Thursday, March 19

Scripture for the Day:

When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, ‘This generation is an evil generation; it asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be to this generation. The queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here! The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here! – Luke 11:29-32

Reflection – Eleanor Christensen 

My time for prayer and reflection is first thing in the morning when I go out for a walk with my dog, Penny. I have to get out of bed early, at 5:30 a.m., to fit it in before I leave for work. I am not naturally a morning person, so I never find it easy. This time of year it is cold and dark as we head out the door, and I am bundled up in many layers with a reflective vest on top; but Penny is so eager and excited that I have to feel my spirits rise. It may be clear, foggy, rainy, or snowy—we go out every morning despite the weather and the darkness. I am a person who loves the light, so as Penny sniffs around and goes about her business, I look for any sign of light—moon, stars, or a faint glow in the East. There I feel God’s presence and thank Him for the start of another day, for my health, for my family and friends, for a warm house and a rewarding job.

I then reflect on any challenges I may face or goals I want to set for myself, and I ask for God’s help in the day ahead.

It has been my habit over the last ten years or so to begin each day with gratitude, no matter how wonderful or miserable life is on any given day. For the first few years I kept a gratitude journal in which I listed five things for which I was thankful every day. I found it often completely changed my focus from dwelling on problems to realizing that every day God sent me not one, but at least five blessings. This stood me in good stead in the darkest days of my life when my sister died and then a few weeks later so did my dad. Even on those days, I could list my five blessings —the love and support of friends, beautiful hymns to be planned for the funeral, sunshine, wonderful food that was offered, my own health, and the strength to support my mother. By now the habit of gratitude has become so much a part of my day that I do not need the journal.

And so in Lent, I continue to walk with Penny each day, seeing more and more light in the early morning sky. By Easter Day, I will be greeted, if not by glorious sunshine, at least by daylight. Thanks be to God for the coming of the Light.

Wednesday, March 18

Scripture for the Day:

 ‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. – Matthew 5:17-19

Reflection – Kimberly Miller 

Out of Your Head and Into Your Heart

Thinking is the key to a better understanding, over-thinking is a trap. I have expert experience.   He has come not to discount what has already been revealed to us, but to live it and be it, as the example of the power and awe.  He is the son of greatness sent for our salvation. Although it may take eternity to accomplish, I will be vigilant in my pursuit of right living and guiding others in that direction. You are chosen and created for the greater good but you have been given the will to choose. (An interesting trait to test and measure one by?) I will change nothing etched, absolutely nothing. The only challenges are of these commandments. Are you breaking the least of them and teaching others to follow your example?  Is your heart on the side of selfishness and ego? If so you will be least welcomed in the kingdom of heaven, it is that simple. Keep the commandments cherish the word, teach and lead others to the same and you will be great in the kingdom of heaven. Amen

Tuesday, March 17

Scripture for the Day:

Then Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow-slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, “Pay what you owe.” Then his fellow-slave fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.” But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow-slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow-slave, as I had mercy on you?” And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he should pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.’ – Matthew 18:21-35

Reflection – Saramaria Allenby

Forgiveness.
So incredibly hard and wonderful. We need to embody forgiveness. Take on Christ and live it out loud in our life every day to fully participate and offer a future to ourselves not bound by the past. We hear it, read and say it many times in words…”forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”…. But to truly forgive ourselves, forgive others, admit we are mere mortals, imperfect, unyielding and RIGHT, we need to truly live forgiveness.

So. Here is the recommended recipe to fulfill the physical action required to achieve and live, breathe, eat, sleep (and do it all over again day by day by day…every day).

Recipe for forgiveness:

Ingredients: First you will need a body (preferably your own) and you will need to fill it with:

7 cups of truthfulness mixed with patience
7 oz mercy
70 tsp of love, empathy and compassion

Mix with
Letting go of anger

Dissolving bitterness

Release of blame

Sift in
7 tons of kindness, reconciliation and hope
77 cups of moving on
A pinch of reckoning
Endless peace
Acknowledgement of human sin
Release of being RIGHT
70 ½ tbsp of freedom
Know comfort and joy

Mix all together and add
Practice daily
And an infinite amount of
Prayer
From your heart.

Monday, March 16

Scripture for the Day:

Jesus said to them, ‘Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, “Doctor, cure yourself!” And you will say, “Do here also in your home town the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.” ’ And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.’ When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way. – Luke 4:23-30

Reflection –    by   Nancy Geary

Why is it that we require proof in order to believe, evidence in order to be convinced, and documentation in order to define what is truth?  In this passage, the people of Nazareth chided Jesus for performing his miracles elsewhere and not showing them what He could do.  That they had heard stories of His healing wasn’t enough.  They needed to see it with their own eyes.  We are no different.  We refuse to let a feeling or a perception alone guide us.  We want more.  We seek what is concrete and tangible: a world record broken to show who is fastest, a name listed in Forbes to show who is the greatest success.

But how much do we miss by this insistence?  Why is a leap of faith – which may well be the best way to leap into faith – such a difficult jump to make?  Embracing a sense of wonder, living contented amidst ambiguity and uncertainty, accepting blessings that we don’t witness, and finding a truth that may never show up on a map or in a history book are what, to me, constitutes faith.

And when we stop requiring proof of others, we will have nothing ourselves to prove.  Then we can simply be.       

To ponder and pray:  What promises of God do you have trouble accepting on faith?  When have you felt your faith to be the strongest? Why?

Saturday, March 14

Scripture for the Day:
Now he was casting out a demon that was mute; when the demon had gone out, the one who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed. But some of them said, ‘He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.’ Others, to test him, kept demanding from him a sign from heaven. But he knew what they were thinking and said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself becomes a desert, and house falls on house. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? —for you say that I cast out the demons by Beelzebul. Now if I cast out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your exorcists cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his castle, his property is safe. But when one stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away his armour in which he trusted and divides his plunder. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. – Luke 11:14-23

A Litany – II The Son, John Donne, (1572-1631)

O Son of God, who seeing two things
Sin and death crept in,
which were never made,
By bearing one,
tried’st with what stings
The other could thine heritage invade;
O be thou nailed unto my heart
And crucified again,
Part not from it,
though it from thee would part,
But let it be by applying so thy pain,
Drowned in thy blood,
and in thy passion slain.

Friday, March 13

Scripture for the Day:
Then Jesus said, ‘There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.” So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and travelled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, “How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.’ ” So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” But the father said to his slaves, “Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” And they began to celebrate.

‘Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.” Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, “Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!” Then the father said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.” ’ – Luke 15:11-32

Reflection – Peter Romersa

In this parable of Luke the father celebrates the return of a son who was left for dead in the wilderness, after a period of adversity, starvation, and death. The elder brother became upset that no celebrations were planned for him during his tenure of service to his father. The father explained that the return of the younger son was cause for celebration because the younger son “was dead and was brought to life; he was lost and then has been found.” The father was willing to look past the younger son’s sins of financial mismanagement, and possible consorting with prostitutes, to celebrate the return of his son who virtually died. The father was moved that his son actually made it alive from the far away land, and that his son confessed his sins, and showed remorse for his failings.

It is the hope for this type of transformation, from being lost and dead, to springing fully with life, that is the promise of the season of Lent. Sometimes it feels like the dead of winter, where the sun resigns at the early hour of 4:30 each afternoon when I am just yearning for the chance to see the days transform to longer periods; and nature will spring into life, and bring the dead into the ranks of the living. This indeed is surely a cause for celebration each year that I eagerly await to participate in.

Thursday, March 12

Scripture for the Day: Jesus said, ‘Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watch-tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’ They said to him, ‘He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes”? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.
– Matthew 21:33-43


Haiku

We lose our bearing.
Disinherit our birthright.
The just are God’s own.