Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Verse of the Day

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

Revelation 22:13

Voice of the Day

They watch for Christ

who are sensitive, eager, apprehensive in mind,

who are awake, alive, quick-sighted,

zealous in honoring him,

who look for him in all that happens, and

who would not be surprised,

who would not be over-agitated or overwhelmed,

if they found that he is coming at once.

This then is to watch:

to desire his second coming, from our affectionate

and grateful remembrance of his first.

John Henry Newman

Prayer of the Day

God of majesty and power,

Hasten the advent of that day

when the weapons of war shall be banished,

our deeds of darkness cast off,

and all your scattered children gathered into one.

We ask this through him whose coming is certain,

whose day draws near: your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Manday, November 30, 2009

Verse of the Day

For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness,and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1: 5-8

Voice of the Day

The only way that we become convinced of our own sense of empowerment and the power of the Spirit and the truth of the Gospel is by crossing a line -- a line of decision, testing, asking, doing, and owning the consequences. It has a certain degree of non-sensical-ness, unprovability to it. That's why we call it faith. When we cross that line we act in a new way based on what we believe the Kingdom values are. Walking is probably a lot more important than talking, even if we walk the wrong direction for awhile. Richard Rohr

Prayer of the Day

O God, help us to be alert this Advent, alert to your presence in our world today and alert to the salvation you brought through your incarnation in Jesus, and alert to my deep longing for your Kingdom. Amen

Friday, November 27, 2009

Verse of the Day

pray without ceasing

1 Thessalonians 5:17

Voice of the Day

In the most general sense, every presence of man or woman before the face of God is a prayer; but this presence must become a constant and conscious attitude - prayer must become perpetual, as uninterrupted as breathing or the beating of the heart.

Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church, p. 209

Prayer of the Day

O God, you created the world from the silence of nothingness. You became flesh in the quiet of the night. You claim us with the mere trickling of water. May we continue, day by day, to be attentive to your presence, as near to us as our breath. Amen.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

The photograph is of Devil's Tower in Wyoming

Verse of the Day

I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage, I have conquered the world.

John 16:33

Voice of the Day

Hugging is a beautiful Western custom, and we from the East would like to contribute the practice of conscious breathing to it. When you hold a child in your arms, or hug your mother, or your husband, or your friend, if you breathe in and out three times, your happiness will be multiplied at least tenfold.

Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step, p. 85.

Prayer of the Day

O God of peace, you weave your way through our hearts to share with us covenantal love. May we broaden our understanding of being peacemakers in our world today. Grant this in the name of Jesus whose birth heralded peace on earth. Amen.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

This illustration, a caricature of Charles Darwin as an ape, appeared in The Hornet, a satirical magazine, on March 22, 1871. Darwin's book, On the Origin of Species, was published on this day in 1859.

Verse of the Day

The nations raged, but your wrath has come, and the time for judging the dead, for rewarding your servants, the prophets and the saints and all who fear your name, both great and small, and for destroying those who destroy the earth.

Revelation 11:18

Voice of the Day

Modern evolutionary theory continues to develop. Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, with its tree like model of branching common descent, has become the unifying theory of the life sciences. The theory explains the diversity of living organisms and their adaptation to the environment. It makes sense of the geologic record, biogeography, parallels in embryonic development, biological homologies, vestigiality, cladistics and other fields, with unrivalled explanatory power; it has also become essential to applied sciences such as medicine and agriculture. Despite the scientific consensus, there has been political and religious controversy over how evolution is taught in schools, especially in the United States.

Prayer of the Day - A Blessing

May the good Lord show you

how to be frugal, till all are fed;

how to weep, till all can laugh;

how to be meek, till all can stand in pride;

how to mourn, till all are comforted;

how to be restless, till all live in peace;

how to claim less, till all find justice.

Then you will be blessed indeed

and the earth itself shall be blessed

through you.

Monday, Novenber 23, 2009

The artwork is an Advent Cross

Verse of the Day
Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up hither!" And in the sight of their foes, the two prophets went up to heaven in a cloud. Revelation 11:12

Voice of the Day
A common temptation of religious people who claim to be prophets is to speak at a level of generality that ignores the specificity of context and situation. Christian speakers are too often quick with a general comment, manifesting a vagueness that floats over a situation at a sufficiently uncontroversial and nonthreatening level. This ignores one of the major elements of prophecy, the necessity of commenting on specific matters.
The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol XII, p. 646

Prayer of the Day
O God of Compassion, you come to be with us in our humanity. Enable us to move beyond our stagnant places to embrace your life giving waters of new birth. We ask you to bless us in the name of the Eternal Word, who was, who is, and who will always be. Amen.

Thursday, November 19,2009

Verse of the Day

As for those who in the present age are rich, command then not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 1 Timothy 6:17

Voice of the Day

How can I maintain access to the spiritual in myself while living a life of relative affluence and awful money tensions that leave me feeling at times dead and at times in doleful exile from myself? How can I justify wanting and having money when people are starving? How can I let go of my fears about money which totally absorb my thoughts? Why should I want more when I have enough? Why does spending money cause me so much pain?

Prayer of the Day

Set me free, O God, to go off with you today on one wild, specific tangent after another, immersed and amazed in the wonder and even terror of your immense creative beauty. Amen

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Verse of the Day
When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and put him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong. Luke 4:28-29


Voice of the Day
For different purposes we belong to different groups and we live by our loyalties, among which loyalty to the search for truth does not rank as high as it ought. The secret of a good life is to have the right loyalties and to hold them in the right scale of values. The value of dissent and dissenters is to make us reappraise those values with supreme concern for the truth. Norman Thomas, Great Dissenters, p.13


Prayer of the Day
In the silence before time began, in the quiet of the womb, in the stillness of the morning is your beauty. At the heart of all creation, at the birth of every creature, at the center of each moment is your splendor. Rekindle in me the sparks of your beauty that I may be part of the blazing splendor that burns from the heart of this moment. J. Philip Newell, Sounds of the Eternal, p.38

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Verse of the Day

I would have younger widows marry, bear children, rule their their households, and give the enemy no occasion to revile us. 1 Timothy 5:14

Voice of the Day

We need the vision of interbeing -- we belong to each other; we cannot cut reality into pieces. The well-being of "this" is the well-being of "that," so we have to do things together. Every side is "our side"; there is no evil side. Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace is Every Step, p. 14

Prayer of the Day

Your gift of life is a source of joy for us, O God, but the challenge to grow often weighs us down. Give us the courage to live responsibly in all the areas of our lives. Let all that we do radiate our faith and hope in your love for us. Bless all who encourage us on the way, as together we strive for the unity that is yours, Creator, Word, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Monday, November 16, 2009

An icon of Jesus calling the disciples.

There will not be a post today. Our friends Frank and Juliette are in the hospital after a motorcycle accident. Please hold them in your prayers.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

The photograph is of the Japanese Bridge draped with wisteria at Monet's garden in Giverny.

Verse of the Day

The rich in this world are to do good, to be rich in good deeds, liberal and generous, thus laying up for themselves a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life which is life indeed. 1 Timothy 6: 18-19

Voice of the Day

Jesus suggested that our giving of alms is one of the ways that we can make our repentance real and can live in imitation of God. The church does not take up a collection in worship simply to pay its bills. The church collects money to teach us to be generous like Jesus, to give us the opportunity to practice our repentance in a community of grace. Unruh, Finding Christ Finding Life, p. 13

Prayer of the Day

We confess, O God, that we have not been a repentant people. Frustrated by feelings of hopelessness, we have looked after ourselves rather than care for your people. Instead of giving generously, we have hoarded our possessions and sought more income. Instead of fasting spiritually, we have eaten on the run and satisfied only our stomachs.

Forgive us for choosing our way rather than your way. Amen.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Verse of the Day

Whoever does not provide for relatives, and especially for family members, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 1 Timothy 5:8

Voice of the Day

When you hold a child in your arms, or hug your mother, or your husband, or your friend, if you breathe in and out three times, your happiness will be multiplied at least ten times. It takes some time to become comfortable hugging this way. But to really be there, you only need to breathe, and suddenly the other person becomes completely real. The two of you really exist in that moment. It may be one of the best moments in your life. Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step, pp. 85-6.

Prayer of the Day

Most gracious God, you are with us as we make our journey throughout this day. Help us to look lovingly upon all people and events that come into our lives today and to walk gently upon our land. In the name of Jesus who lives and walks among us ever present at each moment. Amen.

Friday, November 6, 2009

The painting of Ruth, Naomi, and Obed is by Simeon Solomon (1840-1905.) It is in a private collection.

Verse of the Day

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son. . . . They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David. Ruth 4: 13, 17b.

Voice of the Day

When a person grows old, his deepest hope is to have a grandchild to hold in his arms. . . . We have to find ways for old and young people to live together again.

Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step, p.88

Prayer of the Day

God of peace, you call us to come to you in our need, as a mother or father might beckon a distressed child. When all else may seem to betray our trust, give us the faith to turn to you with renewed hope. Your ways are mystery to us, made life-giving through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In your mercy, make of us a new creation through his gospel. Amen.

Thursday, November 4, 2009

'Boaz at the gate,' Figures de la Bible, 1782, The Bizzell Bible Collection, The University of Oklahoma

Verse of the Day

Then Boaz said, "The day you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, you are also acquiring Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead man, to maintain the dead man's name on his inheritance." Ruth 4:5

Voice of the Day

Do everything you can to avoid the noise and the business of men. Keep as far away as you can from the places where they gather to cheat and insult one another, to exploit one another, to laugh at one another, or to mock one another with their false gestures of friendship.

Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

Prayer of the Day

Direct our activity this day, merciful God, that we may reflect your goodness and love to our companions. Help us to be mindful of the many people who are oppressed, and may we be aware of the ways that we oppress others. We ask this in the name of Jesus who died to set us free. Amen

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Another depiction of Ruth and Boaz

Verse of the Day

Though it is true that I am a near kinsman, there is another kinsman more closely related than I. Remain this night, and in the morning, if he will act as next-of-kin for you, good; let him do it. If he is not willing to act as next-of-kin for you, then, as the Lord lives, I will act as next-of-kin for you. Ruth 3:13

Voice of the Day

Men learn to expect status, service, and submission. They lose the right to be wrong. They are denied the obligation to learn from others. They use things -- money, power, and property -- to define themselves. They work till they drop, and they drop from working. They have little emotional release. They substitute authority for competency. Such a system is a long, long way from Galilee.

Heart of Flesh, Joan Chittister

Prayer of the Heart

God, give me the courage to be revolutionary as your Son Jesus Christ was. Give me the courage to loosen myself from this world. Give me the courage to stand up free and to shun no criticism. God, thank you for the vision of the future, but make it fact and not theory. Amen.

Henri Nouwen

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Today's artwork is Ruth at the Feet of Boaz by Marc Chagall

Verse of the Day

When Boaz had eaten and drunk, and he was in a contented mood, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then Ruth came stealthily and uncovered his feet, and lay down.

Ruth 3:7

Voice of the Day

Taking chances is a trait of a healthy spirituality. I mean taking chances on the really big things in life -- like God and the future. Hope means more than merely sitting around and wishing for a better future; it means working to make that better future a reality.

Traits of a Healthy Spirituality, Melannie Svoboda

Prayer of the Day

God help me to take a chance

on you and on the future.

Help me to bet on the good news,

to risk everything,

and to stake my life on Jesus. Amen