Sunday-Ps,63:1-8 is difficult for me to read as the writer is so much more of a spiritual adept than I. It seems to me to be on the far horizon of faith. I can see it as an aspiration for my own spiritual life and a marker for har far I need to journey.
Monday-"Nature is the cathedral of God's glory," says John Calvin in his Institutes of the Christian Religion. is the "cathedral of God's glory" lifting our sights to beauty, hovering over humanity like divine arms to protect and embrace.(Ira Kent Groff)
Tuesday-Gen 15. We can imagine all of Abram's anxious thoughts. Despite assurance from God not to be afraid, not to worry, Abram is the former and doing the latter. In spite of the separation of 4,000 years, we aren't that far removed emotionally from Abram. Anxiety is always ready and willing to rule the roost, just like it was with our father in faith. Yet, in this lovely scene, God figuratively puts God's arm around Abram's shoulder and ushers him outside the security, but also the restricted view, of his tent. See all those stars in the sky. They aren't going anywhere, and neither am I. And Abram trusted that what God promised, God would do. And God replied to Abram, "That's what I'm talking about! Well done!" Bruce Eldevik
Wednesday-Psalm 27 This psalm is an interesting mixture of supreme confidence tinged with moments of uncertainty and fear. Perhaps this is why it has connected so well over the ages with scripture readers--because we see our lives mirrored in these verses. Verse one boldly proclaims that because of God we have nothing to fear. Verse five states that, when times of trouble come, God will be there for us. But soon after, anxiety creeps in, reflected in a string of pleading "do nots:" do not hide your face, turn me away, cast me off, forsake me, give me up. Things are so bad the psalmist even seems to question the permanence of parental love and protection, as if to say "I can't be sure of anything I have relied upon previously. You, God, are my only possible source of help or else I'm sunk."God Pause?
Thursday-"When your practice falters or slips through the cracks of busyness, remember St. Benedict’s wise words: “always we begin again.” We come again and again to the practice and to ourselves with the heart and mind of a beginner, of meeting life in new ways freed of our expectations. And instead of belittling ourselves when we lose the rhythm of our commitment, we smile at ourselves, and commit again in that moment."Abbey of the Arts
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Friday-"Stop trying to protect, to rescue, to judge, to manage the lives around you . . . remember that the lives of others are not your business. They are their business. They are God’s business . . . even your own life is not your business. It also is God’s business. Leave it to God. It is an astonishing thought. It can become a life-transforming thought . . . unclench the fists of your spirit and take it easy . . . " - Frederick Buechner
Saturday-Forgiveness is, first of all, giving to those who have hurt us, those who have no right to expect any good from us. The gift we offer is an invitation to the other to see himself or herself as someone worth redeeming, someone more important than the hurt done to us.
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