hunger and thirst, day 3

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

Opening Prayer:
You called, You cried, you shattered my deafness.  You sparkled, you blazed, You drove away my blindness.  You shed your fragrance, and I drew in my breath, and I pant for You.  I tasted and now I hunger and thirst.  You touched me, and now I burn with longing for your peace. (Confessions by St. Augustine)

 Psalm for the Week: Psalm 81

Scripture for the Day: John 7:37-41

Reading for Reflection:

We stand in the midst of nourishment and we starve.  We dwell in the land of plenty, yet we persist in going hungry.  Not only do we dwell in the land of plenty; we have the capacity to be filled with the utter fullness of God (Eph. 3:16-19).  In the light of such possibility, what happens?  Why do we drag our hearts?  Lock up our souls?  Why do we limp?  Why do we straddle issues?  Why do we live feebly, so dimly?  Why aren’t we saints?

     Each of us could come up with individual answers to all these questions, but I want to suggest here a common cause.  The reason we live life so dimly and with such divided hearts is that we have never really learned how to be present with quality to God, to self, to others, to experiences and events, to all created things.  We have never learned to gather up the crumbs of whatever appears in our path at every moment.  We meet all of these lovely gifts only half there.  Presence is what we are all starving for.  Real Presence!  We are too busy to be present, too blind to see the nourishment and salvation in the crumbs of life, the experiences of each moment.  Yet the secret of daily life is this:  There are no leftovers.

     There is nothing—no thing, no person, no experience, no thought, no joy or pain—that cannot be harvested and used for nourishment on our journey to God.

     What I am suggesting here is that everything in your life is a stepping-stone to holiness if only you recognize that you do have within you the grace to be present to each moment.  Your presence is an energy that you can choose to give or not give.  Every experience, every thought, every word, every person in your life is a part of a larger picture of your growth.  That’s why I call them crumbs.  They are not the whole loaf, but they can be nourishing if you give them your real presence.  Let everything energize you.  Let everything bless you.  Even your limping can bless you. (A Tree Full of Angels by Macrina Wiederkehr) 

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: All Who are Thirsty

 

All who are thirsty
All who are weak

Come to the fountain

Dip your heart in the stream of life

Let the pain and the sorrow

Be washed away

In the waves of his mercy

As deep cries out to deep (we sing)

 

Come Lord Jesus come (3x)

 

Holy Spirit come (3x)

Closing Prayer:
O God of tender mercies, I know I’ve kept you at arm’s length.  I’ve kept you safe in heaven.  But heaven has leaned down to the earth and I’ve been touched anew.  Like thirsty ground I long for you.  Forgive my casualness about your Love.  Forgive my shallow life.  I am finished with shallowness.  I used to pray that I be saved from eternal death, but now I pray to be saved from shallow living.  Eternal death?  Shallow living?  Is there a difference?  O God, deliver me from shallow living! (A Tree Full of Angels  by Macrina Wiederkehr)