Sunday Prayer

My God I come to take your touch before I begin my day. Let my beautiful eyes rest upon your beautiful eyes for a while. Let me take into my day the assurance of your friendship. Fill my mind to last through the desert of noise.

Let your blessed sunshine flood the peaks and valleys of my soul, so that I may be loving and strong for anyone who may need me this day.

In the name of our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.

Scars

My heart.

Battered. Scarred. Broken so many times I've lost count.

And I am still here.

Cuz as the great Plumb says - I know whose I am. And I turn to him as much as I can, and need to do more. For our solace, our strength, our salvation is only found in him.

Oh, the God who made the stars
Is the God that made your heart
And He's holding you right now
He can heal the broken parts
And make beauty from the scars, the scars
Beautiful scars!

Our scars tell our stories for us. But they are not who we are. They are signs of our struggles, our battles, and our recoveries. 

Because those scars did not kill us. They propelled us forward to healing and the light of God.

Amen, sweet Plumb. Amen beautiful God.

(Plumb is one of my favorite singers of any genre; that she turns that beautiful voice to Christian music is the abundant icing on the delicious cake.)

Centering

Time...is a thief.

It passes whether we pay attention or not. Time marches on (as the old saying goes) no matter what we may do to slow it down. Or even worse - wish it away faster.

Perhaps the most famous Bible verse on time is the poetic Ecclesiastes Chapter 3:

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 

a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 

a time to weep and a time to a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, 

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 

a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 

a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 

a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

The lesser-known verse in this chapter is the following:

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

I've mentioned before - God's Time. It encompasses, to me, all that is mysterious and wondrous about God. He has his own pace - did he really take only 7 of our Earth-days to create the heavens and the earth? I doubt it. I often think it may be that he took 7 of our Earth-minutes to do it - because he is God, omnipotent and all-powerful. 

I am believer that all things in the universe are connected in some way. Everything is energy so therefore everything has a common point even at the lowest (shall we say sub-atomic) level. God created it all, infusing his own energy into every plant, beast, rock, the stars, and yes - us.

We are governed by God's time and for us human - who come into this world with our egos fully intact - it's a hard thing to give over. But then again - giving over worries, fears, etc...to God is difficult even on our best days.

Anyway - lately I have felt a little ungrounded. Overwhelmed by the many demands of life these days. And not praying - because I'm so scattered and ungrounded - is clearly taking its toll on me. I am frazzled, confused, and feeling like I'm just drifting along with no guidance.

Yet the ultimate guide - the one who "...set eternity in the human heart..." is just there, not even out of reach. Always by our sides, God is there in the sunlight even on a cloudy day. All you have to do is let yourself go - release the tension, let go of the burdens we insist on toting on our backs every single day - and center yourself on God with a simple prayer.

Nothing fancy needed - just a small, single syllable word...

Help.

That's all. Can't be easier than that, can it? You could add in a couple of other syllables if you need to...

God, please help.

He will hear you even in that original single syllable. As soon as you say it you can feel your shoulders drop a bit. Maybe your jaw relaxes. Perhaps your stomach muscles unclench. 

For me - even my eyebrows settle down.

Help.

So simple. And yet so centering. Because so long as we keep ourselves centered on God, he will do all the rest for us.

It really is all he wants do to.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

Sunday Prayer 4

Praying daily gives me a sense of peace, even if only in the moment of prayer. God's love and compassion is larger than any giants we might face, and he is with us every step of our day. Everyday.

I like to vary my prayers based on my emotions in the moment. Sometimes they are quite specific, sometimes they are for others, and other times I need a general prayer of gratitude to God. This one fits that bill for me. 

God, you are the foundation upon which I build my life. You are my source of protection & strength. You fight for me, lead me, and protect me thru hard times. With you I am never alone or abandoned. Thank you for being my source of strength & salvation. Thank you for crushing the devil's schemes and bringing me closer to you.

In Jesus' Name, Amen

"...never alone or abandoned..."

Some of the most important words I carry in my heart & soul every moment of every day. 

Knowing this - the firm belief that it is so - has gotten me thru some of the hardest times that a life can bring.

The constancy of God is wondrous. He only wants what is good and loving for us. God is steadfast. God is Everlasting. 

God is all.

Sunday Prayer 3

Did you know that the heart is mentioned over 800 times in the King James version of the Bible? Or over 500 times in the New International version.

Something to pay close attention to. Clearly God wants us to know that he knows our hearts better than we do. And that he wants to be in our hearts 24/7/365. 

2023 is my Year of Kindness. I want to spread my own kindness outward to others - in words and deeds - in the hopes that the kind people already among us will do the same. And that the unkind may receive kindness and be transformed. 

You can't be kind if your heart isn't generous. God can grant you that generosity of spirit thru prayer and trust in him.

Sunday Prayer 2

Entry to the new year was, for me, bumpy to say the least.  Work was more challenging than expected and certain other things outside of work proved to give me more than what I thought I could handle.

Yet I'm still standing.  Prayer - can do that for a person.  Keeping it simple today...

Sunday Prayer 1

I thought it would be nice to start the week with a prayer. I collect these wherever I find them. For the most part the original authors are unknown. 

I strive to say this one every morning; I can get to 5 out of 7 most of the time. It is a gentle start to my day and brings me new resolve each time I bow my head over it.

 

Echoes

With the celebration of Christ's birth just one week away, I wanted to focus this week on Holy Mary's courageous "yes" to the Angel Gabriel. I know, I'm about 9 months late for this but as we have spent the last 4 weeks focusing on the coming birth of Jesus Christ, I thought a throwback to the origins of our Savior would be appropriate.

The first prophecy of The Messiah can be found as far back as Genesis, and throughout Old Testament Prophets like Nathan, Daniel, Isaiah, and Ezekiel. Through the Gospels in the New Testament. This miraculous coming is foretold so many times.

The how of it all is not revealed until the Angel Gabriel appears to a young, unassuming woman named Mary (The Gospel of Luke 1:26-38).

God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a city in Galilee. The angel went to a virgin promised in marriage to a descendant of David named Joseph. The virgin’s name was Mary. 

When the angel entered her home, he greeted her and said, “You are favored by the Lord! The Lord is with you.” 

She was startled by what the angel said and tried to figure out what this greeting meant.
The angel told her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary. You have found favor  with God.
 You will become pregnant, give birth to a son, and name him Jesus. He will be a great man and will be called the Son of the Most High The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. Your son will be king of Jacob’s people forever, and his kingdom will never end.”

Mary asked the angel, “How can this be? I’m a virgin.”

The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come to you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy child developing inside you will be called the Son of God.

Imagine it. You are a (roughly) 17 year old girl from a humble background, engaged to the man you love, and an angel tells you that you are pregnant. And not just pregnant, but with the savior of mankind.

All of this makes Mary's yes so remarkable. As a human being she had every right to say "Thank you but no thank you." As a faithful Jew however, having heard all the prophecies of the coming of the Messiah, her yes was necessary.

In fact, her yes was foretold as often as the coming of The Messiah himself. It's a "built in" element of the stories. 

All of which brings me to this glorious piece of music - Gabriel's Oboe by Ennio Morricone, composed for the 1986 film "The Mission". 

One of the most famous songs in all of Morricone's film scores, Gabriel's Oboe is a device used for a missionary to call to, and convert, a jungle tribe.

It's long been a favorite piece of music. It's haunting melodies get under my skin and bring me to tears.

This year it appeared in a Pandora station of instrumental holiday music. I didn't think it really belonged there...yet it felt so right. I listened intently and heard the message God was sending to me.

Gabriel ... The Angel Gabriel ... The message to Mary.

Listen to those first notes from the oboe. Feminine, lyrical, soothing. The presence of an angel. 

Then it builds, the higher notes expressing something that brings you to the heart. Mary's response. 

Then the notes creep still higher as the heavens rejoice.

The melody repeats once again. Angelic encouragement. A demure yes. Rejoicing.

More rejoicing.

Then the strings take over to amplify the echoes of the heavens as the coming of the Messiah is physically assured.

I've heard this song hundreds of times. Always as the theme song from "The Mission".

Now I don't believe I will hear it as anything but the clarion call of God announcing the coming of his Son, Jesus Christ.