Sunday-Ps.19 is a fine creation psalm i would urge you to rewrite a version of it to include the scientific discoveries in our lifetime. Still, Christians do not worship nature itself, but the God who created the natural order. Why do you think it could be a problem to identify God with nature?
Monday-"We all have places in our lives where we feel uninspired, where we are going through the motions…. Imagine the Spirit blowing new life into those places where you have fallen asleep or become deadened. Spend time asking for renewed vigor and energy or notice if you are being invited to let those uninspired places go to make room for new possibilities."--- Christine Valters Paintner
Tuesday-"Listen for the pace of life your own body longs for. Listen for the rhythms which support and sustain you."--- Christine Valters Paintner,How is the darkness of night similar to your own experiences of resting in unknowing? How is the breaking open of morning like your own moments of awakening to renewed purpose?
Wednesday-Ira Groff-"If had longer to prepare this, I could have said it in fewer words." (That's my take on wisdom from the likes of Pascal and Thoreau). "Omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise."+ Spiritual practices speak of pruning and stripping down to the core Self. Ask: How can cultivating spare, vivid speaking and writing at the same time tend your soul's need for simplicity and vitality?+William Strunk and E.B. White, The Elements of Style
Thursday-Every breath is a resurrection.---Gregory Orr (excerpt from poem “Concerning the Book that is the Body of the Beloved”)In the Benedictine tradition there is a monastic practice called statio, which is the practice of stopping one thing before beginning another. Imagine, instead of rushing from one appointment to the next, that between each one you pause, you breathe just five long slow breaths. Pause on the threshold between spaces. God lives inside our breath and so every breath can become a resurrection (Abbey of the Arts)
Friday-Speaking words of appreciation to the grocery checker, the landscape worker, the police officer, the crossing guard, our child's teacher, or the teller at the bank, by the power of the Holy Spirit can change the trajectory of a person's life. We can speak informal benedictions to all people because we believe that God is working on every life. Our calling is to give voice to that grace: "God has blessed you," "I'll pray for you"; "God is good"; "Thank you for your kindness." Every time we speak a benediction, we're working with the Spirit to open a life up to the Word, Jesus Christ. May our words be benedictions Lord, causing people to pause, give thanks, and consider again Your presence in their lives; through Christ our Lord. Amen.David Mattson
Saturday-From Weavings-Trappist novice master, when asked about a life lived in Christian authenticity, responded that to be a Christian was not to know the answers but to begin to live in the part of the self where the question is born. He was, of course, not speaking about doubt concerning particular articles of faith but about a state of being. He was speaking of an attitude of listening, of awareness of presence, of an openness to mystery. ...
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