ordinary, wednesday

Wednesday, July 30

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

Opening Prayer: Our Father, help us to see you today in all that we come into contact with, knowing that you use ordinary things to give us an extraordinary sense of your presence in our lives.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen. 

Scripture Reading for the Day: Isaiah 55:8-13

Reading for Reflection:

Earth’s crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God:

But only he who sees, takes off his shoes;

The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries

And daub their natural faces unaware

More and more from the first similitude.

(Aurora Leigh by Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

            

Closing Prayer: O Majestic One, I tend to ignore the songs of the hills and the praise of the peaks and the plains.  Sky and sun and desert sand, moon, eclipse, and raging sea, join in the never-ending song.  The dancers sway to the silent beat as timeless melodies sweep the canyons and harmonies top the hills.  The music throbs with joy and sorrow, rising into a wondrous and daring shout of your praise.

     How can I so often miss hearing the canticles of the gulls and the worship of the ancient waves when their concert is always in session?  You’ve equipped eagles to soar in praise, stars to wander the night, worms to burrow their love, I want to join their song.

     Open my eyes to see the earth’s uplifted hands and my ears to listen to it calling your name.  Help me to hear the psalms of the galaxies, and the poems of the whispering stars.  Help me to hear the worship all around me, the prayers of the sunlight and the pine and the glistening morning dew right outside my window in my own front yard. (A Heart Exposed by Steven James)