A few of the members of NDPC’s MLK Volunteer Project crew. Thanks to all our volunteers!

Join church members and friends in a day of service on Martin Luther King Day, this coming Monday (1/16). We will work in partnership with the City of Decatur’s MLK Service Project. Our work is to clean up and fix up the home of an elderly and/or disabled neighbor.

Sign up through the church office: office@ndpc.org. Thanks!

The River of Life

Revelation 22:1-7

Life is composed of many endings and beginnings. Our community of faith celebrates and consoles us on those special days. January 1 is such a day.

John of Patmos offers us a view of a final new day, the dawning of the new Jerusalem. A river flows down the center of the street with healing trees on either side. Water and plants are reminders of God’s gift of this beautiful planet, ours to enjoy and preserve.

In this city, God is our light and there is no fear nor night. Good has triumphed over evil and Christ will come. What a new day that will be!

PRAYER: God, grant us those healing leaves for our divided nation. Bring the light of your peace to this warring world, we pray. Freshen our hope for a brighter tomorrow, lit by your love. In your name. Amen.

John Hollender

New year’s Eve: New Heaven and Earth

Revelation 21:1-7

As the old year dies away, our thoughts may dwell on the past-perhaps longing for loved ones we’ve lost or, more positively, celebrating our successes or recalling good times with friends. Or we may be so focused on reaching future goals that we busy ourselves with too many tasks and fail to appreciate the joys of life that surround us every day.

I recently began reading books and practicing yoga and meditation to enhance my mindfulness–a state of consciousness attuned to fully experiencing the present. John of Patmos wrote that God’s kingdom brings “a new heaven and a new earth” and that now, in the present moment, “the home of God is among mortals.” By focusing our attention and energies on each moment, we experience the world in which God “is making all things new.”

PRAYER: Great Renewer, help us to stop living in the past or worrying about the future and instead embrace the fullness of life in the present–the new heaven and new earth of your dwelling here with us. Amen.

Lynn Foley

John’s Testimony

John 1:29-34

Despite all intention, my mind loops continuously back to an unorthodox exegesis of these verses. I cannot help but tilt with my spiritual struggle in a secular world. The juxtaposition of this scripture with my reading of an essay about “The Fourfold” (earth, sky, divinities, and mortals) left me no choice in my response.

Our role in the world is to dwell properly. To do so ensures the preservation of the delicate balance of the four: earth, sky, divinities, and mortals. We best approach preserving this balance with our sacred rituals–rituals that become more powerful when observed by a community “re-enchanting a disenchanted world.” In these actions we lift light back toward heaven.

PRAYER: Dear God, you gave us the light of love, compassion, and hope. May we use those gifts to bring balance and light in our daily lives and as we practice our rituals as a community–baptisms, caring for the homeless, striving for peace and justice, creating music, sharing meals, and caring for each other. Amen.

Karl and Fran Mohr