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