Sunday-Hannah’s song in I Sam. 2:1-10 replaces a reading from the psalms today.Greg is being gracious enough for us to sing a new hymn lyric for it today. I love how it seems to be a template for Mary’s song in Luke 1. They both emphasize reversals and see the surprising new life within them as signs of a new day for everybody, not themselves alone. What in your life do you think is representative of others?
Monday-I did a speech on Elijah Lovejoy on the 175th anniversary of his martyrdom. In preparing it, i was struck by his discovering a deep courage. he was young and newly married, but he persisted knowing that mob violence against him was a real threat. He found that reliance on his way conforming with God helped to dispel his fear. In a letter to his mother, he recalled Ps. 27. Without his religious endurance, I do not know if he would have found the courage ot face a mob.
Tuesday-I’m reading a book on Babylon, and I saw a picture of perhaps the world’s oldest toy, an animal that could be dragged behind by a child. I found it strangely moving. While much has changed, some things, like childhood play remain curiously the same. I wonder what sort of thoughts entered the mind of that child in a world that predates most of our biblical material? What are some things you miss of childhood? What maintains the childlike in you?
Wednesday-We have been reading Galatians lately in Bible Study.This week, we may get to the end of chapter 3, where Paul gives a moving baptismal declaration of our common unity and cause in Christ. We so emphasize our differences, and Paul asks us to seek our commonality in christ, where our faith holds us together.What are the elements that hold a congregation together. What holds your individual spiritual life together?
Thanksgiving Day was always a favorite for me. I loved that all the churches got together the night before for a big hymn sing. I loved how warm the house was from all of the baking and cooking. I loved the historical linkage all the way back to the Pilgrims. Most of all, I loved and love the sheer thought behind the holiday:thanksgiving.This day of all days please consider some special prayers of thanksgiving. think up some areas of thanksgiving and then list out some specific ones to keep your prayer grounded in this good earth as it goes ot the divine realm.
Friday-I noticed that some of the shopping frenzy is being moved back to yesterday evening. I don’t know what that will do to Black Friday for accounting, but it may change the black moods of early risers, fortified with coffee, greed, and lust for bargains.It is part of the riutal of a society powered by consumer demand. Do you feel the same urge toward what God offers us?
Saturday-I am listening to Mary Chapin Carpenter’s latest album again lately.In New Year’s Eve, she writes of the deep connection she had with a longtime friend as they were chatting away the hours as a meeting place was preparing for the holiday rush. Connections are everywhere in our lives, but it does seem to me that intimate, deep, soul connections are quite rare. With whom have you a special connection? When do you sense a special connection with our God?
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