Week of April 15 devotions

unday April 15-Ps. 133 is proof that good prayers can be short. I like it as a grace: “how good and pleasant it is/when kindred live together in unity.” we live in a fractured and divisive time. Unity seems to be felt only with those with whom we feel affinity. we seem at the ready to cause dissension and less sense of cohesion. How do you seek unity? Monday-I just saw an article in the New York Times on a copy of the Mona Lisa housed in a Spanish museum. It was apparently painted by a student of Leonardo as the great artist was working on the portrait. It is made from a slight angle and the brushwork matches that of the master. How does a slight difference in perspective make a difference in how you approach an issue? Tuesday-I was paging through a book by Kathleen Norris, acedia, a spiritual companion of depression.She reviews Dante’s Inferno and bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, and some of Chaucer’s Tales, and they all touch on this malady of not being able to care, of being listless and withdrawn. Love is easily distracted, but it can be slowly poisoned by indifference, apathy, routine, and acedia. How do you nurture your love? Wednesday-Our youngest daughter is an art history major and is in a class on early Christian art. We can be exposed to a world of art with just a click on google images on the computer.For example select artistic renderings of the gospel reading from last Sunday on Thomas or this coming Sunday on Luke 24:36-48 or perhaps better the road to Emmaus story. What coincides with or alters your vision of the narrative? Thursday-Tranquility has a sense of being restful, or being able to rest over something in Latin. I vividly recall the calm that descended when the Apollo astronauts announced: “Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed. “ Our tranquility is easily disturbed by events and situations. Prayer may be a great resource to find an inner tranquility that may rise above circumstance. it opens us to a stable center. Friday-Leon Russell plays at the casino tonight. Two things come to mind. I first became aware of him at George Harrison’s concert for Bangladesh.Even pampered rock stars could decide to use their celebrity toward a noble purpose. The second is that he was in a group of studio musicians called the Wrecking Crew. People my age were often disappointed in live concerts as we were used to hearing these talents on record. Who are some “behind the scenes” people in your life that make a difference in the quality of life? Saturday-Elm Street church has a spaghetti supper today.Sometimes church suppers contain much of a communion service, especially those of which Paul speaks. They are rarely gourmet affairs, but are comfort foods more often than not.Usually, we have an abundance of food.It may well be the only time in the week some oflks do not eat by themselves. As it says in Lord of the Rings: small hands do what they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.”