ordinary, thursday

Thursday, July 31

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: 2 Corinthians 4:7-18

Reading for Reflection:

i thank you God for most this amazing

day:  for the leaping greenly spirits of trees

and the blue true dream of a sky; and for everything

which is natural which is infinite which is yes…

(now the ears of my ears awake and

now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

                            ~e. e. cummings

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

            

Closing Prayer: To the only one who sees the world as it is.  I ask for clarity; and if not clarity, purity, and if not purity, forgiveness—not because I am so blind, but because I’m so unwilling to open my eyes.

     Where I’ve strayed, draw me in, where I’ve stumbled, lift me up, and where I’ve lifted myself up, knock me down until I see your world and your love with clear, unclouded eyes.  Amen. (A Heart Exposed by Steven James)

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)

ordinary, tuesday

Tuesday, July 29

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: Acts 4:1-13

Reading for Reflection:

 

     The man who knows God hears his step in the tramp of daily events, discerns him near at hand to help, and hears his answer to the appeal of prayer in a hundred happenings outwardly small and insignificant, where another man can talk only of remarkable coincidence, amazing accident, or peculiar turns of events.  That is why periods when the life of faith is strong, and men have enthusiastically surrendered themselves to God, have also been times rich in miracles.

 

                                                                   ~Walter Eichrodt

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

            

Closing Prayer: Deliver us, O God, when we draw near to you, from coldness of heart and wanderings of mind: Grant that with steadfast thoughts and kindled affections, we may worship you in Spirit and in truth.  Amen. (Venite by Robert Benson)

ordinary, monday

Monday, July 28

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: John 2:1-11

Reading for Reflection:

 

     The implications of the name Immanuel are both comforting and unsettling.  Comforting, because He has come to share the danger as well as the drudgery of our everyday lives.  He desires to weep with us and to wipe away our tears.  And what seems most bizarre, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, longs to share in and to be the source of the laughter and the joy we all too rarely know.

     The implications are unsettling.  It is one thing to claim that God looks down upon us, from a safe distance, and speaks to us (via long distance, we hope).  But to say that He is right here, is to put ourselves and Him in a totally new situation.  He is no longer the calm and benevolent observer in the sky, the kindly old caricature with the beard.  His image becomes that of Jesus, who wept and laughed, who fasted and feasted, and who, above all, was fully present to those He loved.  He was there with them.  He is here with us…

     He is with us in the midst of our daily, routine lives…in the middle of cleaning the house or driving somewhere in the pickup.  Often it’s in the middle of the most mundane task that He lets us know He is there with us.  We realize, then, that there can be no “ordinary” moments for people who live their lives with Jesus. (The Name of the Promise is Jesus by Michael Card)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

            

Closing Prayer: Holy God, faithful and unchanging: enlarge our minds with the knowledge of your truth, and draw us more deeply into the mystery of your love, that we may truly worship you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. (A Collect for Ordinary Time, The Church of England)

ordinary, sunday

Sunday, July 27

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: Genesis 28:10-22

Reading for Reflection:

 

     How do you feel about the word ordinary?  What does it do within you?  Ordinary is not the most popular word in the English language.  As a matter of fact it is far from it, though it need not be.  Because the word ordinary comes from the word ordinalis which refers to numbers in a series, and ultimately comes from the Latin root ordo, from which we get the word order.  So if the word ordinary does not conjure up good images for us, maybe we should look at its origin—its parents if you will—and see how we feel about the word order.  I, for one, was never really drawn to the word ordinary, particularly in my younger days.  Although I’ll have to say that the older I get, the more the word has grown on me in a very good way, especially considering its roots.  I am, however, really drawn to the word order.  There’s just something about it that I like

     When it comes to the church calendar, Ordinary Time—which is the part of the story we find ourselves in at this particular moment—is often viewed in very much the same way.  All of the other seasons have a particular aim, focus, or feast attached to them it seems; making them feel especially significant.  Therefore, when we come to Ordinary Time, it is easy to view it as something lesser or inferior in quality because of its lack of those elements.  But nothing could be further from the truth.  In fact, Ordinary Time is not inferior at all; it is actually quite the opposite.  Ordinary Time is the place in which we live most of our lives, which if for no other reason makes it incredibly significant.  But it is also the season in which we learn the art of loving and following Jesus in the context of our everyday lives; walking with and living for him on a day to day basis.  In the words of Philip Reinders: “With all the big holidays and celebrations over, Ordinary Time offers us the space to find our place in God’s story.  We’ve celebrated and taken in the momentous life of Jesus; now we need a long stretch of days to absorb and assimilate it.  In Ordinary Time, we fully take in the gospel, allowing it to take shape in our daily living, making connections between Jesus’ story and our lives”

     Therefore, Ordinary Time is of incredible significance.   For not only is it the largest segment of the liturgical year, but it is also, by its very nature, the season where we learn the significance of taking care to order our lives in certain ways.  In the words of Richard Foster: “We fool ourselves if we think that such a sacramental way of living is automatic.  This kind of living communion does not just fall on our heads.  We must desire it and seek it out.  We must order our lives in particular ways.”  Ordinary Time is the time and the season where we must do just that; where we prayerfully order our lives in ways that create fruitful space for God to move and to work and to act.  And there’s nothing ordinary about that!

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

             

Closing Prayer: O Lord, from whom all good things come: grant to us your humble servants, that by your holy inspiration we may think those things that are good, and by your merciful guiding may perform the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. (A Collect for Ordinary Time, The Church of England)

moving downward, saturday

Saturday, July 26

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

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, give us the grace and the strength and the courage to follow your invitation downward—to the place where there is only you and nothing else.  In your name and for your sake we pray.  Amen.

Scripture Reading for the Day: Luke 6:20-26

Reading for Reflection:

 

     I don’t guess I’ve ever really thought about the spiritual value of being excluded (v.22); probably because I’ve been too busy working hard to make sure I never am.  But when you stop for a minute to think about it, being excluded—just like being poor, hungry, weeping or hated—produces spiritual fruit within us that nothing else can quite produce, fruit that eventually makes us more like Jesus.  In fact, if you plant excluded in the soil of your soul, what is it most likely to produce?  Maybe the first thing to poke its head through the soil is a deep sense of humility.  There is something very humbling, even humiliating, about being excluded; something that lowers you, makes you smaller, takes you down into the dirt—which is exactly what the word actually means.  This humility then can lead us to a true dependence on God’s Spirit.  In a world where self-reliance and independence are encouraged, it can be easy to overlook the spiritual value of dependence.  To be dependent is to allow something else—something outside ourselves (God)—to be the main source of our value and worth, to give us our true sense of identity.  This dependence (on God rather than self, or others) can result in us being able to live our lives in a more detached way; a way of living that is not as affected by all of the voices and people and things in the world that tend to try and define us. 

     This detachment, in turn, leads to a true sense of freedom—freedom from needing people to define or determine us, freedom that allows a true lessening of the false self, in order to discover our truest self (our identity in Christ).  It is a freedom that makes space within us for God to work.  It is a freedom that ultimately allows us to really love others, rather than cling to them out of a demanding neediness.   Hmmm…so that’s humility, dependence, detachment, freedom, a lessening of self, and making space for God.  Sounds more and more like what Jesus had in mind.  As a matter of fact, it sounds more and more like Jesus himself.  So maybe, from now on, I need to not allow myself to get so out of sorts (sad, mad, frustrated, and feeling sorry for myself) when I feel excluded.  Because maybe, just maybe, excluded has a work to do in me.  Maybe excluded is something to embrace rather than something to run from or fight against.  Maybe excluded is something that will actually grow the very things within me that will make me more like Jesus himself.  Maybe that's why when Jesus uses the word excluded he also uses the words Blessed are you.  Who would’ve imagined?  Only God, I suppose.  Thanks be to Him!!!

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

           

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to want the things that will make me more like you, no matter how bizarre, or counter-cultural, they may seem.  For your glory.  Amen.

moving downward, friday

Friday, July 25

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

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, give us the grace and the strength and the courage to follow your invitation downward—to the place where there is only you and nothing else.  In your name and for your sake we pray.  Amen.

Scripture Reading for the Day: Jonah 1:1-2:10

Reading for Reflection:

 

     In Luke’s gospel passage in which Jesus tells us, “It is an evil and adulterous generation that wants a sign” (Luke 11:29), he then says that the only sign he will give us is the sign of Jonah.  As a good Jew, Jesus knew the graphic story of Jonah the prophet, who was running from God and was used by God almost in spite of himself.  Jonah was swallowed by the whale and taken where he would rather not go.  This was Jesus’ metaphor for death and rebirth.  Think of all the other signs, apparitions, and miracles that religion looks for and seeks and even tries to create.  But Jesus says it is an evil and adulterous generation that looks for these things.  That’s a pretty hard saying.  He says instead we must go inside the belly of the whale for a while.  Then and only then will we be spit upon a new shore and understand our call.  That’s the only pattern Jesus promises us.  Paul spoke of “reproducing the pattern” of his death and thus understanding resurrection (Phil. 3:11).  That teaching will never fail.  The soul is always freed and formed in such wisdom.  Christians call it the paschal mystery, the necessity of both descent and ascent.

     The paschal mystery is the pattern of transformation.  We are transformed through death and rising, probably many times.  There seems to be no other cauldron of growth and transformation.

     We seldom go freely into the belly of the beast.  Unless we face a major disaster like the death of a friend or spouse or loss of a marriage or job, we usually will not go there.  As a culture, we have to be taught the language of descent.  That is the great language of religion.  It teaches us to enter willingly, trustingly into the dark periods of life.  These dark periods are good teachers.  Religious energy is in the dark questions, seldom in the answers.  Answers are the way out, but that is not what we are here for.  But when we look at the questions, we look for the opening to transformation.  Fixing something doesn’t usually transform us.  We try to change events in order to avoid changing ourselves.  We must learn to stay with the pain of life, without answers, without conclusions, and some days without meaning.  That is the path, the perilous dark path of true prayer. (Everything Belongs by Richard Rohr)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

            

Closing Prayer: Lord, help me to do great things as though they were little, since I do them with Your power; and little things as though they were great, since I do them in Your name.

                                                                ~Blaise Pascal

moving downward, thursday

Thursday, July 24

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

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, give us the grace and the strength and the courage to follow your invitation downward—to the place where there is only you and nothing else.  In your name and for your sake we pray.  Amen.

Scripture Reading for the Day: Psalm 103:8-19

Reading for Reflection: 

 

     As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. Psalm 103:14-15

     I've been thinking a lot lately about the spiritual value of being forgotten, and how forgotten creates some of the most fertile soil possible for the life of God's Spirit to grow within us.  It is the soil of humility, and dependence, and trust.  In fact, it is soil that is so fertile that fruit just seems to spring abundantly into being from within it.  So much so that it is a wonder I still resist it at almost every turn. Why is that?  It would seem that because of its fecundity I would want to dwell in the soil of forgotten as often and as long as possible; but of course the reality is that nothing could be further from the truth.  In fact, my default mode is to run away from it rather than embrace it; even though the chief fruit of forgotten is something that my heart most deeply desires—freedom. 

     Freedom grows abundantly in the soil of forgotten, if we are willing to take up its invitation to do a wonderful work within us, rather than allow it to be a source of angst, or insecurity, or fear.  Forgotten, when embraced, brings about freedom; both freedom from and freedom to. Freedom from having to prove myself. Freedom from trying to make a name for myself. Freedom from jockeying for position. Freedom from having to matter. Freedom from having to be the point. Which results in freedom to love God. Freedom to belong only to Him. Freedom to serve Him completely. Freedom to genuinely love people without needing anything from them in return. So not only does forgotten produce significant fruit within me, it also is incredibly fruitful for the Kingdom.  Therefore, maybe forgotten is not something to simply embrace, but something to actually pursue.

Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget, I will not forget you!  See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands...Isaiah 49:15-16

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

            

Closing Prayer:

You love those with a heart for the poor

For the helpless, for those with no escape.

You love those who shamelessly and fearlessly,

And sometimes fearfully,

Go back to be with those who suffer.

You love those whose lives are forfeit to servitude

Of the needy, the unknown;

Those who by going back become unknown themselves.

You love those who whisper your affections in the shadows

To those who are hidden, who no one else cares for.

You ask us to proclaim your desires to the broken,

In the places devoid of reward or compensation;

In the places where no trophies are earned.

And because you first called us

Out of our own filth and brokenness and because of vast heart change,

We jump at the chance.

I’m willing to be unknown for You.

                                                ~Tim Branch

                                                February 5, 2011

moving downward, wednesday

Wednesday, July 23

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

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, give us the grace and the strength and the courage to follow your invitation downward—to the place where there is only you and nothing else.  In your name and for your sake we pray.  Amen.

Scripture Reading for the Day: John 3:25-30

Reading for Reflection:

 

     Decreasing is not easy, just ask John the Baptist’s disciples.  They were upset because many of the folks that had come out to the desert to see John had now jumped ship and were going to Jesus instead.  "Everyone's going to him," they complain.  And you have to love John’s answer, "Good!  Let them.  Didn't I tell you that I wasn't The One, but only the one sent to bear witness to The One?  The bride belongs to the bridegroom, not to me.  I'm just a friend of the bridegroom.  My job is to attend to the groom; waiting for His arrival, listening for His voice.  And when He comes, my job is just to step out of His way.  The bride is for Him, not for me.”
     But most of us, if we are really honest, have to admit that we don't want to be just the friend of the bridegroom, we want to be much more than that.  We want the attention, affection, and recognition of the bride.  We want the bride to be in love with us.  We want to matter.  We don't want to be an insignificant, secondary character in this story, we want a bigger role.  We want to be the main attraction; or at least a main attraction.  We want to increase.   We want to be BIG in people's lives.  We need to be BIG in people's lives, as hard as that might be to admit.
     Decreasing, indeed, is a difficult task.  It requires the putting to death of so many of the things that occupy space within us, starting with my needy attitude.  But it is a necessity in following Jesus.  We must, like John, decrease; not just for decreasing's sake, but for His sake—that He might increase.

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

            

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, give me the courage, the strength, and the grace to decrease today—whatever that may look like—that you might increase.  Amen.

moving downward, tuesday

Tuesday, July 22

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

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, give us the grace and the strength and the courage to follow your invitation downward—to the place where there is only you and nothing else.  In your name and for your sake we pray.  Amen.

Scripture Reading for the Day: Luke 22:14-27

Reading for Reflection:

From the heights we leap and go
To the valleys down below
Always answering to the call
To the lowest place of all
From the heights we leap and go
To the valleys down below
Sweetest urge and sweetest will
To go lower, lower still

(Hinds’ Feet On High Places by Hannah Hurnard)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

            

Closing Prayer: O God, help me avoid pandering to accolades and applause, and willingly disappear into you instead.  (A Heart Exposed by Steven James)

moving downward, monday

Monday, July 21

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

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, give us the grace and the strength and the courage to follow your invitation downward—to the place where there is only you and nothing else.  In your name and for your sake we pray.  Amen.

Scripture Reading for the Day: Philippians 2:1-11

Reading for Reflection: Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.

It is a classic question, one that is asked often in numerous places and contexts.  And why not, it's fun.  If you could have any superpower what would it be?  From my experience, the hands down leader will always be to be able to fly.  I mean, who wouldn't want that one, right?  Or superhuman strength, or speed?  But every now and then you hear someone say, I'd like to be able to be invisible.  And when those words are said it starts all of our collective wheels turning, imagining what it would be like to go about, for a time at least, unseen.  Inevitably, however, when we are really pressed, we all have to admit that the reason for wanting to be invisible is so we can do things without getting caught.  But what if the reason for wanting to be invisible had to do with being able to do good things, even great things, without anyone ever knowing about it.  That would be impressive wouldn't it?  But it might be far too noble a quest for most of us, especially me.
     I do, however, have a growing suspicion that striving to be invisible has enormous value in the spiritual life.  Look no further than the life of Jesus for your body of evidence.  For thirty of his thirty-three years he was in utter obscurity, with almost no information given about the content or composition of his life during that time: slow, hidden, quiet, small...invisible.  Just the way you would expect God to enter the world, right?  Why in the world would he do that?  One thing you can be sure of, it was the thirty years of obscurity that prepared him for the three years of public ministry.  Never was one, it would seem, so reluctant to occupy the spotlight.  And something deep within me really likes that; something deep within me senses the rightness and goodness of that.  And when he does finally arrive on the scene, what is the first miracle he performs, and how does he do it?  He turns water into wine at the wedding of some dear friends, with only a couple of the people (and most likely not even the bride or groom) ever being aware of what really happened.  And how often did Jesus tell someone he had just healed not to tell anyone?  I mean, who does that?  Don't we all want everyone to know when we do something extraordinary or noble; or compassionate or heroic?   Many would say his secrecy was because of something called the Messianic Secret; he was trying to keep everything a secret so that his time wouldn't come faster than it was intended to.  And while there might be some truth to that theory, I have to believe it was much more about something that was lodged deeply within his soul and Spirit; the same thing that led him to empty himself and make himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant (Philippians 2:7).  There seems to be something deep within the heart of God that loves the hidden, the small, the empty, the nothing, the invisible; something deep within Him that is actually drawn to it.  Therefore, if I am to grow in my likeness to Him, as my attitude becomes the same as that of Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5), the same should be becoming true of me.

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

             

Closing Prayer: O Jesus, how far down you had to come to reach us.  How small and how low.  Can anyone really comprehend the magnitude of that downward journey?  You, who had always enjoyed true delight, the loving intimacy of the Trinity, were willing to step down, out of the ecstasy of that intimacy, because of your great desire to bring us into that union.  You, who was in very nature God, laid aside your Divine privilege and position to become a man of sorrows, despised and rejected by men.  You, the Eternal One, were willing to become a mere mortal.  You, the Creator of all, were willing to become one of the created.  O the great sacrifice! O the immense love!  Christ emptied himself of more than we can ever comprehend or imagine and gave us an example, that we might do the same.  Lord Jesus, during this season, when we celebrate your stepping down out of the throne room of heaven to become one of us, show us what this emptying looks like as we flesh you out in the world.   

moving downward, sunday

Sunday, July 20

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

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, give us the grace and the strength and the courage to follow your invitation downward—to the place where there is only you and nothing else.  In your name and for your sake we pray.  Amen.

Scripture Reading for the Day: Mark 10:35-45

Reading for Reflection:

     In our day and in our culture the language of ascent has indeed become a popular one.  Success, productivity, power, independence, and competition seem to be held up, even in the Christian community, as characteristics to be valued and pursued.  But when we listen carefully to the voice of Scripture and the words of our Savior, we begin to get a sense of a language and an attitude that is very different from that of the world around us.  Jesus, in fact, used a completely different vocabulary to talk about life and faith.  He used words like service, fruitfulness, humility, dependence, and compassion—most of which run directly against the grain of both the culture and the day.  In fact, when it comes to the language of the Kingdom it seems that the word descent might actually be a more appropriate choice.  Hence, if we really wish to follow Jesus’ example and his teaching, we may find that the way actually leads downward.

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

            

Closing Prayer: Lord, how great is our dilemma!  In Thy Presence silence best becomes us, but love inflames our hearts and constrains us to speak.  Were we to hold our peace the stones would cry out; yet if we speak, what shall we say?  Teach us to know that we cannot know, for the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.  Let faith support us where reason fails, and we shall think because we believe, not in order that we may believe.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen. (Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer)

following Jesus, saturday

Saturday, July 19

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

Opening Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, I am still so divided.  I truly want to follow you, but I also want to follow my own desires and lend an ear to the voices that speak about prestige, success, popularity, pleasure, power, and influence.  Help me to become deaf to those voices and more attentive to your voice, which calls me to choose the narrow road to life.  I know this will be a very hard road for me.  The choice for your way has to be made every moment of my life.  I have to choose thoughts that are your thoughts, words that are your words, and actions that are your actions.  There are no times and places without choices.  And I know how deeply I resist choosing you.  Please, Lord, be with me at every moment and in every place.  Give me the strength and courage to live my life faithfully, so that I will be able to taste with joy the new life which you have prepared for me.  Amen. (The Road to Daybreak by Henri J.M. Nouwen)

         

Scripture Reading for the Day: Luke 19:1-10

Reading for Reflection:

     The One Who Stayed

You should have heard the old men cry,

You should have heard the biddies

When that sad stranger raised his flute

And piped away the kiddies.

Katy, Tommy, Meg and Bob

Followed, skipping gaily,

Red-haired Ruth, my brother Rob,

And little crippled Bailey,

John and Nils and Cousin Claire,

Dancin’, spinnin’, turnin’

‘Cross the hills to God knows where-

They never came returnin’.

‘Cross the hills to God knows where

The piper pranced, a leadin’

Each child in Hamlin Town but me,

And I stayed home unheedin’.

My papa says that I was blest

For if that music found me,

I’d be witch-cast like all the rest.

This town grows old around me.

I cannot say I did not hear

That sound so haunting hollow-

I heard, I heard, I heard it clear…

I was afraid to follow.

(Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

            

Closing Prayer:

Batter my heart, three-person'd God ; for you
As yet but knock ; breathe, shine, and seek to mend ;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new

                                                            ~John Donne