time, day 5

Come to Stillness:
Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:
Lord,

      Help me walk slowly and deeply with you through the hours and minutes of this day—that I might find all of you that is to be found within it. Allow me not to miss you because of hurry or busyness, but let me sense the fullness of your presence in each moment. Slow down both my feet and my heart that I might be more present to you as I go about my normal activities. In the Name of Jesus I pray. Amen. (JLB)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 90

Scripture for the Day: Mark 13:28-37

Reading for Reflection:

     I will never forget the afternoon that I was called to the emergency room where Duane Barney was just rushed after a heart attack.  Duane was the chair of the search committee that brought me to the church, and was my frequent advisor.  I depended greatly on his mature spiritual counsel, and I depended even more on his gracious friendship.

     When I arrived at the hospital, I found Virginia, his wife, sitting with another member of our church staff.  After talking about his condition with the physician, we prayed, talked to each other, read some Scripture, and then we prayed some more.  We made a few phone calls to family members who lived out of town.  Then we got to that point where you just sit quietly and wait for some news.  We waited for a long time.  In life, the waiting is so important because it prepares us for the news that comes not from a doctor, but from the Savior.

     After about a half hour, Virginia absentmindedly picked up Duane’s DayTimer, which had been given to her by the ambulance driver.  As she began to thumb through the pages, a gentle smile emerged on her tear-streaked face.  On every page, at the bottom of a full day of appointments, Duane had made a list of things for which he was particularly thankful that day.  And at the top of every list was the name Virginia.

     Duane did not survive that heart attack, but Virginia did.  Knowing that she was so dearly loved made all the difference at the end of Duane’s life.

     Since that day in the waiting room, I have often wondered what people would learn about me if they picked up my DayTimer.  Would they discover that I, like Duane, used each day as an expression of gratitude?  Or would they simply see a life that had been crammed into the half-hour slots on each page? (Hustling God by M. Craig Barnes)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Come, Now is the Time to Worship

 

 

Come, now is the time to worship

Come, now is the time to give your heart

Come, just as you are to worship

Come, just as you are before your God

Come

One day every tongue will confess you are God

One day every knee will bow

Still the greatest treasure remains for those

Who gladly choose you now

Closing Prayer:

O Christ, when I look at you I see that you were never in a hurry, never ran, but always had time for the pressing necessities of the day. Give me that disciplined, poised life with time always for the thing that matters. For then I would be a disciplined person. Amen. (The Way by E. Stanley Jones)