Verse of the day
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
– Romans 12:21
Voice of the day
Oh, and tell me, what’s a man with a rifle in his hand gonna do for a world that’s so sick and sad?
– Hurray for the Riff Raff, “The Body Electric”
Prayer of the day
Work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth.
Dear God,
Speak gently in my silence.
When the loud outer noises of my surroundings
and the loud inner noises of my fears
keep pulling me away from you,
help me to trust that you are still there
even when I am unable to hear you.
Give me ears to listen to your small, soft voice saying:
“Come to me, you who are overburdened, and I will give you rest . . .
for I am gentle and humble of heart.” Let that loving voice be my guide.
Amen.
“I refuse to accept the view that [humankind] is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and [siblinghood] can never become a reality. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Verse of the day
Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.
– Psalm 6:2
Voice of the day
May we say yes to healing with our signatures, our prayers, our voices, our action, our doing justice and loving mercy and walking humbly.
– Ashlee Eiland
Prayer of the day
Be with us in our languishing, Lord. We feel it in our bones. Lend your grace as we heal our land and our laws.
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
We had a lovely visit with dear friends in Mobile
Instead of driving for hours or flying it was a quick trip across Mobile bay
Laughter, sharing stories and meals together was such a blessing
Stella stayed by herself with plenty of food and water
As we walked in from the garage, Denise called her name
Stella came running to greet us
She ran all over the downstairs and upstairs
With a ton of energy expended and playing out of her system
She finally slowed down and chilled a bit
It was obvious she was glad to have us home
As we continue to wind down and as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
“In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”—George Orwell
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
Words cannot properly express how wonderful it is to be with friends who are family
To be back home again after so many years of wandering
The first time I travelled to Alabama was for my Chaplain Candidate course at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery
Each time I returned to the Maxwell it felt like I was returning home
Then Alabama Presbyterian Cursillo happened
Not only did I meet the love of my life at Episcopal Camp Beckwith, I was welcomed into a family of love and faith
Words fail… Love overwhelmes
For the use gifts and all of your gifts I thank you O Lord
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
“NO MAN IS AN Island,” Dr. Donne wrote, “intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod be washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.”
Or to use another metaphor, humanity is like an enormous spider web, so that if you touch it anywhere, you set the whole thing trembling. Sometime during the extraordinary week that followed the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, the newspapers carried the story that when that crusty old warhorse, Andrei Gromyko, signed the memorial volume at the United States embassy in Moscow, there were tears in his eyes; and I do not think that you have to be either naive or sentimental to believe that they were real tears. Surely it was not that the Soviet Foreign Minister had any love for the young American President, but that he recognized that in some sense every man was diminished by that man’s death. In some sense I believe that the death of Kennedy was a kind of death for his enemies no less than for his countrymen. Just as John Donne believed that any man’s death, when we are confronted by it, reminds us of our common destiny as human beings: to be born, to live, to struggle a while, and finally to die. We are all of us in it together.
Nor does it need anything as cataclysmic as the death of a President to remind us of this. As we move around this world and as we act with kindness, perhaps, or with indifference, or with hostility, toward the people we meet, we too are setting the great spider web a-tremble. The life that I touch for good or ill will touch another life, and that in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place and time my touch will be felt. Our lives are linked together. No man is an island.
-Originally published in The Hungering Dark
“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world . . . would do this, it would change the earth.”—William Faulkner
Verse of the day
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words.
– Romans 8:26
Voice of the day
For you, the gun-wounded, the gunned down, / and the loved ones who were left behind, / we speak in love / and we don’t go quietly.
– Da’Shawn Mosley, “In the Mourning”
Prayer of the day
Spirit, be our comfort in our mourning. We cry out for comfort so we can act in love.
