The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
We paused to remember
Remember Armistice Day
Remember those who bear the scars of war
Remember those who suffer still today
Spent time reading Thomas Merton
Hearing his call for Peace
Hearing it with a renewed earnestness
When I pray for peace, I pray not only that the enemies of my country may cease to want war, but above all that my own country will cease to do the things that make war inevitable.” — Thomas Merton in “New Seeds of Contemplation”
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem et in Terra
Grant us peace on Earth
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
“The Irish monks felt called to a particular kind of journey called ‘peregrination’, which was a pilgrimage for the love of Christ without a destination in mind. The practice was to step into a small boat called a coracle, without oar or rudder, and let the current carry them to the place of their resurrection. They yielded their own agendas and plans to the current of love, trusting in this deeper wisdom at work in water and wind, on behalf of the One who opens the way before us.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Sacred Seasons: A Yearlong Journey through the Celtic Wheel of the Year – A Self-Study Online Retreat
Last year’s blog on the 100th Anniversary of Armistice Day… May we pray AND work for peace…
— Read on scotsirishpadre.blog/2018/11/08/we-must-remember/
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
A long yet spiritually profound Lord’s Day
As we continued our journey through the Valley of the Shadows
As we looked for hope and your promise
For your shattered creation we pray
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
Thank you for this prayer, Madre ❤️❤️
I wrote this prayer several years ago but as I watched the devastation being caused by the 100 fires raging across New South Wales and Queensland, as well as California it came to mind again as an appropriate prayer for this time.
— Read on godspacelight.com/2019/11/09/praying-for-bushfire-victims-in-australia-and-california/
A powerful reflection, Malcolm!
As we approach Remembrance Sunday I am reposting this sonnet about the two minutes silence, which was first published in my book Sounding the Seasons. I’m posting it a couple of days early so that any one who wishes to, can use it in services or events on this Remembrance Sunday.
So here is how it came to be written. On Remembrance Day I was at home listening to the radio and when the time came for the Two Minutes Silence. Suddenly the radio itself went quiet. I had not moved to turn the dial or adjust the volume. There was something extraordinarily powerful about that deep silence from a ‘live’ radio, a sense that, alone in my kitchen, I was sharing the silence with millions. I stood for the two minutes, and then, suddenly, swiftly, almost involuntarily, wrote this sonnet. You can hear the sonnet, as I recorded…
View original post 157 more words
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
Even though we walk through the Valley of the Shadows
We will fear no Evil
For you are with us, O Lord
Another day of ministry
Another day walking with our family in Christ
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…
Amen ❤️❤️
There is nothing quite like pulling into the Condo complex and having to wait for the local herd to make room for me. Only this time the way being blocked was to our front door! Living in the midst of such majestic creatures makes me thankful for the living reminders of our living God.
Today we laid to rest one of the pillars of our church. He was also a major part of our Valley’s conservation effort. At the Columbarium as we placed his ashes, I read the following from Job 19:25 — For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth…
The story of Job is a challenging one. Job has lost everything, including his family. When his friends come to “comfort” him (tongue firmly planted in cheek) they are about as useful as a bicycle is to a fish! The friends seem to be focused on what terrible “sin” Job had committed to allow such a horrible thing to happen. As if God wipes out your family for some sin!
Now Job had wrestled with what was going on and at one point (Job 3:1) he actually cursed the day he was born! So the friends and their advice or so-called support were pretty much worthless! Job had hit bottom. Yet as the dialogue and processing unfolded Job moved from the pit of despair to actually making an incredible confession of faith. I know that my Redeemer lives!
When we consider the discussion between the Sadducees and Jesus, something else comes to mind. The Sadducees ask Jesus about marriage in the afterlife (which by the way, they don’t believe in!). The Leverite marriage where the poor woman is married to her brother-in-law (like in Tamar’s story that was the subject of one of my sermons this past summer (Tamar’s Story).
As I have reflected this week on the two passages for tomorrow, I have realized something. How often do we put God in a small box of our own making? And how often does that small box look like a coffin?
Every time we try to shove God in a box or limit God’s possibilities and potential to change lives, we miss the point. God is a God of the living! God is not limited by our small theology or belief systems. God is the God of the living! And to quote Job, I know that my redeemer lives!
May we spend more time on how to share the love and light of Christ instead of limiting God to our limited imagination! Our God Lives! May we also live!
