Sunday-Ps. 139 appears in today’s readings. This meditation gives us the deep sense that god knows us better thna we know ourselves. Atthe end it speaks of anxious thoughts (NIV). What anxiety in your life get s in your way, even of prayer? What anxiety would you mos tlike God to quiet and quell?
Monday-What is saving my life now is becoming more fully human, trusting that there is no way to God apart from real life in the real world."~ Barbara Brown Taylor, from An Altar in the World
Tuesday-"All Earth Is Hopeful," ELW 266 An Advent hymn during Pentecost, you ask? Why not! There is no better time than the present (especially a present time when we encounter texts that describe what it looks like when earth is hopeful) to join all of creation in praising God. Both text and tune of this hymn reveal the already/not yet-ness of God's work. That this hymn is originally in Spanish highlights this even more since the Spanish verb esperar means both "to wait" and "to hope." Indeed, hopeful waiting exhibits elements of present fulfillment: "The Savior comes at last!" And yet, there is room for more: "Furrows lie open for God's creative task." I love this poetic phrase as it reflects the hopeful expectancy of all creation (including us!) for God to continue to create. The verse-to-verse movement of this text mirrors the rhythm of the church year and even, perhaps, the rhythm of our lives: God's coming is foretold. God comes near. God is present! (From God Pause)
Wednesday-Ira Kent Groff-we can notice incremental or sudden physical or psychological diminishments--abuse or pain, diabetes or cancer, losses of relationships or function. I'm reminded of Teilhard de Chardin's metaphor of "passive diminishments." What are some of these for you? The way you choose to fight or embrace these is Spirit-work in our afternoon journey in life. How can you cultivate little pieces of creativity arising from such diminishments?
Thursday From F. Buechner To eat this particular meal together is to meet at the level of our most basic humanness, which involves our need not just for food but for each other. I need you to help fill my emptiness just as you need me to help fill yours. As for the emptiness that's still left over, well, we're in it together, or it in us. Maybe it's most of what makes us human and makes us brothers and sisters.
Friday-From Benjamin Corey-When we consciously or unconsciously judge the heart and motive of another person, we sin against the God who is the only one able to judge such matters. The far better option when we encounter someone we disagree with or who sees things differently than we do, is to simply assume the best in them. This doesn’t mean we agree with each other all the time, but it does mean our hearts are more humble and tender when we do.
Saturday-From Richard Rohr-The Gospel gives our suffering personal and cosmic meaning, by connecting our pain to the pain of others and, finally, by connecting us to the very pain of God. Any form of contemplation is a gradual sinking into this fullness, or what I call the unified field, which always produces a deep, irrational, and yet very certain hope. And we never know exactly where it came from!
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