Devotions Week of Jan.22

Sunday, Jan. 22-Ps. 62:5-"for God alone my soul waits in silence."When we doubt someone will call, we look at the phone and pace around trying to force it to ring. Our psalmist waits in quiet assurance and expectation.The soul here means one's whole life energy, one total being. It could also mean that words are not necessary. At times our words fill a world to avoid anxiety. In utter confidence, the psalmist can listen for God, in silence, the silence of intimacy.

Monday-All of the gospel readings shed light on a different aspect of the person and work of Jesus until Lent.Early in mark's gospel Jesus is a healer. with our advances, physical healing often lacks the desperation felt in more primitive times. i do think that our need for inner healing is just as desperate as it would be in the time of Jesus. Where do you seek healing in your life?

Tuesday-I was delighted to hear that Bruce Springsteen is releasing a new album, even though he is in his sixties now. I am drawn to his snapshots of American life, and I get religious/spiritual nourishment from his songs, even though they are rarely explicitly religious.Do you have "secular" songs that give you insight into the human condition, including our spiritual condition? Do you have some hymns that offer you such insight as well?

Wednesday-the folks in Bible class wanted to look at stories written in Greek that were placed in the Old Testament translation before the birth of Christ. We are looking at the story of Tobit today.Tobias goes on a quest for his father, and is accompanied by the angel Raphael in disguise. (the angel will live out the name, as healing is brought to the old man who is losing his sight.)

Thursday Scott Russell Sanders, the fine essayist,is retired from Indiana University.
On our bodies he writes:'our bodies are bright like Blake's tiger, burning with the energy of creation. They are also bright with curiosity, like a toddler, eager to explore the territory." as we age, it seems that brightness flickers. When do you notice the most energy in your life now? Where do you notice the most spiritual energy? Where does your curiosity tend to focus?

Friday-Pray without ceasing, Paul writes toward the end of I Thessalonians.Some respond with uttering short prayers during the day, or the Irish had a prayer for almost any activity from rising to going to bed. Here's another way. Consider that what we do, say, or think during the day is communication about our life with God. how would that change the way you approach everyday, even mundane tasks? How would it effect your working on them?

Saturday-I write this in the aftermath of a light freezing rain that has coated a light sheen of ice on the walkways. So we half slide and move slowly. That surface reminds us how easy it is to slip and fall from the high perch of our virtues. What helps keep you from falling? do you have a spiritual version of a walker to help stabilize you? What scares you about a spiritual falling away?