| p2. March 9-16 Passion: MARCH 9. She was of great age�See Luke 2:22-40. When things are going well and we reflect on our lives we might think, �What a great age!� When reversals, losses, and pain define our lives, we might think that time has been cruel or passed us by. God�s best surprises do not erase our pain, they simply redirect us to what is yet to come. Lord, let your greatness define my day. Amen. MARCH 10. Jesus said, �Beware of practicing your piety or faith before others in order to be seen by them.� See Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21. Visible religious rituals are not bad in themselves but become so when we intend them to draw attention to a self-serving show of piety or faith. Living Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. Amen. MARCH 11. My strength was dried up. See Psalm 32:4. We need to rest daily, to take retreats, time-outs or time-away to recover, to regain peace of mind, and to build strength. Sometimes when we�re all dried up a little solitude makes for a most refreshing drink. MARCH 12. �and the angels came and ministered to him. See Matthew 4:11. Angels are emanations of God�s glory. They may come to us in dreams, or they may come to us in reality. In our suffering, send angels and visions of your love. MARCH 13. But filled with the Holy Spirit, Stephen gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. See Acts 7:55. Stephen enjoyed this mystical vision as he became the first martyr of Christian faith, accused as Jesus had been of wanting to destroy the temple and to change customs. Today�s lesbian and gay Christians are similarly accused of wanting to destroy the church and to change customs. A religious fundamentalist named Saul �approved of their killing� Stephen. On the road to Damascus Saul himself saw the glory of God in Christ. We pray for those who persecute us that your transforming glory may shine on them on their own roads to Damascus. MARCH 14. �Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together.� See Isaiah 40:4-5. Departing from his prepared text on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington Martin Luther. Jr., awed the quarter of a million souls gathered that day on the Mall with his �I Have a Dream� speech, stirringly quoting this scripture from Isaiah. �Where there is no vision, the people perish� (Proverbs 29:18). Where there is no vision, there is no spirituality. Where there is no spirituality, there is no vision. Spirituality is about the whole picture. Spirituality is our view of reality. But it is not simply today�s reality. It is yesterdays and tomorrows. It is memory and it is hope. It is history and it is vision. Prepare us for your way, O Lord that we may be on the Way and not in the way. MARCH 15. Our favorite songs are like scripture to us. I will sing to the Sovereign as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to God, for I rejoice in the Sovereign. See Psalm 104:33-34. Scriptures are texts that speak of and to our experience, offering us a sense of wholeness and meaning. Not all texts need be from the bible. The Jews collected their favorite �hits� in the Psalms. These were songs sung at various occasions: religious, cultural, civic, political, personal. They gave voice and meaning to life. Teach me to sing and dance your praise, O God, not just with lips but with feet and with soul. MARCH 16. God bless you and keep you. God make God�s face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you, God lift up God�s countenance upon you, and give you peace. See Numbers 6:24-26. Jesus told his disciples that if they blessed a home that didn�t deserve it, the blessing would return to them (Luke 10:5-6). He also said to �bless those who curse you� (Like 6:28). Paul quoted Proverbs, saying we should give food and drink to our enemies, �for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads� (Romans 12:20). But the gist of these sayings comes in Paul�s next comment, �Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good� (Romans 12:21). We are so overcome by evil that we don�t even bless those who are good. Bless me and keep me; make your face to shine upon me, and be gracious to me; lift up your countenance upon me, and give me peace. |
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