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Morning Meditation
May 28, 2026
Reading: Joshua 1: 1-18
After the death of Moses, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun & Moses’ aide: “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.
“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: 11 “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’”
Meditation by Glenn Beamer
These opening verses from Joshua introduce themes of constancy, courage and faith. Joshua is often associated with battle and conquest in Canaan and Jericho. But Joshua demonstrated strong faith and fealty to God throughout his life. This first passage foretells the quiet elements of Joshua’s leadership of the Israelites – faith, communication, and steadfast practice.
Joshua repeatedly encourages the Israelites to be “strong and very courageous.” His admonition raises the question “Courageous about what?” The Israelites are at the beginning of their journey, and their faith and courage extends beyond the physical battles to come and includes the courage to sustain their faith and contribute to their community.
What impresses me is the care with which Joshua communicates to his followers and the thoughtful attention he gives to preparing for their journey. In our increasingly inattentive internet and ChatGPT culture we would do well to heed Joshua’s call and spend time daily quietly attending and discerning how to share our faith.
When I began working in children’s formation I thought of children’s chapel as a respite in liturgy during which energetic kids could leave the pews, quickly burn energy before returning for the solemnity of the Eucharist. Fortunately for all of us I’ve evolved. I now perceive two dimensions to children’s chapel. First children’s chapel is an integral in our liturgy. Second, children's chapel is the forum in which kids learn that their contributions matter.
In 2025 we created a reliable format for children’s chapel in which we select that Sunday’s gospel, psalm, old testament, or epistle reading, break it into comprehensible pieces, and have our kids alternate reading and asking questions. This approach reinforces the progression of our liturgy. Our children can understand that scriptures are more than the “what” of liturgy; scriptures are the “why” and “how” of liturgy. Why are we focusing on this reading during Advent or Pentecost? How does an Old Testament prophecy foretell today’s gospel lesson? How can we engage this lesson in our parish?
With respect to our kids, the strength of Church of the Redeemer liturgy is that we approach and engage it as a healthy discipline – no one free styles their role and our liturgies are predictable. This constancy makes our faith expressions accessible and comprehensible to young parishioners. I perceive a parallel to kids learning team sports like soccer, baseball, or la cross. Children’s chapel is an opportunity to explore the how’s and why’s they have experienced or are about to experience in Eucharist.
The second dimension goes hand in hand with the first. Just as a good coach must recognize his players individual talents and develop those talents into skills, we must give our children the space in which to contribute, to learn from success and mistakes, and to value the gifts God has given them and connect those gifts with sustaining our faith community. In a structured way Bob Mikrut and Robbie Flora do this quietly and weekly for our children. Children’s chapel provides the space to draw out lessons from our communal liturgy with the hope that our children will come to understand why their contributions matter.
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