time, monday

Monday, August 18

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

Opening Prayer: Lord, help me walk slowly and deeply with you through the hours and minutes of this day—that I might find all of you that is to be found within it.  Allow me not to miss you because of hurry or busyness, but let me sense the fullness of your presence in each moment.  Slow down both my feet and my heart that I might be more present to you as I go about my normal activities.  In the Name of Jesus I pray.  Amen.

Scripture Reading for the Day: Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

Reading for Reflection:

 

     The Greek word chronos means “time” in a quantitative sense, chronological time, time that you can divide into minutes and years, time as duration.  It is the sense that we mean when we say, “What time is it?” or “How much time do you have?” or “”Time is like an ever-flowing stream,” in one of the hymns we sing.  But in the Greek there is also the word kairos, which means “time” in the qualitative sense—not the kind that a clock measures but time that cannot be measured at all, time that is characterized by what happens in it.  Kairos time is the kind that you mean when you say that “the time is ripe” to do something, “It’s time to tell the truth,” a truth-telling kind of time.  Or “I had a good time”—the time had something about it that made me glad.  The ancient poet who wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes was using time in a kairos sense when he wrote of a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to keep silence and a time to speak. (The Hungering Dark by Frederick Buechner)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

          
Closing Prayer: Time has become my shackle rather than my walking stick, O God.  Free me so that we might walk together toward dawn. (A Heart Exposed by Steven James)

time, sunday

Sunday, August 17

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

Opening Prayer: Lord, help me walk slowly and deeply with you through the hours and minutes of this day—that I might find all of you that is to be found within it.  Allow me not to miss you because of hurry or busyness, but let me sense the fullness of your presence in each moment.  Slow down both my feet and my heart that I might be more present to you as I go about my normal activities.  In the Name of Jesus I pray.  Amen.

Scripture Reading for the Day: Psalm 90:1-17

Reading for Reflection:

 

     How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. 

                                                                ~Annie Dillard

If we are not careful, we will miss it.  One day after another will simply slip past, almost without our even noticing it.  Whether it be busyness, or chaos, or mundane routine, somehow days can have the tendency to lull us to sleep if we are not careful, if we are not attentive to the fact that each day—and each moment of each day—is itself a holy invitation.  It is no accident that the first thing in Scripture that God calls holy is a day (Genesis 2:3).  It is almost as if God himself, from the very beginning, had to remind us that days are significant.  In fact, they are the time and the space where we meet Him and know Him.  Days are themselves invitations, opportunities, and doorways into holiness.  Therefore, let us not let one more of them slip by unnoticed, but let us engage each little day, and each little moment of that day, with all the life and zeal and attention and expectation we can muster.  Because before we know it, one day will have turned into another...and another...and a lifetime will have passed us by.

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

          

Closing Prayer: O Christ, when I look at you I see that you were never in a hurry, never ran, but always had time for the pressing necessities of the day.  Give me that disciplined, poised life with time always for the thing that matters.  For then I would be a disciplined person.  Amen.  (The Way by E. Stanley Jones)

space, saturday

Saturday, August 16

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)

Scripture Reading for the Day: Psalm 37:1-11

Reading for Reflection:

 

“Think glorious thoughts of God—and serve Him with a quiet mind!”  And it is surely a fact that the more glorious and more spacious our thoughts of Him are, the greater the quietude and confidence with which we do our detailed work will be.  Not controversial thoughts, or narrow conventional thoughts, or dry academic thoughts, or anxious worried thoughts.  All these bring contraction instead of expansion to our souls; and we all know that this inner sense of contraction or expansion is the unfailing test of our spiritual state.  (The House of the Soul and Concerning the Inner Life by Evelyn Underhill)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

          
Closing Prayer: O God of peace, when I fret and worry it takes up space within me that is intended to be occupied only by you.  Instead, I become completely occupied with myself.  Help me to turn from fret to delight, from trusting in my agenda and control to trusting in your deep love and affection.  For those who wait on the Lord shall inherit the land.  Amen.

space, friday

Friday, August 15

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)

Scripture Reading for the Day: Deuteronomy 11:8-32

Reading for Reflection:

 

All forms of spiritual discipline help us to make more space for God in our lives.  Fasting and prayer seem to be two of the most effective tools in clearing away our self-preoccupation so we can be more responsive to God’s life in and through and around us. (Soul Feast by Marjorie J. Thompson)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

        

Closing Prayer:

Dear Jesus,

all too often I give you a small part of my life

and then set about convincing  myself that

what I’ve given you is enough.

I could use some more of your presence,

some more of your mystery,

rising out of the water around me,

glistening in the sun, splashing wildly through my life.

Sometimes I turn to food or sex or work to

fill my soul.

Why do I expect the visible to heal the invisible?

A soul this damaged can only be bandaged by your hand.

(A Heart Exposed by Steven James)

space, thursday

Thursday, August 14

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)

Scripture Reading for the Day: Deuteronomy 8:1-10

Reading for Reflection:

 

     Certain kinds of plants need support in order to grow properly.  Tomatoes need stakes, beans must attach themselves to suspended strings.  Creeping vines like clematis and wisteria will grow on any structure they can find.  Rambling roses take kindly to garden walls, archways, and trellises.  Without support, these plants would collapse in a heap on the ground.  Their blossoms would not have the space and the sun they need to flourish, and their fruits would rot in contact with the soil.  We would be unable to enjoy their beauty and their sustenance.

     When it comes to spiritual growth, human beings are much like these plants.  We need structure and support.  Otherwise our spirituality grows only in a confused and disorderly way.  The fruit of the Spirit in us gets tangled and is susceptible to corruption, and the beauty of our lives is diminished.  We need structure in order to have enough space, air, and light to flourish.  Structure gives us the freedom to grow as we are meant to. (Soul Feast by Marjorie J. Thompson)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

          

Closing Prayer: Help me, O God, climb above myself.  (A Heart Exposed by Steven James)

space, wednesday

Wednesday, August 13

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)

Scripture Reading for the Day: Romans 5:1-2

Reading for Reflection:

 

We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise. (Romans 5:2 - The Message)

I read these words the other day and just can’t get away from them, they have continued to echo and reverberate deeply within me. I guess that's because the idea of spaciousness has been one I have always been drawn to. Maybe it’s because of the freedom (and life and grace) that is inherent in a spacious place. A spacious place offers room: room to roam, room to grow, room to flourish, room to be, and room to become.  I like room.  I don’t like to be crowded or constricted or constrained. And I don’t just like room, I need room…the life of God within me requires it. It seems to me that the very life of the Spirit is one of spaciousness, ever expanding us within. The more deeply we journey into God, the more room there is, and the more spacious and free life becomes. I like that!  I like it a lot!  It is so inviting.  It makes me want to throw my doors open completely to him; knowing that when I do I find his doors already wide open before me, with the wide open spaces of his grace and love going on and on and on. What could be more inviting than that?

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

         

Closing Prayer: To the great companion.  I tend to bury myself in the urgent, the trivial, the quickly fleeting nonsense of my harried, hurried life, until there’s no room for you.  I am an expert at coming up with elaborate ways to distract myself from the things that matter most.  I’m running as fast as I can and every hour is another frantic stride.  I used ti think I was running toward you, then for a while I thought I was running away from you.  But in truth you’ve been running beside me this whole time. (A Heart Exposed by Steven James)

space, tuesday

Tuesday, August 12

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)

Scripture Reading for the Day: John 8:31-38

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)

 

It is an addiction of the first order that we feel we must always be filling up our spaces.  It goes along with our addictions to work, to productivity, to efficiency.  Sometimes, though, we do not like spaciousness because of what appears to us within it. (The Awakened Heart by Gerald G. May)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

          
Closing Prayer: O Lord our God, help us to constantly make room for your word within us, that it might take root and grow into something incredibly beautiful.  For the sake of your Son Jesus, our Savior.  Amen.