Weekly Sermon Illustration: Beautiful and Terrible Things

In our blog post every Monday we select a reading from the Revised Common Lectionary for the upcoming Sunday, and pair it with a Frederick Buechner reading on the same topic.

On August 17, 2014 we will celebrate the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost. Here is this week's reading from the book of Romans (from The Message):

Romans 11:32

In one way or another, God makes sure that we all experience what it means to be outside so that he can personally open the door and welcome us back in.

The following excerpt was originally published in Wishful Thinking and later in Beyond Words.

Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you.