You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's Hebrew Bible reading is here.
“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also.” What kind of way to live is this? Wouldn’t it just make us all doormats? And who could do this anyway?
Unless you’re Jesus Christ, it might seem impossible to be this giving, this forgiving, this grace-filled. But in our Hebrew Bible we have a story of someone who did just that: did good to those who hated him, blessed those who cursed him, gave to those who abused him. This Sunday we hear the tail end of the story of Joseph, the beloved eleventh son of Jacob; the dreamer so hated by his older brothers they threw him down a well, then sold him to slave traders and told their father he had been killed by a wild animal, showing off his blood-spattered “coat of many colors” as proof. Their actions not only hastened the decline of their father, but started a cycle of misery and abuse for their brother.
Taken to Egypt and sold into service, he suffered further misadventures, but ultimately came to the attention of Pharaoh, and ended up as Pharaoh’s senior advisor, managing the entire country. (Read the whole wonderfully written novella in Genesis 37,39-47.) Foreseeing a regional famine, Joseph is able to stockpile grain for Egypt. When the famine hits Israel, his brothers are sent to Egypt to buy food. They don’t recognize their brother when they come before him, but he knows them. He strings them along, perhaps exacting some emotional revenge, but ultimately we see the big “reveal” and forgiveness of a horrible trauma that not only imperiled his life, but left him cut off for decades from his family and beloved father. He blesses those who persecuted him, and forgives his abusers.
Of course, Joseph does this from a place of freedom and power – perhaps that makes it easier. But the power to forgive and bless is ours no matter where we sit. For someone under the thumb of oppression or captivity, it may be the only power, the only form of choice, the only freedom. Every person bound in chattel slavery or human trafficking; every one locked in an abusive relationship; even those held in cycles of addiction comes to recognize this. Making the choice to forgive, to release, also releases us.
For those privileged not to be in such circumstances, the urgency is no less real. Inability to forgive those who have hurt, betrayed or abused us leaves us tied to them and gives them “real estate” in our minds and psyches. Releasing people from the very real debts they owe us is turning the other check, for we may be inviting more mistreatment. The only difference is, now it is our choice, because we want to be free, and we want them to be free. That’s what praying for our abusers can yield – a desire that they be free. It doesn’t mean we don’t want them punished; it means we don’t need to do the punishing. And it doesn’t mean we stay in the relationship; it only means we’ve chosen freedom.
“For freedom Christ has set us free,” Paul wrote to the Galatians, who were slipping out of grace into a rigid legalism. Freedom is God’s desire for us, and for every child of God. Those who forgive and bless and release in Jesus’ name are not doormats; we are freedom fighters.
© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
2-20-25 - What Goes Around...
You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
Many “New Age” teachings assert that we make our own reality, form our own destiny, are fully in charge of our lives. While this is not the Christian understanding (I am relieved to know there is a loving God who has authority over my life, even as s/he allows me the freedom to make choices for good or ill), Jesus does suggest there is a connection between what we put out and what we receive: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
I have experienced this truth. In areas of my life where I am trusting and generous, I experience plenty. Where I am grudging, tight-fisted and judgmental, I see only paltry blessings. But I don't think Jesus is teaching karma, or suggesting that God punishes or withholds according to our attitudes. He is making a profound observation: only freedom can beget freedom, just as only love can beget love.
When we regard others with compassion rather than judgment or condemnation, we seek the best in them; such an outlook leads to more freedom. In fact, when I catch myself judging, I pray for the ability to see where that other person hurts. Compassion can break that cycle. (We need to practice this on ourselves too…).
When we are able to forgive people who have hurt us, and really release that debt, costly as it may be, we are set free and so are they. And when we give, our hands are open to receive. And not only our hands; our hearts, for giving makes us joyful, and joyful people are attractive. As we cultivate an attitude of giving, things get unjammed, and gifts flow to us as well as from us.
This teaching, “the measure you give will be the measure you get back,” is another way of saying, “Do unto others as you would have them do to you.” Go through life pinched and puckered, that will likely be the way you experience the world. Go out in joy, sharing your gifts and your compassion, and just see how much blessing surrounds you.
Jesus uses such an exuberant image to describe the abundance God wants to pour on us – good measure, pressed down, shaken, running over into our laps. We need to affirm and forgive and give our little hearts out just to make room for all the blessing God desires for us to have. Are you ready?
© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
Many “New Age” teachings assert that we make our own reality, form our own destiny, are fully in charge of our lives. While this is not the Christian understanding (I am relieved to know there is a loving God who has authority over my life, even as s/he allows me the freedom to make choices for good or ill), Jesus does suggest there is a connection between what we put out and what we receive: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
I have experienced this truth. In areas of my life where I am trusting and generous, I experience plenty. Where I am grudging, tight-fisted and judgmental, I see only paltry blessings. But I don't think Jesus is teaching karma, or suggesting that God punishes or withholds according to our attitudes. He is making a profound observation: only freedom can beget freedom, just as only love can beget love.
When we regard others with compassion rather than judgment or condemnation, we seek the best in them; such an outlook leads to more freedom. In fact, when I catch myself judging, I pray for the ability to see where that other person hurts. Compassion can break that cycle. (We need to practice this on ourselves too…).
When we are able to forgive people who have hurt us, and really release that debt, costly as it may be, we are set free and so are they. And when we give, our hands are open to receive. And not only our hands; our hearts, for giving makes us joyful, and joyful people are attractive. As we cultivate an attitude of giving, things get unjammed, and gifts flow to us as well as from us.
This teaching, “the measure you give will be the measure you get back,” is another way of saying, “Do unto others as you would have them do to you.” Go through life pinched and puckered, that will likely be the way you experience the world. Go out in joy, sharing your gifts and your compassion, and just see how much blessing surrounds you.
Jesus uses such an exuberant image to describe the abundance God wants to pour on us – good measure, pressed down, shaken, running over into our laps. We need to affirm and forgive and give our little hearts out just to make room for all the blessing God desires for us to have. Are you ready?
© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
2-19-25 - Let Them Steal?
You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
Can you imagine being robbed, learning the identity of the thief, and saying to them, “Oh, that’s okay, keep it?” Or walking down a busy sidewalk and giving to every panhandler you meet? Is that really what Jesus was asking of us when he said to his disciples: "Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you."
Whenever I study this passage in a group, I watch people turn themselves into pretzels trying to find the loopholes. “We’d go broke,” “Nowadays many beggars are addicts or con artists,” “I work hard for my stuff.” Is this message even for us, or was it only intended for Jesus’ first disciples, who were sent on mission forays with nothing, told to rely completely on the generosity of others? Are there meant to be some people who beg and others who give, or are we all either or both at different times?
As with most passages of scripture, we do best when we look at this as a whole rather than individual verses. We can start where Jesus ends up: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." If we were truly guided by this principle, known as the Golden Rule, all our interactions would flow better, from living with other people to co-existing with global neighbors. If you like to find the kitchen counters clean when you come to them, clean them for the next person. If you would like your citizens to thrive, help your neighbors’ citizens to thrive.
But do we have to let people steal from us? Perhaps Jesus is saying, “If you want people to accord you dignity and ultimate value as a human being, you need to extend that same regard to people who harm or steal from you” – which might mean valuing the thief more than the goods stolen. That’s a challenging thought – though it aligns with the Episcopal baptismal promise to “Respect the dignity of every human being.” And if we offer our plenty, it’s not being stolen. If we make a loan without expecting a return, we extend freedom both to ourselves and to our debtors.
It depends what angle you’re looking from. In cosmic terms, we come into this life with nothing. Everything we have is given to us by our loving God, even what we earn as a result of abilities or assets we’re born with. Should we hold quite so tightly to the fruits of God’s initial investment in us?
Who do you feel has taken something from you? What would help you release that obligation now, treating them as you would hope someone would treat you? Make it specific.
I am no better at living into this teaching of Jesus than most. I can start by identifying other people with myself. “Do unto others as you would have them do to you” sets up a comparison and a connection. And when we see ourselves as connected to other people, and they to us – by common humanity if nothing else – giving to them, even not quite voluntarily, isn’t such a stretch.
© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
Can you imagine being robbed, learning the identity of the thief, and saying to them, “Oh, that’s okay, keep it?” Or walking down a busy sidewalk and giving to every panhandler you meet? Is that really what Jesus was asking of us when he said to his disciples: "Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you."
Whenever I study this passage in a group, I watch people turn themselves into pretzels trying to find the loopholes. “We’d go broke,” “Nowadays many beggars are addicts or con artists,” “I work hard for my stuff.” Is this message even for us, or was it only intended for Jesus’ first disciples, who were sent on mission forays with nothing, told to rely completely on the generosity of others? Are there meant to be some people who beg and others who give, or are we all either or both at different times?
As with most passages of scripture, we do best when we look at this as a whole rather than individual verses. We can start where Jesus ends up: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." If we were truly guided by this principle, known as the Golden Rule, all our interactions would flow better, from living with other people to co-existing with global neighbors. If you like to find the kitchen counters clean when you come to them, clean them for the next person. If you would like your citizens to thrive, help your neighbors’ citizens to thrive.
But do we have to let people steal from us? Perhaps Jesus is saying, “If you want people to accord you dignity and ultimate value as a human being, you need to extend that same regard to people who harm or steal from you” – which might mean valuing the thief more than the goods stolen. That’s a challenging thought – though it aligns with the Episcopal baptismal promise to “Respect the dignity of every human being.” And if we offer our plenty, it’s not being stolen. If we make a loan without expecting a return, we extend freedom both to ourselves and to our debtors.
It depends what angle you’re looking from. In cosmic terms, we come into this life with nothing. Everything we have is given to us by our loving God, even what we earn as a result of abilities or assets we’re born with. Should we hold quite so tightly to the fruits of God’s initial investment in us?
Who do you feel has taken something from you? What would help you release that obligation now, treating them as you would hope someone would treat you? Make it specific.
I am no better at living into this teaching of Jesus than most. I can start by identifying other people with myself. “Do unto others as you would have them do to you” sets up a comparison and a connection. And when we see ourselves as connected to other people, and they to us – by common humanity if nothing else – giving to them, even not quite voluntarily, isn’t such a stretch.
© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
2-18-25 - You Want Us To Love THEM?
You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
Of all the big "asks" that Jesus lays on his followers, perhaps the most extreme is this one: “But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt.”
It may be hard to see sometimes, but every human has some innate capacity for generosity, compassion, collaboration. Jesus asks these attributes of us. But to love your enemy and do good to someone who hates you? That runs counter to human nature and most cultural norms. How can we structure societies and kinship groups if we have to love our enemies the same as we love our friends and relations?
Jesus held kinship relationships very lightly – witness his dismissiveness of his mother and brothers. In fact, he redefined family altogether, saying, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” (Luke 8:21). And we can see what he thought of social and ethnic categories in his parable of the Good Samaritan, where the social outcast is the hero of the tale. But what about human nature? Are we not hard-wired to protect ourselves and those we love, as well as our possessions? How can we go around loving our enemies?
With only our human nature, I don’t believe we can. But we do not operate out of merely human nature. At our baptisms, God installs his operating system in us, and when we run on our God-nature, we access unimaginable power. Here’s how we can go about loving our enemies: Let God do it. Bring God into the triangle. Like it or not, there is a line running between us and our enemies – we are bound to them by mutual hatred/fear/ prejudice/anger/all of the above. It can be hard to pray along that axis, let alone open ourselves to communication or blessing. When I am unable to wish good for someone, I direct my prayers for her or him to God, and ask God to bless, forgive, heal and restore them. It is a powerful thing to ask God to bless someone you are unable to bless. We can’t know the effect it will have on the other person (though surprisingly often we see changes in their behavior…), but it releases something in us and changes us.
As we begin to be freed of our own fear and hatred, we become better able to imagine doing good to those who hate us. There is self-interest as well as altruism in ensuring that those who hate us have enough to eat, safe places to sleep and solid education. If we are victims of abuse from someone else, sometimes the only power we hold is to pray for the abuser, as we are able to do so. There is no downside to praying that a vile and evil human being be blessed and healed and restored to his or her full humanity. Such conversion can only help us and protect other victims. Think of John Newton, the slave-trader who came to see the evil he perpetuated, and wrote of his conviction and conversion in the hymn Amazing grace!
In these days of national divisions deeper than most of us have known, it’s not hard to imagine people who hate us, or even people we’d consider enemies. So we have no shortage of opportunities to practice Jesus’ biggest ask.
© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
Of all the big "asks" that Jesus lays on his followers, perhaps the most extreme is this one: “But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt.”
It may be hard to see sometimes, but every human has some innate capacity for generosity, compassion, collaboration. Jesus asks these attributes of us. But to love your enemy and do good to someone who hates you? That runs counter to human nature and most cultural norms. How can we structure societies and kinship groups if we have to love our enemies the same as we love our friends and relations?
Jesus held kinship relationships very lightly – witness his dismissiveness of his mother and brothers. In fact, he redefined family altogether, saying, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” (Luke 8:21). And we can see what he thought of social and ethnic categories in his parable of the Good Samaritan, where the social outcast is the hero of the tale. But what about human nature? Are we not hard-wired to protect ourselves and those we love, as well as our possessions? How can we go around loving our enemies?
With only our human nature, I don’t believe we can. But we do not operate out of merely human nature. At our baptisms, God installs his operating system in us, and when we run on our God-nature, we access unimaginable power. Here’s how we can go about loving our enemies: Let God do it. Bring God into the triangle. Like it or not, there is a line running between us and our enemies – we are bound to them by mutual hatred/fear/ prejudice/anger/all of the above. It can be hard to pray along that axis, let alone open ourselves to communication or blessing. When I am unable to wish good for someone, I direct my prayers for her or him to God, and ask God to bless, forgive, heal and restore them. It is a powerful thing to ask God to bless someone you are unable to bless. We can’t know the effect it will have on the other person (though surprisingly often we see changes in their behavior…), but it releases something in us and changes us.
As we begin to be freed of our own fear and hatred, we become better able to imagine doing good to those who hate us. There is self-interest as well as altruism in ensuring that those who hate us have enough to eat, safe places to sleep and solid education. If we are victims of abuse from someone else, sometimes the only power we hold is to pray for the abuser, as we are able to do so. There is no downside to praying that a vile and evil human being be blessed and healed and restored to his or her full humanity. Such conversion can only help us and protect other victims. Think of John Newton, the slave-trader who came to see the evil he perpetuated, and wrote of his conviction and conversion in the hymn Amazing grace!
In these days of national divisions deeper than most of us have known, it’s not hard to imagine people who hate us, or even people we’d consider enemies. So we have no shortage of opportunities to practice Jesus’ biggest ask.
© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
2-17-25 - Unconditional Love
You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
Like many people, I’ve had my share of unrequited love, yearning for the regard and affection of someone either unavailable or uninterested. But it never occurred to me to see this as a spiritual virtue! Jesus said, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."
Of course, Jesus is talking not about romantic fixations, but friendship and favor. To merely return the love or generosity of someone is a low bar indeed. To love as God loves requires us to love when it’s challenging, when we do not get back in kind or volume what we've given, when we don’t even know we’re loved back. If this seems impossible, we need only flip the perspective and see ourselves as the often ungrateful, neglectful and grudging recipients of God’s unconditional love and grace. Jesus’ message starts to make more sense.
Every time we make the choice to love another person, especially in intimate relationships, we are in a sense making a loan. And if, as Jesus commands, we can extend loans without expectation of repayment, we’ll be a lot happier and love with more freedom. I’ve made more than a few loans that I’ve forgotten about. If the money is repaid, it’s a delightful surprise, but I’m not counting on it or disappointed if it is not repaid. It has never occurred to me to see my offers of love or friendship in the same light.
To love this open-handedly risks allowing people to take advantage of us. To love this open-heartedly leaves us vulnerable to pain, for it is human nature to desire love in return for love given, and to hurt when we don’t receive that. And if we’ve ever known the joy of mutual love, that can become the standard by which we judge all interactions. But if we measure that way, we might miss other gifts being offered by friends and lovers; they might seem like lesser gifts but they could be something we need to help us grow. And since our expectations are so often the root of our unhappiness, it wouldn’t hurt to take them off the table, and be set free to love without measure, as we have been loved.
Can you think of a relationship in which you feel you give more than you get? How does it change your perspective if you focus on your generosity more than on deprivation?
Just as our physical hearts have muscles which need to be exercised, so do our spiritual hearts – the more we love without expectation, the stronger our capacity for love grows. Unconditional love is a spiritual practice, as is giving without expectation of return. We need to practice it.
© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
Like many people, I’ve had my share of unrequited love, yearning for the regard and affection of someone either unavailable or uninterested. But it never occurred to me to see this as a spiritual virtue! Jesus said, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."
Of course, Jesus is talking not about romantic fixations, but friendship and favor. To merely return the love or generosity of someone is a low bar indeed. To love as God loves requires us to love when it’s challenging, when we do not get back in kind or volume what we've given, when we don’t even know we’re loved back. If this seems impossible, we need only flip the perspective and see ourselves as the often ungrateful, neglectful and grudging recipients of God’s unconditional love and grace. Jesus’ message starts to make more sense.
Every time we make the choice to love another person, especially in intimate relationships, we are in a sense making a loan. And if, as Jesus commands, we can extend loans without expectation of repayment, we’ll be a lot happier and love with more freedom. I’ve made more than a few loans that I’ve forgotten about. If the money is repaid, it’s a delightful surprise, but I’m not counting on it or disappointed if it is not repaid. It has never occurred to me to see my offers of love or friendship in the same light.
To love this open-handedly risks allowing people to take advantage of us. To love this open-heartedly leaves us vulnerable to pain, for it is human nature to desire love in return for love given, and to hurt when we don’t receive that. And if we’ve ever known the joy of mutual love, that can become the standard by which we judge all interactions. But if we measure that way, we might miss other gifts being offered by friends and lovers; they might seem like lesser gifts but they could be something we need to help us grow. And since our expectations are so often the root of our unhappiness, it wouldn’t hurt to take them off the table, and be set free to love without measure, as we have been loved.
Can you think of a relationship in which you feel you give more than you get? How does it change your perspective if you focus on your generosity more than on deprivation?
Just as our physical hearts have muscles which need to be exercised, so do our spiritual hearts – the more we love without expectation, the stronger our capacity for love grows. Unconditional love is a spiritual practice, as is giving without expectation of return. We need to practice it.
© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
2-14-25 - Trees Planted By Water
You can listen to this reflection here.
Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain, which we’ve explored this week, could be summed up this way: Don’t put your trust in prosperity or well-being or what people think of you. Your strength comes from God, your reward comes from God; keep your focus on God. As it happens, in one of our readings this Sunday the prophet Jeremiah is singing the same tune:
Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.
They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit. *
Years ago I went on retreat, and in prayer I asked Jesus what he wanted for me or from me. This answer formed in my mind: “I want you to let me water your roots every day.” That’s in part where the name Water Daily came from. Roots that dry up cannot sustain vibrant life in the plant. We need to stay close to the water of life flowing from the throne of God, and send our roots into that stream to soak up its nutrients. (We also need to drink more water each day – even mood issues can stem from dehydration…)
I was very taken with Suzanne Simard’s memoir Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest. Her research has shown that “trees are a complex, interdependent circle of life; that forests are social, cooperative creatures connected through underground networks by which trees communicate their vitality and vulnerabilities with communal lives not that different from our own.” This network “heals, feeds and sustains the other members of the forest.”
When I first heard of Simard’s book, and heard her interviewed (On Being), I thought, “This is what churches are meant to be: a powerful network that heals, feeds and sustains the other members of the forest.” The applications of her findings to human networks and particularly to the mission of Christ’s church are galvanizing.
Just imagine what a gift to our current climate we bring when we are “do not fear when heat comes,” when “our leaves stay green” (supple, vibrant), when we are not anxious no matter what is going on around us, no matter how many good reasons there are to be anxious. Just as hatred and anxiety can spread through communities, so can love and peace. We are to be conduits of God’s love and peace.
What is the best way you can think of to keep your spiritual roots watered? (I hope Water Daily is one of them!). Keep doing that, and you will not cease to bear fruit that transforms lives.
*I like this passage so much I set it to music – listen here.
© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain, which we’ve explored this week, could be summed up this way: Don’t put your trust in prosperity or well-being or what people think of you. Your strength comes from God, your reward comes from God; keep your focus on God. As it happens, in one of our readings this Sunday the prophet Jeremiah is singing the same tune:
Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.
They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit. *
Years ago I went on retreat, and in prayer I asked Jesus what he wanted for me or from me. This answer formed in my mind: “I want you to let me water your roots every day.” That’s in part where the name Water Daily came from. Roots that dry up cannot sustain vibrant life in the plant. We need to stay close to the water of life flowing from the throne of God, and send our roots into that stream to soak up its nutrients. (We also need to drink more water each day – even mood issues can stem from dehydration…)
I was very taken with Suzanne Simard’s memoir Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest. Her research has shown that “trees are a complex, interdependent circle of life; that forests are social, cooperative creatures connected through underground networks by which trees communicate their vitality and vulnerabilities with communal lives not that different from our own.” This network “heals, feeds and sustains the other members of the forest.”
When I first heard of Simard’s book, and heard her interviewed (On Being), I thought, “This is what churches are meant to be: a powerful network that heals, feeds and sustains the other members of the forest.” The applications of her findings to human networks and particularly to the mission of Christ’s church are galvanizing.
Just imagine what a gift to our current climate we bring when we are “do not fear when heat comes,” when “our leaves stay green” (supple, vibrant), when we are not anxious no matter what is going on around us, no matter how many good reasons there are to be anxious. Just as hatred and anxiety can spread through communities, so can love and peace. We are to be conduits of God’s love and peace.
What is the best way you can think of to keep your spiritual roots watered? (I hope Water Daily is one of them!). Keep doing that, and you will not cease to bear fruit that transforms lives.
*I like this passage so much I set it to music – listen here.
© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
2-13-25 - Where's the Love?
You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
Tomorrow may be Valentines Day, but I find it hard to find the love in Jesus’ "sermon on the plain." ‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets… ‘Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.’
It can be awfully tempting to take these words and say, “If everybody hates me, I must be doing something right!” Many a clergyperson (or despot…) wielding his or her will over a community has employed such false logic to justify themselves. “I’m just like Jesus, persecuted and holy!”
Let’s assume that is not what Jesus meant. Remember, this whole teaching is directed to his disciples, those who have already committed themselves to following him and the way of life and love he was teaching. That Way ran profoundly counter to the ways of culture, not to mention human nature. He is warning them that people won’t respond well to having their assumptions challenged, their power threatened, their worldview turned upside down. In his service, they will encounter exclusion, derision, persecution and worse. He cautions them not to let their value be determined by what others think about them, nor to adjust their teaching or actions according to their popularity.
Jesus wisely sets the rejection his followers would face into the framework of what happened to the prophets of old, many of whom persisted, despite persecution and punishment, in giving dire warnings that kings did not want to hear. Jesus wanted his followers to know that if they claim to speak for God, they should expect trouble.
And, of course, those who claim to speak for God better be certain that’s what they are doing. How can we know? We can always check our preaching and teaching against what we find in Scripture, the whole sweep of Scripture, that is, not just individual passages. And we need to ground our missional life in prayer, in that relationship into which God invites us daily. And we need to look for good fruit.
If people are coming to faith through our ministries, lives being transformed, and energy being released for mission, we know God is with us. We can withstand the discontent of those who disagree or feel left behind, and continually invite them to join in. But if the only fruit resulting from our teaching or actions is discord and hurt, it’s likely the Holy Spirit is not with us in what we’re doing.
The Holy Spirit is the key. Jesus did nothing without the Spirit, and neither should we. Not only does the Spirit empower our ministries and inspire our preaching, the Spirit is also called Advocate, one who stands with us against our accusers. Whether people speak ill of us or well is not all that important. If we are moving on the winds of the Spirit, we are aligned with God. And God delights in us.
© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
Tomorrow may be Valentines Day, but I find it hard to find the love in Jesus’ "sermon on the plain." ‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets… ‘Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.’
It can be awfully tempting to take these words and say, “If everybody hates me, I must be doing something right!” Many a clergyperson (or despot…) wielding his or her will over a community has employed such false logic to justify themselves. “I’m just like Jesus, persecuted and holy!”
Let’s assume that is not what Jesus meant. Remember, this whole teaching is directed to his disciples, those who have already committed themselves to following him and the way of life and love he was teaching. That Way ran profoundly counter to the ways of culture, not to mention human nature. He is warning them that people won’t respond well to having their assumptions challenged, their power threatened, their worldview turned upside down. In his service, they will encounter exclusion, derision, persecution and worse. He cautions them not to let their value be determined by what others think about them, nor to adjust their teaching or actions according to their popularity.
Jesus wisely sets the rejection his followers would face into the framework of what happened to the prophets of old, many of whom persisted, despite persecution and punishment, in giving dire warnings that kings did not want to hear. Jesus wanted his followers to know that if they claim to speak for God, they should expect trouble.
And, of course, those who claim to speak for God better be certain that’s what they are doing. How can we know? We can always check our preaching and teaching against what we find in Scripture, the whole sweep of Scripture, that is, not just individual passages. And we need to ground our missional life in prayer, in that relationship into which God invites us daily. And we need to look for good fruit.
If people are coming to faith through our ministries, lives being transformed, and energy being released for mission, we know God is with us. We can withstand the discontent of those who disagree or feel left behind, and continually invite them to join in. But if the only fruit resulting from our teaching or actions is discord and hurt, it’s likely the Holy Spirit is not with us in what we’re doing.
The Holy Spirit is the key. Jesus did nothing without the Spirit, and neither should we. Not only does the Spirit empower our ministries and inspire our preaching, the Spirit is also called Advocate, one who stands with us against our accusers. Whether people speak ill of us or well is not all that important. If we are moving on the winds of the Spirit, we are aligned with God. And God delights in us.
© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
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