Featured Post

the blue book is now available on amazon

Exciting news!   The Blue Book is now available on Amazon! And not only that, but it also has a bunch of new content!  I've been work...

Thursday, December 17, 2015

hope, thursday

Thursday, December 17

Opening Prayer: O God, you offer us a refuge amidst the trials of life.  May our waiting prepare us to see glimpses of your face, even as we long for the full appearance of your goodness throughout all the earth.  Amen. (A Guide to Prayer for All Who Walk with God by Rueben P. Job, Norman Shawchuck, and John S. Mogabgab)

Scripture: Isaiah 11:1-10

Journal: How do these words strike your heart today?  What do they bring to life within you?  How do they disrupt or disturb you?  How do they offer you hope?

Reflection:
     We will experience the minutes and hours and days of our lives differently when hope takes up residence.  In a letter to Jim Forest, who at the time directed the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Thomas Merton wrote, “The real hope is not in something we think we can do, but in God, who is making something good out of it in some way we cannot see.”
     Hope is not dependent on peace in the land, justice in the world, and success in the business.  Hope is willing to leave unanswered questions unanswered and unknown futures unknown.  Hope makes you see God’s guiding hand not only in the gentle and pleasant moments but also in the shadows of disappointments and darkness. (Turn My Mourning into Dancing by Henri Nouwen)

Prayer

Closing Prayer:
Holy preparation,
counterweight of surprise,
plum line of hospitality;
you are fresh hay quickly strewn,
soft linen bands newly torn,
to hold the One who is to come.
O Preparation, catcher of the off guard,
leveler of all things high and low;
you are the smoother of rough edges
and bearer of good news.
Come, reveal our webs of apathy
with holy, sweeping light.
Amen. (Behold! By Pamela C. Hawkins)

No comments:

Post a Comment