wholeness, day 5

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

Opening Prayer:
Gracious and loving God, you know the deep inner patterns of my life that keep me from being totally yours.  You know the misformed structures of my being that hold me in bondage to something less than your high purpose for my life.  You also know my reluctance to let you have your way with me in these areas.  Hear the deeper cry of my heart for wholeness and by your grace enable me to be open to your transforming presence.  Lord, have mercy. (Invitation to a Journey by M. Robert Mulholland Jr.)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 122

Scripture for the Day: Deuteronomy 33:12

Reading for Reflection: 

The witness and vision of John’s Gospel call us to enter more deeply into that mystery of the union between the living Jesus and the believer.  We share the shalom, that vibrant word of peace and wholeness spoken in the locked room on Resurrection night.  Our empty nets are filled from the lake; the fire and food are prepared for us on the beach.  Our inner healing moves to a deeper place, and Jesus Christ gives us the mandate: “Feed my sheep.” (Feed My Shepherds by Flora Slosson Wuellner)

 

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Heal us, Emmanuel

 

Chorus: Heal us, Emmanuel, here we stand
Waiting to feel Thy touch
To deep wounded souls reach forth
Thy hand Oh Savior, we are such

 

Our faith is feeble, we confess
We faintly trust Thy word;
But will You pity us the less?
Be that far from You Lord!
(Repeat chorus)

 

Remember him who once applied
With trembling for relief;
"Lord, I believe," with tears he cried;
"O help my unbelief!"
(Repeat chorus)

 

She, too, who touched you in the press
And healing virtue stole,
Was answered, "Daughter, go in peace;
Thy faith has made thee whole."
(Repeat chorus)

 

Like her, with hopes and fears we come
To touch You if we may;
O send us not despairing home;
Send none unhealed away.
(Repeat chorus)

Closing Prayer:
My God, I wish to give myself to thee.  Give me the courage to do so.

                                                             ~Francois Fenelon

wholeness, day 4

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

Opening Prayer:
Gracious and loving God, you know the deep inner patterns of my life that keep me from being totally yours.  You know the misformed structures of my being that hold me in bondage to something less than your high purpose for my life.  You also know my reluctance to let you have your way with me in these areas.  Hear the deeper cry of my heart for wholeness and by your grace enable me to be open to your transforming presence.  Lord, have mercy. (Invitation to a Journey by M. Robert Mulholland Jr.)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 122

Scripture for the Day: John 20:19-31

Reading for Reflection: 

The Christian journey is a journey in wholeness.  It is what we might call an adventure in spiritual growth.  To talk about spiritual growth, however, is to talk about all of life.  Spiritual growth involves not only the way we “pray” but the way we “play.”  It is concerned with harmony, the balanced use of life energy in a way that the whole person is nourished by the Spirit of God.  Harmony emerges when our work, maintenance, play, and freesense are held together in realistic balance. (Mutual Ministry by James C. Fenhagen)
 

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Heal us, Emmanuel

 

Chorus: Heal us, Emmanuel, here we stand
Waiting to feel Thy touch
To deep wounded souls reach forth
Thy hand Oh Savior, we are such

 

Our faith is feeble, we confess
We faintly trust Thy word;
But will You pity us the less?
Be that far from You Lord!
(Repeat chorus)

 

Remember him who once applied
With trembling for relief;
"Lord, I believe," with tears he cried;
"O help my unbelief!"
(Repeat chorus)

 

She, too, who touched you in the press
And healing virtue stole,
Was answered, "Daughter, go in peace;
Thy faith has made thee whole."
(Repeat chorus)

 

Like her, with hopes and fears we come
To touch You if we may;
O send us not despairing home;
Send none unhealed away.
(Repeat chorus)

Closing Prayer:
My God, I wish to give myself to thee.  Give me the courage to do so.

                                                             ~Francois Fenelon

wholeness, day 3

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

Opening Prayer:
Gracious and loving God, you know the deep inner patterns of my life that keep me from being totally yours.  You know the misformed structures of my being that hold me in bondage to something less than your high purpose for my life.  You also know my reluctance to let you have your way with me in these areas.  Hear the deeper cry of my heart for wholeness and by your grace enable me to be open to your transforming presence.  Lord, have mercy. (Invitation to a Journey by M. Robert Mulholland Jr.)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 122

Scripture for the Day: Luke 24:36-53

Reading for Reflection: 

Shalom , peace, is one of the richest words in the Bible.  You can no more define it by looking up its meaning in the dictionary than you can define a person by his social security number.  It gathers all aspects of wholeness that result from God’s will being completed in us.  It is the work of God that, when complete, releases streams of living water in us and pulsates with eternal life.  Every time Jesus healed, forgave or called someone, we have a demonstration of shalom. (A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson)

We strive for order, coherence, and wholeness in our lives.  We want certainty.  We long for shalom.  Shalom is a peace that not only recalls all the pieces of one’s life but sees how the parts fit together in a unified and glorious whole.  Shalom involves rest and gratitude; it provides a balance and harmony where all things seem right. (The Healing Path by Dan Allender)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: We Fall Down

We fall down

We lay our crowns

At the feet of Jesus

The greatness of His mercy and love

At the feet of Jesus

 

We cry Holy, Holy, Holy

We cry Holy, Holy, Holy

We cry Holy, Holy, Holy

           Is the Lamb

Closing Prayer:
My God, I wish to give myself to thee.  Give me the courage to do so.

                                                             ~Francois Fenelon

wholeness, day 2

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

Opening Prayer:
Gracious and loving God, you know the deep inner patterns of my life that keep me from being totally yours.  You know the misformed structures of my being that hold me in bondage to something less than your high purpose for my life.  You also know my reluctance to let you have your way with me in these areas.  Hear the deeper cry of my heart for wholeness and by your grace enable me to be open to your transforming presence.  Lord, have mercy. (Invitation to a Journey by M. Robert Mulholland Jr.)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 122

Scripture for the Day: Mark 5:1-20

Reading for Reflection: 

The biblical word that most fully expresses this theological understanding of community is shalom, sometimes translated from the Hebrew as “peace.”  Shalom is an all-encompassing word covering all the many relationships of life and expressing a vision of what the Israelites conceived of as the ideal of what life was intended by God to be.  In describing shalom, commentators use such words as “wholeness,” “totality,” “well-being,” “the absence of violence or misfortune,” “the untrammeled, free growth of the soul in conjunction with others,” or “harmonious community.”  Or as a report of the World Council of Churches puts it: “Shalom is a social happening, an event in interpersonal relations.”  The report continues, “The goal towards which God is working, i.e., the ultimate end of his mission, is the establishment of the shalom, and this involves the realization of the full potentialities of all creation, and the ultimate reconciliation and unity in Christ. (Mutual Ministry by James C. Fenhagen)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: We Fall Down

We fall down

We lay our crowns

At the feet of Jesus

The greatness of His mercy and love

At the feet of Jesus

 

We cry Holy, Holy, Holy

We cry Holy, Holy, Holy

We cry Holy, Holy, Holy

           Is the Lamb

Closing Prayer:
My God, I wish to give myself to thee.  Give me the courage to do so.

                                                             ~Francois Fenelon

wholeness, day 1

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

Opening Prayer:
Gracious and loving God, you know the deep inner patterns of my life that keep me from being totally yours.  You know the misformed structures of my being that hold me in bondage to something less than your high purpose for my life.  You also know my reluctance to let you have your way with me in these areas.  Hear the deeper cry of my heart for wholeness and by your grace enable me to be open to your transforming presence.  Lord, have mercy. (Invitation to a Journey by M. Robert Mulholland Jr.)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 122

Scripture for the Day: Mark 5:24-34

Reading for Reflection: 

Few words in all of the Old Testament are as rich as the Hebrew word shalom.  As a matter of fact, the translations of this one little word are varied and numerous—trying in vain to capture the fullness of the idea it is meant to communicate.  The most common translation we have for the word is peace, but that does not seem to go far enough.  Therefore, it is also translated prosperity, tranquility, well-being, safety, and security.  Maybe the best word we have in the English language, however, that even comes close to capturing the true essence of shalom is the word wholeness.  Because at its core shalom is about experiencing the creation intent of God.  Shalom is life as God intended it to be—life before sin and brokenness.  Shalom is finding our way back into the garden where we were created to enjoy and experience God in His fullness as we “walk with Him in the cool of the day.”  It is what our souls are really and truly longing for—deep communion and connection and intimacy with our God.

                                                                 ~Jim Branch

                                                                 September 2006

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: We Fall Down

 

We fall down

We lay our crowns

At the feet of Jesus

The greatness of His mercy and love

At the feet of Jesus

 

We cry Holy, Holy, Holy

We cry Holy, Holy, Holy

We cry Holy, Holy, Holy

           Is the Lamb

Closing Prayer:
My God, I wish to give myself to thee.  Give me the courage to do so.

                                                             ~Francois Fenelon

risen, day 7

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

Opening Prayer:
Power of Love, shining through the risen Jesus, radiantly shine in the dark places of my pain.  Let their power to infect me be broken and drawn into your heart. (Feed My Shepherds by Flora Slosson Wuellner)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 80

Scripture for the Day: John 21:1-25

Reading for Reflection:

     It’s a good thing Easter is a season and not just a day because some resurrections take time. Like the coming of spring, some resurrections happen gradually; they are not overnight sensations. And yet somehow, we need to experience these as miracles too.
     Fortunately, the Easter season (fifty days, eight Sundays, seven weeks—however you want to look at it) is longer than Lent because there are some areas of our lives where resurrection takes longer than dying. The Church calendar itself teaches us that “the implications of the resurrection—its explosive force—call for an extended period of exploration and appropriation.”* For us mere mortals. Easter cannot be done in a day. (When Resurrection Takes Time by Ruth Haley Barton)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Arise, My Soul, Arise

Arise, my soul, arise,
Shake off thy guilty fears:
The bleeding Sacrifice
In my behalf appears:
Before the Throne my Surety stands,
My name is written on his hands.

He ever lives above,
For me to intercede,
His all-redeeming love,
His precious blood to plead;
His blood atoned for ev'ry race,
And sprinkles now the throne of grace.

Five bleeding wounds he bears,
Received on Calvary;
They pour effectual prayers,
They strongly plead for me;
Forgive him, O forgive, they cry,
Nor let that ransomed sinner die!

My God is reconciled;
His pard'ning voice I hear;
He owns me for his child,
I can no longer fear;
With confidence I now draw nigh,
And "Father, Abba, Father!" cry.


Closing Prayer:

O God, who by your One and only Son has overcome death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life; grant, we pray, that those who have been redeemed by his passion may rejoice in his resurrection, through the same Christ our Lord.  Amen.

                                                                ~Gelasian Sacramentary

risen, day 6

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

Opening Prayer:
Power of Love, shining through the risen Jesus, radiantly shine in the dark places of my pain.  Let their power to infect me be broken and drawn into your heart. (Feed My Shepherds by Flora Slosson Wuellner)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 80

Scripture for the Day: Mark 16:1-8

Reading for Reflection:

It is not enough to say that God is on the cross, sharing our pain—unique and redemptive though that sharing is.  God is also the God of resurrection.  In fact, the Resurrection not only followed the crucifixion but was inherent in it all along.  This inherency is what Jesus explains to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-27).  The wounds of Christ are not swallowed up and forgotten; they become radiant centers of deep love and healing.  Within the Christian experience, the cross and the Resurrection cannot be divided. (Feed My Shepherds by Flora Slosson Wuellner)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Arise, My Soul, Arise

Arise, my soul, arise,
Shake off thy guilty fears:
The bleeding Sacrifice
In my behalf appears:
Before the Throne my Surety stands,
My name is written on his hands.

He ever lives above,
For me to intercede,
His all-redeeming love,
His precious blood to plead;
His blood atoned for ev'ry race,
And sprinkles now the throne of grace.

Five bleeding wounds he bears,
Received on Calvary;
They pour effectual prayers,
They strongly plead for me;
Forgive him, O forgive, they cry,
Nor let that ransomed sinner die!

My God is reconciled;
His pard'ning voice I hear;
He owns me for his child,
I can no longer fear;
With confidence I now draw nigh,
And "Father, Abba, Father!" cry.


Closing Prayer:

O God, who by your One and only Son has overcome death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life; grant, we pray, that those who have been redeemed by his passion may rejoice in his resurrection, through the same Christ our Lord.  Amen.

                                                                ~Gelasian Sacramentary