As the year ends, God, what shall we keep from this year? What blessings have we wrestled out of its kick to the stomach, its unrelenting grief and hollowing loneliness? And what, O God, shall we take up in the new year, as it brings its gift of newness to our weariness? May we hold […]
Wednesday Prayer — RevGalBlogPals
| Verse of the day The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern. – Proverbs 29:7 (NIV) |
| Voice of the day Charity is no substitute for justice withheld. – Saint Augustine |
| Prayer of the day Lord, may our work to meet immediate needs not be where our work ends. May we also be dedicated to the work necessary to create a just world where everyone has what they need. |
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
It has been a busy day working from home
We also enjoyed lunch with two family members
A day of worship preparation and planning
A day of reflection and prayer
Time to simply Be Still
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 sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
A day for work, planning, and reflection
An evening spent with my sweetheart
It has indeed been a day of blessings
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…
“I would rather be a [person] of conviction than a [person] of conformity. Occasionally in life one develops a conviction so precious and meaningful that [one] will stand on it till the end. That is what I have found in nonviolence.”—Martin Luther King
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
Thank you Lord, for this day’s worship and time of reflection
Thank you Lord, for this opportunity to simply Be Still
Thank you Lord, for your Spirit’s continued guidance
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…
“I raise up my voice, not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard . . . we cannot succeed when half of us are held back.”—Malala Yousafzai
Some years ago my friend Emile and I were driving back to Huntsville from a monthly clergy lunch in another part of northern Alabama. Emile had retired a decade or so earlier.
— Read on jakeowensby.com/2020/12/26/getting-real-with-each-other/
The sun has long ago set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
Christmas Day has been busy and full of acticity
Family, phone calls, stories, laughter, and love
Connecting with wonderful and dear friends
Thankful for the wonderful feast my sweetheart prepared
Thankful for the blessings of this holy day
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…
Christmastime is here… I have been thinking a lot about the effects that the Pandemic and the toxic political environment have had on our ability to simply communicate. In a season where the church has traditionally reflected on the call of the Prince of Peace to live differently for at least one day a year; I am seeing something far different.
Where once we were able to have civil discourse in the religious and political arena, instead I see hate and fear mongering being spewed by far too many. Instead of working across the aisle for the benefit of the people they are elected to serve, far too many politicians are digging trenches and lobbing verbal grenades at each other. What is missing far too often is simple, respectful, civil conversations and sharing of ideas. I am not certain if it is pandemic fatigue or political fatigue that has me in a dark mood so often.
One of the books that I have been browsing during this season has been Thomas Merton’s collection of prose writings, Raids on the Unspeakable. With his remarkable candor and direct questions aimed at the reader and at himself, he confronts many of the demons society would rather keep buried and out of view. Even sixty years after its first publication, Merton’s words speak just as much to us today as they did when they were written in the age of Vietnam, the Nuclear Arms Race, and racism.
In the chapter titled, “Letter to an Innocent Bystander” Merton wrote the following: If I dare, in these few words, to ask you some direct and personal questions, it is because I address them as much to myself as to you. It is because I am still able to hope that a civil exchange of ideas can take place between two persons—that we have not yet reached the stage where we are all hermetically sealed, each one in the collective arrogance and despair of his own herd. If I seem to be in a hurry to take advantage of the situation that still exists, it is, frankly, because I sometimes feel it may not continue to exist much longer. (Raids on the Unspeakable, p. 53)
The challenge for us today is to regain that civil discourse in order to work together to build a better society and world where peace and the celebration of unity in the midst of our diversity. Where dividing walls are broken down and bridges are built to connect us. In the words of John Lennon:
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join us
And the world will be as one https://youtu.be/L6svOHFSAH8
