Daily Meditations
O Lord, hear my prayer..………Taize Music
Today while writing for my blog worrylessjourney.comĀ I was reminded how much I love the music of the Taize community in France. Their meditative songs help me to focus. The Quakers have a term “center down” and these songs help us to do that. Music can bring us close to God.
Listen to this sung prayer and reach out to God. AMEN
Hope is some extraordinary spiritual grace that God gives us to control our fears, notĀ oust them.-———————Vincent McNabb
Hope is one of the most precious things that God has given us. We need hope to get up each day. We use it to start a new project or a new job. We have hope. Thank God for it.
God of compassion, thank you for the gift of hope. AMEN
There is no way to peace. Peace is the way. ———-A.J. Muste
The people who have taught us the truth of this statement come to mind quite easily. Jesus, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. It is obvious that they understood this. All of them changed the world in amazing ways by following the path of peace. It should be obvious to us that walking the path of peace changes things for the better. We should do the same.
Loving God, your son showed us the path of peace. Others followed his example. Help us to do so too. AMEN
We all need down time. We have to have time to think, to just sit, to listen for God. God has told us that He speaks in silence. Time in silence, doing nothing, is not time wasted. It is time to “be.”
Take time to sit in a chair with your hands rested on the arms and let silence wash over you. We all need that.
Intimate God, you wait so patiently for us to acknowledge your presence. Help us to take the time to hear you. AMEN
Why is life sped up so? Why are thing so terribly unbearably precious that you can’t enjoy them but can only wait breathless in dread of their going? ——Anne Morrow Lindbergh
I sometimes think that things have become more important than God. Things have become our idol. If we aren’t concerned about the things we have we are longing for the things we don’t have. TV is telling us every day that there is something else we must have.
We have to learn to enjoy what we have now. We have to appreciate the life we have and give thanks.
Giving God, you have given us so much. Help us to know that it is enough and be thankful. AMEN
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the word gives. Do not let you hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. —————John 14:27
I really wish that I were never afraid. Fear can take over when something goes wrong. We have so many things to fear; poverty, homelessness, crime, disease, depression, anxiety, job loss.
We could spend each day cowering in our homes, afraid to go out. Sometimes we do, but God doesn’t want us to live like that. He has given us his peace. All we have to do it take it. Sounds easy bit it never is.
God, Father and Mother of us all, remind us that we are your children and that you wish only good for us. Help us to grasp your promises and your peace and never let go AMEN
Holding a grudge is a stone in your heart.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā TV show “The Good Doctor”
I would like to think that I don’t hold grudges but I can still find myself remembering some people with anger. If I do that I am still holding a grudge. It is so easy to hold onto things that hurt us. We remember with pain. The thing is we are the ones that are still being hurt by ourselves. That remembering is a negative feeling that we have to let go. We have to work at getting the stone out of our heart.
Loving Jesus, help us to forget the hurt and remove the stone. AMEN
I don’t know if you have read about the life of Julian of Norwich. I have included the info from Wikipedia.
“Julian of NorwichĀ (c. 8 November 1342 ā c. 1416) was an English anchoress and an important Christian mystic and theologian. Her Revelations of Divine Love, written around 1395, is the first theological book in the English language known to have been written by a woman. Julian was also known as a spiritual authorityĀ …”
Her life was difficult but her faith enormous. As an anchoress she withdrew from secular life and is believed to have live in a sparse “cell.”
This is her most famous saying and I often lean on it when life seems fragile. Just repeat it over and over and said enough will help to bring peace.
Lord, it is night. The night is for stillness. Let us be still in the presence of God.
It is night after a long day. What has been done has been done; let it be.
The night is dark. Let our fear of the darkness of the world and of our own lives rest in you.
The night is quiet. Let the quietness of your peace enfold us, all dear to us, and all who have no peace.
The night heralds the dawn. let us look expectantly to a new day, new joys, new possibilities.
In your name we pray. AMEN
from Night Prayer in “A New Zealand Prayer Book.”
There is very little that needs saying after this. Absorb carefully each line and sleep peacefully.
Today in church we celebrated All Saints Day. Today people who were in church in Texas lost their lives. This day we hear the beatitudes. Today we heard about the peacemakers. We need to be the peacemakers. The way that the world is today peacemakers are needed more than ever before. We must seek peace. We must speak out against violence. We must speak out about Christ and our faith. This is not the time to be a silent Christian.
Loving God, your earth is under attack. Grant us the courage to speak your word. Help us to not be afraid to speak God’s word. AMEN
Hear God in Other Voices 