Reading: Romans 12:1-2

I appeal to you brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God-what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Reflection

Fall is such a beautiful season, leaves vibrantly transforming the green hills into a pallet of hues. Leaves fall and turn again to soil and refresh the earth after a season of cleaning the air and breathing on us. The roots dig deep for winter and the seasons change.

Transformation is all around us.

Paul writes about not being conformed but transformed by the renewing of our minds. Transformation—remaking, change in character, re-formation, seeing things with new eyes, turning ideas over in our minds not just because we want to do something new, but that we might discern, even in partial ways, what is God’s will. We cannot fathom the thoughts of God, the mind of the All in All, the great I AM, but we have been embraced by the heart of the Almighty One in Christ. We are transformed by God’s grace, by God’s perfection, by a love that makes us new.

We talk of being in the world and not of the world because we are part of the kingdom of God, the reign of the Almighty, but we live out our faith in the world, in conversation, in action, in witness to grace and the forgiving mercy of God in Christ. As the season changes and the colors of fall envelope us, know that we are called to be transformed again and again and to deepen our roots in the depth of God’s love for us.

–Bob Doll

Prayer

Merciful God, transform us again and again, deepen our roots, ground us in your deep love that we may show the world the abundance of your grace.

Amen.