Sunday-Ps.105 recounts some of the story of Joseph, his remarkable rise and fall. One of my favorite movies and a play in STL this season is the Winslow boy. the father is fascinated by the image of 7 lean years and 7 prosperous years. How does the story of Joseph speak to you?
Monday-”The metaphor of God as the "Ground of being," from 15th century mystic Meister Eckhart and popularized by 20th century theologian Paul Tillich, offers an alternate view-a shift from a God "out there" to God within the earthy worldly stuff of our lives.” I am not sure where I found this quote. I find it a way of speaking of the god in whom we have our being, a god who permeates our existence and indeed all creation.
Tuesday-The power of sin is centrifugal. When at work in a human life, it tends to push everything out toward the periphery. Bits and pieces go flying off until only the core is left. Eventually bits and pieces of the core itself go flying off until in the end nothing at all is left. "The wages of sin is death" is Saint Paul's way of saying the same thing.
Wednesday-A PRAYER AGAINST WAR FROM WALTER RAUSCHENBUSCH-O Lord, since first the blood of Abel cried to thee from the ground that drank it, this earth of thine has been defiled with the blood of humanity shed by the hands of sisters and brothers, and the centuries sob with the ceaseless horror of war. Ever the pride of kings and the covetousness of the strong has driven peaceful nations to slaughter. Ever the songs of the past and the pomp of armies have been used to inflame the passions of the people.
Thursday-"Silence is God's first language." -St. John of the Cross. ecclesiastes says a time to speak and a time to keep silence. How do you manage that/ when is prayer better silent than sung or spoken?
Friday-"I think what I need to learn is an almost infinite tolerance and compassion because negative thought gets nowhere. I am beginning to think that in our time we will correct almost nothing and get almost nowhere: but if we can just prepare a compassionate and receptive soil for the future, we will have done a great work. I feel at least that this is the turn my own life ought to take." (from "A Book of Hours" by Thomas Merton)
Saturday F. Buechner-My brother and I were walking up a flight of stairs somewhere when I suddenly stopped and asked him what the smell reminded him of. Without a moment's hesitation he said our grandparents' house in Pittsburgh when we were children, and he was right. It was a comforting kind of smell, faint but unmistakable—freshly laundered sheets, applesauce simmering with nutmeg in it, old picture books. More than any sight or taste or sound, it brought back in its totality the feeling of being a child there all those years ago—the excitement of it, the peace of it, the unutterable magic of it.
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