attention, monday

Monday, December 1

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

          

Opening Prayer: My God, since You are with me, and since it is Your will that I should apply my mind to these outward things, I pray that You will give me the grace to remain with You and keep company with You.  But so that my work may be better, Lord, work with me; receive my work and possess all my affections. (The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence)

Scripture Reading for the Day: Isaiah 35:1-10

Reading for Reflection:

 

Advent is a season of waiting, yes, but it is waiting with a very deep kind of intentionality and openness to receive.  There is something for us to do in our waiting; we are to do those things that prepare our souls to welcome Christ deeper into the recesses of our life and being. (Advent: The Courage to Wait by Ruth Haley Barton)

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)