Verse of the day
“Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
– Matthew 6:10
Voice of the day
The church can’t work together toward a more equitable future if we don’t see the lived experiences of Asian Americans both in the present and the past.
– Michelle Ami Reyes, “Asian Americans Are ‘Bringing Heaven to Earth’ by Fighting Racism”
Prayer of the day
May we see one another’s experiences and bring restoration to the earth.
The Sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
What a day, Lord
A time of remembrance and reflection
A time for tears and a time for joy
Today was Pixie’s birthday and our hearts still aches
Yet we know that she sent sweet Stella to comfort us and entertain us
As we sort through the boxes of things from our parents homes
As we mourn the slow goodbye of dementia
We still find comfort in your Presence, Lord
As we begin this Holy Week journey with you in an unusual way
I give thanks for your presence and your sacred blessing
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…
“We don’t need bigger cars or fancier clothes. We need self-respect, identity, community, love, variety, beauty, challenge, and a purpose in living that is greater than material accumulation.”—Donella Meadows
“I wonder what was at work in the mind of Jesus of Nazareth as he jogged along on the back of that faithful donkey.
Perhaps his mind was far away to the scenes of his childhood, feeling the sawdust between his toes in his father’s shop. He may have been remembering the high holy days in the synagogue with his whole body quickened by the echo of the ram’s horn.
Or perhaps he was thinking of his mother, how deeply he loved her and how he wished that there had not been laid upon him this Great Necessity that sent him out on to the open road to proclaim the Truth, leaving her side forever.
It may be that he lived all over again that high moment on the Sabbath when he was handed the scroll and he unrolled it to the great passage from Isaiah, ‘The spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach good news to the poor.’
I wonder what was moving through the mind of the Master as he jogged along on the back of that faithful donkey.”
Sermon preached by Howard Thurman on Palm Sunday April 11, 1976 at the Cathedral Church of St John the Divine (Episcopal) in New York City where he was a Honorary Cathedral Canon.
Verse of the day
Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.
– Proverbs 14:31 (NIV)
Voice of the day
The forces that crucified Jesus are the same forces that crucify millions of poor and working-class people in the United States and internationally.
– Matt Bernico, “Recent Union Wins Mean It’s Time for More Organized Religion”
Prayer of the day
May we show up for one another, even when it’s inconvenient.
“I cannot conceive a greater loss to [humans] than the loss of self-respect . . . my work will be finished if I succeed in carrying conviction to the human family that every man or woman . . . is the guardian of his or her self-respect and liberty.”—Mohandas K. Gandhi
Those who have entered deeply into their hearts and found the intimate home where they encounter their Lord come to the mysterious discovery that solidarity is the other side of intimacy. They come to the awareness that the intimacy of God’s house excludes no one and includes everyone. They start to see that the home they have found in their innermost being is as wide as the whole of humanity. . . . it is of great importance to see the inner connection between intimacy and solidarity. If we fail to recognize this connection, our spirituality will become either privatized or narrowly activist and will no longer reflect the full beauty of living in God’s house.
Being patient is difficult. It is not just waiting until something happens over which we have no control: the arrival of the bus, the end of the rain, the return of a friend, the resolution of a conflict. Patience is not waiting passively until someone else does something. Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are. When we are impatient, we try to get away from where we are. We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later, and somewhere else. Be patient and trust that the treasure you are looking for is hidden in the ground on which you stand.
Some excellent words of wisdom from John Pavlovitz!
Take a quick second and look back on the past week or so of your life.
Have you received a text that was truly urgent?
An email that honestly needed to be be responded to right away?
A voicemail that simply could not wait?If we’re honest, those are few and far between.
— Read on johnpavlovitz.com/2022/04/07/that-text-can-wait-the-present-cant/
Verse of the day
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
– Romans 12:15
Voice of the day
Radical empathy, on the other hand, means putting in the work to educate oneself and to listen with a humble heart to understand another’s experience from their perspective, not as we imagine we would feel.
– Isabel Wilkerson, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (2020)
Prayer of the day
Teach us to listen for shared feelings, for places of connection. Teach us to be curious and open to hearing differences. Teach us to love into brokenness to give space for, to be patient with, healing.
