Luke 9:1-6

1 And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal. 3 And he said to them, "Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics. 4 And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. 5 And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them." 6 And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

          Whenever I go on a trip, I pack very carefully. Clothes for every occasion, the usual array of toiletries and of course money or credit card or both. Hotel reserved and paid for, car, you name it. 

          The apostles actually were going on trips, much longer and by a much slower method that we can probably fathom. They spread the Good News to much of their known world and the message of God's love spread.

          We too are called to a journey and we do not need all the trappings, "no staff, no bag, no bread, no money". In fact for our journey, material things often are detrimental because they obscure our vision of ourselves and what is truly important. Our journey, the journey I speak so often about, is to wholeness and wellness. On this journey, we need to find out who we are, the 'maladies' that might stand in the way of achieving our goal and growth. In fact, the more concerned we are with the material things of this world, the less time and attention we can give to reaching our goal. We can and need material things to survive but we need to strike a personal balance so we achieve what we need to. God gives us the power as it indicates in the reading. God wants us to succeed, that's why we are here. To find out who we are, bring ourselves to wholeness, share ourselves with others with love and generosity and help others on their journeys.

           This is our lifelong journey and like the apostles, we will travel to places we probably never dreamed and we will reach heights we never thought possible.

          Joy, love and wholeness be yours.