the breath of God, saturday

Saturday, June 14

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

Opening Prayer: O Loving God, who breathed me into being, breathe your Divine Breath in me again this day—that I might be filled with your life and guided by the winds of your Spirit.  For the sake of your Son.  Amen.

Scripture Reading for the Day: Genesis 2:4-7

Reading for Reflection:

 

At this point you may be wondering, “What about God’s role in spiritual growth?”  After all, the Bible speaks of transformation as the work of God.  It’s always a miracle when it happens.  To speak of spiritual growth only as a product of training could make it sound like something we can engineer.  Anytime a frog is turned into a prince—or even just a gentler, kinder frog—there is always something mysterious and awesome at work.  In spiritual growth that “something mysterious” is the work of the Spirit.  So another analogy from scripture is helpful.  “The wind blows where it chooses,” Jesus said, “and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.  So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

     Consider the difference between piloting a motorboat or a sailboat.  We can run a motorboat all by ourselves.  We can fill the tank and start the engine.  We are in control.  But a sailboat is a different story.  We can hoist the sails and steer the rudder, but we are utterly dependent upon the wind.  The wind does the work.  If the wind doesn’t blow—and sometimes it doesn’t—we sit still in the water no matter how frantic we act.  Our task is to do whatever enables us to catch the wind.

     Spiritual transformation is that way.  We may be aggressively pursuing it, but we cannot turn it on and off.  We can open ourselves to transformation through certain practices, but we cannot engineer it.  We can take no credit for it. (The Life You’ve Always Wanted by John Ortberg)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

             
Closing Prayer: O God, giver of life, you formed us from the dust of the ground, breathed the breath of life into our nostrils, and made us living creatures.  Come to us, by your Spirit this day, and breathe that very breath into us once again, that we may become all that you created us to be.  Amen.

the breath of God, friday

Friday, June 13

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

Opening Prayer: O Loving God, who breathed me into being, breathe your Divine Breath in me again this day—that I might be filled with your life and guided by the winds of your Spirit.  For the sake of your Son.  Amen.

Scripture Reading for the Day: 1 Kings 19:9-13

Reading for Reflection:

 

The Spirit is like a gentle breeze, giving direction and breathing life into every event of our life and every word that we say.  Gentle breezes seem to change direction frequently; the Spirit does that with us.  We think we’ve got something going, a great inspiration has set us on what seems to be a lifelong way, when suddenly we discover the Spirit anew, and another fascinating encounter with the divine occurs. (Beginning Contemplative Prayer by Kathryn Hermes)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

            

Closing Prayer: Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy.  Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy.  Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy.   Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy.   Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy.  Amen.

                                                                                      ~St. Augustine

the breath of God, thursday

Thursday, June 12

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

Opening Prayer: O Loving God, who breathed me into being, breathe your Divine Breath in me again this day—that I might be filled with your life and guided by the winds of your Spirit.  For the sake of your Son.  Amen.

Scripture Reading for the Day: John 3:1-21

Reading for Reflection:

 

“Can a person really start over again from the beginning?” Nicodemus asks.  “I’m not sure you realize what that would entail—trying to wipe the slate clean and start all over from scratch.  You may as well expect to climb back into your mother’s womb.  How can these things be?”  The Pharisee looks at the younger man, so earnest and confident, and shakes his head.  “Take an old man like me.  I’ve spent a lifetime learning, studying, working to get where I am.  Surely you’re not suggesting I’d be better off scrapping all our heritage and starting all over again?”

     “It depends if you want to live in God’s kingdom,” the young rabbi reports, undaunted by the older man’s years and experience.  “That’s the essential question.  Scholarship doesn’t get you an entrance ticket.  And the only reward for following the rules is a reputation for respectability.  If that’s enough for you, then fine.  But if you want to live with God—in his kingdom—then you have to undergo a radical restructuring, as drastic as being formed again in your mother’s womb.  But first you have to give up the old life.  That’s what the ritual water is for—to wash away the old you.”

     Nicodemus strokes his wispy beard.  Baptism—this is a concept he’s familiar with.  When a gentile converts to Judaism, he has to make certain prescribed sacrifices at the Temple, but he also must undergo a ritual bath.  After that, he’s considered an entirely new person, freshly born into the Jewish inheritance.  Nicodemus gives a provisional nod and waits to see where the young rabbi is going with this.

     “Just as your body grows gradually—and without your direction—inside your mother’s womb, your spirit must take shape within God’s spirit.  When you are born into that kingdom, then you’re living God’s own life, breathing God’s own breath.  It becomes your very heartbeat.”

     Now Nicodemus sits back and frowns, shaking his head.  God’s own breath—What can this young fellow possibly know about the Spirit of the Eternal One?  God’s life isn’t like human life.  Far from it.  The kingdom of the Eternal will arrive on this earth when people learn to do their duty, not when rash enthusiasts try to turn the system topsy-turvy.  Wait till this youngster has lived in this troubled world a little longer.  He’ll find out what life is really like—a long chain, each link forged by hard work and difficult compromise.  What would become of God’s people if it weren’t for men like himself who would work to make the weight of the chain bearable?

     The young rabbi, as if discerning Nicodemus’s objections, holds up a hand.  “Don’t be put off by my talk about being born a second time.  I know it sounds wild—scary even.  Especially if you’ve dedicated your life to judicious management, diplomatic mediation.  But life comes from God’s Spirit , and that’s outside our control.  Living in God’s kingdom means getting blown about by his spirit.  You never know what direction the wind will come from next.  It’s totally unpredictable.  Its power comes from something we can’t even see.  An invisible force fuels the new life I’m talking about.  You can’t hope to corner it or fence it in.  You simply surrender to it. (Looking For Jesus by Virginia Stem Owens)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

                                          

Closing Prayer:

O Spirit of the living God, Thou light and fire divine,
Descend upon Thy church once more, and make it truly Thine.
Fill it with love and joy and power, with righteousness and peace;
Till Christ shall dwell in human hearts, and sin and sorrow cease.

Blow, wind of God! With wisdom blow until our minds are free
From mists of errors, clouds of doubt, which blind our eyes to Thee.
Burn, winged fire! Inspire our lips with flaming love and zeal,
To preach to all Thy great good news, God’s glorious common weal.

Teach us to utter living words of truth which all may hear,
The language all may understand when love speaks loud and clear;
Till every age and race and clime shall blend their creeds in one,
And earth shall form one family by whom Thy will is done.

So shall we know the power of Christ Who came this world to save;
So shall we rise with Him to life which soars beyond the grave;
And earth shall win true holiness, which makes Thy children whole;
Still, perfected by Thee, we reach creation’s glorious goal!

(O Spirit of the Living God by Henry H. Tweedy)

the breath of God, wednesday

Wednesday, June 11

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

Opening Prayer: O Loving God, who breathed me into being, breathe your Divine Breath in me again this day—that I might be filled with your life and guided by the winds of your Spirit.  For the sake of your Son.  Amen.

Scripture Reading for the Day: Ezekiel 37:1-14

Reading for Reflection:

 

When ancient man confronted the mystery of death, which is also the mystery of life—when he looked at the body of a dead man and compared it with himself as a living man and wondered at what terrible change had come over it—one of the first things that struck him apparently was that whereas he himself, the living man, breathed, the dead man did not breathe.  There was no movement in his chest.  A feather held to his lips remained unstirred.  So to be dead meant to have no breath, and to be alive—to have the power to rise up and run and shout in the world—meant to have breath.  And the conclusion, of course, was that breath was not just the little wisps of air that men breath in and out, but that it is the very animating power of life itself.  Breath is the livingness of those who are alive.  This is why in so many languages the word for breath comes to mean not only the air that fills the lungs but the Mystery and power of life itself that fills a living man.  Such is the Latin word spiritus, from which our word spirit comes. (The Magnificent Defeat by Frederick Buechner)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

                                           

Closing Prayer: O God, without your Spirit within us we are just a valley of dry bones—lifeless, barren, and dead.  Give us your Breath, O Lord, that we may be raised to new life, and glorify your name forever.  Amen.

the breath of God, tuesday

Tuesday, June 10

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

Opening Prayer: O Loving God, who breathed me into being, breathe your Divine Breath in me again this day—that I might be filled with your life and guided by the winds of your Spirit.  For the sake of your Son.  Amen.

Scripture Reading for the Day: John 14:15-21

Reading for Reflection:

 

Even to the last visible moment and beyond, Jesus continues to feed the soon-to-be shepherds.  He feeds them with renewal when he comes to the disciples behind their locked doors that Easter night and breathes on them the Holy Spirit.  The Hebrew word ruach means “spirit” as well as “breath” and “”wind.”  With this breathing of the Spirit, Jesus renews and empowers them to fulfill the great mandate to love and lift the burdens from others. (Feed My Shepherds by Flora Slosson Wuellner)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

                                          

Closing Prayer:

Breathe on me, breath of God, fill me with life anew, that I may love what  

     Thou dost love, and do what Thou wouldst do

Breathe on me, breath of God, until my heart is pure, until with Thee I will one will, to do 

     and to endure
Breathe on me, breath of God, blend all my soul with Thine, until this earthly part of me

     glows with Thy fire divine
Breathe on me, breath of God, so shall I never die, but live with Thee the perfect life of

     Thine eternity.

the breath of God, monday

Monday, June 9

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

                                       

Opening Prayer: O Loving God, who breathed me into being, breathe your Divine Breath in me again this day—that I might be filled with your life and guided by the winds of your Spirit.  For the sake of your Son.  Amen.

Scripture Reading for the Day: John 20:19-23

Reading for Reflection:

 

We preach, yes, but that does not define us.  We visit hospitals, teach classes, counsel, write books, lead retreats, but these activities do not define us.  We work among the poor and champion social justice, but these acts in themselves are not our ultimate definition or identity.  These acts are among our manifold tasks, but they do not in themselves become the core of our identity.  What deeper roots underlie these activities?  Who are we?

     It is an exciting adventure to reread the scriptures, to reflect on Jesus’ relationship with his disciples—especially within the Resurrection narratives—with this one question in mind: Who are we?  In response, one major image and phrase kept surfacing for me: We are the breathed upon.

                 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.

                 As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

                 When he had said this, he breathed on them

                 and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:21-22)

Recently I saw the movie version of C. S. Lewis’s The Silver Chair, the fourth book in The Chronicles of Narnia series.  One of the most powerful and symbolic scenes occurs when Aslan the lion (representing Christ) sends the two children Jill and Eustace to Narnia to find and release the captive prince of that country.  Aslan blows them there with his gentle, powerful breath.  One at a time, they are held in the air and slowly blown over oceans, mountains, chasms, and forests—sustained only by his breath.  To me, this scene portrayed a marvelous image of ministry and of all Christian leadership.  We too are the breathed upon; we are sent forth and sustained by the breath of that Spirit. (Feed My Shepherds by Flora Slosson Wuellner)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

                                          

Closing Prayer: Father, you alone know what lies before me this day, grant that in every hour of it I may stay close to you.  Let me today embark on no undertaking that is not in line with your will for my life, nor shrink from any sacrifice which your will may demand.  Suggest, direct, control every movement of my mind; for my Lord Christ’s sake.  Amen. (A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie)

pentecost sunday

Sunday, June 8 (Pentecost Sunday)

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

                                       

Opening Prayer: O Loving God, who breathed me into being, breathe your Divine Breath in me again this day—that I might be filled with your life and guided by the winds of your Spirit.  For the sake of your Son.  Amen.

Scripture Reading for the Day: Acts 2:1-13

Reading for Reflection:

I feel the winds of God today; today my sail I lift,

Tho’ heavy oft with drenching spray, and torn with many a rift…

It is the wind of God that dries my vain, regretful tears,

Until with braver thoughts shall rise the purer, brighter years…

Great Pilot of the onward way, Thou wilt not let me drift;

I feel the winds of God today, today my sail I lift.

(A hymn by Jessie Adams, 1863)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

                                         

Closing Prayer: God, who as at this time taught the hearts of your faithful people
by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit: grant us by the same Spirit
to have right judgment in all things and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort;
through the merits of Christ Jesus our Savior, who is alive and reigns with you
in the unity of the Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.  (Oremus)