devotional Pts. week of april 27

Sunday-Ps.16 is cited in the sermon of Peter in Acts 2. It is a sterling example of how the Old Testament was read with new eyes through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. So often we associate being religious with being sour. Here, we have just the opposite. when does faith add to your levle of good, of well-being?

Monday- I checked out some prayers by the writer Flannery O’Connor, when she was just 21,  at the library. Here are some excerpts:“Dear God, I cannot love Thee the way I want to. You are the slim crescent of a moon that I see and my self is the earth’s shadow that keeps me from seeing all the moon . .

“I do not know you God because I am in the way. Please help me to push myself aside . . .

“I do not mean to deny the traditional prayers I have said all my life; but I have been saying them and not feeling them. My attention is always very fugitive. This way I have it every instant. I can feel a warmth of love heating me when I think & write this to You.

Tuesday-”And he departed from our sight that we might return to our heart, and there find Him.  For He departed, and behold, He is here.”  ~St Augustine

Wednesday-I am trying to read more of Hans von Balthasar- “The splendor is the attractive charm of the Beautiful, the gravitational pull, the tractor beam pulling the beholder into it. When confronted with the Beautiful, one encounters "the real presence of the depths, of the whole reality, and . . . a real pointing beyond itself to those depths" (Glory of the Lord). Thi is his way of saying that we are attracted to the beautiful, not just a sunset, but a beautiful deed, a beautiful person.

Thursday..Forgiveness does not excuse anything.........You may have to declare your forgiveness a hundred times the first day and the second day, but the third day will be less and each day after, until one day you will realize that you have forgiven completely. And then one day you will pray for his wholeness......” ― Wm. Paul Young, The Shack

Friday-St. Paul describes Holy Communion as "sharing (koinonia) in the body and blood of Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:16).A parishioner once asked me, "When did you ask Jesus to come into your heart?" He was astonished when I answered, "I never have." I explained that Jesus became part of my life when I was baptized as a baby, long before I would have been old enough to "ask him into my life."The popular idea of "asking Jesus into my heart" puts the matter the wrong way around: Rather than say "Jesus lives in us," it's biblically more accurate to say, "We live in Jesus."s you receive the body and blood of our Lord today, think not only of the bond between you and those next to you, but picture yourself surrounded by Christians from every continent on earth—because they are all with you at this Supper of the Lord.- Michael Rogness

Saturday-I got to see our daughter in Austin this week. when you haven't seen someone in a while, you notice small changes. When you see them everyday, we do not notice them as readily. I wonder if god sees us as a combination of those perspectives? Does your view of god shift when you are not in regular o contact wiht the divine presence?