Sunday-Again instead of a psalm we have the psalm like prayer of Zechariah in Lk. 1:68-79. It speaks of the tender mercies of God. where do you seek and find those? It speaks of the paths of peace. where do you seek and find those? It speaks of light for those within the shadow of death> Where do you seek and find that? Already the roads are crowded wiht shoppers. Are any of the virtues of this prayer in those bags?
Monday-”That your glory rises in the morning sun/and sparkles off flowing waters,
that the glory of the everlasting world/shines in this world/growing from the ground
and issuing forth in every creature,/that glory can be handled, seen and known/ in the matter of earth and human relationship/and in the most ordinary matters of daily life,
assure us again this day, O God,/assure us again this day.” John P. Newell
Tuesday-In preparing for a Holy spirit conference, I was assigned Moltmann. He writes in Spirit of Life (178) “ before the earth dies, we will die of apathy...the spirit sanctifies life, with the Creator’s passion for life and wrath against the forces of destruction. The inbtegrity of creation and rebirth to life become intermingled in the Spirit of life.”
Wednesday-The soul is strengthened to all manner of good works by the fire of the Holy Spirit, but it is weakened by the cold of indifference and neglect. -Hildegard, Book of Divine Works-Where are we indifferent to the Spirit ? When and how do we neglect the matters of the soul?
Thursday-"Time is what we want most, but what, alas! we use worst; and for which God will most strictly reckon with us, when Time shall be no more."William Penn, from the preface to Fruits of Solitude, 1693. This day how can one be grateful for the gift of time? How are you spending time well or not well this day?
Friday-From Anne Lamott “You're living as if you may have a year or so to live, and want to make the most of it, savor and be filled, by spending time with those you love most, much of it outdoors in the beauty of our Mother? Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote, "The world is charged with the grandeur of God. It will flame out, like shining from shook foil." So are you out there, shaking your head with amazement, smiling about the earth's wild sweet beauty? That is the bigger picture. That is the meaning: wonder, presence, immediacy, being HERE. Like my teenage friend Mason says in Stitches, "I had brain cancer. I was in a coma. Then I was HERE again." Are you here? That's the big picture.
Saturday-Even more striking is how the scarcity assumption can reach beyond our material needs. We sometimes act as if non-material goods—like attention, care, or love—were in scarce supply. If you get more than your "fair share" then I get less than I "deserve." Things like these are available in abundance within us and between us, but how easily we forget! Sadly, the scarcity assumption leads to all kinds of things that kill the spirit—anxiety, resentment, hoarding, overwork, competition, and an inability to enjoying life.
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