PRESENT WEEK'S GLIMPSE OF GOD

Glimpse of God for the week of September 20, 2026

Thank you, God for the refreshment of Summer, and let us celebrate with you, the newness in your tapestry of Autumn.

This coming Tuesday,  we will enter the season of autumn. As we begin the wonderful and colorful season of autumn, let us look at season of summer and reflect on what it has offered: the many more hours of sun light, the beautiful and colorful flowers, full trees, green grass, the rain, the storms, the winds, and the variety of miscalculated weather conditions, let us seek to see all of this in the light of God’s love. The many hours of God’s Son, Jesus, light in our life and how strived to walk in that light, the warmth of His love, the fullness of His love when we fall short and seem only to be able to offer a quick prayer for help or a moment of thanksgiving, the abundant showers of His blessings and graces, and the gentle whispers as heard in the wind.

As for the miscalculated weather conditions, let us humbly seek His forgiveness as we have sought to know His will without asking Him, and then doing our own thing, as we thought best, without seeking His direction. Doing our own thing failed because we did not know the whole story, nor could we see the whole picture. They were the times perhaps when we experienced the storms of life, the uncertainty, the fears, the personal frustrations that became overwhelming to our spirits and overflowed in prayer life, our words, through our actions. BUT in all this His love was overwhelming and present through us because there is nothing that we can say or do that will make Him love us less. HE CAN’T. HIS, LOVE IS PERFECT EVEN WHEN OUR LOVE IS NOT.

Although summer is not officially over, school has begun, the many pools have been covered and the cookouts, well might have lessened, the time at the shore has not come to an end but people still want to go to the shores to rest, relax and enjoy the peace and quiet now that the crowds are gone. It is still the time of light, wearing white, light, or bright colors, and a light-heartedness that can still abound from you. So don’t let the cookouts end especially if the weather allows one to cook-out side, as long as there are family and friends to gather with, and still wear light, white or bright colors to symbolize the refreshing spirit that should still abound from within you.

As this was the fifth summer since the pandemic hit that we could actually go out and gather with friends and family at the beaches, for BBQs, for swim dates. Many or most have ditched wearing masks, although sicknesses are still being spread. Covid has another booster, and some just are not completely comfortable being in big crowds. Take the time to look back the many valued memories that you have collected this summer and share them, don’t just put them away for next year or never. This was a year where you had the opportunity to choose to enjoy the season of summer, and I hope that you were able to enjoy the gifts and the graces that summer afforded you because God’s beauty cannot be stifled or diminished by any circumstance,  Fear of many things especially getting sick again or getting covid, can cover up or destroy the beauty of God’s creation as He revealed it this summer and continues to reveal it through the beauty of and the changes that autumn brings.

Autumn is a season of color and change. As we witness the changes in creation, can you recognize the autumn of your life? What part or aspect of your life: be it spiritual, physical, or emotional, do you recognize that requires change and are you ready to change so that you can become your best self, the person that God created you to be and have the potential to become? 

Spiritual transformation and conversion occur when we can recognize, with the grace of God, where we are falling short of being our best self, and where we seek God’s continued grace to take the steps necessary to change so that we can better serve Him as our genuine and authentic self. The season of autumn in our advent to a renewed sense of self, a renewed sense of the God incarnate within us and a renewed sense of joy.

The autumn of our life can be seen as time to experience a spiritual advent one that can better prepare us for any of the cold or desolate life experiences that we will face with the sure uncertainty that even when things seem barren God is with us and has not abandoned us.

As you begin your journey through the season of autumn, strive to let go of any negative thoughts, attitudes, or emotions, let them fall away from your desire to be your true self. Let the radiance and brilliance of mercy, empathy, compassion, love, understanding, and selflessness be what people see in you as you try to be the tree that not only bears good fruit and whose leaves never fade, but genuinely looks good as well.

Let the glory and awe of the tapestry of color that is before you remind us of the awe and love that God has for you. The love and awe that He has because you are His beloved child, touched and filled with His grace as you desire to change, and be transformed so that you can become your best self, the person that He created you to be and have the potential to become. Allow the CHANGES in your life to become a source of continued spiritual transformation, encouragement, hope, and conversion as you build His Kingdom here on earth, one step, one

SUNDAY - “C”- CaringFor today, let us strive to be more thoughtful and caring with and towards others.  prayer, one word of encouragement at a time. Being a caring person requires being other centered and knowledgeable and not judgmental or ego centered. When we take the time to get to know others and let them know that we care about them and for them, we get to know the true person and not the image or the façade that they try to present. Being caring requires a selfless humble attitude and disposition so that we can see past the points or aspects of someone that we may not agree with or like but seeing the good and the face of Christ in them. When we are not truly genuine or thoughtful, we can be like the leaf that is falling off the branch, it has no root or growth, but it has become colorless and lifeless.

How thoughtful are you? How thoughtful are people towards you? Can you remember how you touched someone’s heart by your acts of care and concern? or words of thoughtfulness, sincerity, and genuineness? Can you recognize the many colors of your caring, thoughtfulness, genuineness, sincerity, and joy for life in your new leaf of life in Christ? Keep looking, God knows that you are thoughtful, genuine, caring, and sincere, and that others have experienced your new life and leaf in Christ and God wants you to know it to. You have taken the time to see the face of Christ in those you encounter and have encountered, as you look in the mirror do you see His face? If not, why? What hold you back from seeing Him in you? As you see the face of Christ in yourself, do you thank him? 

MONDAY – “H” Hopeful

When we can trust another and when someone trusts us, it is a gift. When someone betrays our trust, it hurts beyond any physical pain that we may endure. When we find someone that is trustworthy, we know that we can open our hearts to them and be received with tender love and care, as well as with tough love, honesty, and truth. This trust offers us hope and diminishes our discouragement and sinking into to hopelessness or despair

As you think of being trustworthy, can you think of a time where you were betrayed and how it felt? Can you remember when you betrayed another, unintentionally or not, but in any case, someone was hurt very deeply. Can you also think of how it feels to be trusted by another, and how it feels to finally trust others? Can you remember where hope came in and how? Was it in and through a loved one, a friend, through your prayer, through the silence, in the noise of children playing, the presence of a beloved family member? Hope came and the sense of betrayal’s control and manipulation deceased. Hope does not deny the experience, but it brings us out of it to a brighter and less disappointing experience. As God’s Son, Jesus had hope, lived hope, was hope and is hope, yet He was betrayed. As His followers we can expect to experience the same thing. Are you ready to forgive or seek forgiveness? Do you have an attitude of gratitude to God for those who He has placed on your path so that through your hopefulness and ability to be trusted, they have come to see a glimpse of God in and through you? The past hurts and betrayals are the old leaves that are falling to the ground and your ability to forgive are the new and colorful leaves of mercy, compassion, hope and trust, and fullness of love in and through your expanded heart of love that God has given you and you have accepted. 

TUESDAY - “A” = Living God’s Great ADVENTURE

For today, let us try to be more open to God’s wonders. Being young at heart is a gift. It means that we try not to get stuck in an attitude or disposition that is “old”, one that has no room for growth, openness, self-awareness, or transformation. No matter what our number age is we can be old at heart at 21 or young at heart at 105. Being young at heart can make living life like a great adventure whereas being old at heart can make living life like a tedious challenge. 

Are you ready for a great adventure? Can you prepare for the adventure, the journey, that Jesus has ready for you? The journey that promises that no matter what may come, you will not be overcome or defeated but that you will overcome, that your heart will not shrink but will be expanded? 

WEDNESDAY - “N” Newness - We can all learn something New

For today, let us take an extra step in love to learn more about someone else. It takes a lot to want to become learned and to gain knowledge of a broad variety of topics and issues. When someone is learned they have taken the time to gain knowledge of a variety of topics, experiences, but most importantly the lessons taught by Jesus in the Gospels.  People become learned so that they can share their knowledge with others and relate to more people. Becoming learned as a Christian is about knowing the will of God and how we can live that out in our life. Becoming learned in life is not only about book knowledge, but the knowledge and language of the heart and how we can reach out to others and build them up and not tear them down. We become learned in the will of God, an experience that is ongoing because it is an ongoing movement of spiritual growth and is not stagnant.

How learned are you? Do you recognize how God has given you the desire to learn about His will for you, how you are living it out and how you are being His light to others? Do you need to have a Bachelors, Masters, or a Doctorate degree from a University to become a learned individual about the will of God? They are given as tools to help but should not be seen as the final tool to seek and know the will of God.

No, what you need and already have is a blank page so that God can write His plan and His will for you, where the only book you need is the Bible, the only writing tool you need is your free will, and the only test is the one where you challenge yourself to be more Christ centered today than you were yesterday.  

THURSDAY - “G” Giving

For today, when tempted to be selfish, choose to be a more giving and selfless person, not with a grudge but with a smile. Being selfless or selfish, what do you want to be?  Being selfless is about giving of oneself for the good of others. To be selfless and giving is a challenge because it goes against the devil’s desire for us to be selfish and self-centered. The devil does not want us to be giving or to extend our self to another. He would rather that we take from another; take away their humility and make them proud in themself, diminish their self-respect, and lie about their true identity as God’s beloved child. The devil would prefer that we be a more selfish person so that others cannot and would not come to know God or His Son and the great love they have for us. When we seek to know about others for their good, to be sincere, to become learned about others and their experiences, it is an act of selflessness. When we focus on our self and the desire to use the knowledge about others as a tool of power and control, that is selfishness. Being selfless is not easy, being selfish is. As we look at the fullness of autumn, imagine that your acts of selflessness are the new colors that ware emerging before you in the trees and the leaves, the fullness that they show and the brightness that they exude.

Do you see that you are selfless and not selfish?  What would others say? In your prayer, do you hear and listen as God gently speaks to you in gratitude for your acts of selflessness and thanks you for not choosing to be selfish instead? And…. even if you realize that you were selfish, can you listen as Christ speaks lovingly to you as He did from the cross, Father forgive them for they know not what they do? 

FRIDAY “E” Encouragement

For today, let us listen with our hearts and minds to God as He encourages us to be His servant, His witnesses in the world. Spiritual inspiration and encouragement are what spark us to act and speak. Spiritual encouragement, that is true encouragement without a false motive, is when we are given the gift of God’s Holy Spirit that allows us to speak his gentle whisper to others or a challenging word, to write His words for others to read or for us to reflect on, to help others to carry their cross or to ask others to help us carry ours.  Our response involves a personal surrender of our own words in speech or writing or actions so that God’s words, desire, or invitation may be revealed through us.

When we feel motivated or encouraged, we feel blessed that God has given us the words to speak at a difficult time or a time when we had no idea what we were going to say but trusted that God would provide the words that needed to be said. When we are motivated and encouraged by God’s Holy Spirit, it is then that we choose to use His words and not ours, when we choose to trust in Him and not in what we think we need to say or write.

God’s encouragement is what allows us to help others, especially when we had no idea that they were struggling, or when we humbly sought the aid of others when our cross seemed too heavy to bear alone. Your words of encouragement to others was your autumn of color in their life when perhaps their leaves, their color seemed all too black and white and they were seeking to see God’s tapestry of color that they knew was there. As we enter into the season of autumn and we look at the tapestry of color that is before us in the tress, leaves and all of God’s creation, seek to recognize that the fullness that brings the tapestry to life is your openness and encouragement to God’s will and empowering others to recognize His will in their life.  Be open to the reality that you are the fullness and the new life that others are seeking because of the encouragement and hope that had they chance to experience through you. 

SATURDAY - “S” = Sincerity

For today, let us be sincere in what we say to others. It is nice to compliment others, but if we are not sincere, we are lying and misleading them. Sincerity comes from a heart that loves and is caring, selfless and not selfish or self-centered. Can you see that God has given you a sincere heart, one that loves and has been filled with His grace that invites you to not count the cost or hold onto grudges?

As you behold the beauty of the autumn leaves and the splendid color that they behold, can you see how splendid you are and how much color you bring by your sincerity, care and love for others, and by your selflessness and compassion? Do you see that in your sincere words and actions, you have helped another recognize that they are God’s beloved son or daughter, loved unconditionally and without limits?