Tag Archives: christianity

May 15, 2025 · 10:23 am

The Image of the Good Shepherd

This past Sunday in the Church year was the 4th Sunday of Easter, also traditionally known as Good Shepherd Sunday.  This means that most of the lectionary readings for the day contain some shepherd type reference to God or Jesus.  For example, this year’s readings included: Psalm 23 (The Lord is my shepherd . . .), Revelation 5:11-14 (Worthy is the Lamb), and John 10 (I am the Good Shepherd).

I remembered this as Sunday morning began, having read a meditation to that point, and from years of preaching on the theme on the 4th Sunday of Easter. Then, as we attended church that morning with our son and daughter-in-law at Platt Park Church – Denver, the focal point of the worship space just happens to be a stained glass window of Jesus as the Good Shepherd.

The Good Shepherd – Platt Park Church

I teach a college class, Introduction to Christianity, in which I point out the importance of art in conveying the Christian message over the years. This was especially significant in a largely illiterate world, as the arts could communicate the Gospel message to audiences who lacked the capacity to read. Art reinforces the spoken message. Art reaches senses other forms of proclamation do not.

The shepherd image of God is one Jesus willingly embraced. Like us he prayed the 23rd Psalm. He spoke of sheep and shepherds in his parables and teachings. His entry into the world was celebrated by shepherds. And he embodied the role with his followers.

Jesus understood that the image of a Good Shepherd is personal and intimate. It conveys care, protection and guidance. A shepherd leads the flock, provides for their wellbeing, knows each sheep; and, if necessary, rescues and restores them to the fold.

The sheep know the Good Shepherd’s voice. They trust their shepherd and find contentment and rest in his care. 

I considered each of these things on Sunday morning, inspired by the visual that was so prominent in the room. I wondered how often worshippers over the years had taken to heart this non-spoken message even as they listened to the day’s spoken word. Indeed, art has been communicating a message in that sanctuary since the window was first installed.

The worship service on Sunday included the dedication of our granddaughter, which was part of why we were present. As promises were made and affirmed by her parents and the congregation, and a blessing was pronounced over sweet Cora and her parents; I thought of how parenting is a lot like good shepherding. It’s hands on, attentive and protective, yet also encouraging and coaxing. Good parenting, like good shepherding, provides a space for safe growth and exploration. It’s present and available ever ready to step in if needed; but allows for independent formation and discovery as a child grows and matures.

Jesus does all of that and more for we sheep. When we live our lives within proximity to him, we thrive. We can hear his voice. We know he cares. One day we might be the sheep in his arms, another day the one trailing behind. We have all we need. Our souls are restored. The oil of his anointed blessing overflows and runs down upon our life in ways words find difficult to explain.

It’s an image that continues to yield meaning, just as the Good Shepherd window does in the worship space. Just as the image of loving parents holding their infant girl did beneath it. This was the dominant message of the 4th Sunday of Easter for me.  For which I am, and I hope you are, thankful.

© Daniel M. Cash 2025

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May 6, 2025 · 8:49 am

Overcoming One’s “Dark Night of the Soul”

Recently the world news has focused attention on the passing of Pope Francis, whose death followed a 12-year ministry as head of the Roman Catholic Church. Though not a Catholic, I found Pope Francis to be an interesting and inspiring Christian leader. I appreciated his humble posture and more open stance on issues, as well as his generosity toward all people.

Not too long ago I read his biography “Life: My Story Through History”. In this book Francis referenced a two-year period of ministry he referred to as a “dark night”. This occurred in the 1990’s when he was removed from his position as a provincial of the Jesuit order in Argentina and sent to a rural parish. It was something of an exile which he called his “dark night of the soul” and a “great interior crisis”. Pope Francis did not offer much more than those comments on these two years of his remarkable life, but they clearly formed and shaped him. According to some he emerged from that time a kinder, humbler person; like the one who was so fondly remembered over the past days.

This is what can take place as a result of enduring what in spiritual terms is often called the “dark night of the soul”. The phrase is attributed to Saint John of the Cross, a 16th Century Spanish Carmelite friar and mystic who wrote a poem by that title. By definition, such an experience is “a period of spiritual desolation in which all sense of consolation is removed.” Plainly put, the dark night is a difficult, painful period in one’s life.

I suspect that many, if not most, spiritual leaders go through their own version of a dark night at some point. It might be a particularly difficult time of ministry during which your leadership is questioned, or you are questioning your call or faith. Dark nights can be self-imposed or just creep up on you. They are not limited to those in leadership. Any Christ follower can be susceptible to a dark night where there are more questions than answers and more silence than affirmations.

My own experience with this is still fresh. In the later part of 2022 I made a ministry transition, leaving a pastorate of fifteen years for another opportunity. Looking back, I can see that while I was correct that it was time to step away from that pastorate, the call that I pursued was of my own forcing. In other words, I pursued a job that was not a good fit, bringing on my own dark night experience. There was some arrogance and willfulness in my saying “yes” to that call, and I regret any pain or confusion it may have caused. I left that position after just three months.

What ensued was a very lonely time of introspection. The dark night followed me and, if I’m honest, endured another couple of years. I did not question my faith, but I did face the humbling experience of facing my failure and self-induced disappointment. There’s something about falling on your face that is humiliating. When you do in front of an audience of your peers, including those who questioned your decision and would probably like to say “I told you so” – that is truly mortifying. But, if you can dust off the humiliation and swallow your pride, so as to engage in the emptying work of prayer and formation, good can come from the void of silence and darkness.

Throughout my own dark night experience God continued to place opportunities of service before my path that have resulted in a reaffirmation of my call and gifts. I would call these opportunities part of my formation or re-formation. Hopefully they have caused me to be a gentler, kinder version of myself.

From time to time I have a flashback to my dark night days, feeling the emotions and disappointment of that time anew. Thankfully these experiences are becoming fewer and less frequent. But I think they remain as a means of my not forgetting the work God seeks to do in and through me today.

It’s a bit daunting to write about this from such a personal place of discovery, but I do so in hope that it may speak to someone else. If you are in that proverbial dark night place, please know that you are not alone. Many, maybe most, others have been or are there too. It’s not the end of things. There is a repeated theme in the Bible of wilderness. Jesus spent time in the wilderness, and Israel labored there. Why should we expect to avoid it? The important thing is not that we were in exile, but that we emerge from it – strengthened, changed, and open to continue in God’s grace and love.

© Daniel M. Cash 2025

If you are interested in reading or listening to more of my work, I offer a podcast called “The Cash cache” through Substack that features many of my stories and reflections written over the years in my own voice.

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April 23, 2025 · 10:58 am

Living Between the Kingdom and Empire

As Christ followers, fresh from the “Alleluias” of Easter’s joy, resume daily routines, will the refueling of Resurrection Day and it’s news be proven to have emboldened us to live as the proverbial “Easter people”? Or will the gravity and bleakness of empire infiltrate our lives and overtake that joyous message? These are the questions I’m thinking about personally as a contemporary disciple of Jesus facing the age-old tension of living between the Kingdom of God and empire of today.

To state it another way, how can the residual effects of full Church sanctuaries, inspiring sermons and the uplifting music of Easter inject us with a booster shot that propels us to live something closer to the “Kingdom of God” than the anxiety and despair of today’s broken imperial system? Perhaps it’s too much to ask, but then again, maybe not.

The Resurrection bespeaks a triumphal death defeating Messiah who calls us into the fullness of abundant and everlasting life. This is life in God’s Kingdom where the reign and rule of the living Jesus is welcomed and celebrated – Christ is Risen!

In this Kingdom living we set aside the restraints and perilous news of the world, in favor of the ways of the living King Jesus. We are released from the magnet pull of overbearing messages via social media and traditional media outlets. Released to spend time with kindred siblings in Christ and focus on the ways of Christ himself. In this release we feel and affirm the defining identity of our “in Christ-ness” that both calls us apart and sends us forth.

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December 3, 2024 · 1:36 pm

The Blessing Behind the Begats

Abraham begat Isaac. . . . and Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias . . . . and Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. (Matthew 1: 2, 6 & 16 KJV)

Singer song-writer Andrew Peterson has a song titled “Matthew’s Begats” that is part of his Christmas album Behold the Lamb of God. It’s a word salad of a song, filled with the names and lineage of Matthew 1 – a passage when read in the KJV that is filled with “begats”. “Begat” is an old English word that means to bring forth or bear. In Biblical use it is often associated with the role of a man who “begats” offspring, though of course said man could not produce without the equal, if not greater, participation of a woman. But in Bible times it was a man’s world, so Matthew’s “begats” is mostly about men – fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen more generations from David to the Exile, and then (you guessed it) fourteen more from the Exile to Jesus.

In his gospel’s first sixteen verses we encounter names such as Phares and Zara, Aminadab and Salmon, Boaz and Obed, Jesse, Solomon, Rehoboam, Josaphat, Manasses, Amon and Jochonias, to call forth just a few. Mention is also made of Tamar, Ruth and “her who had been the wife of Urias” (Bathsheba), as well as Mary, the mother of Christ. Matthew 1:1-16 is probably not one of the more memorized or quoted passages found in the Gospels, but it is interesting. Without all that begetting, Jesus would not have been begotten, meaning no incarnation, no Messiah, no Christ, no Christmas. Translate that as no hope, no redemption, no restoration, no salvation, no re-creation, no eternity. It all began with the begats.

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November 26, 2024 · 12:07 pm

Thinking Thankful Thoughts

I Thessalonians 5:18 says “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (NRSV) How do you feel about that admonition?

It’s important to read and hear it within the context of Paul’s final words to the church at Thessalonica. He has spent some time offering them encouragement, commending their faith and faith practices, and speaking about coming days. It’s a very pastoral letter in tone and content, sent to a group of Christ followers whom Paul obviously loves. He’s just received a report of them from Timothy and he wants to speak into their lives as a spiritual father and guide.

In his final exhortations, from which the aforementioned verse 18 appears, Paul speaks to this community of faith with strong words of guidance: “respect those who labor among you”, “admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them” . . . . “always seek to do good to one another and to all.” “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing” – then comes “give thanks in all circumstances”. This is quite a list of encouragements, is it not?

I cannot help but read and hear these words in the context of our own day. Here in the post-election postmortem, when some are giddy and happy, and some are completely deflated and discouraged; Paul’s words ring to me like a clarion call to the Church and it’s members. We can be reminded that we are a “fellowship of differents” (to quote Scot McKnight) who are called to put aside our different opinions and perspectives for the common good of gospel news and mission, among which is living as a thankful people.

Wouldn’t you agree that society finds itself in need of those who’s song of the heart is thanksgiving? Living, serving, engaging with others from a place of gratitude (graciousness, generosity, kindness) is akin to bringing the refreshment of a cold cup of water to the dry, thirsty, parched climate of today’s culture. Just as Paul knew that the Christ followers of Thessalonica would more greatly effect change and draw others to Christ’s mission from a posture of thanksgiving, it seems the same is still likely.

In my ministry conversations these days I encounter people who are weary of negativity and finger pointing. Sure, there are plenty who share their agreement or disagreement with the loudly proffered dictates of political leaders. And God bless them for having faith in politics! But I find the more genuine expressions of hope are wrapped not in bluster or anger, revenge or exclusion – no they are packaged in something that feels more like what Paul advises: continuous prayer, constant thanksgiving, pointed encouragement and persevering faith. Faith, not in the powers and principalities of this world, but faith in the Prince of Peace and God of Creation – and re-creation.

In it’s best iterations the Church has known how to function as a bigger tent, welcoming those of differing opinions and expressions of faith; while somehow encompassing the capacity to “do good” and “speak truth in love” and “be thankful”. My opinion is that we could really use the Church getting back to that place, once again finding it’s voice and it’s capacity to both love and embrace people who come in such complex and varied wrappings.

So here’s to both thinking and living “thankful” thoughts, in all circumstances. Searching, seeking and finding a reason to offer gratitude, generosity, kindness, compassion, empathy, hope and promise rooted in a life-changing faith in Christ Jesus to a hurting and, yes, sometimes hurtful world.

Happy Thanksgiving 2024!

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