Life and Awesome Mystery (ELW 334, st. 3)
3 Christ, you lead and we shall follow,
Stumbling though our steps may be;
One with you in joy and sorrow,
We the river, you the sea,
We the river, you the sea.
Words and music by Marty Haugen
© 1984, GIA Publications, Inc.
Reprinted under OneLicense.net #A730924
Devotion
How do we follow the Messiah’s lead? By daily claiming the promises made in our baptism. This means daily dying to our false selves and reclaiming our birth into the Messiah’s life. It means continually having our distorted and dysfunctional ways of perceiving and responding to circumstances rewired and transformed.
We are no longer powerless in the face of forces that seem to be beyond our control—whether they be diseases, disasters, or interpersonal and societal conflicts. We are no longer commodities, whose identities are for sale in an insidious global market that tracks our every move. Jesus, the crucified Messiah and Wisdom of God, has liberated us from all that would hold us back from fully becoming who we are as those created in God’s image. Though we may stumble, the Messiah is one with us in joy and in sorrow, overflowing into our lives as the sea overflows into rivers.
Prayer
Dear Jesus, be with us in our joys and sorrows as you daily overflow into our lives as rivers flow into the sea. Amen.