Opening Prayer:
O persistent God,
deliver me from assuming your
mercy is gentle.
Pressure me that I may grow
more human,
not through the lessening of
my struggles,
but through the expansion of
them…
Deepen my hurt
until I learn to share it and
myself openly,
and my needs honestly.
Sharpen my fears until I name
them
and release the power I have
locked in them
and they in me.
Accentuate my confusion
until I shed those grandiose
expectations
that divert me from the
small, glad gifts
of the now and the here and
the me.
Expose my shame where it
shivers,
crouched behind the curtains
of propriety,
until I can laugh at last
through my common frailties
and failures,
laugh my way toward becoming
whole.
(Guerrillas of
Grace by Ted Loder)Psalm for the Week: Psalm 31
Scripture for the Day: Psalm 51
Reading for Reflection:
Jesus
was broken at the cross. He lived his
suffering and death not as an evil to avoid at all costs but as a mission to
embrace. We too are broken. We live with broken bodies, broken hearts,
broken minds, or broken spirits. We
suffer from broken relationships.
How can we live our brokenness? Jesus invites us to embrace our brokenness as
he embraced the cross and live it as part of our mission. He asks us not to reject our brokenness as a
curse from God that reminds us of our sinfulness but to accept it and put it
under God’s blessing for our purification and sanctification. Thus, our brokenness can become a gateway to
new life. (Bread for the Journey by Henri Nouwen)
I am sure God wants us to be whole and healthy
in every way possible, but love neither depends upon these things nor ends with
them. In fact, blessings sometimes come
through brokenness that could never come in any other way. In reflecting on my own life, I have to
conclude that grace has come through me more powerfully sometimes when I have
been very dysfunctional and maladjusted.
Love transcends all possible adjustments and continually invites us
through and beyond them. (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: Come Ye Sinners
Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,
Weak and wounded, sick and sore;
Jesus ready stands to save you,
Full of pity, love and power.
I will rise and go to Jesus,
He will embrace me in His arms;
In the arms of my dear Savior,
O there are ten thousand charms.
Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome,
God’s free bounty glorify;
True belief and true repentance,
Every grace that brings you nigh.
Come, ye weary, heavy laden,
Lost and ruined by the fall;
If you tarry till you’re better,
You will never come at all.
Closing Prayer
Now,
O Lord,
calm me into a quietness
that heals
and listens,
and molds my longings
and passions,
my wounds
and wonderings
into a more holy
and human
shape.
(Guerrillas of Grace by Ted Loder)
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