spaciousness, day 1

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

Opening Prayer:
Teach me, God to make room for you in all the events and affairs of my days.  Then I shall find rest.  Then I will be at peace with myself and with you. (Norman Shawchuck in A Guide To Prayer for All Who Seek God)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 18:1-19

Scripture for the Day: Psalm 31:1-8

Reading for Reflection:

     Most of us, most of the time, just fill our spaces up or dull our awareness of them.  We grab a book, run to the television, work on a project, socialize, have a drink.  I used to think women were more comfortable with space than men; nowadays I am not so sure.  Women perhaps feel more guilty about taking time in freedom for themselves, while men feel more anxious.  But it is a tiny difference.  Either way, real space can be very unpleasant.

     We somehow must realign our attitudes toward spaciousness.  We must begin to see it as presence rather than absence, friend instead of enemy. (The Awakened Heart by Gerald G. May)

     Spaciousness is always a beginning, a possibility, a potential, a capacity for birth.  Space exists not in order to be filled but to create.  In space, to the extent we can bear the truth of the way things are, we find the ever-beginning presence of Love.  Take the time, then; make the space.  Seek it wherever you can find it, do it however you can.  The manner does not matter, and the experience you have there is of secondary importance.  Seek the Truth, not what is comfortable.  Seek the Real, not the easy. (The Awakened Heart by Gerald G. May)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: How Deep the Father’s Love for Us

                How deep the Father's love for us

               How vast beyond all measure

               That He would give His only Son

   To make a wretch His treasure

          How great the pain of searing loss

          The Father turns His face away

          As wounds which mar the chosen One

          Bring many sons to glory

 

   Behold the Man upon a cross

   My guilt upon His shoulders

   Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice

   Call out among the scoffers

          It was my sin that held Him there

          Until it was accomplished

          His dying breath has brought me life

          I know that it is finished

   I will not boast in anything

   No gifts, no power, no wisdom

   But I will boast in Jesus Christ

   His death and resurrection

          Why should I gain from His reward?

          I cannot give an answer

          But this I know with all my heart

          His wounds have paid my ransom

Closing Prayer:

O Lord, the house of my soul is too small for you to enter: make it more spacious by your coming.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                             ~St. Augustine