Devotions for Fe/ 17 week

Sunday February 17-Ps.91 is today’s psalm because, of all beings in the universe, tTe tempter tries to use it with Jesus. He warps its prayer for protection by trying to turn it into a demand by jesus to put God to the test. On one level, a prayer for protection is a good. At a different level, when prayer becomes demand then we are in new territory.Making demands turns a relationship into a mechanistic exchange, so it attacks the basis of love.

Monday-I have a friend who uses the word, exhausted, a good deal. I think he means that he is stressed and feels as if he is at the end of his rope.He is a classic example of someone whose spiritual tank gets empty along with his emotional and mental reserves. I think many of us share his malady. We seek spiritual energy as we burn the candle at both ends. Perhaps, this points us to the great Lenten discipline of recovering Sabbath as a basic practice, one of rest and recovery.

Tuesday-This is Mardi Gras (big Tuesday, fat Tuesday) it marked a celebration in some cultures before the time of Lenten privation of some sort. In other cultures, it is shrove tuesday to practice the rite of Confession. Some people made pancakes to have a last taste of sweet or to say goodbye to fat and eggs for a while. Sometimes, it is good to let go a bit. We go so from pole to pole, abundance or privation, so we do well to find comfortable middle ground.

Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lenten season.One of the traditional readings is Joel 2. It throws down the gauntlet against the notion of legalistic Judaism.While ritual is almost always part of worship, especially communal worship, our passage has a polemic against ritualism. If a heart isn’t torn apart with the ritual of tearing a garment in repentance or mourning, then it is a symbol without content or force.

Thursday-We are encouraged to consider making some spiritual resolutions at the start of the year. In Lent, the church has traditionally offered a chance to practice some sort of spiritual practice for 40 days of lent, not counting Sundays. If you could wave a wand, what spiritual gift or attribute would suddenly appear in you? Do you think you could take some initial steps toward that vision?

Friday-We celebrated this as George Washington’s birthday.He would not be called an orthodox christian. he seemed to absent himself from Communion, even though he was a member of a church vestry. He did have a faith in Providence, the hand of God made visible in human affairs. After all, what military strategist would have said that a fledgling nation could hold off the great british combined forces for years and years?

Saturday-I was reminded of a great description of depression by william Styron recently, “ a poisonous cloud descending.” We have made great strides for this serious condition with therapy and medicines but have a long way to go. Sometimes, i wonder if the famed “dark night of the soul” was a symptom of depression in great spiritual writers and mystics. Facing the darkness is always part of the spiriutal life, but we are not made to live within the shadow every day.