I led morning prayer again this week and gave the following reflection on the Sunday readings. The texts for today are Isaiah 9:1-7, Psalm 36:5-10, Romans 15:8-13, and Matthew 4:12-17. In the first lesson today, we read: But there will be no more gloom for the land that was in anguish! In the past, God humbled the land of Zebulun, the land of Naphtali, but in the future, God will bring glory to this Road to the Sea, this Land Beyond the Jordan, this Galilee of the Nations. The people walking in darkness are seeing a brilliant light—upon those who dwell...
Constant Movement of life, Breath of ever-changing being, Holy One, forming and transforming continually— This dancing world is Your Body, This evolving world is Your being flung forth; Let me trust the changing of my own life, For I have become a stranger in a strange land. In the disappearance of the familiar Let me recognize the mystery of Your transforming dance; In the preponderance of the untried Let me accept the challenge of your unfolding newness; In the absence of old friends Let me discover the presence of the human circle; In the landscape of the strange Let...
Take seriously your grief.It is love, stripped bare.Let it flow through you. Trust that you are held.We all are held by the Beloved,the Broken-Hearted One,the One who Suffers most Deeply. Know you are not alone.Millions bear your sorrow.Ancestors and even unborn generationswalk with you gratefully. Seek others who are tenderhearted.Receive all the grace you can.In the flesh is best, but even in spirit,know we are here. Trust the Goodness.God has not given up on us.Through every disaster grace remains.Refuse to despair. Choose courage over selfishness,trust over fear, love over anger.You do not know the end of grace. There is much...
