text: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)
  When we believe that there is a God, a loving God who created, and is still creating, all life, we have choices to make. We can just sit back and enjoy the good works that God is doing, or through some antisocial twist of mind work against the works of God, or we can be a part of what God is doing by participating in the beauty and health of God’s works.
  God wants to co-create with us. And God will meet us if we take steps toward God. From our Hebrew reading we learn that there is a reward for us as we seek God. That reward is more than we can ever ask or imagine. But more than that, I believe there is reward in the approach to God. Because we believe that God exists and that God is good, the sweat equity we apply in our beliefs simultaneously rewards us. This then is not looking forward to some specific award of reward, that once accomplished, tends to encourage us to stop and bask in our accomplishments. No, I believe that as we approach the will of God, we are pleased more and more by each step that we take.
  I saw a cartoon in the paper the other day where the child in the Charlie Brown Peanuts series who plays the piano was asked by the little girl, who I believe has a crush on him that, “What if he practiced for twenty years and never became rich or famous?” To which he replied “The joy is in the playing.” And she responded somewhat upset, “Really?” This really captures how I feel about our approach to God. The joy is in the approach. The joy is in the journey, really.
  Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do. John
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  February 3, 2020
  Published by John Thomas Frazier
  I am a retired U. S. Marine of 30 years and now an Episcopal Priest serving in the Diocese of East Carolina. I am a husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather. I am originally from Nashville, Tennessee now living in Raeford, North Carolina.	View all posts by John Thomas Frazier