I came across this quote from Jim Forest’s book Praying with Icons and it touched my heart. He is missed by so many friends and by folks like me who got to know him through his books. It speaks volumes to a great need in this world today.
Prayer is love-centered. It is not so much belief in God that matters, but love of God, and similarly love of others, including love of enemies.
Thank you, Jim for your gift of love, laughter, and friendship to so many.
Here’s to the friends I/we have known for years
Friends with whom I/we have shared meals and laughter together (and maybe a pint or two)
Friends whom I/we have met through the blogging world or on Social Media
Friends whom I/we look forward to meeting face to face one day
O Godde, I/we thank you for our sacred relationships
For the ways in which each friendship draws us closer to one another and to you
Verse of the day
If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.
– 1 Corinthians 12:26
Voice of the day
Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.
– Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You (2001)
Prayer of the day
Show us the ways of solidarity and honor. May we rejoice for each of our community members.
King’s vision of beloved community is not simply a churchy way to call for liberal democracy — fair voting, a free press, the right to assemble and protest, or a generous welfare state to supplant the fiscal austerity that emerged following his assassination. What King called for was a radical revolution of values that confronts the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and poverty which are built into the economic foundations of the United States’ liberal democracy.
— Read on sojo.net/articles/mlk-rooted-his-anti-capitalism-his-christian-ministry
Verse of the day
[Y]ou have deposed the mighty from their thrones and raised the lowly to high places. You have filled the hungry with good things, while you have sent the rich away empty.
– Luke 1:52-53 (The Inclusive Bible)
Voice of the day
When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.
– Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., “Beyond Vietnam”
Prayer of the day
Embolden us to speak out against what you have called unjust. Help us to value your creation over our desire for power.
“You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both.” (Matthew 6:24 – The Message)
This passage of scripture has often created conflict within the church. It has also gotten preachers in “trouble” when it challenges the conventional norms of parishioners. Personally I remember having a Colonel at my first Air Force duty station challenging me on my interpretation of this passage. That wouldn’t be the last time that I would be challenged as a preacher for inviting congregants to consider the way of Jesus over the way of the world.
I have to admit that I have struggled with that challenge myself. Right now the snow is falling here in West Georgia where we live. It’s not the sort of snow we would get in the Rocky Mountains but the snow, rain, and ice is more than enough to cause problems here. I am sitting in our study/prayer space where one wall is filled with bookshelves full of books.
Denise and I both love reading and learning which is evident by the variety of subjects these books hold. There are books in two other bookcases in our two guest rooms and some in my office (most of them are associated with Thomas Merton, his writings and books about him) so we sometimes laugh and wonder if we have a “book problem!” If we worshipped the books we would have a problem. If these books were the be-all to end-all for us, we would be in trouble. But that’s not the case at all.
The majority of these books have played a roll in our spiritual formation. Others have invited us to study history and cultures around the world. Yet others have connections to family history. These books have been stepping stones and waypoints on life’s journey. I feel a sense of the presence of the communion of saints in this room. The authors have their own stories and have made an impact in our lives. Do we enjoy the books? Yes. Have they inspired us in our spiritual journey? Yes. Are they more important than the Good Shepherd who we follow? No.
The journey of faith and discovery is important to both of us. The lessons that the authors and subjects have taught us have informed our own spiritual growth as Christ-followers. They have informed our efforts to be change agents in the church and in the community.
Thomas Merton offers me a way to look at Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6:24. He invites me and he invites you dear reader to consider our lives and how we can live in the world without being of the world.
A life is either all spiritual or not spiritual at all. No man can serve two masters. Your life is shaped by the end you live for. You are made in the image of what you desire. – Thomas Merton (Thoughts in Solitude)
What do I desire? I desire to have the energy, intelligence, imagination, and love to serve God and to serve others. That is one of of the ordination questions/vows that I promised to do with God’s help nearly thirty-five years ago. May the Spirit bring refreshment and renewal as this journey continues.
“Justice and power must be brought together, so that whatever is just may be powerful and whatever is powerful may be just.”—Blaise Pascal
Verse of the day
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
– John 13:35
Voice of the day
Anti-racism is the commitment to fight racism wherever you find it, including in yourself. And it’s the only way forward.
– Ijeoma Oluo
Prayer of the day
May we challenge the racism we see in ourselves, in others, and in the world.
“Ahimsa is not a policy for the seizure of power. It is a way of transforming relationships so as to bring about a peaceful transfer of power, effected freely and without compulsion by all concerned, because all have come to recognize it as right.”— Mahatma Gandhi (quote from Thomas Merton’s book Gandhi on Non-violence : Selected Texts from Mohandas K. Gandhis Non-Violence in Peace and War)
Verse of the day
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.
– Philippians 2:3
Voice of the day
It is my prayer that all of us will eventually learn to recognize and revere the image of God in every person of every conceivable gender identity, along with the many other diversities of appearance, belief systems, preferences, and whatsoever differences may occur to us.
– Virginia Ramey Mollenkott
Prayer of the day
May I honor your image in each being whom you have so intentionally and lovingly made.
