Verse of the day
Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
– Psalm 116:7
Voice of the day
I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am. I am. I am.
– Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar (1963)
Prayer of the day
You, the God of all time, want us to wait. For the right time in which to discover who we are, where we are to go, who will be with us, and what we must do.
– “A prayer of the Iona Community in Scotland”
Verse of the day
God blessed them and said, “Bear fruit, increase your numbers, and fill the earth—and be responsible for it! Watch over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and all the living things on earth!”
– Genesis 1:28 (The Inclusive Bible)
Voice of the day
This is an interesting planet. It deserves all the attention you can give it.
– Marilynne Robinson, Gilead (2004)
Prayer of the day
May we be attentive to the living things you have placed on this earth, tending to their wellbeing above all else.
Verse of the day
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
– Hebrews 11:1
Voice of the day
Hope is subversive precisely because it dares to admit that all is not as it should be. And so we are holding out for, working for, creating, prophesying, and living into something better.
– Sarah Bessey, Out of Sorts: Making Peace with an Evolving Faith (2015)
Prayer of the day
Keep us creating, prophesying, and living into the possibilities of what could be. May we be on the watch for a new world about to bloom.
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
It has been a long haul for the three of us
Denise packed (with some help from me and Stella!) over the course of three days
One-hundred-thirty-five boxes later
All of them loaded onto the truck
Loading the UHAUL over the course of a long Saturday and finishing it up today
Despite a torn meniscus, my sweetheart rocked!
She drove our car with Stella while I drove the truck
She was my constant encourager as we drove and at every break
Of course, Stella supervised!
We couldn’t have done this without the awesome help unloading that our sons from Mobile gave us
Am I feeling my age? Uff Dah yes! 61 is too old for this stuff 🤪
As we enjoy a simple convenience store cheese, meat, nuts, and craisins meal with wine and chocolate I am thankful
I am thankful for my beloved, for our kids, for safe travels, and for Motrin
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…
“The words used in breath prayer simply give us direction for our attention. The words are less important than the intention behind them, but still language can offer us imagery that guides our distracted minds towards a particular place.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Breath Prayer: An Ancient Practice for the Everyday Sacred
What imagery carries you toward the sacred presence beating in the heart of the world?
Human withdrawal [for meditation] is a very painful and lonely process, because it forces us to directly face our own condition in all its misery as well as its beauty. But when we are not afraid to enter into our own center and to concentrate on the stirrings of our own souls, we come to know that being alive means being loved. This experience tells us that we can only love because we are born out of love, that we can only give because our life is a gift, and that we can only make others free because we are set free by the One whose heart is greater than ours.
And when we have found the anchor places for our lives in our own center we can be free to let others enter into the space created for them, and allow them to dance their own dance, sing their own song, and speak their own language without fear. Then our presence is no longer threatening and demanding, but inviting and liberating.
Verse of the day
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
– Psalm 34:18
Voice of the day
She is the God who sees you. / God weeps, mourns and cries. / She comforts you through the longest night, / Keeping watch until sunrise.
– Teresa Kim Pecinovsky, Mother God (2022)
Prayer of the day
Comfort us through the night, Mother God. Look over us until the sunlight breaks through.
“The Pilgrim invites us to lean into mystery and wait. It calls us to let go of our own agendas for this time, but show up to the holy practice of tending, listening, remembering that there is always something new awaiting us.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Illuminating the Way: Embracing the Wisdom of Monks and Mystics
How do you show up to the holy practices of tending, listening, and remembering?
This quote is especially relevant this week as Denise and I continue our course (Be Still and Know: A Contemplative Retreat) through Columbia Presbyterian Theological Seminary’s Lifelong Learning program.
John Eudes talked about that moment, that point, that lies before comparison, before the beginning of the vicious cycle or the self-fulfilling prophecy. That is the moment, point, or place where meditation can enter in. It is the moment to stop reading, speaking, socializing, and to “waste” your time in meditation. When you find your mind competing again, you might plan an “empty time” of meditation, in this way interrupting the vicious circle of your ruminations and entering into the depth of your own soul. There you can be with him who was before you came, who loved you before you could love, and has given you your own self before any comparison was possible. In meditation we can come to the affirmation that we are not created by other people but by God, that we are not judged by how we compare with others but by how we fulfill the will of God.
Deep silence leads us to realize that prayer is, above all, acceptance. When we pray, we are standing with our hands open to the world. We know that God will become known to us in the nature around us, in people we meet, and in situations we run into. We trust that the world holds God’s secret within and we expect that secret to be shown to us. Prayer creates that openness in which God is given to us. Indeed, God wants to be admitted into the human heart, received with open hands, and loved with the same love with which we have been created.
