Devotions Week of Feb.12

Sunday Feb. 12-It is Abraham lincoln’s birthday. A good spiritual exercise would be to explore his ethical stance and how they comport with his reading of Scripture. While he would not join a church, he did frequently attend Presbyterian services when he was in Springfield and in Washington. It shows, I think, in his search for the hand of god in difficult decision. It may even show in his realization that all are fallible, so we should not see enemies when we look at our neighbors.

Monday-How can we move out of this impasse of demonizing people with whom we disagree? One way, one little way, is to hear them tell a story that helps to give insight as to why they have taken a particular interest in the story. It is noteworthy how often pain is attached to that story. It is not as easy to castigate someone who has opened up in pain. I t may make disagreements more civil, or at least be a good first step.

Valentine’s Day-The church should do more to celebrate the glories of romantic love. Do you recall when the church does so? Do even weddings celebrate romantic love as well or fully as we should? Of course, I note the Song of Songs as love poetry, definitely in the full flush of youthful romantic love. I also note that the first sign in the Gospel of john was a t a wedding. We are reading Tobias from the Greek Old Testament called the Apocrypha, its prayers for a wedding still read well as modern prayers.

Wednesday-In a song Stones in the River, Carrie Newcomer sings of patience in a world dominated by spreadsheets and performance measures, even in schools. Her response is to do good things knowing that one may not see the results, the fruit of one’s efforts but know that they will be fruitful someday. When have you done something for later generations, or even a later resident of a town or house, when you would not see the fruit of your labor or see someone enjoy your work? When are you best with a long time perspective?

Thursday-Is. 4 seems to slip by me, but it is certainly worth a look. Whre I grew up in the soot of coke ovens, a book was published called Cloud by Day. it was a biblical reference to the presence of god in the wilderness of course. Where do you most want the presence of god in life? When would you prefer God be hidden away? I knew the Bob Dylan song, Shelter From the Storm, was a biblical reference, but I had forgotten where. When has God been a refuge for you? In what areas of life do you most yearn for shelter?

Friday- I saw Carrie Newcomer, the folk singer, and the writer Parker Palmer recently. he had a great line about heartbreak. I f your heart is cold and rigid, the heart breaks into shards. If the \heart is warm and supple, it breaks open to compassion and more sensations and depth.

Saturday-the book of Lamentations is little read in church. I can appreciate that, as it is a difficult, terrifying reading. Of course, we do lift up its words of hope at the very center of the book, but we shy away from the rest. Few prayer poems are so relentless in detailing pain and loss. It is an attempt to compel god to look, to notice, to act on the pain of Jerusalem. When you are in pain, be wiling to catalog your pain. it gives a sense of having your say, and it may even set a fence around it, so you may rediscover some hope.