Inspirations

GIVING THANKS

I give you thanks, God our father,
for making us, your children, worthy to share,
In the inheritance of your Saints in glory,
for delivering us from the power of darkness
and welcoming us into the kingdom
(bright with the light of the glory of his risen body)
of your beloved Son.
In him you have given us the remission of sin;
by his blood we are redeemed,
and in his rising from the dead
we are restored to life.
For he became the firstborn from the dead
in order to be one of many brethren –
all those whom he has made
a chosen race, a holy nation,
a line of priests set apart to serve you, our God;
so that in him, over all your creation
a new age has dawned,
a broken world has been renewed,
and man is once again made whole.
To him be glory for ever;
and to you, Father, our Creator and our Lord,
be sung by men unceasing thanks.

~ Brian Moore & Charles Watt

 

 

 

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

The Ministry of the Word
As storytellers
we shape your
unfolding story
as passionate people
we share your
passion for justice
as bearers of God
we embody your life
in the world
Humble us to listen
to forgotten stories
empowe us with boldness
when we are afraid
re-source us
for the birthing of liberation
~ Ruth Burgess & Chris Polhill

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, April 6, 2021

And the Glory
The silence breaks into morning
That One Star lights the world.
The lily springs to life and
not even Solomon…
Let it begin with singing and never end!
Oh, angels, quit your lamenting!
Oh, pilgrims,
upon your knees in tearful prayer,
rise up
and take your hearts
and run!
We who were no people
are named anew
God’s people,
for he who was no more
is forevermore.
~ Ann Weems

 

 

 

Monday, April 5, 2021

Renewed in resurrection,

leaves,

like sudden joys,

shoot green now, Lord.

each tree a thousand thrusts

toward the sun.

Pierce us with joy;

for in joy there is growth

as there is in spring

when you,

my risen Lord,

fill everything.

Lord, my Light,

Christ, world’s Light,

rim the horizons of my life

with the light of Easter’s dawning,

that my life may be

ever a new day.”

 

~Brian Moor and Charles Watt

 

Easter Sunday – April 4, 2021

“This is the day:
When tears are wiped away,
Shattered hearts are mended,
Fears are replaced with joy.

This is the day:
When the Lord rolls away the stone of fear,
Throws off death’s clothes,
Goes ahead of us into God’s future.

This is the day the Lord has made:
Death has no fear for us,
Sin has lost its power over us,
God opens the tombs of our hearts
To fill us with life.

This is the day – Easter Day!
Christ is risen!
Hallelujah!”

~ Ruth Burgess

 

Submitted by Dawn Garrett-Larsen

 

 

 

 

Holy Saturday – April 3, 2021

Scripture states, “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you: For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh shall be opened”
~ Mathew 7: 7-8

Several years ago as I was reading about George Washington Carver, I was reminded that he was the famous American agricultural scientist whose lifetime of research resulted in a multitude of peanut products. This passage came to mind as I read the theme of his explanation for his discoveries — “God put them here and I found them.”

Like Carver, as we examine this very moment in our lives, our next breath, minute, hour, day, and week rest in God’s open hands. Who knows the discoveries awaiting us if we too knock, ask, receive, seek, find and act.

Submitted by D. Guy Burns

 

Good Friday – April 2, 2021

People are often unreasonable, irrational,
and self-centered.
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you
of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere,
people may deceive you.
Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating,
others could destroy overnight.
Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness,
some may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten.
Do good anyway.
Give the best you have,
and it will never be enough.
Give your best anyway.
You see, in the end, it is between you and God.
It was never about them anyway.

~ Mother Teresa

Submitted by Kathy Ward

 

Maundy Thursday – April 1, 2021

“Hatching of the Heart:”
A Personal Maundy Thursday Story

I grew up in Rochester’s First Presbyterian Church, now a part of Downtown Presbyterian Church. I was a feisty, inquisitive child who broke the mold of first borns wanting to please.

I tried the patience of many adults including Sunday School teachers. With much later hindsight, however, I came to realize during these early years, I had been given the gifts of grace and loving acceptance.

The same pastor who nurtured my early church beginnings saw me through Confirmation Class. He too was patient. A stumbling block for me, in spite of cognitive explanation, was the Eucharist/Communion.

This continued into my adult years; in fact, it became quite stuck in my craw.

Fast forwarding to the early 1960s, Jim and I found ourselves back in Rochester where he practiced law for a brief time. We returned to First Presbyterian Church.

It was in that sanctuary during a Maundy Thursday Communion service that I had an epiphany, a light of understanding: the meaning and power of the Eucharist hit me full force. It was deeply personal; I was at that Passover meal with Jesus and his disciples. I had ‘passed over’ to a new level of faith and life.

“Do this in remembrance of me” was no longer ‘out there’.

Rather, it had become snugly tucked within my heart.

Then, as now, Holy Week still holds betrayal and Good Friday but when the heart has hatched* with the hallelujah of love, we know the promise of Easter Sunday, will be soon to come.

This Maundy Thursday, 2021, let us celebrate the varied and unique ways, both ordinary and dramatic, in which all our hearts can hatch into the hallelujah of resurrection.

*Hatching of the Heart is a term first used by Marcus Borg

Submitted by Mickey Ely

 

Wednesday March 31, 2021

“This is the day that the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

King James Version, Psalm 118, Verse 24

Every Sunday, when I was a young child in Mrs. Ault’s Sunday School, Mrs. Ault would begin our worship gathering with this verse. I can still picture her standing in front of our group in the large Sunday School room, sitting in a semicircle around her, in the child sized chairs meant just for us.

I think of this as an inspirational verse. I try to remember it in the morning, the start of the new day. It especially helps for difficult days, with hardship or worry or sadness. It is good to pause and remember this verse and take that moment to think about the new day the Lord has given me and take that moment to try and improve my outlook, to be grateful that God has given me this day to see a new path, find new strength.

And throughout any day, just a glance out the window, or being outside with nature will bring this verse to mind. To see a beautiful fresh snowy scene, the green of fresh spring leaves, the morning sunbeams glimmering on the lake, or the full moon rise, I am reminded that this is the day that the Lord has made. And I do rejoice at the wonder of it all.

In reviewing the psalm in my own King James Version, it both begins and ends with another familiar verse, “O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because his mercy endureth forever.” Those are certainly words of hope to remember at any time.

I hope Mrs. Ault would feel rewarded that this verse has remained with me all these years, and that it gives me comfort and hope, and that so frequently, it inspires wonder at this beautiful creation of God. I hope that reminding you of this verse will bring occasion for renewed hope and wonder for you.

Of note: I went online to check where to find this bible verse and found that I am not alone in thinking of it. There are songs, story books and much, much more, that I did not have time to even glance at, that are brought up by just typing in Google “This is the day.”

Submitted by Tarry Shipley

 

Tuesday – March 30, 2021

Lent is a time of listening, of letting God speak to us. When Jesus needed to be close to his heavenly Father, he went alone into the wilderness.

This Lenten season we need God’s quiet presence more than ever after months of distancing and uncertainty.

We pray for the overworked medical and emergency workers, the families, teachers, caregivers. We are concerned about health and the healing and forgiving we need as in Jesus’ day.

“Jesus calls us o’er the tumult
of our life’s wild restless sea –
Day by day his sweet voice calls us,
saying Christian follow me.”

We can find God’s love and peace in our hearts through MUSIC.

We’re thankful for our singing Pastor Dawn and the youth and all in our church who share their gifts of music.

You lift our spirits and inspire us. Heavenly music like Mozart and Faure’s “Requiem” and the hymns we sing can now all be downloaded on our iPhones.
When we are anxious “Be Still my Soul”
calms us and God is with us as we seek Him
in “Nearer my God to Thee.”

People the world over sing “There’s a wideness in God’s mercy.”

Twenty years ago our church welcomed a persecuted family from warm west Africa to snowy Canandaigua.

The mother, a pastor, sang our same hymn tunes in her language from her well-worn hymn book.

We shared and learned from each other and attended their citizenship ceremony. (They are well and we are blessed.)

Help us, O God, in troubled times.
“Precious Lord, take my hand.”

Submitted by Mary Lou Mees

 

Monday – March 29, 2021

“Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous;
and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.”

~Psalm 97: 12
Submitted by Bill Blaker

 

Palm Sunday – March 28, 2021

“Beautiful Savior!
King of creation!
Son of God and Son of man.
Truly I’d love Thee,
Truly I’d serve Thee,
Light of my soul, my joy, my crown.

Fair are the meadows,
Fair are the woodlands,
Robed in flowers of blooming spring;
Jesus is fairer,
Jesus is purer,
He makes our sorrowing spirit sing.

Fair is the sunshine,
Fair is the moonlight,
Bright are the sparkling stars on high;
Jesus shines brighter,
Jesus shines purer,
Than all the angels in the sky.

Beautiful Savior! Lord of the nations!
Son of God and Son of man.
Glory and honor,
Praise, adoration,
Now and forever more be Thine.”

~Joseph Augustus Seiss

Submitted by Denise Morphy

 

Friday – March 26, 2021

WALK DON’T RUN

“Walk, don’t run.
That’s it.
Walk, don’t run.

Slow down, breathe deeply,
and open your eyes because there’s
a whole world right here within this one.
The bush doesn’t suddenly catch on fire,
it’s been burning the whole time.

Moses is simply moving
slowly enough to see it.
And when he does,
he takes off his sandals.

Not because
the ground has suddenly become holy,
but because he’s just now becoming aware
that the ground has been holy the whole time.

Efficiency is not God’s highest goal
for your life,
neither is busyness,
or how many things you can get done
in one day,
or speed, or even success.
But walking,
which leads to seeing,
now that’s something.
That’s the invitation for every one of us today,
and everyday, in every conversation, interaction, event, and moment:
to walk, not run. And in doing so,
to see a whole world right here within this one.”

~Rob Bell

Submitted by Delana Hey

 

Thursday – March 25, 2021

When my brother was in high school, probably in wood shop, he etched the Bible verse “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10) onto a chunk of wood to create a door stop for my grandmother.

Fast forward many years later- on a breathlessly quiet early morning, a few days after that much loved brother’s funeral, I was on my way to get the newspaper when the wind chimes played a few gentle tones. Who moved those chimes? A squirrel or a bird? I do not care-I choose to: “Be still and know”

I opened my ‘star’ word on Epiphany and found “center” as my word.

What a good word for me – a reminder for me to tune out the external chaos and quiet my internal distractions and:

“Be still”

“For in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28)

Our being
“Be”

 

Submitted by Marty Daniels

 

Wednesday – March 24, 2021

 

Submitted by Alicia Francis

 

 

Tuesday – March 23, 2021

“The Miracle of Morning”

“I thought I’d awaken to a world in mourning.
Heavy clouds crowding, a society storming.
But there’s something different
on this golden morning.
Something magical in the sunlight,
wide and warming.
I see a dad with a stroller taking a jog.
Across the street, a bright-eyed girl chases her dog.
A grandma on a porch fingers her rosaries.
She grins as her young neighbor
brings her groceries.
While we might feel small, separate, and all alone,
Our people have never been more closely tethered.
The question isn’t if we will weather this unknown,
But how we will weather this unknown together.
So on this meaningful morn,
we mourn and we mend.
Like light, we can’t be broken, even when we bend.
As one, we will defeat both despair and disease.
We stand with healthcare heroes and all employees;
With families, libraries, schools, waiters, artists;
Businesses, restaurants, and hospitals hit hardest.
We ignite not in the light, but in lack thereof,
For it is in loss that we truly learn to love.
In this chaos, we will discover clarity.
In suffering, we must find solidarity.
For it’s our grief that gives us our gratitude,
Shows us how to find hope, if we ever lose it.
So ensure that this ache wasn’t endured in vain:
Do not ignore the pain. Give it purpose. Use it.
Read children’s books, dance alone to DJ music.
Know that this distance
will make our hearts grow fonder.
From a wave of woes our world
will emerge stronger.
We’ll observe how the burdens
braved by humankind
Are also the moments that make us humans kind;
Let every dawn find us courageous, brought closer;
Heeding the light before the fight is over.
When this ends, we’ll smile sweetly, finally seeing
In testing times, we became the best of beings.”

~Amanda Gorman

Submitted by Dawn Garrett-Larsen

 

Sunday – March 21, 2021

Journey of Hope

For a few years we have contributed to a program that supports educational opportunities in central Asia – especially for girls.  It is a dangerous area of our world without a guaranteed future of survival – let alone progress – in freeing young people to achieve their full potential.  But the magazine of the organization is named Journey of Hope.  How can anyone hope in those circumstances?  So it seems extremely selfish for me to even consider the use of the word “hope” in my own life.

On the other hand if I don’t embrace hope, haven’t I wasted my unique position due to my privilege – as a male, as a white person, as a citizen of the United States?  It seems to me that there are two kinds of hope: 1. the kind that I have no control over: “I hope it doesn’t rain on our picnic tomorrow”; and 2. the kind that with some effort on my part I can bring about change: “I hope the local food bank has enough volunteers to sort the donations for distribution.”

My favorite Bible verse is James 2:26: “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” (NIV)  How about substituting the word “hope” in place of “faith” in this verse?

I’m writing this devotion in the hope that I will read it and even consider it!  So thank you for indulging me!

Submitted by Jim Hilton

 

Saturday – March 20, 2021

“Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.”

~ Mother Teresa

Submitted by the Schneider Family

 

Friday – March 19, 2021

“Judge not a person by their family

because their family is not of their choosing. But judge a person

by the company they keep

because the company they keep

 is of their choosing.”

Submitted by Connie Fredericks-Malone

 

Thursday – March 18, 2021

“God of Love, help me to take advantage of each opportunity I have to offer someone a helping hand, a kind word, a listening ear, or a pat on the back. Amen”

~ Helen Lesman (Heart Delights)

Submitted by Don Oakleaf

 

Wednesday – March 17, 2021

“May the blessing of Light be upon you.

Light without and Light within.

May the blessed sunlight shine upon you

and warm your heart till it glows

 

like a great  peat fire so that

the stranger may come and warm himself

at it and also a friend.”

~ A Little Book of Irish Blessings

Submitted by Ron & Lu Krahl

 

Tuesday – March 16, 2021

No one feels strong when
she examines her own weakness.
But in facing weakness,
you learn how much there is in you,
and you find real strength.”

~ Pat Summitt, University of Tennessee Lady Vols Basketball Coach

Submitted by Sue Hawkes

 

Monday – March 15, 2021

Home
“no one leaves home unless
home is the mouth of a shark
you only run for the border
when you see the whole city running as well

your neighbors running faster than you
breath bloody in their throats
the boy you went to school with
who kissed you dizzy behind the old tin factory
is holding a gun bigger than his body
you only leave home
when home won’t let you stay.

no one leaves home unless home chases you
fire under feet
hot blood in your belly
it’s not something you ever thought of doing
until the blade burnt threats into
your neck
and even then you carried the anthem under
your breath
only tearing up your passport in an airport toilets
sobbing as each mouthful of paper
made it clear that you wouldn’t be going back.

you have to understand,
that no one puts their children in a boat
unless the water is safer than the land
no one burns their palms
under trains
beneath carriages
no one spends days and nights in the stomach of a truck
feeding on newspaper unless the miles travelled
means something more than journey.
no one crawls under fences
no one wants to be beaten
pitied
no one chooses refugee camps
or strip searches where your
body is left aching
or prison,
because prison is safer
than a city of fire
and one prison guard
in the night
is better than a truckload
of men who look like your father
no one could take it
no one could stomach it
no one skin would be tough enough

the
go home blacks
refugees
dirty immigrants
asylum seekers
sucking our country dry
niggers with their hands out
they smell strange
savage
messed up their country and now they want
to mess ours up
how do the words
the dirty looks
roll off your backs
maybe because the blow is softer
than a limb torn off

or the words are more tender
than fourteen men between
your legs
or the insults are easier
to swallow
than rubble
than bone
than your child body
in pieces.
i want to go home,
but home is the mouth of a shark
home is the barrel of the gun
and no one would leave home
unless home chased you to the shore
unless home told you
to quicken your legs
leave your clothes behind
crawl through the desert
wade through the oceans
drown
save
be hunger
beg
forget pride
your survival is more important

no one leaves home until home
is a sweaty voice in your ear
saying-
leave,
run away from me now
i don’t know what i’ve become
but i know that anywhere
is safer than here”

~ Warsan Shire

Submitted by Jesse Garrett-Larsen

 

Sunday – March 14, 2021

Death Is Nothing At All

“Death is nothing at all.
It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Nothing has happened.

Everything remains exactly as it was.
I am I, and you are you,
and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged.
Whatever we were to each other,
that we are still.

Call me by the old familiar name.
Speak of me in the easy way
which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.

Laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes that we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever
the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it.

Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was.
There is absolute and unbroken continuity.
What is this death but a negligible accident?

Why should I be out of mind
because I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you,
for an interval,
somewhere very near,
just round the corner.

All is well.
Nothing is hurt;
nothing is lost.
One brief moment and all will be
as it was before.
How we shall laugh at the trouble
of parting when we meet again!”

~Henry Scott-Holland

Submitted by Hannah Morgan

 

Saturday – March 13, 2021

“The way I see it  is that if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”

~Dolly Parton 

Submitted by Gloria McAlpin

 

Friday – March 12, 2021

Reflections on Time

These past months have found us all focusing on staying healthy, and that has meant isolating ourselves, and limiting contact with family and friends.

The plus side is that we may have been able to find time for communicating in various ways with acquaintances near and far, reading,
exercising, and dealing with projects which we have neglected.

I think many of us find ourselves losing track of the days, weeks and months, and wondering: Where has all of this “free” time gone?

As I’ve reflected on my relationship to time, a hymn which we sang in church often as I was growing up came to mind. I share it now, as we enter the Lenten season and set aside time for meditation.

It was written in the 1880’s, with words by William D. Longstaff and music by George C. Stebbins.
Take Time to Be Holy

“Take time to be holy,
speak oft with your Lord;
abide in him always,
and feed on his Word.

Make friends of God’s children;
help those who are weak;
forgetting in nothing
his blessing to seek.

Take time to be holy,
the world rushes on;
spend much time in secret
with Jesus alone.

By looking to Jesus,
like him you shall be;
your friends in your conduct
his likeness shall see.

Take time to be holy,
let him be your guide,
and run not before him,
whatever betide.

In joy or in sorrow,
still follow your Lord,
and looking to Jesus,
still trust in his Word.”

Submitted by Elaine Hilton

 

Thursday – March 11, 2021

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
As a child, I learned the poem: “Hearts like doors will open with ease to very, very little keys and two of these are thank you and if you please.” It seems to me that courtesy is the first step on the way to the goal of Christian love. From courtesy the next natural step is respect for self and others. Through respect for others, an understanding of other’s needs and goals is developed. With an understanding of other’s values, compassion naturally occurs, followed by Christian love.
Perhaps this is a simplistic approach from courtesy to love, but here are a few examples of how it works. Will not a child, who holds the door for another, be an adult who allows a car to merge ahead of him or her? Will not a child, who makes friends with all children, be an adult who treats his co-workers with respect regardless of ethnic or economic background? Will not a child, who gives food to the Salvation Army, be an adult who contributes to the needs of the homeless? Will not a child who sees his church family united in serving others, be an adult who serves others?
Prayer: Dear God, give us knowledge and understanding as we seek to train our young people. Help us to show Christian love through our actions at home, at church, at work, in our community and in the world. Amen.

Submitted by Sharon Day

Wednesday – March 10, 2021

A Collection from Winnie the Pooh:

“You can’t stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.”

“Some people care too much. I think it’s called love. “

Piglet “How do you spell love?”
Pooh “You don’t spell it, you feel it.”

“Sometimes said Pooh, the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.”

“Rivers know this: There is no hurry. We shall get there someday.”

“If a person you are talking to doesn’t appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.”

“The things that make me different, are the things that make me, me.”

“If there ever comes a day, we can’t be together, keep me in your heart. I’ll be there forever.”

“Friendship, said Christopher Robin, is a very comforting thing to have.”

“Organization is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it’s not all mixed up.”

“A little Consideration, a little Thought for others, makes all the difference.”

“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think”

“Good judgement comes from experience – and experience – well comes from poor judgement.”

“Forever isn’t long at all, Christopher, as long as I am with you.”

~ A.A. Milne

Submitted by Linda Orrell-Fair

Tuesday – March 9, 2021

“May the sun bring you
new energy by day,
May the rain wash away
your worries,
May the breeze blow new
strength into your being,
May you walk gently through
the world and know it’s
beauty all the days
of your life.”

~ Apache Blessing

Submitted by Laurie Stoutz

 

Monday – March 8, 2021

“The great lesson is that the sacred is in the ordinary, that it is to be found in one’s daily life, in one’s neighbors, friends and family, in one’s backyard.”

~ Abraham Maslow

Submitted by Kathi Nacca

 

Sunday – March 7, 2021

“It isn’t enough to talk about peace.
One must believe in it.
And it isn’t enough to believe in it.
One must work on it.”

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Submitted by Betsy Gillim

 

Saturday – March 6, 2021

“Thank you God, for this day!
Thank you for my friends and family.
Help me to use today for good.
I am KIND.
I am CARING.
I will be gentle with my words and hands.
I will use my words
to encourage myself and others.
I am BRAVE.
I am HONEST.
I can do hard things.
Help me to remember,
I can do all things through Christ
who strengthens me.
I am LOVED and I am ENOUGH!
I am ready to go out and share my gift with the world!”

Submitted by The Leasure Family

Friday – March 5, 2021

“Look to this day,
for it is life,
the very life of life.
In its brief course
lies all the realities
and verities of existence:
the bliss of growth,
the splendor of action,
the glory of power.

For yesterday is but a dream,
and tomorrow is only a vision.
But today, well lived,
Makes every yesterday
a dream of happiness.
And every tomorrow
vision of hope.

Look well, therefore, to this day.”

~ Sanskrit Proverb

Submitted by Cathy Brooks

 

Isaiah 43:2
“When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”
~The Holy Bible

Submitted by Lin Case

 

Tuesday, March 2, 2021

“I’d go out into a great big field all alone or in the deep, deep woods and I’d look up into the sky-up-up-up into that lovely blue sky that looks as if there was no end to its blueness. And then I’d just feel a prayer”

 by L. M. Montgomery (Lucy Maud Montgomery)

Submitted by Kelly Meath

Monday, March 1, 2021
“Lent is a call to renew a commitment
grown dull, perhaps,
by a life more marked by routine
than by reflection.”

~Joan Chittister

Submitted by Marilyn DeSmith

 

Sunday, February 28, 2021

“No one is born hating another person

because of the color of his skin,

 or his background,

or his religion.

People must learn to hate,

and if they can learn to hate,

they can be taught to love,

 for love comes more naturally

to the human heart than its opposite.”

~ Nelson Mandela

Submitted by Debbie Lyon

 

Saturday – February 27, 2021

Sleeping in the Forest

“I thought the earth
remembered me, she
took me back so tenderly, arranging
her dark skirts, her pockets
full of lichens and seeds. I slept
as never before, a stone
on the riverbed, nothing
between me and the white fire of the stars
but my thoughts, and they floated
light as moths among the branches
of the perfect trees. All night
I heard the small kingdoms breathing
around me, the insects, and the birds
who do their work in the darkness. All night
I rose and fell, as if in water, grappling
with a luminous doom. By morning
I had vanished at least a dozen times
into something better.”

     ~Mary Oliver

Submitted by Jay Garrett-Larsen

 

“The Christian is in a different position from other people who are trying to be good. They hope, by being good, to please God if there is one;——or if they think there is not——at least they hope to deserve approval from good men. But the Christian thinks any good he does comes from the Christ-life inside him. He does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us; just as the roof of a greenhouse does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines on it.”

~C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Submitted by Lorena Garmezy

 

Thursday, February 25, 2021

BURNING THE OLD YEAR

“Letters swallow themselves in seconds.
Notes friends tied to the doorknob,
transparent scarlet paper,
sizzle like moth wings,
marry the air.
So much of any year is flammable,
lists of vegetables, partial poems.
Orange swirling flame of days,
so little is a stone.
Where there was something and suddenly isn’t,
an absence shouts, celebrates, leaves a space.
I begin again with the smallest numbers.
Quick dance, shuffle of losses and leaves,
only the things I didn’t do
crackle after the blazing dies.”

~ Naomi Shihab Nye, Words Under the Words: Selected Poems

Submitted by Jim Malone

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Submitted by Rhonda Nyerges

 

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

“One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord,
across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed
two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.
After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times
along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.
This really troubled me,
so I asked the Lord about it.
“Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You’d walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.”
He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you!
Never, ever!
During your trials and testings,
when you saw only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you.”

~ Author Unknown
Submitted by Nataelee Mullen

Monday, February 22, 2021

Leviticus 26:6
“I will grant peace in the land,
and you will lie down
and no one will make you afraid.
I will remove wild beasts from the land,
and the sword will not
pass through your country.
The Lord gives strength to his people;
the Lord blesses his people
with peace.”
~The Holy Bible
Submitted by Rhonda Nyerges

Sunday, February 21, 2021

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born
to eternal life. Amen.”

~ St Francis of Assisi

Submitted by Amy Ogden

 

Saturday, February 20, 2021

“Faith is taking the first step

even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

 

~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

Submitted by Carla DeMeco

Friday – February 19, 2021

“Look to this day, for it is life,
the very life of life.
In its brief course lie all the realities
and truths of existence.
The joy of growth,
the splendor of action,
the glory of power.
For yesterday is but a memory
and tomorrow is only a vision.
But today well-lived
makes yesterday
a memory of happiness of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day.”

~From the Sanscrit

Submitted by Lu & Ron Krahl

 

Thursday – February 18, 2021

 

“Faith gives us an anchor

in the raging sea,

calm in the midst of chaos,

vision to know right from wrong,

and the courage to express it.”

 

Submitted by Marie Oakleaf

 

Ash Wednesday – February 17, 2021

To You We Shall Return

“Mysterious God,
morning, noon and night
reveal your creative power;
around us the whole earth cries glory.
Your presence beats in our blood,
children of creation!
Yet we go on our way deaf to the larks
above the track,
looking down into the mud
and not up into the clear sky.
And, even then, we miss the myriad small signs of hope: crocus opening its heart to the sun,
colors of sea-washed stones, rainbows in the mist.
We despair so easily.
We say: ‘Where is God in all this?’
And we deny it has any meaning.
We say: ‘God is dead.’
We cannot find or feel the pulse of your life in us.
We put our shaky faith in things we have made,
we give cringing power to the institutions.
We give up on ourselves, saying: ‘We are no good.’ We live in a way that says: ‘There is no God.’
And the song of creation
turns to dust and ashes on our lips.
Forgive us.
Dust we are – and to dust we shall return.
But, in Jesus, you chose to share our human frailty, to enter into our mortality in all its mystery,
to redeem this handful of dust.
We are yours – and to you we shall return. Amen.”

~ Ruth Burgess

Submitted by Dawn Garrett-Larsen

February 16, 2021

Hope is a dark elusive child curled in the womb
cradled in our arms,
hope growing, silently, secretly,
fluttering – putting out soft tentacles;
hope – stretching, stirring.

Hope growing silently,
secretly, swelling,
burgeoning, bursting,
until the flower opens,
the child is crowned, and hope is born.

God of all hopefulness,
for seeds of silent growth
and secret expectation,
we thank you.

God of steadfast love,
never leave us hopeless.
Bring hope to birth
in us, and your world.

God, giver of peace,
grow hope within us
and around us.
God of steadfast love,
never leave us hopeless.

~ Kate Mcllhagga

 

February 11, 2021
No One Can Take Your Place
The symphony needs each note
The book needs each word
The house needs each brick
The ocean needs each drop of water
The harvest needs each grain of wheat
The whole of humanity needs you
As and where you are
You are unique
No one can take your place.

~ Michel Quoist

 

February 10, 2021

Loving Parent God, forgive us for the many times that we cannot see and feel.

Every time we close our eyes in prayer, help us to open them afraid to see the many injustices and oppression around us.

Every time we raise our hands in praise to God, help us to stretch them out once again that we may help those who are in need.

Forgive us, and every time we kneel in prayer, help us to stand again with our brothers and sisters in struggle; help us to stand in solidarity with them.

~ Claudio Carvalhaes

 

February 5, 2021

Journeying with you, Creator God,

Is to journey in your world,
Full or marvels and such beauty.
To glimpse eternity in sky and sea,
To feel the earth and rock beneath my feet.

Journey with you, brother Jesus,
Is to journey with your friends.
To meet and travel a while together,
Then part at the crossroads,
Knowing you are with us all.

Journeying with you, Holy Spirit,
Is to journey with the wind.
To move to your wild music
Then try to sing your song
So others may hear.

~ Chris Polhill

 

 

February 4, 2021

Dedication

God, my friend,

I offer You each moment of this day:

whatever comes – the unexpected challenges,

diversions for my plans,

the need-filled glance,

the expectations and complaints,

the being taken for granted,

the slights and sleights-of-hand.

I’d be grateful if You could keep me aware of my pesky habits, like…

And, between us, perhaps we can enliven the spirits of those I live and work with, like…

Whatever else befalls,

I trust we can cope with it,

together.

Amen. 

~ William J. O’Malley

 

 

February 2, 2021

Christ our teacher,

you reach into our lives

not through instruction, but story.

Open our hearts to be attentive:

that seeing, we may perceive,

and hearing, we may understand,

and understanding, may act upon your word,

in your name, Amen.

~ Janet Morley

 

February 1, 2021

Our Global Village
Loving God, you commission us to care
For the widow and orphan,
To walk the ways of truth and mercy.
So often we fail in our global village,
Where many are hungry
And some are sick and diseased.
Ours is an unequal world,
Often a place of terror.
Lord, send us showers of compassion;
Let streams of justice flow.
May the parched lands of oppression
Become the fruitful fields of sharing.

~ John Johansen-Berg, England

 

January 28, 2021

Wheat Grain

The given beauty of it –
Inert in my palm
Tender, fragile thing
Quietly holding
Good for all people,
Complex and intricate,
Storing life and the means
Of life.

The silent wonder of it –
Jack in the beanstalk story:
Always ready to sprout
While the sower is away;
Fairy story; or miracle:
Seed, soil, labour, love;
Life, death, rebirth,
Earth’s best gift,
Seed of freedom
For all our tomorrows.

~ Joy Mead

 

January 27, 2021

I Corinthians 7:29-31

 

What if?

What if we don’t have 

all the time in the world

to welcome a stranger

to touch a beggar

to say “I love you”

to act kindly

before kindness is given

to let loose the better angels

of our nature?

Oh.

We don’t?

 

~ Scott L. Barton

 

 

January 26, 2021
The Words and Wanderings of Being Alive
I am thankful for:
insights that show me straight lines are overrated, logic and reason don’ t solve everything,
the table is round
and there’s music in the air;
quiet moments, noisy moments, inspiring moments; voices that echo in my mind
and become friends;
all-sorted conversations; seeds that don’t stay
where they are put;
my friend’s shoes that encourage walking on air
which is not an element for walking on;
earth-supported, water-washed, air- blessed, fire-inspired
bread and poetry;
people who in all their extraordinary ordinariness
turn up on the doorstep like parcels
of wonderful surprises;
connections and process;
being and becoming;
today and tomorrow,
which are different and always will be.
~ Joy Mead

 

 

January 22, 2021 

Each morning, Lord, I hold out my life to you,

an empty vessel for you to fill.

I give back to you this gift of a new day.

In your mercy

redeem today’s mistakes

and rescue its good intentions,

so that what I am 

may reflect your life in me.

~ Angela Ashwin

 

 

January 15, 2021

We give you thanks, Spirit of wisdom,

for you speak to us in ways

that often surprise us.

You uncover truths that we had kept hidden from ourselves

and support us in tasks we fear to undertake alone.

We give thanks

for your invitations to growth and intimacy and fullness of life,

and for the comfort you extend in our often uphill struggle

to be faithful.

Inspire us. Encourage us.

Fill us with enthusiasm

for the mission of your Church.

“Transforming Womb of God,

Conceive in us.

We ask you, create life anew:

Faith, the confidence to bear,

hope, continuously expectant,

Love, the true beginning.”

 

~ Janet Schaffran & Pat Kozak

 

January 13, 2021

A mustard seed

is full of possibility 

there’s a tree in there
somewhere
reach into the sky
little seed
what possibilities lie dormant in us
ready to grow into being
when we let go
and open ourselves
to the light of the sun
to the refreshing rain
to the hidden depths
of the mothering earth
solid beneath us
yet soft to shelter our sprouting
reach up to the sky
let yourself grow
and one day you will
find the birds of the air
resting with their heads under their wings
waking and singing the dawning of hope
sheltering in your branches
a soft nest
perhaps
a pale blue speckled egg
waiting to be born
and to fly
let yourself be grown
your life is full of possibility
you are the seed
you are the bird
and you are also the tree

~ Lotte Webb

 

January 8, 2021

As I utter these prayers from my mouth O God

in my soul may I feel your presence.

The knee that is stiff 

O healer make pliant

the heart that is hard, make warm beneath your wing

the wound that is giving me pain.

O best of healers, make whole

and may my hopes and my fears

find a listening place with you.

 

~ J. Philip Newell

 

January 6, 2021

Every spot is holy,

for something has occurred,

Unfolding of a flower bud,

Nesting of a bird.

Where honest words are spoken, 

Where loyalty is found,

Where those who seek for peace have walked 

Is Consecrated ground

 

~ Georgia H. MacPherson

 

 

 

December 29, 2020

 

December 28, 2020

 

 

December 24, 2020

 

December 22, 2020

 

December 21, 2020:

 

December 18, 2020

Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and…try to love the questions themselves…the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

 

December 17, 2020

God of justice, keep us silent

when the only words we have to utter are ones of judgement,

exclusion or prejudice.

Teach us to face the wounds in our own hearts

God of justice, give us power of speech to resist injustice, oppression and hate,

not only on our own behalf, but for others who are not heard.

Make us peacemakers and restorers of the streets.

~ Ruth Burgess & Kathy Galloway

 

December 15, 2020

Some of us walk into Advent tethered to our unresolved yesterdays

the pain still stabbing

the hurt still throbbing.

It’s not that we don’t know better,

it’s just that we can’t stand up anymore by ourselves.

On the way to Bethlehem,

will you give us a hand?

~ Ann Weems

 

December 10, 2020

Giver of Hope 

Spirit of God,
you open doors that are locked,
break the shackles of slavery,
erode the pyramids of domination,
and tumble tyrants from their thrones.

You give us life
and whisper in our hearts,
“You are God’s beloved child,
and always will be.”

Deep in every human heart
you plant a seed of promise,
a glimmer of expectation, and a spark of hope.

And because you give us breath, we praise you. 

~ Brian Wren

 

December 9, 2020

When undulating activities tilt our days and threaten to throw us off balance,

When prayer strains under pressures

Of not-enough-time and nothing-happens,

When those we care about are pained

And we nearly cave in from our caring,

You continue to be a hub of stillness,

A nucleus of love, our core equilibrium.

No matter how out of control we spin,

You remain the peaceful Center for us.

~ Joyce Rupp

 

 

December 8,2020

From fear of staying still, O God deliver me.

From fear of surrender, O God deliver me.

From fear of decision, O God deliver me.

From fear of losing respect, O God deliver me.

From fear of facing my fear, O God deliver me.

But from the fear that marks your presence,

I beseech you O God, do not deliver me.

~ Janet Morley

 

 

December 7, 2020

We live always during Advent. We are always waiting for the messiah to come. The messiah has come, but is not yet fully manifest. The messiah is not fully manifest in each of our souls, not fully manifest in humankind as a whole: that is to say, that just as Christ was born according to the flesh in Bethlehem of Judah, so must he be born according to the spirit in each of our souls. 

~ Jean Danielou

 

 

December 4, 2020

Somewhere between Annunciation and Magnificat;
between the angel thought and the setting out
into the unknown is the waiting time

when ordinary happenings: leaping of babies, conversations of home, holding out hands,
in friendship and trust, become miracles;
that bridge the gap between loving and being.

Then the words that tumble out of the everyday
begin to take the rhythm of a liberation song
and the body moves wholly towards tomorrow.

~ Joy Mead

 

November 24, 2020

Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.

~ Maya Angelou, Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer

 

 

November 23, 2020

Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude.

Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness.

Thankfulness may consist merely of words.

Gratitude is shown in acts.

—Henri Frederic Amiel

 

Nov. 18, 2020 

Riddle

It moves mountains of green water

marbled with white and is a playground

for the seabirds.

It shakes stone buildings to their foundations 

and teases sheep –

carding their wool the wrong way.

It howls outside shut doors,

worries flocks of clouds,

sings hymns in the rafters of churchs built to keep it out –

and leaves preachers and poets

out of breath, wordless.

~ Jan Sutch Pickard

 

 

Nov. 17, 2020

In the breadshop,

among homely smells

and human conversations,

I started to weep with joy:

for the dailiness of bread

and shared meals,

people meeting and needs met,

the sacraments 

of love and laughter.

~ Jan Sutch Pickard

 

 

Nov. 13, 2020

From my wealth and poverty,

I want to live your jubliee.

Help me to give, act and pray

to share your good news:

for the poor –

release from unpayable debt;

for the rich –

freedom from the power of money.

~ Rebecca Dudley

 

 

 

Nov. 6, 2020

All-Powerful One

How potent you emanating energy.

Swift enough to shape wild rivers

And bend the way their waters run.

Strong enough to lessen violence,

Yet war, hatred, and conflict persist.

What can we expect from your power?

An influence of love, not domination,

Sweeping through the human heart.

A force of perpetual kindness, not fear,

Drawing us with magnetic affection.

~ Joyce Rupp

 

 

Nov. 4, 2020

If you can give

You can live,

And not count 

Nor mount up

Another’s debt –

You can forget

And let

Be…

For we

All must

Trust – 

And to trust

Is to give…

And to give

Is to give.

~ Margot Arthurton

 

 

Nov. 3, 2020

Advocates, peacemakers,
Those who seek justice
And all who support them.
Let us pray in confidence
And inspire to action,
Living out our faith
As the people of the way,
Lighting that way
For younger generations
And all who have given up hope.
We come together
In prayer and reflection
To consider the plight of the earth,
Of humanity and all living things,
To remember in solemnity,
To consider in kindness,
And to encourage one another
In the finding of solutions,
In the task of applying them
And in the will to work together
To carry them through.
~ Anastasia Somerville-Wong

 

Nov. 2, 2020

Love is Like Yeast/Matthew 13:33

Love is like yeast,

growing organically,

multiplying unseen

from the microscopic.

Love is a living thing,

so hard to kill

but fragile and dependent

on the right conditions for growth.

 

Love brings transformation;

enlarging our perspective,

swelling our compassion,

forcing out the rigid boundaries

of our assumptions about truth.

 

Love is like yeast, 

generating warmth from within,

lightening the heavy heart

as life fizzes over

with rising bubbles of joy.

~ Peter Trow 

 

 

Oct. 23, 2020

God of peace,

in the wilderness of conflict

let us hear your voice

and be challenged to repent.

Fill us with your holy rage

that we may join your protest

and proclaim the injustice of war.

Embolden us wit the Gospel of hope

that we may oppose oppression

and proclaim liberation.

Amen.

~ Annabel Shilson-Thomas

 

Oct. 22, 2020

Being There

In the deepest depths of pain

Of tiredness

Of vulnerability and fear,

I need you.

I do not need your words

Or wise advice.

I just need you.

You and me together

In the stillness,

Holding my hand as I weep,

Cradling me in the warmth of your love.

In the silence,

Together.

Easing the loneliness,

Sharing the pain.

 Just being beside me

In your knowingness.

Knowing that you cannot know the detail

Or my tortured mind,

Can never plumb these depths of pain.

The comfort of your presence

Bring healing.

Your hand on mine.

Your thoughts

So closely intertwined with mine

In a deep embrace,

Of love,

A deep acknowledgement of my needs…

That I need you

Just 

To be there.

~  Pat Marsh

 

 

 

Oct. 20, 2020

Living Water

A rainfall of your love

seeps into parched spirits.

A shower of your kindness

Soaks dried out caring.

A sprinkle of your grace

Moistens hardened grudges.

A stream of your comfort

SoftenPat Marshs endless hurts.

A deluge of your peace

Washes away irritability.

~ Joyce Rupp

 

 

Oct. 19, 2020

God, you promise joy and gladness if we but listen. “Listen to me, my poeple, and give heed to me, my nation; for a teaching will go out from me, and my justice for a light to the peoples.” Yes, God, how we yearn for the wate place in our wolrd to be comforted and the desert of our lives to be turned into a garden. Your words are our joy, our light, and our hope!

~ Leah F. Matthews

 

 

Oct. 16, 2020

Pursue Me

When I have thought on all of you my meagre soul can bear, O God, still turn my thoughts to you again;

pursue me, my relentless Lord, to corners where I crouch and quake.

For your Name’s sake. Amen.

~ Art Addington

 

 

Oct. 15, 2020

Friendship

God, we give thanks for friendship and for all the amazing people who love us for who we are.

God, we know that without these people we would be less loving and less amazing to others.

God, we give thanks for friendship. Amen.

~ Ruth Burgess

 

 

Oct. 7, 2020

When you get healed, love.

When you grow up, love.

When you feel loving, love.

When you get it together and have dealt with all your mother/father/husband/children wounds, then you must love.

~ Richard Rohr

 

 

Oct. 6, 2020

Awesome, compassionate merciful God, I struggle with all the shoulds, oughts, and musts of life. I struggle with my faith and my ability to trust. I struggle with my concern and compassion for others. you have given promises, yet I am slow to trust. You have given examples of unwavering faith, yet I forget so soon. Help me to know that it is not my keeping your law which creates your love, but your love which prompts my life of faith.

~ Richard E. Osborn

 

 

Oct. 5, 2020

 

Lord, make us quiet, as we place in your hands those for whom we want to pray. We know that you love them with a love greater than we could ever imagine. In the stillness we are here, with you, for them. Use us, Lord.

~ A.A. 

 

Oct 2, 2020

I am giving Thee love with my whole devotion, I am giving Thee kneeling with my whole desire, I am giving Thee love with my whole heart, I am giving Thee affection with my whole sense; I am giving Thee  existence with my whole mind, I am giving Thee my soul, O God of all gods.

~ Esther De Waal

 

Oct. 1, 2020

Take time to listen to the birds,

the waves,

the wind.

Take time to breathe in the air,

the earth,

the ocean.

Take time to be still,

to be silent,

to allow God to fill you up

with deep peace and love.

~ Mairead Maguire; Recipient, Nobel Peace Prize; Ireland

 

 

 

Sept. 24, 2020:

A Prayer for the Young
God of boisterous spirit and unflinching hope,

We pray now for our children and youth,
For their nurture and protection,

Courage and resilience,
Comfort and assurance.
We pray for their characters,

For honesty and kindness,

For diligence and learning,

For enterprise and optimism,

And we pray for their future
That they might enjoy the untainted beauty

Of a world now so endangered,
Of unspoiled landscapes and pristine seas,

Of clear blue skies and magnificent beasts,

The greatest vistas and the smallest marvels

That they might learn to steward well
All the earth and beyond.
~ Anastasia Somerville-Wong

 

 

Sept. 22, 2020

Everything exposed to the light itself become light. (Ephesians 5:13) In prayer, we merely keep returning the divine gaze and we become its reflection, almost in spite of ourselves. (2 Corinthians 3:18) The word prayer has often been trivialized by making it into a way of getting what we want. But I use prayer as the umbrella word for any interior journey or practices that allow us to experience faith, hope, and love within ourselves. It is not a technique for getting things, a pious exercise that somehow makes God happy, or a requirement for entry into heaven. It is much more like practicing heaven now.

~ Richard Rohr

 

Sept. 21, 2020

Prayer for Life

Creator God, we come to you in prayer,

We come to you subdues by the events happening in the world today.

How often we have cried to You that our eyes may be opened, 

Our eyes!

How often we have cried to You that our mouths may speak words of love,

Not condemnation, Our mouths!

Almighty Teacher, teach us other ways of seeing,

Other ways of hearing,

Teach us a new language, the language of Jesus Christ

And lead us towards a new understanding of our fellow human beings

That touched by your love, barriers can be broken

And the reality of peace will come.

Amen.

~ Pamela Klimcke Ireland

 

 

Sept. 18, 2020

August 26, 2020

August 25, 2020

~Washington Matthews

Compline

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, remembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half.heard,
in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always –
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of things shall be well
When the tongues of flames are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and rose are one.
~ T.S. Eliot

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Jane Yolen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

April 21, 2020

A Great Pilgrimage

I felt in need of a great pilgrimage

so I sat still for three days

and God came to me. 

~ Author Kabir

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

April 20, 2020

Spirit of Comfort and Longing

Spirit of comfort and longing,

enfold my fear,

unclothe me of my pride,

unfold my thoughts,

uncomplicate my heart,

and give me surrender:

that I may tell my wounds,

lay down my work,

and greet the dark.

~ Janet Morley

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

April 13, 2020

How the Virus Stole Easter

 By Kristi Bothur

 (With a nod to Dr. Seuss)

Twas late in ‘19 when the virus began

 Bringing chaos and fear to all people, each land.

People were sick, hospitals full,

 Doctors overwhelmed, no one in school.

As winter gave way to the promise of spring,

 The virus raged on, touching peasant and king.

People hid in their homes from the enemy unseen.

 They YouTubed and Zoomed, social-distanced, and cleaned.

April approached and churches were closed.

 “There won’t be an Easter,” the world supposed.

“There won’t be church services, and egg hunts are out.

 No reason for new dresses when we can’t go about.”

Holy Week started, as bleak as the rest.

 The world was focused on masks and on tests.

“Easter can’t happen this year,” it proclaimed.

 “Online and at home, it just won’t be the same.”

Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, the days came and went.

 The virus pressed on; it just would not relent.

The world woke Sunday and nothing had changed.

 The virus still menaced, the people, estranged.

“Pooh pooh to the saints,” the world was grumbling.

 “They’re finding out now that no Easter is coming.

“They’re just waking up! We know just what they’ll do!

 Their mouths will hang open a minute or two,

 And then all the saints will all cry boo-hoo.

“That noise,” said the world, “will be something to hear.”

 So it paused and the world put a hand to its ear.

And it did hear a sound coming through all the skies.

 It started down low, then it started to rise.

But the sound wasn’t depressed.

 Why, this sound was triumphant!

 It couldn’t be so!

 But it grew with abundance!

The world stared around, popping its eyes.

 Then it shook! What it saw was a shocking surprise!

Every saint in every nation, the tall and the small,

 Was celebrating Jesus in spite of it all!

It hadn’t stopped Easter from coming! It came!

 Somehow or other, it came just the same!

And the world with its life quite stuck in quarantine

 Stood puzzling and puzzling.

 “Just how can it be?”

“It came without bonnets, it came without bunnies,

 It came without egg hunts, cantatas, or money.”

Then the world thought of something it hadn’t before.

 “Maybe Easter,” it thought, “doesn’t come from a store.

 Maybe Easter, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

And what happened then?

 Well….the story’s not done.

 What will YOU do?

 Will you share with that one

 Or two or more people needing hope in this night?

 Will you share the source of your life in this fight?

The churches are empty – but so is the tomb,

 And Jesus is victor over death, doom, and gloom.

So this year at Easter, let this be our prayer,

 As the virus still rages all around, everywhere.

May the world see hope when it looks at God’s people.

 May the world see the church is not a building or steeple.

 May the world find Faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection,

 May the world find Joy in a time of dejection.

 May 2020 be known as the year of survival,

 But not only that –

 Let it start a revival!!

Good Friday – April 10, 2020
‘I thirst’ (John 19:29 KJB/AV)

“I thirst

The heat of the midday sun beats back
from the bare rocks of this hilltop,
from the bleached wood of this cross.
The last time this man saw water
was when Pilate washed the blood-guilt from his hands.
The last time it passed these cracked lips
was at table with his friends –
who have now run away like raindrops into the thirsty earth.

I thirst

He imagines water flowing down a river-bed
after the spring rains, when the land is green
where trees grow at the water’s edge,
and – watched by kingfishers in their branches and by crowds from the city alone the bank –
two men wade into the Jordan,
waist deep in the still unpolluted waters.
John cupped his hand and raised it,
a rosary of bright drops falling as he poured water over this head that is now beaded with blood.
Then the dove came down out of a clear heaven
and a voice proclaimed, “this is my beloved son…”
But now the only words under the empty sky are

I thirst

‘Son,’ said his mother at the wedding,
‘there is no wine left!’
And he laughed, ‘what’s that to me?’
But now, when his hour has come, he remembers
that in the courtyard there stood six stone water jars –
huge and full to the brim with cool pure water –
and that he sent the servants
to draw all the wine that they wanted –
to quench everyone’s thirst,
enliven the party and celebrate human love.
That was a sign, water into wine,
just as much as the voice from heaven.
folk said then that the host had left the best till last.
but at last, for the man on the cross, water will do.

I thirst

‘Give me a drink,’ he had said
to the woman at the well outside the city,
her look mingled wonder and mockery.
‘You, a Jewish man, ask for a drink from
Samaritan woman?’
So many prejudices, prohibitions, dangers
of misunderstanding.
Water was the only simple thing.
He remembers how thirsty he was,
sitting there by the well.
She drew water out of its depths,
the bucket overflowing, splashing, echoing,
precious water coming up dark and then flashing gold as she poured it out in the sunshine.
The traveler drank his fill,
letting if caress his throat, grinning in gratitude,
splashing it on his face, his hands, his dusty feet,
making free with the water that was her gift.
Then the talk turned to living water –
a gift to her she didn’t, at first, understand.
But she had understood his human need:

I thirst

His friends hadn’t understood,
when he took the basin and the towel
and washed their feet.
The upper room was filled with baffled silence,
the slip-slop of water, words of protest,
uncertain laughter. but his gentle hands

turned a routine task into a sing of caring:
the water blessed them, brought them together.
Though they drank wine that night,
for some the water was what they remembered:
the washing, the water poured out for them.
And it went on flowing through their lives.
As his life ebbs, he calls out again

I thirst

The soldiers raise a sponge soaked in sour wine, vinegar to his parches lips. it is sharp
as the barbed wire and the minefields along
the Jordan;
as cheap as booze which people drink to forget
and as stale as a marriage the doesn’t work out;
as bitter as the divisions between men and women,
rich and poor, races, different faiths;
it silences the cry for justice
and it leaves a bad taste in the mouth;
it is as numbing as our guilt, as our fear of being loved.

This man’s life was living water. Is this the last word?

I thirst” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~                                                                                                                                                                                               

Maundy Thursday – April 9

Prayer before going to church on Maundy Thursday

­

“I will walk in the wind

to meet you Jesus

to let you wash my feet.

I don’t want to.

I would rather stay here in the warm,

away from your towels and water

and offers of forgiveness,

for I know what you mean,

what you ask,

what you give.

But I will come,

for I cannot stay here alone,

and I cannot run elsewhere,

for I know that you are waiting,

welcoming.

And I know that only you

can heal me and hold me.

So I will come

with empty hands to your supper,

empty hands and dirty feet.

I will come as your guest

and with water, bread and wine

you will make me whole

and set me free to serve you.”

           ~ Ruth Burgess

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April 8, 2020 

Open my eyes so I can see the wonders of the earth
And the beauty of the sky
Open them wide so
that you can see all the people
that God has given us
as friends to love and abide
For the gifts given to us
with friendship and love
Tranquility and peace
always look for it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

April 7, 2020 

How do we wait
in these fragile times?

How do we understand
resurrection
in the face of so much death?

How can we be still
When so many around
are violated?

Questions
that we cannot answer –
just like the disciples of old.

They were baffled too,
and lost,
weary with grief.

Yet with them
we can pray:”

“God, in these fragile times,
help us to remain open to your Spirit, to work
for the coming of peace and understanding
in our violent and divided world.”

~ Kathy Galloway

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April 6, 2020

“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”

~Audre Lorde

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Palm Sunday – April 5, 2020

Peace Prayer of St. Francis

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

when there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

Grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console;

to be understood, as to understand,

to be loved as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying (to ourselves) that we

are born to eternal life.”

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April 4, 2020                                                                                                                                                                     “You can’t use up creativity, the more you use, the more you have.”

~Maya Angelou

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April 3, 2020

Eagle Poem – Joy Harjo

“To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you.
And know there is more
That you can’t see, can’t hear;
Can’t know except in moments
Steadily growing, and in languages
That aren’t always sound but other
Circles of motion.
Like eagle that Sunday morning
Over Salt River. Circled in blue sky
In wind, swept our hearts clean
With sacred wings.
We see you, see ourselves and know
That we must take the utmost care
And kindness in all things.
Breathe in, knowing we are made of
All this, and breathe, knowing
We are truly blessed because we
Were born, and die soon within a
True circle of motion,
Like eagle rounding out the morning
Inside us.
We pray that it will be done
In beauty.
In beauty.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

April 2, 2020

“Gratitude, like faith, is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it grows, and the more power you have to use it on your behalf. If you do not practice gratefulness, its benefaction will go unnoticed, and your capacity to draw on its gifts will be diminished. To be grateful is to find blessings in everything. This is the most powerful attitude to adopt, for there are blessings in everything.”

~ Alan Cohen

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April 1, 2020

Chimes of Freedom

”Far between sundown’s finish an’ midnight’s broken toll
We ducked inside the doorway, thunder crashing
As majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the sounds
Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing
Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight
Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight
An’ for each an’ ev’ry underdog soldier in the night
An’ we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing
Through the city’s melted furnace, unexpectedly we watched
With faces hidden as the walls were tightening
As the echo of the wedding bells before the blowin’ rain
Dissolved into the bells of the lightning
Tolling for the rebel, tolling for the rake
Tolling for the luckless, the abandoned an’ forsakened
Tolling for the outcast, burnin’ constantly at stake
An’ we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing”

 ~ Bob Dylan 
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March 31, 2020
“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

~Martin Niemoller

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

March 30, 2020

 “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because God first loved us.”  

~John 4: 18-19 

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March 29, 2020

“You are not a drop in the ocean, you are the entire ocean in a drop.”

~Rumi

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March 28, 2020
Recently, having been through struggling times, I have used my Bible to find passages to sustain me. As I was reading through Psalms one verse called out to me. I read it often. It helped me with my worries… still I turn to it.

Psalm 55:22
“Cast burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”

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March 27, 2020

“In the external scheme of things, shining moments are as brief as the twinkling of an eye, yet such twinklings are what eternity is made of — moments when we human beings can say “I love you,” “I’m proud of you,” “I forgive you,” “I’m grateful for you.” That’s what eternity is made of: invisible imperishable good stuff.”

~ Fred Rogers (1928-2003)

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March 26, 2020
There is a lot of unclear information about where this poem came from but I think that it was found scratched into the wall of a concentration camp after WWII. 
“I believe in the sun, even when it’s not shining. 
I believe in love, even when I feel it not. 
I believe in God, even when He is silent.”

Author Unknown

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March 25, 2020

Wild Geese

“You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.”

~from Dream Work by Mary Oliver

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March 24, 2020

“May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
And the rain fall soft about your fields
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.”

~Irish Blessing

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March 23, 2020 

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March 20, 2020

“Each moment of our days–our meals, our conversations with friends, our escapes, obsessions, romances, and distractions–is what we make of our lives. Our habits and rhythms of life are formative not only of who we are but how we know the world, including whether we know it to be a place where God is present or absent.”

~ Mike Cosper

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March 19, 2020

Morning Poem
“Every morning
the world
is created.
Under the orange

sticks of the sun
the heaped
ashes of the night
turn into leaves again

and fasten themselves to the high branches —
and the ponds appear
like black cloth
on which are painted islands

of summer lilies.
If it is your nature
to be happy
you will swim away along the soft trails

for hours, your imagination
alighting everywhere.
And if your spirit
carries within it

the thorn
that is heavier than lead —
if it’s all you can do
to keep on trudging —

there is still
somewhere deep within you
a beast shouting that the earth
is exactly what it wanted —

each pond with its blazing lilies
is a prayer heard and answered
lavishly,
every morning,

whether or not
you have ever dared to be happy,
whether or not
you have ever dared to pray.”
~ from Dream Work (1986) by Mary Oliver

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Life is what happens to you while you make other plans”

~John Lennon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lockdown

Yes there is fear.
Yes there is isolation.
Yes there is panic buying.
Yes there is sickness.
Yes there is even death.
But,
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise
You can hear the birds again.
They say that after just a few weeks of quiet
The sky is no longer thick with fumes
But blue and grey and clear.
They say that in the streets of Assisi
People are singing to each other
across the empty squares,
keeping their windows open
so that those who are alone
may hear the sounds of family around them.
They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.
Today a young woman I know
is busy spreading fliers with her number
through the neighbourhood
So that the elders may have someone to call on.
Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples
are preparing to welcome
and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary
All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting
All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are.
To how little control we really have.
To what really matters.
To Love.
So we pray and we remember that
Yes there is fear.
But there does not have to be hate.
Yes there is isolation.
But there does not have to be loneliness.
Yes there is panic buying.
But there does not have to be meanness.
Yes there is sickness.
But there does not have to be disease of the soul
Yes there is even death.
But there can always be a rebirth of love.
Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.
Today, breathe.
Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic
The birds are singing again
The sky is clearing,
Spring is coming,
And we are always encompassed by Love.
Open the windows of your soul
And though you may not be able
to touch across the empty square,
Sing.

-from Richard Hendrick (Brother Richard) in Ireland
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grand Canyon

“They say the layered earth rose up
ancient rock leviathan
trailing ages in its wake
lifting earth-mass toward the sun
and coursing water cut the rock away
to leave these many-storied walls
expose of ages gone
around this breathless emptiness
more wondrous far
than earth had ever known.

My life has risen layered too
each day each year in turn has left
its fossil life and sediments
evidence of lived and unlived hours
the tedium the anguish yes the joy
that some heart-deep vitality
keeps pressing upward
toward the day I die

And spirit cuts like water through it all
carving out this emptiness
so inner eye can see
the soring height of canyon walls within
walls whose very color, texture, form
redeem in beauty all my life has been
the darkness and the light, the false, the true
while deep below the living waters run
cutting deeper through my parts
to resurrect my grave-bound heart
making, always making, all things new.”

~Parker J. Palmer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Come and find the quiet center in the crowded life we lead, find the room for hope to enter, find the frame where we are freed; clear the chaos and the clutter, clear the eyes, so we can see all the things that really matter, be at peace, and simply be.”

~ Shirley Erena Murray

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Isaiah 6:1–8
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke.

And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!” (NRSV)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Peace of Wild Things

by Wendell Berry

“When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Let me keep my distance from those who think they have the answers.  Let me keep company always with those who say “Look!” and laugh in astonishment, and bow their heads.”
~Mary Oliver

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

~Martin Luther King, Jr

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“In this world there’s a whole lot of trouble, baby
In this world there’s a whole lot of pain
In this world there’s a whole lot of trouble, but
A whole lot of ground to gain
Why take when you could be giving?
Why watch as the world goes by?
It’s a hard enough life to be living
Why walk when you can fly?
In this world there’s a whole lot of sorrow
In this world there’s a whole lot of shame
In this world there’s a whole lot of sorrow
And a whole lot of ground to gain
When you spend your whole life wishing
Wanting, and wondering why
It’s a long enough life to be living
Why walk when you can fly?
And in this world there’s a whole lot of golden
In this world there’s a whole lot of pain
In this world you’ve a soul for a compass
And a heart for a pair of wings
There’s a star on the far horizon
Rising bright in an azure sky
For the rest of the time that you’re given
Why walk when you can fly?”

~Mary Chapin Carpenter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.”

~Wayne Dyer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Turning Thirty

“Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his work.” – Luke 3:23

“Luke doesn’t mean that Jesus lazed around for twenty-nine years and then, upon turning thirty, got off his duff and went to work. It’s true, no one knows for sure what Jesus was up to before his thirtieth, but Christians have traditionally imagined him knocking out tables and benches in Joseph’s shop. In other words, working.

So it’s not work that Jesus begins at thirty. It’s his work. Work only he can do; work that fits him; God-imagined, God-bestowed, Jesus-shaped work. A purpose so persuasive that he stops filling orders for dining room chairs, picks the wood curls out of his hair, and leaves his mother calling after him at the door. His work.

Each of us has our work, too. A purpose we find in the overlap of who we are, what we’re good at, what we love, and what our human neighborhood is needing. Work that generates motivating joy as we lend ourselves to it. Work that makes us more fully who we were created to be as we give ourselves away in doing it.

Sometimes our work coincides with our jobs. Sometimes it doesn’t: it disrupts and uproots us. Sometimes it leads to great public achievements. Often it’s as hidden as Jesus was in those first twenty-nine. Whatever it is, we’re meant to seek and find this work that is seeking us. We’re meant to turn thirty, which we can do at any age. The important thing isn’t how old we are when we find it. The important thing is that, like Jesus, once we find it, we step out in trust and do it.”

Prayer
“God, may I find the work that is mine to do, and the courage and grace to do it.”
~ Mary Luti

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Be the living expression of God’s Kindness; Kindness in your face, Kindness in your eyes, Kindness in your smile, Kindness”

~ Mother Teresa

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“The time is always right to do what is right.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.”
– Rosa Parks

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” —Mother Teresa

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

—Barack Obama

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 “Truth is powerful and it prevails.”

— Sojourner Truth

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” 

~ Nelson Mandela

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hate is too great a burden to bear.  It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.”
—Coretta Scott King

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.”

 — Langston Hughes

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.”
—Desmond Tutu

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?”  Martin Luther King Jr.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.
– Jackie Robinson

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘Come,’
He said, and I did,
Following his voice
Through the crowd on the edge of town.
I needed wait no longer:
My voice had been heard
Calling for change,
Crying out for a fresh start –
Even though it meant casting off old ways,
No longer the needy person everybody knew.
‘Come,’ he said
And I saw what God could do.
‘Your faith has healed you,’
He told me. ‘Now go.’
He never said, ‘Follow me’ –
But, as I could see, there was no other way.

February 5, 2020

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘Follow me,’ 
He said, for I had asked him
The next step on a journey
Of personal salvation.
He reminded me of all the good things
I already knew and did.
So nothing was left to do –
I was ready to go.
‘Now sell all you have,’
He said, ‘Give it away to the poor.’
How could I let go just like that –
Lighten the load,
Shed my responsibilities,
Become someone I did not know?
What would be left?
‘Follow me,’ he said
But with heavy heart
I shook my head

February 4, 2020

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘Go,’ he said.
‘Let the children be fed first –
Why should the dogs eat their bread?’
But I would not be turned away:
Hoping for healing,
Hungry for justice,
I stood my ground and argued:
‘In God’s household
Even the dogs are fed.’
Seeing my faith,
He told me to go home
And find my daughter healed.
‘Go,’ he said – and I did.

Feb. 3, 2020

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘Follow me,’
he said – and I did.
Tax collecting never made me popular,
But it put a roof over my head
And bread on my table –
Bitter bread, because grabbed and grudged.
He invited me to become
No longer dog in the manger
But host at the feast.
He came right under my roof
Sharing my bread
And showing me how to share
With all the rest.
‘Follow me,’
He said – and I did.

January 31, 2020

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Follow Me
“Follow me,”
he said – and we did.
We let go of the heavy wet nets,
the tough strands of tarred rope:
our strong hands
were empty – we let go
or all we knew how to do,
our livelihood, our identity-
to follow a dream,
a job description
that no one in their senses
would take seriously.
“Follow me,”
he said – and we did.

January 30, 2020

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“The Christian life is not about pleasing God the finger-shaker and judge. It is not about believing now or being good now for the sake of heaven later. It is about entering a relationship in the present that begins to change everything now. Spirituality is about this process: the opening of the heart to the God who is already here.”
― Marcus J. Borg

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“When we lose one blessing, another is often most unexpectedly given in its place.”  – C.S. Lewis

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Love is what God is, love is why Jesus came, and love is why he continues to come, year after year to person after person… May you experience this vast, expansive, infinity indestructible love that has been  yours all along. May you discover that this love is as wide as the sky and as small as the cracks in your heart no one else knows about, and may you know, deep in your bones, that love wins.”

~ Rob Bell

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“And this is it. This is the life we get here on earth. We get to give away what we receive. We get to believe in each other. We get to forgive and be forgiven. We get to love imperfectly. And we never know what effect it will have for years to come. And all of  it…all of  it is completely worth it.”

― Nadia Bolz-Weber

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“If you can’t fly then run,

if you can’t run then walk,

if you can’t walk then crawl,

but whatever you do

you have to keep moving forward.”​

~Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”

~ Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 1/17/20

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everybody can be great … because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.

~ Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 1/16/20

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy Birthday, MLK, Jr.!
1/15/20

The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But… the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’

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From Martin Luther King,  Jr. 

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

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Something Wise, Something Joyful
Walk wisely in this world.
Listen before you speak.
Look deeply before you leap.
Share love with those who walk beside you.

And, on long winter nights
When the moon is hiding
And frost crusts the soil,
Do not be afraid to try out something different,
Something wild,
Something joyful,
Just for the hell of it
And hope that it leads you to heaven.
~ Ruth Burgess 01/10/20

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1/08/2020
In-dwelling God, we greet you in this new year. As centuries come and go, your presence is ever new when we open our senses to receive you. We ask now that you sharpen our awareness of your creative energy at work within and around us. Let us welcome you in the stranger who is not yet a friend, in the hungry who need the food and care we might provide, in the nurse who fulfills our thirst for water and kindness. Show us your expectations for us this season. Amen.
~ Lavon Baylor

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Epiphany 01/06/20

Epiphany is a jewel
multi-faceted,
flashing color and light.
Epiphany embraces
the nations of the world,
kneeling on a bare floor
before a child.
Epiphany shows
a man
kneeling in the waters of baptism.
Epiphany reveals
the best is kept for last
as water becomes wine
at the wedding feast.

O Holy One
to whom was given
the gifts of power and prayer,
the gift of suffering,
help us to use these same gifts
in your way
and in your name.

~Kate McIlhagga

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Away in the Manger…at Home in the Heart

The gift of God’s creative Word that called each one into being is swept into our heart this day like the rush of breath of God’s Holy Spirit. Truly at home in the heart of God, filled with the presence of Divine life and breath, we are called to incarnation. We are invited to the body, the vessel of God’s very presence. We become the embrace for wounded friends, the words of grace for the heartbroken, encouragement and love for those who are the subjects of our greatest relationships. Today may you become a Bethlehem as Divine love is birthed into your life.

~ Rev. Dr. Brenda K. Buckwell, OBL, OSB 01/03/20

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Christ Like! 01/02/2020
I open the stable door,
I look into the manger,
I see the child there,
looking just like you.
I give my love as a blanket
to keep you warm
as I discover in you
the Christ of today
and when you cry
I hold you in my arms
and realize
you’re just like me.
~Richard Becher

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12/31/2019
We welcome the new beginning that a fresh year offers. All our good intentions are caught up in the promise of starting over. Help us to leave behind that which we cannot change and move forward boldly on the paths in which you would lead us. We accept from your hand the water of life. May the fountain of love never run dry, for we need to drink from it day after day. Amen.
~ Lavon Bayler

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The World Still Knows 12/30/2019
The night is still dark and a procession of Herods still terrorize the earth, killing the children to stay in power. The world still knows its Herods, but it also still knows men and women who pack their dreams safely in their hearts and set off toward Bethlehem, faithful against all odds, undeterred by fatigue or rejection,
to kneel to a child.

And the world still knows those persons wise enough to follow a star, those who do not consider themselves too intelligent
Too powerful
Too wealthy
to kneel to a child.

And the world still knows those hearts so humble that they’re ready to hear the word of a song and to leave what they have, to go
to kneel to a child.

The night is still dark, but by the light of the star, even today we can still see
to kneel to a child.

~ Ann Weems

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A Christmas Song 12/27/2019
In the cold of the night
as Mary held her baby tight,
O, warn us, hold us
in your love, God with us, in Christ.

In the lonely night
as Mary calmed her baby’s fright,
O, still us, comfort us
in your love, God with us, in Christ.

In the peaceful night
as Mary trusted all was right
O, guide us, hearten us,
with your love, God with us, in Christ.

In the dark of night
as Mary saw her baby’s light,
O, shine on, shine on us
with your love, God with us, in Christ.
~ Michael Coffey

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Christmas Eve 12/25/2019

Tonight old dreams die and new dreams come to life. The Promise is fulfilled! Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace.  Hope gives way to joy and prayer to proclamation. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace. Our candles illuminate our story. Dawn invades midnight. The Light of the World has come. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace. And this light is a light for all; igniting a flame within the soul, warming us from within, radiating love, lighting our lives with the presence of God-come-alive in human flesh within us and among us now and always. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, goodwill to all.

~ Ruth C. Duck & Maren C. Tirabassi

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The Christmas Spirit 12/23/2019
The Christmas spirit is that hope which tenaciously clings to the hearts of the faithful
and announces in the face of any Herod the world can produce and all the inn doors slammed in our face and all the dark nights of our souls that with God all things are still possible, that even now unto us a Child is born!
~ Ann Weems

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Prayer 12/18/2019

Ransom me, O God of freedom, from my captivity. Set me free from the things that keep me in bondage. Empower me to take action to reach one of your least or lost. May I see your face in all those I meet today, and may I be your hands and heart in this captive world. Amen.
~ Beth A. Richardson

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The Wild Rose 12/17/2019

Sometimes hidden from me
In daily custom and in trust,
So that I live by you unaware
As by the beating of my heart.

Suddenly you flare in my sight,
A wild rose blooming at the edge
Of thicket, grace and light
Where yesterday was only shade.

And once more I am blessed,
Choosing again what I chose before.
And once more I am blessed,
Choosing again what I chose before.

~ Wendell Berry

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Waiting 12/16/2019

All my life I have waited: waited for the project to be completed, waited for supper to be ready, waited for the doctor to see me. I have waited at the traffic light, waited for the right relationship, waited to grow up.

I have waited alone or waited with friends. I have waited anxiously. I have waited expectantly. Some waits have brought joy. Other waits have brought bad news. Some waits have been “worth waiting for.”

Now it is Advent, and I am waiting again. This time I am waiting in the darkness of my soul-ravaged by sorrow, anger, and fear. But I do not despair in the waiting, for I remember the way light looks and feels. The memories of silent nights with starlit skies are with me, and I have been bathed in the warmth of love’s light. And so I hope-for Messiah to come.

Voices sing, “Prepare him room.” I know now waiting cannot be passive. There is something to do, but where? I have no inn or stable, but in my heart, I can make room. Move over doubt. Move over despair. Make room for Truth, for Life, for Love. Make room for the Prince of Peace.

~ Kathy Clark-Dickens

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12/12/2019

God did not wait till our lives were spotless.
God did not wait till every child was loved.
God did not wait till the hungry were fed.
God did not wait till the broken-hearted were comforted.
God came to a world such as ours to lighten the way, bring hope and guide us into the ways of peace.

~ Nicola Slee & Rosie Miles

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The Hope of Loving 12/11/2019

What keeps us alive, what allows us to endure?
I think it is the hope of loving,
or being loved.
I heard a fable once about the sun going on a journey to find it’s source, and how the moon wept
without her lover’s warm gaze.
We weep when light does not reach our hearts. We wither like fields if someone close
does not rain their
kindness
upon
us.
~ Meister Eckhart

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Caregiving God 12/10/2019

Caregiving God,
providing for our needs,
as you long to fill the hungry with food,
so also fill our imagination
with people and things that are just true,
excellent, noble, and worthy of praise,
that by dwelling on the beauty of goodness,
we may grow into it day by day
as students of Christ
in whose name we pray, Amen.

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Second Sunday in Advent 12/9/2019

Our God, who sends your most valuable gifts as tiny children,
And teaches us to love each other by first loving us,
Remind us again that two candles always give twice as much light,
And that only in community can we receive and share your gifts.
As we lovingly shop,
Help us remember that our gifts are symbols of your incredible life.
Help us remember people who may receive no gifts,
And sometimes even may receive no love that they can recognize.
Teach us to see that no child of yours is unlovable.
Come, Lord Jesus!
~ Kit Kuperstock

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SAPENTIA – WISDOM 12/6/2019

Prayer
O Wisdom, breath of God’s power,
Your glory fills the streets and skies,
Your order all things sweetly and justly:
Come, blow us clean
And teach us wonder and truth.
~ Ruth Burgess

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Midwinter prayer 12/5/2019

God of all creation
of bare forest and low northern skies
of paths unknown and never to be taken
of bramble, sparrow and damp, dark earth

we thank you for loss, for the breaking of the dimming year
we thank you for light, even in its seeming midwinter falling
we thank you for life, for its hope and resistance
like a seed dying and living.

~Rachel Mann

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12/4/2019

Night is drawing nigh –
“How long the road is. But, for all the time the journey has already taken, how you have needed every second of it in order to learn what the road passes-by.
~ Dag Hammarskjold 

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Giver of Hope 12/3/2019

Spirit of God,
you open doors that are locked,
break the shackles of slavery,
erode the pyramids of domination,
and tumble tyrants from their thrones.

You give us life
and whisper in our hearts,
“You are God’s beloved child,
and always will be.”

Deep in every human heart
you plant a seed of promise,
a glimmer of expectation,
and a spark of hope.

~ Brian Wren

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First Sunday in Advent 12/2/2019

Creator of infinite stretches of icy universe,

Now is the time we need to address you as Father, as Mother.

Daylight has shrunk. Out in the darkness, people are cold.

You have promised that your word will become flesh and dwell among us,

Bringing your peace and love and joy.

In the cold and the dark,

give us the courage to light one candle,

And share your light with all those around us.  Come, Lord Jesus!

~ Kit Kuperstock