Verse of the day
Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning, for in you I put my trust. Teach me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
– Psalm 143:8
Voice of the day
Lift up your eyes upon / This day breaking for you. / Give birth again / To the dream.
– Maya Angelou, “On the Pulse of Morning”
Prayer of the day
Mother God, you are the creator of all things new. Teach me to trust the breaking.
“I am a believer in nonviolence and I say that no peace or tranquility will descend upon
the people of the world until nonviolence is practiced, because nonviolence is love and
it stirs courage in people.”—Badshah Khan
Verse of the day
And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.
– 1 Corinthians 13:2
Voice of the day
Love is what carries you, for it is always there, even in the dark, or most in the dark, but shining out at times like gold stitches in a piece of embroidery.
– Wendell Berry, Hannah Coulter (2004)
Prayer of the day
Enlighten the eyes of our hearts, O Lord, so we may not only see and receive your mercy but also notice the places in our world where you call us to extend mercy. Amen.
– Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals
Verse of the day
The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it.
– Psalm 24:1
Voice of the day
Christians consider the creation of the world as a gift of life. And poverty is against the meaning of that gift, contrary to the goal of creation and the meaning of life.
– Gustavo Gutiérrez, In the Company of the Poor (2013)
Prayer of the day
Just as you welcome us into your community, remind us that the whole earth is not ours to control but a place of welcome for all.
“Sometimes we are so used to being strong for everyone else in our lives that it becomes hard to admit we need help ourselves.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Birthing the Holy: Wisdom from Mary to Nurture Creativity and Renewal
How can you admit you need help?
Verse of the day
I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the Lord sustains me.
– Psalm 3:5
Voice of the day
I shall rest and continue to exist.
– Virginia Woolf, A Writer’s Diary (1953)
Prayer of the day
Lord, we are grateful that we can find rest in you. Help us to accept this rest as we work toward justice and peace.
“World peace through nonviolent means is neither absurd nor unattainable. All other methods have failed. Thus we must begin anew. Nonviolence is a good starting point. Those of us who believe in this method can be voices of reason, sanity, and understanding amid the voices of violence, hatred and emotion. We can very well set a mood of peace out of which a system of peace can be built.”—Martin Luther King, Jr.
Verse of the day
Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
– Ephesians 5:11
Voice of the day
When the church hears the cry of the oppressed it cannot but denounce the social structures that give rise to and perpetuate the misery from which the cry arises.
– St. Óscar Romero, translated by Michael J. Walsh, Voice of the Voiceless(1985)
Prayer of the day
May we expose the fruitless works that oppress our neighbors.
Verse of the day
Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.
– Psalm 119:133 (NIV)
Voice of the day
If the Church is to remain faithful to its Lord, it must make a decisive break with the structure of this society by launching a vehement attack on the evils of racism in all forms.
– James H. Cone, Black Theology and Black Power (1969)
Prayer of the day
Lord, help us to resist oppressive ideologies that separate us from your truth.
Yesterday we had the absolute pleasure of celebrating the marriage of a dear couple, Tory and Trent. I went to seminary with Tory’s parents and the reception wasn’t too far from the old campus of United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities.
Denise has been reading one of the books for my Transitional/Interim Ministry Week Two class that we will be attending beginning a week from today. The book is Tod Bolsinger’s book Tempered Resilience: How Leaders are Formed in the Crucible of Change.
At the beginning of Chapter Four (Heating: Strength is Forged in Self-Reflection) he shared this quote of Thomas Merton from the book Thomas Merton: Spiritual Master: Essential Writings. (p. 375) He who attempts to act and do things for others or for the world without deepening his own self-understanding, freedom, integrity and capacity to love, will not have anything to give others. He will communicate to them nothing but the contagion of his own obsessions, his aggressiveness, his ego-centered ambitions, his delusions about ends and means, his doctrinaire prejudices and ideas.
This gives me a lot to think about as we prepare for a bumpy flight from Dallas to Pensacola (thanks to weather). As an intentional Interim/Transitional Minister, I am coming to realize the truth of Merton’s words about self-understanding and how important they are when one walks with a congregation through a threshold time of transition.
