Verse of the day
But as for you, return to your God, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.
– Hosea 12:6
Voice of the day
“there’s no such thing / as good or bad / there is only justice.”
– Aja Monet, “on asking my grandmother about santeria”
Prayer of the day
We are waiting for your justice. We are working toward your justice.
Sometimes when watching the news I wonder how I can be an instrument of God’s peace in the midst of this fractured world. I find this prayer from Howard Thurman, one of my spiritual mentors, to be helpful.
“Lord, make me an instrument of Thy Peace.” Teach me how to order my days that with sure touch I may say the right word at the right time and in the right way — lest I betray the spirit of peace. Let me not be deceived by my own insecurity and weakness which would make me hurt another as I try desperately to help myself. Keep watch with me, O my Father, over the days of my life, that with abiding enthusiasm I may be in such possession of myself that each day I may offer to Thee the full, unhampered use of me in all my parts as “an instrument of Thy Peace.” Amen.
The Inward Journey: Meditations on the Spiritual Quest by Howard Thurman (Harper Row, 1961), p.104
Last week was busy beginning with a few days in Florence loading up a UHAUL with furnishings and driving to Mobile where we delivered it to a transitional program for homeless folks. We then had a delightful time with friends who are definitely family at a wedding and then spending time with two of our boys and more friends who are family.
In the midst of it all, the Spirit’s presence was definitely felt in our midst. God in Christ blessed reunions, unions, and life itself in an amazing way. Isn’t that the beauty of faith and life? Thomas Merton saw and felt that in a very visceral way in the following entry from his journal. (A Search for Solitude: Pursuing the Monk’s True Life, The Journals of Thomas Merton, Volume 3: 1952-1960)
In emptying Himself to come into the world, God has not simply kept His reality in reserve, in a safe place, and manifested a kind of shadow or symbol of Himself. He has emptied Himself and is all in Christ. Christ is not simply the tip of the little finger of the Godhead, moving in the world, easily withdrawn, never threatened, never really risking anything. God has acted and given Himself totally. He has become not only one of us but even our very selves.
Dear reader, that is both our challenge and our reward. By seeing God in all things, we experience the love of God within ourselves and with each other. As Dionne Warwick sang in the 1960’s — What the world needs now, is love sweet love. May we find and may we be that love in all that we do.
“To truly heal this planet, we need the power of community, which is much more than simply a political coalition. Whenever people come together around a shared goal and practice solidarity, they connect with a power greater than the sum of their individual efforts. Thus, they’re unified and driven by meaning, trust and possibility, able to overcome any obstacle.”—Martin Winiecki
Verse of the day
Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”
– Matthew 26:52
Voice of the day
When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?
– Eleanor Roosevelt
Prayer of the day
Creator, soften our hearts, so we may seek to nurture and not avenge.
Our lives are destined to become like the life of Jesus. The whole purpose of Jesus’ ministry is to bring us to the house of his Father. Not only did Jesus come to free us from the bonds of sin and death; he also came to lead us into the intimacy of his divine life. It is difficult for us to imagine what this means. We tend to emphasize the distance between Jesus and ourselves. We see Jesus as the all-knowing and all-powerful Son of God who is unreachable for us sinful, broken human beings. But in thinking this way, we forget that Jesus came to give us his own life. He came to lift us up into loving community with the Father. Only when we recognize the radical purpose of Jesus’ ministry will we be able to understand the meaning of the spiritual life. Everything that belongs to Jesus is given for us to receive. All that Jesus does we may also do.
Every time you make free time for God, you clear up a bit of the descending path, and you see where you can plant your feet on the way to love. Nothing spectacular or sensational. It may be simply a matter of what you say, what you read, to whom you speak, where you go on a free afternoon, or how you regard yourself and other people. What’s fascinating is that the first step invariably makes the second one easier. You begin to discover that love begets love, and step-by-step you move further forward on the way to God. Gradually, you shed your misgivings about the way of love; you see that “in love there is no room for fear,” and you feel yourself drawn to descend deeper and deeper on the way that Jesus walked before you.
Verse of the day
Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who walk softly and in a humble manner. The earth, land, and sky will welcome them and always be their home.
– Matthew 5:5 (First Nations Version)
Voice of the day
If we are to heal our ecological wounds, we need to shift from settler views of individual land ownership to Indigenous views of communal land stewardship.
– Liuan Huska, “Rethinking Property Rights“
Prayer of the day
Let our wounds be healed with softness and humility. May the earth welcome us home.
“One of the easiest human acts is also the most healing. Listening to someone. Simply listening. Not advising or coaching, but silently and fully listening… If we can speak our story, and know that others hear it, we are healed by that.”—Margaret J. Wheatley
