Daily Meditations
Today it is fashionable to talk about the poor. Unfortunately, it is not fashionable to talk with them. –Mother Teresa
This is so true! Most of us would prefer to avoid the homeless or those begging on our streets. We see them as “less than” us. It’s as if we are concerned about becoming contaminated by them. We have to begin to look through Jesus’ eyes and see them as children of God just like us. Then we will be willing to talk with them.
Suffering is a journey deeper into the heart of life. From the movie The Human Experience
How shallow we can be if we have had very little problems in our lives. We just float through each day wondering why other people seem to struggle so. Compassion for those suffering is hard to grasp since we have nothing to measure it against. Travail in life is not what we would choose. But the fire of its pain brings the beauty of understanding and love for those who suffer.
Compassionate God, you sent you son to suffer and in so doing chose to experience our pain, sorrow, and grief. Help us to use what we have learned in our own trials to ease the path of others.
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things
I Corinthians 13: 4-7
We hear this so often at weddings that I don’t think we really pay attention to it any more. But these are words to live by. How many times am I arrogant or rude or boastful? How many times do I insist on my own way? I need to wake up and smell the coffee. These words apply directly to me!
Prayer: Forgiving God, I am guilty of letting these words slide right by me. Help me to take them to heart and live by them. Amen
Sometimes I wonder if anyone has the ability to speak kindly. Dignity is a forgotten word. I can’t imagine Jesus being undignified. Angry yes, as he was with those selling at the temple. How close are we to being able to dig deep into our Christian life to withstand the frustrations that beset us. We must call on God to help us maintain the dignity expected of us as Christians.
Psalm 19:14
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
A lot of preachers use this verse before beginning a sermon. I imagine that most of the time they have a plan about what they will say. That is not always true of the rest of us. Too often we don’t think about what we are saying. The words just rush out and we often wish we could take them back. Our hasty words can injure others. My father used to say “put your brain in gear before you put your mouth in motion.” Wise words indeed.
Patient God, help us to think before speaking so that our words can be acceptable in your sight. AMEN
Nature is perfect, wherever we look, but man always deforms it. ———J.C.F. von Schiller
God made us stewards of the earth. He made us and then expected us to care for everything else. Instead we listened to the part about being in charge and forgot the rest. If we can’t learn to be stewards (dictionary: manage or look after another’s property) before long there will be nothing to manage.
Abundant God, your plan was for us to care for your creation. Help us to do just that. AMEN
The only sin which we never forgive in each other is a difference of opinion—————–Ralph Waldo Emerson
We are so good at sticking to our own opinion and rejecting the opinions of others. Each of us is on a journey toward God and each of us is at a different place in that journey. Be mindful of the thoughts of others and be careful not to put rocks in their path. Your thoughts may be good ones but they may not be ready to hear them.
Amazing God, help each of us on our journey toward you and remind us not to hinder others. AMEN
It is important to remember that if we take as our model of the church the hospitality extended to the stranger, it can in no way be a community of like-minded friends but must have at its very heart the inclusion of the others, the different.————Sallie McFague in Models of God.
Too often if someone appears at our church who is radically different from us we choose not to welcome them. We are called to do the opposite. Do we include those dressed poorly, someone obviously homeless or anyone else who doesn’t seem to fit?
Inclusive God, we are your creation and we are all yours. Help us to remove our fears and welcome all to our worship. AMEN
The the true master knows that if he had a God he could understand he would never hold him to be God-——from “The Gargoyle” by Andrew Davidson
God is way beyond my understanding. There are so many things that happen in the world that make no sense to me. Who would allow pain and suffering if they were in charge? However, I know that there is a God whose wisdom I cannot grasp and no matter how much I study I will never understand. God is infinite and beyond my imagining.
Amazing God, you created the world and all that is in it. Your wisdom is before me every day and I will never understand. You are God. I believe.
An ounce of parent is worth a pound of the clergy.———–Spanish proverb
Being a parent is one of the hardest jobs on earth. It is also one of the most important. What can matter more than shaping the lives of others. God sees us as his children and wants us to see what a loving parent looks like. Follow God’s example and love your children with all your heart.
Loving father, you remind us that you love us. Help us to share our own love and yours with our children. AMEN
Hear God in Other Voices 