Ridge United Methodist Church

09/04/2026

09/04/2026

Meditate at Eight: Ponderings

This week has been a scorcher, and it looks like it's going to continue for a while. This is the kind of weather that seems to drain a little more energy from us each day. If there's something to be thankful for, it's that it wasn't this hot and humid when we were without power! I may complain (okay, I do complain), but I appreciate my air conditioning.

And as I was pondering what to write this morning, I found myself drawn to a YouTube video of a young man and his mother singing Slipping Through My Fingers, a song written by ABBA.

The song is usually heard from a parent's perspective. It captures the bittersweet realization that children grow up far more quickly than we ever imagined. One day we're holding their hand, and seemingly the next, they're walking out the door to begin lives of their own.

Time has a way of doing that to us all, parents or not. It slips through our fingers.

But as I watched this particular mother and son singing together, something struck me differently. The mother has Parkinson's disease.

And suddenly, I wasn't hearing the song from the perspective of a parent watching a child grow older. I was hearing it from the perspective of a son watching his mother slowly become someone different from the mother he has always known.

She's still his mother. The love between them is evident as they sit and sing together.

But something is slipping away. The disease is taking pieces of her.

And I suspect many of us understand that feeling. Perhaps it's a parent or spouse whose memory isn't what it used to be. Perhaps it's a loved one whose health is failing. Perhaps it's a friend who can no longer do the things you once did together. Perhaps you see it in yourself.

The passage of time impacts us all. Change is inevitable. And sometimes we find ourselves longing for a moment we didn't realize was precious until it had already passed. Slipping through our fingers. We want to freeze the moment. Hold onto the best of life and relationships. But we can't. Our fingers aren't strong enough to hold everything we love.

But then I'm reminded of something more important:

While so much in life slips through our fingers, we never slip through God's. The Psalmist asks: "Where can I go from your Spirit?" And later he answers: "If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." (Psalm 139:7, 9–10).

What a beautiful promise. There are so many things we can't hold onto. But we are assured that in all things and at all times, God holds onto us. We never slip through the fingers of God.

We don't have to hold everything together. We don't have to stop time. We don't have to carry tomorrow today. We trust the One who is already holding us, and who will never let us go.

Prayer: God, I confess how much I want to hold onto the people, places, moments, and seasons of life that I treasure. Yet I know that life changes, and sometimes things I love slip beyond my grasp. Give me grace to cherish what I have today without being consumed by fear of tomorrow. And when I can't hold on, remind me that you are holding me. Thank you for being the One who never lets go. Amen.

09/03/2026

Meditate at Eight: Ponderings

This morning, I feel like I need an injection of humor. Have you ever felt that way? Can humor be "injected"? Perhaps it's because it's so hot and humid, and I need some relief. Or maybe it's because I have to "adult" this morning and go to the dentist. So, I went on an internet search and found a few "bulletin bloopers" to share:

For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

Memorial Offerings: Place your donation in the envelope, along with the deceased person(s) you want remembered.

Reminder: Prayer requests are confidential, seen only by our Prayer Group. (Please join our Prayer Group. Everyone's invited!)

Potluck supper Sunday at 5. Prayer and medication to follow.

You have to wonder what was going on when some of those bulletins were printed (although I've been responsible for a few mistakes over the years). But then again, we've all said things that came out differently than we intended. Sometimes all you can do is laugh.

God must have a sense of humor. After all, God gave us one.

We don't often think about humor when we read Scripture. But every now and then, Scripture gives us a moment that makes us smile.

There's Balaam and his talking donkey. Balaam is so determined to go his own way that God speaks to him through his donkey. And Balaam, instead of being stunned into silence, argues with it!

Or Elijah, taunting the prophets of Baal: "Maybe your god is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he's sleeping and needs to be woken up!"

In three years, certainly Jesus and the disciples laughed at, and with, one another.

Too many of us tend to take ourselves far too seriously. That's not to say that life isn't often serious. We can't just go through life laughing at every situation. But humor does have a way of putting things - and us - into perspective.

Sometimes we laugh because something is genuinely funny. Sometimes we laugh because we've made a mistake (again). Sometimes we laugh because the only alternative is to cry.

And sometimes, I suspect, God invites us to laugh at ourselves. With a kind of holy laughter that says, "Yep, I'm being human again. Take that, God!"

In those moments, I know that God knows me better than I know myself. Just like God knows you. God knows our weaknesses, our awkward moments, our mistakes, and even the things we'd rather hide.

And God loves us anyway. That might be one of the funniest—and most wonderful—things of all.

So this morning, I'm going to the dentist. It's already hot and humid. There are things on my schedule that I would rather not do and things that may not get done. There are almost certainly things that won't go according to "plan." And in the middle of it all, I'm going to try to laugh a little.

Because the church sign reads: "We're like fudge. Sweet but with a few nuts. Come join us."

Prayer: God, thank you for the gift of laughter. Help me not take myself so seriously that I forget to enjoy the life you have given me. Help me find humor in the ordinary, grace in my mistakes, and joy even in difficult days. Remind me that you hold the whole story, even when I can only see a small piece of it. And today, Lord, give me something to smile about. Amen.

09/02/2026

Meditate at Eight: Ponderings

Do you ever pause for a few minutes and think about the fact that you were, and are, wanted and not needed? I'm not talking about your parents wanting a child or you and your spouse finding one another ... I'm talking about God.

Mark Twain supposedly said, “The good Lord didn’t create anything without a purpose, but the fly comes close.”

I might add a few things to the list. Mosquitos. Humidity. This heat wave we’re currently enduring.

Some days, if I’m being completely honest, I might even nominate myself.

But beneath the humor is a profound question: Why did God create us in the first place? We're stubborn. We aren't good at obeying or following. We get angry. We're just so ... human.

God certainly didn’t need us. God wasn’t lonely. God wasn’t bored. God wasn’t sitting around heaven one day thinking, “You know what would make this whole existence thing better? People.”

Yet here we are.

Our existence isn’t about filling some deficiency in God. God didn't make us for entertainment or to fill any need. God wanted us for a much deeper reason, and it has to be with love. Love that has no boundaries; love that overflows. Love that can't be contained, but has to share itself.

John writes, “We love because he (God) first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Before we ever loved God, God loved us. Before we ever thought about God, God was already thinking about us. Before we ever reached for God, God was reaching toward us.

God didn’t need us. God wanted us. That distinction changes everything.

We aren't divine necessities. We are divine gifts. Creation itself is an expression of God’s generosity, and humanity bears a unique calling within it—to know God, to love God, to love one another, and to participate in God’s work of making the world more like the kingdom Jesus proclaimed.

And perhaps that is why some days we wonder about ourselves.

God looks at us and sees possibility where we often see problems. God sees beloved children where we see a collection of questionable decisions. God sees people capable of grace, kindness, courage, forgiveness, and love, even when we're swatting mosquitoes and complaining about the weather.

So today or any day, when you wonder why God made you or why you matter, remember this: God didn’t make you because God needed you. God made you because God wanted you.

Love wanted you here. And that's a pretty wonderful reason to get out of bed—even if it’s already too hot to do so.

Prayer: God, thank you for creating me—not because you needed me, but because you wanted me. Help us live today knowing I am deeply loved. When I get discouraged, remind me that you see more in me than I see in myself. Amen.

09/01/2026

09/01/2026

The Pastor's Bible Study resumes on Wednesday, September 2, 2026 at 7pm in the Youth Room. Join us.