Ex 34:4b-6, 8-9
Moses at once bowed down to the ground in worship.
Then he said, “If I find favor with you, O Lord,
do come along in our company.
This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins,
and receive us as your own.”

2 Cor 13:11-13
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

Jn 3:16-18
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.

Nix Worry
Last Friday I sat with Ellen and listened as she talked about worrying about her son getting a job, her heart keeping a steady beat, and a pastor who questioned her journey toward God. She talked easily about how the impact of this worry on her heart and her sleep…in short it wasn’t good. She wondered how to be in the present moment and allow God to be God.

I have to admit that I could identify with the ability to worry about things that might happen and be afraid of not doing the right next step. It was in the conversation with Ellen that I realized how my pre-occupation with worry was my attempt to control the future before it showed up. It also became very clear that by being focused on the future both Ellen and I missed God in the present moment.

Moses described the Israelites as being a “stiffed neck people,” perhaps like us they were looking too far ahead. With my propensity to worry about the future, today’s reading from John challenges me to live the message that Jesus came for me today. That His life, death, and resurrection continues to fill me with grace and freedom for the here and now.

On this Sunday when we celebrate the Holy Trinity, I am invited to live with the fellowship of the Spirit to guide me in the present moment, experience the freedom of the grace of Christ and be transformed by the love of God.