Meditations – July 2010

Meditations – 2010 – Daily Affirmations

For over five years now I have risen daily before dawn and sat in stillness after reading a verse of scripture. What follows is the fruit of that quiet time that I want to share with you. As you will see the format remains the same. Someone suggested that I share this with a wider audience — my family and friends.

Meditation – July 31, 2010

Scripture

Do not let the floodwaters overwhelm me, nor the deep swallow me, nor the mouth of the pit close over me. Answer me, LORD, in your generous love; in your great mercy turn to me. Psalms 69:16-17

Prayer

Help me to translate the imagery of the Psalmist into my own prayer to be heard.

Response

Yes, your prayer is heard when you are swimming far out from the shore alone in your life circumstances. You are heard most clearly when you think you are abandoned in a maze of the sometimes dark corridors of the mind and heart. Your prayer is heard when your voice is stilled with regret, or you are perplexed in doubt.

Generous, indeed, is the Lord’s love for you extended in whatever situation you awake. There is absolutely no situation that could befall you when you are not heard. Consider all categories of fear and anxiety in your life and be assured as you have already discovered that the Lord is with you as is His peace.

The mercy and compassion, the generous love you have experienced and experience each day are acknowledged in your generosity as you extend the same to those around you and to those more effort is required to touch. Love and mercy and compassion are themes for you to incorporate in your day – this day. You see, it is not all about you — but you in service.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 30, 2010

Scripture

But I pray to you, LORD, for the time of your favor. God, in your great kindness answer me with your constant help. Psalms 69:14

Prayer

Help this dialogue of prayer to be for me without interruption.

Response

Prayer is an inner dialogue that runs throughout the day and night – yes, an unceasing prayer of intention. Clearly it is evident when you arise and become conscious to another day of blessing that unfolds – whether in a brilliant, fire sun rising through the lingering clouds from a horrific storm of last evening, or in the refreshing breeze off the ocean.

Prayer is also evident and clear in a phone call from a loved one late at night reporting the hospitalization of a beloved and being blessed to offer solace and prayers for recovery. In the middle of the night when awakened, think of how a prayer uttered then from the heart rings with clarity almost misplaced when fully conscious. Yes, prayer is to be constant and not reserved exclusively for formal gatherings. It is the rhythm of your heart.

Reflect on the words of the psalmist daily and take seriously the promise of constant help. You have present a vigilant companion who hears and responds to your every plea, even when uttered in the midst of a raging storm or silently in a time of grief when your capacity for hope is almost exhausted.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 29, 2010

Scripture

Scripture: Jesus told (Martha), "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" John 11:25-26>

Prayer

Give me faith.

Response

It is a haunting question, isn’t it? Do you believe this? You’ve been told since youth that your answer should be yes – in the times when everything in your life seems to be in synch as well as in time of despair and even darkness. What is your response this day in the quiet of your thoughts?

Without trying to imagine being spirited to a mysterious place, any place for that matter, allow yourself to let go of the boundaries of time and place; be whimsical for a moment and accept that there is something more to you than your declining limbs, memory, sight, energy, and perhaps health as well –only your girth and years are expanding. And that something that eludes attempts to define, bound, contain is you that will never die with your belief in me. Rather straightforward, don’t you think? No need to consult an obscure text, scan footnotes, or consult scholars. The answer to your inquiry is found in prayer and listening, just as Martha did in this exchange with Jesus.

While you might be resigned to die some day, do embrace new life – eternal life – in your belief this moment and all the moments that follow in my grace.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 28, 2010

Scripture

"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it." Matthew 13:44-46

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Prayer

The repetition of the words, sells all that he has, catches my attention this morning.

Response

Oh, indeed, as it should. The determination to acquire the field with the treasure or the pearl of great price is not something to miss. And don’t dismiss the words that precede, that is, the kingdom of heaven. What does this mean to you – not a question to be taken lightly? Understand that in both instances the person’s search has been rewarded.

Consider for a moment that you too are searching and isn’t fair to say that you are not sure what you will find? But then it happens; to your surprise one day, one moment, you move aside a doubt in my grace and discover the tip of a mystery that you must pursue, or a promise of awakening through which you had previously slumbered. And, perhaps, for the first time in your recollection, you are filled with an indescribable joy – one with which no previous experience or expectation has filled you.

Now, the challenge or question is: what must you do to ensure that you don’t cover the site of the treasure and forget where it is buried? However, here is a reminder – the treasure is buried deep within you. All you have to do is to be the person in your actions, in your service, who recognizes the value of this find, acknowledging in love those who have led you to the treasure – even if they had remained unconscious of its presence.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 27, 2010

Scripture

“The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.” Matthew 13:41-43

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Prayer

Help my ears not fail me.

Response

It’s much easier after reading these verses to look around the room and wonder to whom the words apply. Perhaps, the enemy on a desolate battle field, a polluter in industry, a banker driven by gain, a worker knowingly creating an inferior and sometimes dangerous product. But don’t you think that in encouraging you to hear, you should ponder how the words might apply to you especially when you block out with white noise the inner voice that represents your authentic self fortified and nourished in my grace?

Instead of focusing on the grinding of teeth, see you included among the righteous in the kingdom, not basking in the sun soundless, but joyous and alive in communion with others who know your heart and you know theirs. Don’t wait for the kingdom to appreciate that joy and openness, free of any deceit.

So the steps you take today and every day are to be the steps of the righteous so there will be no doubt as to your commitment and where you fit during the harvest. Approach each day as if it was harvest time, contributing your labor honestly without guile.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 26, 2010

Scripture

All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables, to fulfill what had been said through the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation (of the world)." Matthew 13:34-35

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Prayer

Help me to pause to catch the meaning of the parables in my life.

Response

The reason that parables reached Jesus’ audience and you as well is that in the parable a life story is unfolding, and at some point you observe it as perhaps as your story and no longer limit your involvement as that of an actor; note, I did not say the actor. Even if you cannot distinguish a mustard seed from a poppy seed, you catch the hidden meaning of the parable.

For a moment, consider your life as a mustard seed that in my grace reaches a height and breath that does give shelter to those in need –even if that need goes unrecognized. Go back in time and allow the film of your life to run forward, scanning the unfolding of those branches, especially those that had to be pruned – sometimes painfully. Think of those you touch and by whom you are touched in the course of your life to the present – some of whom have departed. Do your best not to freeze the frame in the past, realizing that the projector runs each day as the branches grow strong and provide shelter, paradoxically as you age.

You were not designed, at least not all of you, to read and ponder theological texts in the dim light of a vacant library, but rather to listen in prayer and apply the lessons and insights of the stories that abound in scripture that apply to you this day, even if you still can’t distinguish a poppy seed from a mustard seed.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 25, 2010

Scripture

"And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Luke 11:9-10

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Prayer

What more familiar verses? Yet, do I really believe?

Response

Oh, if you could get over the thought that you are to compile a shopping list of specific items before entering the food store; and instead, gauge your heart needs first, allowing a new list to unfold.

How many go to a doctor with the prescription already filled out, to a gourmet shop without considering in advance a recipe, to a writing tablet without reflecting upon the poem’s theme, to prayer without asking for guidance and direction? What would it take for you to have the confidence, trust, and hope that every request for the transformation of who you are and to become is fulfilled beyond even your expectations?

And how to estimate the truth of these words, you might ask? Perhaps, you discover that your hearing and listening have improved – though you remain stone deaf, your generosity abounds though your cupboard is bare, your interest expands beyond the circumference of your girth, and you exude the energy of youth. Try framing your requests in what you are to be and not what you wish to possess. You will not be disappointed, nor will the loved ones who surround you and the strangers whom you encounter.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 24, 2010

Scripture

Better one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. Better the threshold of the house of my God than a home in the tents of the wicked. Psalms 84:11

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Prayer

Yes, the threshold of the house of my God.

Response

It’s all a question of proximity. In prayer, in rising or awakening consciousness, you do approach the threshold of your God. Yet, I hope you do not miss that you must do something to enter the court or the threshold. You can’t just sit there and wish it to happen; there is a journey unfolding before you. And even if you can no longer calculate the distance covered in miles, you must appreciate that your authentic prayer, sincere effort to relieve suffering, joyous demeanor – not scolding yourself or others for loss, add considerable distance between you and who you are now, and the past you might regret.

Place yourself at the threshold of the house of your God; fill yourself with anticipation and confidence that so near you will not be lost; rather you – who you really are apart from the threads you wear, the influence you might wield, the confidence you exude in the market place are discovered and known. And in that knowing, the paradox is that you know yourself for the first time. Further, it is that knowing that drew you to the threshold in the first place.

Better one day, but you know better because it is only the first day of an eternity in my love that is unfolding this very moment before you.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 23, 2010

Scripture

Then the virgins shall make merry and dance, and young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will console and gladden them after their sorrows. Jeremiah 31:13

Prayer

Restore my innocence, if not my youth, in the joy of your word.

Response

So early in the morning, yet you are graced to embrace the joy in your life as if it were mid-day or evening in the midst of a grand celebration. Doesn’t it seem that your reaction can be considered counter-intuitive, or even mad? How easy it would be to pull yourself from your bed each day and dwell on losses, setbacks, dwindling expectations, or whatever you can conjure up.

But, oh, to see, feel, experience, share the joy of luminosity. Yes, luminosity. Realizing, becoming fully conscious of my grace in your life and its transformative affect on all you are and all you touch. See your hands as imbued with an incandescent light – each time you serve, reach out to another – or even listen to another who is anxious, that light creates a peace that is beyond all understanding.

Try – even if your dance steps are shaky – to lose yourself in the abandon of joy; leave behind the somber visage of pious ceremony however solemn your status has earned you and burst into the gathering to which you are invited to celebrate the good news. I will turn mourning into joy. Yes, the sun does rise for you following the dark night of the soul.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 22, 2010

Scripture

Two evils have my people done: they have forsaken me, the source of living waters; they have dug themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that hold no water. Jeremiah 2:13

Prayer

Give me the faith to search out and drink of the living waters.

Response

There is no reason to burden yourself with old, worn water-bags in your quest. Living waters flow beside you in the most tumultuous day as well as during a sleepless night. There is no journey you could undertake however arduous, or no personal circumstance or relationship however challenging, when relief, solace, and encouragement are not immediately available and in abundance in the living waters about which Jeremiah writes.

In your faith you are encouraged to leave your encampments and the cisterns filled with forgotten words and memorized phrases. Journey out into the desert, or onto the heights of forgotten mountains, where the living waters will sustain and nourish you with the living word. This is not the time – if ever there was – to remain seemingly secure in your encampment beside the broken cisterns; rather you are to ad-venture in service into the unknown where you will find me among the disillusioned, down-trodden, and hungry.

Remember, broken cisterns – however capable they once were – hold no water. Be inflamed with my grace to reach the forgotten and misguided – even in your midst.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 21, 2010

Scripture

In you, LORD, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. Psalm 71:1

Prayer

Three days in a Trappist Monastery, I reflected upon refuge. Help me to incorporate refuge in my day-to-day living.

Response

Indeed, your goal is to bring serenity and tranquility into daily living. It should not take much to incorporate the rhythm and pace of prayer as a special ingredient in your life, much the same at tending to routine tasks as one who is in a refuge of grace. While you are not assigned to the monastery bakery to make bread or fruit cake, or to the kitchen to prepare and bottle jams, or to the choir to chant psalms, you are assigned the routine for which you are responsible. And this routine brings you into contact with those of like spirit or those in darkness who seek the light.

With confidence – because you are indeed in a refuge – share the experience of refuge with those who are weathered and weary, scattered and searching for peace and not recognizing that it is a fingertip away. It’s like being in a swirl of humanity in a central train station, looking for a stranger and discovering that He who is sought is before you, and further is not a stranger.

Spend a moment reliving that feeling of relief and joy experienced in greeting a loved one after a long separation, and how indeed you were in a refuge of love. Well, it’s the same when you enter the refuge of His love in prayer, listening to His every whisper meant for you this and every day.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 19, 2010

Scripture

With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow before God most high? Shall I come before him with holocausts, with calves a year old? . . . You have been told, O man, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you: Only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:6-8

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Prayer

Help me to walk humbly.

Response

Sometimes that is more difficult than you imagine. It is putting aside thinking that you already have the answer and instead listening to the complaint or plaint from someone around you, listening being the key. It is observing as if for the first time and seeing beauty in a scene or the poignancy of a situation or circumstance that requires a response – your response. It is moving about with gentle eyes, eyes that reflect equanimity, project peace to mitigate the rage that seems hidden close by.

To walk humbly – also means to pray dutifully – calmly, confidently, hopefully – as you tread the paths in your day. Don’t see prayer as only performed with formality in a special setting or even time, but rather nourish prayer in a life style change that springs forth from what you observe, encounter, or even hear about in the market place of life. Seek times of prayer on your knees, lying in bed, and walking through life, as well as standing in rapture at a scene that unfolds before you.

Don’t neglect to love goodness – encourage goodness in all your actions and in the actions of others whether they are in your family, friends, or strangers whom you have encountered for the first time.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 15, 2010

Scripture

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light." Matthew 11:28-30

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Prayer

I too feel burdened at times, grant me rest.

Response

Of course you feel burdened, especially when you seem to pull a sled loaded with the day’s tasks and responsibilities without pause. You are being invited to let go of the sled and rest in the shade of my light. Instead of the clamor from the external calamity that seems to surround, whether that be deadlines to meet, tasks to perform, personal issues to resolve, you discover a chamber apart from the chaos that reigns outside and sense a peace descending upon you.

Once you resume the challenges that wait, the load seems lighter; the progress along the sometimes rocky path is smoother. If the truth be known you have deepened, become more conscious of the graces so freely showered upon you.

It is this time in the shade, the pause in your day whether it be at first light or exhausted as you put your head on the pillow, that you experience for yourself the welcome that is extended to you and the relief and comfort of my grace and love. Indeed, my yoke is easy, and my burden light.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 14, 2010

Scripture

At that time Jesus said in reply, "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him. Matthew 11:25-27

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Prayer

Help me to be childlike.

Response

Yes, to be childlike – unquestioning, believing in the mystery and color of creation, innocent, faithful, and perceptive – not influenced by the predigested evidence of what was once called truth. To be childlike is to hold a wide perspective patiently, to see the full horizon even if there are areas that cannot not yet be distinguished or recognized – like gazing at the sweep of a red rock canyon and allowing your eyes to rest quietly for a time until you distinguish a mountain goat foraging on a ledge high above you, or spying an eagle’s nest on a precipice.

When did innocence lose its attraction in the corridors of power? To be innocent is to let go of the calculation of time and allow the present moment to unfold graciously, and, of course, with faith and hope, and that means with optimism. It means to speak and respond from the heart as only a child can.

Childlike and innocent, the Father will be revealed to you – defying any definition proscribed by scholars and those who neglect to look up from dusty manuals of thought. The Father is revealed in the stillness at dawn, in the smile of a loved one, in the rapture of life, and, yes, in child’s play.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 13, 2010

Scripture

When word came to the house of David that Aram was encamped in Ephraim, the heart of the king and heart of the people trembled, as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind. Then the LORD said to Isaiah: Go out to meet Ahaz . . . and say to him: Take care you remain tranquil and do not fear; let not your courage fail . . . Isaiah 7:2-4

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Prayer

Help me in the swirl of life and its uncertainties to remain tranquil.

Response

Sometimes it takes images like a forest trembling in the wind to remind you that whatever the circumstances you are to remain tranquil. What a wonderful word in English and in all languages – tranquil.

Can you identify when you are tranquil? Is it right now when you have put aside for a moment concerns of impending tasks, or even more, concerns about some future event that exists only in your imagination, inviting these illusions to create anxiety and invade this moment and your tranquility.

These verses are not to suggest that you “disarm” so to speak and await the challenges that indeed will and do present themselves. Rather, you are being reminded – and not for the first time – do not fear and do not let your courage fail. Do not flee into a past of regret; in fact, let go of the anxieties that would have you flee. Discover in my grace tranquility and sense courage emboldened, resolute.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 12, 2010

Scripture

“And whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:38-39

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Prayer

So familiar are these verses; speak to me of crosses and life.

Response

Notice the phrase whoever does not take up his cross. What if you were called along with others to help push a burdened wagon to the top of a rock strewn hill? And suppose it was at mid-day and hot; and further, your enthusiasm did not match others with their shoulders to the task which was to bring supplies to those in need? In fact, suppose you spent your energy disguising your lack of effort, the whole time thinking of when you can return to attend to your own needs?

Go further and consider those occasions when you focused to the distress of others on the pursuit of gain, recognition, self-indulgence, or life’s success – however the world or you define such success. Didn’t you find something missing? Was it some soul-ingredient that you would recognize had it been there? Was it an empty feeling of regret, even remorse for the effort expended in its pursuit? Could it be like making a great effort to swim out into the depth and beyond your companions, and discovering in an instant that you were instead in ankle deep, murky water?

Well, these words of Jesus are a gift for you this day. You are encouraged to be the first to put your shoulder to the task that serves those in need; to eagerly, yes eagerly and even joyously embark on the path less traveled, perhaps less recognized, to which you are guided. Eliminate from the equation of choice what does this get me, and substitute instead how will I be able to contribute to a goal beyond self? In case you missed it, this is what it means to find life – eternal.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 11, 2010

Scripture

“But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, 'Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.' Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers' victim?" He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." Luke 10:33-37

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Prayer

Sometimes I take comfort in this and similar verses as words from another time, different culture, or tradition; devoting more time reading the footnotes to distinguish between a priest, Levite, and Samaritan than in hearing these words as whispered to me this day for a purpose.

Response

This parable stays with you because it is so powerful in using the hypocrisy and class divisions that abound as a stark contrast to the message of compassion, love, service, generosity, courage, and mercy. The Samaritan sought no honor or recognition. He was not looking over his shoulder to see if anyone noticed that he was a fine fellow. He was acting spontaneously from the heart without concern for the consequences.

No need for you to seek a darkened path alone to minister to those in need. In fact, if you are conscious, you just might find the victim, as someone living in your home or nearby who is not heard, the stranger on a street corner without hope, the colleague who masks deep hurt behind a boisterous laugh, or the person experiencing unspeakable suffering in a distant land.

No need for you to seek a darkened path alone to minister to those in need. In fact, if you are conscious, you just might find the victim, as someone living in your home or nearby who is not heard, the stranger on a street corner without hope, the colleague who masks deep hurt behind a boisterous laugh, or the person experiencing unspeakable suffering in a distant land.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 10, 2010

Scripture

(The seraphim) touched my mouth with (the ember). "See," he said, "now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged."Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?" "Here I am," I said; "send me!" Isaiah 6:7-8

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Prayer

No seraphim have touched my mouth.

Response

Don’t be so sure of that. How many times have you experienced a “touch” that made your eyes tear with self knowledge, an inmost thought or reflection that caused you to repent, to alter the course of your life? How many times did you engage in an inner dialogue that might have been inaudible to those around you, but as animated within as any drama you might read or see performed on the stage?

It is at those dramatic times that you are as if alone listening to a special performance of divine music or choral selection of the soul. And with the resulting healing, you hear as deeply and resonating as a gong struck to announce the arrival of a royal personage the questions: Whom shall I send? Who will go forth?

Notice that the response received in the Scripture verse was not: What do you want me to do? How long will I be gone? Whom can I take with me? Rather, you hear the five word response: Here I am. Send me. So forgiveness and healing prompts service, sharing that healing with those disconsolate for whatever reasons and for however long. The questions to ask are when were you touched by the ember of forgiveness and how has it affected or will affect your life?

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 9, 2010

Scripture

Behold, you are pleased with sincerity of heart, and in my inmost being you teach me wisdom. Psalms 51:8

Prayer

Oh, what words for me to utter when I am still.

Response

Think of the turmoil of waiting on tables in your youth, the clash of dishes being cleared, the bustle, conversations that grow excitedly especially when there was no carpet on the floor, the rush to deliver entrees promptly, the collecting and counting of gratuities, and on and on. You could still live amidst such chaos, if you did not take time to listen – to observe what is happening around you, the interactions, the exchanges, listening as it were to the inmost teaching you receive with a sincere, even unhurried heart; and this is so even if you do not leave the circumference of your home, or the environs of your town.

A sincerity of heart is one that seeks to be cleansed of prejudice; I am sure that you could list a range of prejudices in categories arranged by perhaps race, national origin, religion – even denomination be it Catholic – Baptist or Sunni – Shiia, culture, height – weight, financial status, education or the lack thereof, friend or stranger. And yes here too, the categories are endless.

And why, you might ask, must you cast away prejudice? Because in the innocence that is restored you are most open to the inspiration of wisdom that touches you in your inmost being and gives you simultaneously the courage to embrace this wisdom in your actions.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 8, 2010

Scripture

I drew them with human cords, with bands of love; I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks; Yet, though I stooped to feed my child, they did not know that I was their healer. Hosea 11:4

Prayer

When will I learn that you are my healer?

Response

Don’t be so dramatic. You know by now after the experiences in your long life that I am your healer. And yes, you can recall times when you too were raised to my cheeks like an infant; even though there were also times when you sought to look aside.

Rather than the lifting process, consider how you were drawn to me, those human chords – the love of a parent, the influence of a mentor, strangers who demonstrated a kindness, friends that cherished your company, events and circumstances in life that woke you, even to opportunities of service. And it is for all of this that you should give thanks – especially for those incidents of life that might have overwhelmed or proved devastating for a time. It was on those occasions that helpless to do anything, you received my love without resistance.

Now is the moment to consider this healer who stands before you. No need to speak your ailments to a stranger, or perform a complicated ritual or dance of purpose. This healer knows you intimately, is present, and listens even to a whisper from the heart.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 7, 2010

Scripture

"Sow for yourselves justice, reap the fruit of piety; break up for yourselves a new field, for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain down justice upon you." Hosea 10:12

Prayer

A word, please, about this new field.

Response

Spend some time with the image. You hold within your inheritance a field whose dimension is such that it is difficult to calculate its acreage. On your first visit you notice that it has long lay fallow, nothing is growing there, though the earth is black and rich. Walking across a length of it there is no yielding beneath each step – years of neglect have created what appears to be an abandoned landing strip and not a field for planting. There are no birds in evidence since there are no seeds to devour, worms to extract from the hard surface.

So what are you to do? Well, to begin with break up the soil from the sweat of your brow. Don’t focus on the acreage surrounding you out of sight, but on the ground within your reach, turning the soil deliberately. The effort may represent detaching from the possessions, idols, and even prestige that you have stored in a counting house off the property. Here you begin the process of investing your inheritance in your nourishment and that of those who depend upon you, though they might not know your name, nor you theirs.

Be hopeful that the rains will come, softening the earth to welcome the seed that you are planting and investing each day with your effort as you to return to the field. In reverencing this labor you will reap the fruit of piety and faithfulness.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 6, 2010

Scripture

At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:36

Prayer

Help me when I might feel troubled or abandoned.

Response

Instead of wandering rudderless, as you seek direction in a vast sea, a compass, tiller, and even wind direction are provided in my grace. Your soul-sails fill with a sustaining breeze that easily skirts the storm clouds that might linger on a far horizon.

For what purpose, you might inquire? Simply stated – to attract by your apparent seamanship others who till now roll listless over each wave encountered, urging them instead to trim their sails and head with purpose in company to farthest reach where you all are beckoned.

Spend a moment and try to grasp quietly the pity that moved his heart and be thankful for his love and presence especially when you too are troubled.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 5, 2010

Scripture

Every day I will bless you; I will praise your name forever. Great is the LORD and worthy of high praise; God's grandeur is beyond understanding. Psalms 145:2-3

Prayer

Sitting in a gentle breeze from the sea, the sky beginning to light in the pre-dawn, what better purpose do I have but to praise your name forever?

Response

The dawning light is a hint of the consciousness unfolding within you. It should take no reminding, but just in case the pink-purple in the wisps of faint clouds stretching for miles above you should help, as the half-moon still glowing above you. How many times have you sat inert, engrossed in past happenings and even transgressions in similar circumstances? Then, you were far removed from God’s grandeur in the present moment.

Consider this occasion to be one that will never be repeated whether it is along the beach, on a mountainside, in a public park, across the table with a loved one or alone, in the dusty chamber of a chapel. Don’t be distracted by the scene, but become absorbed in the awareness of his presence in your life and for that give praise.

See if you can recognize those moments that capture your attention beyond all others when you sense my presence most clearly despite the clamor of life, burdened with past losses that sometimes are visible in the lines you wear that were not there in your youth.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 4, 2010

Scripture

But God did hear and listened to my voice in prayer. Blessed be God, who did not refuse me the kindness I sought in prayer. Psalms 66:19-20

Prayer

Hear my prayer this day.

Response

It is at those times when you pray without answers or solutions, you release expectations, your heart seems blank, words don’t readily form, it is then that prayer is most intense and your listening most receptive.

It is your God who does not refuse or ignore you; your God who grants you his kindness and understanding; who gives relief to those of you perplexed; pulls you back from unrealized expectations to a present and presence replete with blessings.

A word of his kindness – it is rooted in a knowing that exceeds by far that of a loving parent for a child whatever the age of each; it softens the sharp lines of discord that invade one’s consciousness; it suspends the turmoil in a soul. What a blessing and grace to become aware of the living presence that brings peace to the anxious soul.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 3, 2010

Scripture

So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Ephesians 2:19-20

Prayer

Give me confidence that I no longer wander without purpose.

Response

Recall times in a foreign city when you wandered for no purpose than to kill time. Usually, you were alone and had no one with which to share a cup of coffee or an ouzo when such wanderings occurred in Greece. Well, these verses are a reminder that your aimless search, profligate waste of time, confusion, and even dismay at times, are over, even completed.

You are in a community that touches the farthest reaches of the globe with love, service, compassion, and commitment. Just when that former loneliness reaches down from your shoulder to disturb you, you can realize, if you will, that you are in community that prays for your continued healing, for the garment of doubt to fall to the ground, and for you to walk in fellowship restored.

It might be hard to appreciate it but you are never to be alone again – whether you are bedridden, jostled by life’s challenges, short of breath trying to reach the next way station. You are in the company of a cohort of like souls sustaining you as you sustain them in this journey, or is it adventure, through a grace that knows no limit. What comfort to realize for the first time perhaps that all is as it should be in its unfolding as revealed by those who preceded you.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 2, 2010

Scripture

“Go and learn the meaning of the words, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' I did not come to call the righteous but sinners." Matthew 9:13

Prayer

Help me to understand the distinction between mercy and sacrifice.

Response

Simply put, sacrifice is something that can be accomplished alone, and mercy pulls you into the swirl of souls that bump against you. How can you show mercy alone? Retreating to your upper room and leaving life below you to tend to itself does little to promote mercy and harmony in my grace.

I desire mercy, not sacrifice is a strident call to leave your private sanctuary and serve those most oppressed by phantoms sometimes of their own creation. It is a call of freedom. You are no longer bound to preset formulas or rituals, but encouraged to trust the inner impulse of grace that imbues your spirit and all your actions.

Become engaged in making right what has gone astray in your lives and those around you through genuine selfless mercy. Consider the personal failings, setbacks, losses, and discouragement that weigh down those closest to you, and demonstrate genuine mercy irrespective of who precipitated the chaos.

All for this morning.

Meditation – July 1, 2010

Scripture

“Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" –he then said to the paralytic, "Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home." He rose and went home. Matthew 9:5-7

Prayer

What does it take for me to realize that I am that paralytic who has been healed and not some nameless fellow from the past?

Response

The short answer is contained in the question you ask; for in that instant you are no longer scanning the crowds that surround near and far, present and past, taking comfort in identifying the guilty. In your stillness you examine your own heart and the transgressions of which you are aware, and in that instant you begin, just begin, to understand for the first time the power of God’s forgiveness most directly and intimately.

Then you will discover that you too will rise, no longer encumbered by an agony that had festered in the darkness of the longest night, discard the stretcher on which you were carried helpless, the crutches that impeded your movement, and the mindset that thwarted your growth.

Surely, you don’t think the once-paralytic simply went home after the healing. So the question to ponder is what about you? What are you going to do now?

All for this morning.