Sunday-Ps.121 is beloved for good reason. it is part of a set of psalms that may have been recited on pilgrimage to the temple. Even if god seems indfferent, we are told god is wide awake. Please ocnsider reading its 2 closing verses before you go to sleep during Lent.
Monday- Perhaps only those who have once been partially blinded by the Truth—whether suddenly or gradually—come to the breath-taking realization that the One who sits at table and breaks bread and drinks wine with us is the One through whom and for whom all ten billion light years of creation, including our own come-lately, here-and-now existence, have their being.” James E. Loder (1931-2001)
Tuesday-Why confess our sins to God? The psalmist points to two excellent reasons. First of all, we weren't made to spend our days covering up, to pretend to be what we're not, to live our lives on the run from the truth. The more we don't get off our chest, the harder it is to breathe (v. 3-4). And to the degree I succeed in deceiving even myself into believing I'm innocent of wrong, the more I become both deaf to the cries of those I'm harming and blind to the glory of God's astonishing goodness. I end up needing to be "curbed with bit and bridle" if I'm to do good and not evil.The second, much more important reason to confess our sins to God is that "steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord." What greater sign can there possibly be that we trust someone than our willingness to confess all to that one? (God pause from Luther seminary)
Wednesday-"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." -- William Arthur Ward-I sometimes worry that feelings of gratitude do not well up in me more often because I think that I often deserve good things. i get shocked when people take a nice event and decide that they need to unload complaints or resentments off their chests. Please consider someone to whom ti would do your soul c good to express gratitude, pure unalloyed gratitude.
Thursday-Nanette Sawyer writes "Grieving our mistakes comes from a place of love, if we let it. Grieving our mistakes means we want something different. We want something better. And so it means turning toward the grace and compassion of God which is buried somewhere deep within us. It means letting go of what we have done, letting go of our guilt and our grief and letting God love, forgive and welcome us in to a fuller embrace."
Friday-I am playing around with the idea of giving up getting so easily frustrated during Lent. Frustration for me results in two areas:when my expectations do not get met and when I fail to meet a self-imposed deadline.In other words, I set myself up for constant frustration.
Saturday-Elizabeth Clephane of Melrose, Scotland, wrote the hymn (Beneath the Cross)shortly before she died. During her lifetime, Elizabeth knew hardship, suffering and loss. Her parents died when she was very young, she endured ill-health most of her life and she died at age 39. Nevertheless, her life was spent serving others. She once sold her horse and carriage to provide life essentials for another in need. As a result of her positive disposition, Clephane was known as the Sunshine of Melrose. In spite of, or perhaps because of, her cheerful outlook in the face of illness and ongoing physical and financial challenges, Elizabeth could write the last stanza of the hymn: " from Saturday God Pause
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