spaciousness, day 6

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

Scripture for the Day: Matthew 6:5-6

Reading for Reflection:

     Simplicity and regularity are the best guides in finding our way.  They allow us to make the discipline of solitude as much a part of our daily lives as eating and sleeping.  When that happens, our noisy worries will slowly lose their power over us and the renewing activity of God’s Spirit will slowly make its presence known.

     Although the discipline of solitude asks us to set aside time and space, what finally matters is that our hearts become like quiet [rooms] where God can dwell, wherever we go and whatever we do. (Making All Things New by Henri J. M. Nouwen)

“The further up and further in you go, the bigger everything gets.  The inside is larger than the outside.”

     Lucy looked hard at the garden and saw that it was not really a garden at all but a whole world, with its own rivers and woods and sea and mountains.  But they were not strange: she knew them all.

     “I see,” she said, “this is still Narnia, and more real and more beautiful than Narnia down below….I see…world within world, Narnia within Narnia.”

     “Yes,” said Mr. Tumnus, “like an onion: except that as you continue to go in and in, each circle is larger than the last.” (The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis)

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