Reflections week of Jan. 14

Sunday-Ps.139 is paraphrased in the Pres. Hymnal, #248.It reminds me of children’s book, where the love of parent will go to any lengths for the child such as the Runaway Bunny. How would you continue to work with the phrase toward God that darkness is not dark to you?


Monday-Herodotus again tells the story of a fantastic creature, the Phoenix. He explains that once every five centuries a phoenix buries its dead inside an egg of myrrh (The Histories, 2.73).As with gold and frankincense, there is something otherworldly about myrrh. As in the passage from John, there is something ominous about its presence—something that points beyond Epiphany to Holy Week and hints at Easter to come.


Tuesday-Holy Father, We thank you that because of Christ we can draw near to you. Thank you that you choose to dialogue with us. When this world or dire circumstance tempt us to look down or grow discouraged, lift our face to You, O Lord, and help us to live by faith, to stand on our watchtower like Habakkuk and wait for You to answer.Amen Suzanne Welty


Wednesday-Scott Cairns-Your petitions—though they continue to bear/just the one signature—have been duly recorded. Your anxieties—despite their constant,relatively narrow scope and inadvertent entertainment value—nonetheless serve to bring your person vividly to mind.


Thursday-Opening or closing, deliberate or faltering,Perhaps a glorious homecoming ; a fresh start/ But equally a bittersweet departure; or permanent ending.Standing on a threshold, I reach my hand toward the knob, the ring, the handle, the latch...In the fleeting space of neutrality comes an echo of re-membering. A door I so surely had opened and reluctantly shut ,Can, and will be, opened again By my hand or..... Yours! Something About a Door


Friday-“The soul holds expectations loosely and is not attached to the outcome. The soul takes her time, embraces the slow ripening of things, and savors what is to be learned from the process.”--- Christine Valters Paintner,


Saturday- David Mitchell -"Our lives are not our own, we are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future."