groaning, day 1

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

Opening Prayer:
Lord, I was ever greedy of life, my attention always straining toward the parts of it that had not yet come…toward what was about to be, or might be, or hopefully would be, and especially toward those things that, by Your mercy, might turn out not to be after all.
     I panted with longing to suck each segment of life dry of its pleasures.  I plotted, with myself but despite myself, about tomorrow…about the “later” that was constantly morphing into now.  You know how I worked, Lord, recklessly but prayerfully, to set time’s courses and, in Your name, to sculpt them to my intention, to my definition of good.
     But I am old now, Lord, and my prayers grown old as well.  So it is that daily I am drawn, as here, to pray, “Deliver me, My Lord, from this my great sin, and take me, free of doubt and other longings, into Your good plan.” (Prayer by Phyllis Tickle, Weavings, Volume XXV, Number 4)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 31

Scripture for the Day: Romans 8:18-27

Reading for Reflection:
 

Ultimately the season of Advent is a season of groaning; the groaning of our hearts and the groaning of our God.  It is the groaning that comes from a deep longing for all to be as it was intended.  Thus, it is a season where we fully recognize and embrace our sadness and frustration that all is not as it should be; rather than attempting to escape, avoid, or deny it.  The world has gone terribly wrong, it is filled with decay and death, suffering and sadness, sorrow and pain; and yet, in the midst of it all, God meets us in a beautifully mysterious way.  He meets us in a way that we couldn’t be met otherwise—making this groan both a trust-filled embracing of where he has us, as well as a deep yearning for so much more—for deliverance and restoration; healing and wholeness.

     Therefore, Advent is a season in which we watch and wait.  It is a time in which we are filled with hope and with longing—hope that our Creator will finally intervene, and longing that he will enter into this world and set everything right once more; restoring all things to their creation intent.

                                                                                                   ~Jim Branch

                                                                                              September 2010

 

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: O Heart Bereaved and Lonely

O heart bereaved and lonely,
Whose brightest dreams have fled
Whose hopes like summer roses,
Are withered crushed and dead
Though link by link be broken,
And tears unseen may fall
Look up amid thy sorrow,
To Him who knows it all

O cling to thy Redeemer,
Thy Savior, Brother, Friend
Believe and trust His promise,
To keep you till the end
O watch and wait with patience,
And question all you will
His arms of love and mercy,
Are round about thee still

Look up, the clouds are breaking,
The storm will soon be o'er
And thou shall reach the haven,
Where sorrows are no more
Look up, be not discouraged;
Trust on, whate'er befall
Remember, O remember,
Thy Savior knows it all

Closing Prayer
Loving God, the earth moans, in need of your healing.  Help me be a peacemaker today—one who carries your vision and takes the small actions that contribute to healing for the world.  Amen. (The Uncluttered Heart by Beth A. Richardson)