April 1-Sunday-Ps.114 is suggested for Easter evening. I don;t know about how well it fits. It imagines an unnatural response of stable nature to the presence of God. Nothing is as unexpected as life coming from death. Easter needs less candy and more awe at its wonder.
Monday-God, kindle Thou in my heart within A flame of love to my neighbor, To my foe, to my friend, to my kindred all, To the brave, to the knave, to the thrall, O Son of the loveliest Mary, From the lowliest thing that liveth To the name that is highest of all.
Tuesday-Even now after Life itself has come down to you, will you not ascend and live? But where will you climb if you are already on a pinnacle and have set your mouth against the heavens? First come down, that you may climb up to God. For you have fallen by trying to climb against him. Tell this to the souls you love that they may weep in the valley of tears, and so bring them along with you to God, because it is by his spirit that you speak to them, if, as you speak, you burn with the fire of love.Source: Confessions
Wednesday-"Perfectionism is also connected to this arrogance, when we withhold our creative gifts in an endless quest for 'perfection' which of course never comes."-- Christine Valters Paintner
Thursday-Listening is much more than allowing another to talk while waiting for a chance to respond. Listening is paying full attention to others and welcoming them into our very beings. The beauty of listening is that, those who are listened to start feeling accepted, start taking their words more seriously and discovering their own true selves. Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become friends, to get to know their inner selves more fully, and even to dare to be silent with you.
Friday-I had a professor who often said, “Jesus doesn’t belong in your pocket.” She said this to combat the common practice of making God smaller, more manageable than what God truly is...However, by changing God into a tamer, more manageable portion of Godself, we lose the grandness of God’s love and grace offered to humanity. What would it be like to broaden our scope, to live with big expectations for God’s mercy?Princeton Devotions
Saturday-Even so, the glory of God sleeps everywhere, ready to blaze out unexpectedly in created things. Even so, his peace and his order lie hidden in the world, even the world of today, ready to reestablish themselves in his way, in his own good time – but never without the instrumentality of free options made by free people.
Source: The New Man
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