intimacy, day 1

Come to Stillness:

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

Opening Prayer:

O God, who existed before all things, draw near to my heart today as I draw near to yours.  Grant that as we are together during this time—as well as this day—I will know of your presence to the very core of my being.  Let me experience the intimacy with you that I was created for.  In the name of Jesus, the Word made flesh.  Amen.  (JLB)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 131

Scripture for the Day: Isaiah 62:1-12

Reading for Reflection:

God created us for a purpose more astonishing and sublime than we can imagine.  Every great Christian theologian and saint has borne witness to this high purpose.  The human being is created in the divine image and likeness in order to have continual and intimate communion with the One who made us.  We are created to love and be loved by God, born to serve and be served by Christ, destined to enjoy the vitality of the Holy Spirit and in turn receive God's delight in us forever!  Such is God's good pleasure and our highest bliss. (The Way of Forgiveness: Participants Book by Marjorie Thompson)

The story of the Sacred Romance begins not with God alone, the Author at his desk, but with God in relationship, intimacy beyond our wildest imagination, heroic intimacy.  The Trinity is at the center of the universe; perfect relationship is the heart of reality.  Think of your best moments of love or friendship or creative partnership, the best times with family or friends around the dinner table, your richest conversations, the acts of simple kindness that sometime seem like the only things that make life worth living.  Like the shimmer of sunlight on a lake, these are reflections of the love that flows from among the Trinity.  We long for intimacy because we are made in the image of perfect intimacy. (The Sacred Romance by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge)


Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Draw Me Close to You
 
Draw me close to You never let me go
I lay it all down again
To hear You say that I'm Your friend
You are my desire no one else will do
'Cause nothing else could take Your place
To feel the warmth of Your embrace
Help me find the way bring me back to You

You're all I want
You're all I've ever needed
You're all I want
Help me know You are near

Closing Prayer

Lord you are my Lover, it is you whom I desire.  You flow through my body like a stream, you shine on my face like the sun.  Let me be your reflection.

                                                                                                  ~St. Mechthildis