Monday, September 06, 2004
Good morning, Lord. Today I am thankful for:
� Sleep
� Relief
� A calm forum
� Kind and supportive co-moderators
� Words of encouragement
� Making the phone calls I needed to
� A prayer group meeting scheduled
� Pleasant conversations with neighbors
� Fresh brewed coffee
� A walk to the store
(1 Corinthians 5:8)
Therefore, let us celebrate the feast,
not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness,
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
It is time for me to get rid of a lot of old habits, Lord. I am still so sensitive, but if the attacks on me are because of my belief in you, then I should rejoice when I am criticized or dismissed. It is my tiny share of your cross. You and I know that I come to you on my own, not just because of what I have read or been taught, but because of what you have demonstrated to me personally by your will. I know I will get over my tears and hurt feelings, but perhaps if I prepared myself for them I would not react so quickly. I am glad that I at least answered the accusation, since it was directed not at me but at those who serve you.
That is not the only "old yeast" that I must eliminate. Please take away any malicious or wicked thoughts. Let me not listen to malicious talk. Let me do nothing that might harm another.
The new yeast is "sincerity and truth." If I am truthful, I will not try to hide either my faults or my feelings. I will own them and ask for help in overcoming them. Please help me to be honest, no matter how embarrassing the truth might be. In trying to appear strong, I divorce myself from the human condition. Truth is acknowledging how I feel and analyzing the reasons. Then I can gain the strength that comes from humility and love of your will. Thy will be done. Be it done unto me. Fiat! So be it. Amen.
Saturday, September 04, 2004
Good morning, Lord. Today I am thankful for:
� Being back on line
� Another Remicade treatment
� Sleep
� Encouragement for J.
� Phone calls
� Dinner with a neighbor
� Finding things I had misplaced
� Clearing off couch
� Healing for a friend
� An E-mail from an old friend
(1 Corinthians 4:12-13)
When ridiculed, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;
when slandered, we respond gently.
Lord, please help me to be patient and tolerant with anyone who doesn't understand me. I respond politely, but am I gentle? It is so easy to be puffed up with righteousness. Bless all those who annoy me and try my patience. They are doing me a service which I fail to recognize at the time. Humility is knowing the truth, unfiltered by prejudice and emotion. Perhaps what they say is not true, but neither is my opinion of myself. When I am ridiculed, persecuted and slandered, I am forced to examine my thoughts and motives. If I am doing your will, I need not take offense. I can be thankful for the reminder. Even if I am straying, you can still work your will through me. Bring me back for my own sake, but above all, let me not harm those who know me. Let me not harm strangers, either.
I become angry when I see others attacked or when people force their views on others. Am I angry because of the injustice, or do I internalize and judge by my own experience? We tend to block out any good in a person who insults another. Help me to be truly fair and judge the validity of statements, not the motives of the people who make them.
Today, Lord, please help me to be gentle and humble. Thy will be done. Be it done unto me. Fiat! So be it. Amen.
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
Good morning, Lord. Today, I am thankful for:
� Surviving two nights without Internet
� Finding out it isn't my computer
� A good sleep
� Being up early
� Getting all the dishes done
� Finding the readings
� Scheduling Remicade for tomorrow
� Sorting papers
� Making some counter space
� Cooler weather, turning air off
(1 Corinthians 3:6)
I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.
A rivalry sprang up in the early church between those who were loyal to Paul and those who were loyal to Apollos. The two leaders were not rivals, and yet their followers set up a false opposition. Paul, himself, rebuked them, reminding them that both were merely facilitating the work of God.
Why do we assume that charismatic leaders must oppose one another? Our two party system focuses on differences rather than similarities, because unless the platforms contradict each other, people might vote for the other. If we concentrated on the values of democracy on which our country is founded, would we not vote for the candidate best able to sustain and promote them? Help us to find our common ground and unite with one another to support the peace and preservation of our world.
(Luke 4:43)
To the other towns also, I must proclaim the good news of God because for this purpose I have been sent.
My Jesus, the people did not want to let you go. They wanted you to preach and work your miracles only for them. Once you have shown us the way, it is up to us to follow it and teach others. And your Spirit is with us; so you are never gone. Please help us to hear you and to share your Word and your works with those we encounter. Thy will be done. Be it done unto me. Fiat! So be it. Amen.
Monday, August 30, 2004
Good morning, Lord. Today, I am thankful for:
� Moderator's schedule
� A good Crohn's chat
� Feedback about editing
� Catching up with people I hadn't seen for a while
� A nap in the recliner
� A song from a beautiful little Chinese girl
� A peaceful Olympics
� Being up early
� Music
� Making a Remicade appointment
(Luke 4:22-24)
In typical mob psychology, the crowd that minutes ago had been amazed by Jesus and spoken highly of him turned on him and was ready to throw him off a cliff after he spoke of the prophets' not being accepted in their own time and place. They could not get past the fact that he was just the carpenter's son.
Sometimes the reason that we don't recognize holiness is that we recognize too well the person that possesses it. We have seen the clay feet of our heroes. Jesus, of course was, is and always will be holy. But those who had watched him grow up could not believe that he was the miracle worker whose fame had reached them from far off regions. They could not accept him.
We don't believe our neighbors can be great, maybe for the same reason that we don't believe we ourselves can be great. Yet you live in each of us and call us to greatness. Help us to see you in one another. Let us trust despite our familiarity. Let us look at each encounter as though it were the first, forgetting past disappointments, weaknesses and insults. Let us hear you in the native land of our own hearts.
Today, Lord, let me acknowledge your Spirit in all whom I encounter. Thy will be done. Be it done unto me. Fiat! So be it. Amen.
Sunday, August 29, 2004
Good morning, Lord. Today, I am thankful for:
� A phone call from J.
� A supportive Email
� Answering some Email
� Chats with friends
� An article from a friend
� The fire alarm finally stopping
� Some sleep
� Relief from a headache
� A Sunday paper
� Good neighbors
(Sirach 3:17-18, 20)
Lord, I have worried about what I can give when I have so little strength. Today's reading from Sirach says "�conduct your affairs with humility and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts." Later, it adds, "into things beyond your strength, search not."
I want only to be loved by you, Lord, and your love is always there. If I am humble, I will be open to it. I won't be judging myself, comparing myself to others, berating myself for not achieving more. I will simply accept myself and step aside so that you can work through me in ways I will probably never guess.
It was false humility for me not to get rid of a message that distracted from a message board just because I was singled out for mean words. If another person had been attacked, I would have acted. Forgive me for not realizing that. From now on I won't treat myself differently.
Today, I will refuse to worry about myself or my worth. I am worth nothing without you and everything with you. I will rejoice in you, my Lord and my God. Thy will be done. Be it done unto me. Fiat! So be it. Amen.
Saturday, August 28, 2004
(1 Corinthians 1: 26-29)
Good morning, Lord. Today, I am thankful for:
� Hearing about J's first day
� A morning walk
� The support of a friend
� More moderators at Healingwell
� Reconciling checkbook
� Progress in kitchen
� Fresh vegetable juice
� Moving juicer
� Registering schools with grocery store
� Getting more tapes
Lord, you who choose the foolish to reveal your plan, the weak to do your work and the despised to teach your love, forgive my pride and strip me of it, that I may be a fit instrument of your will. Why would I boast when I have nothing except what you give me without my doing anything to earn it? What are possessions, beauty, intelligence, success? They have no value in your eyes, and even in this world they are fleeting and undeserved. What you have given us if for your glory and our salvation; to use it for anything else is to profane it. Those that are "something" must be reduced to nothing before they can appreciate your glory. I should be thankful, then, for those who berate me. Only when I realize that I am nothing can I serve you properly.
Today, Lord, let me rejoice, like Emily Dickinson, that I am nobody. Let me thank you for using me even though I am foolish, weak and lowly. When I start to feel self important and boastful, remind me that I cannot even glimpse the wisdom, power and love that you radiate. Let me surrender myself and bask in you. Thy will be done. Be it done unto me. Fiat! So be it. Amen.
Friday, August 27, 2004
(1 Corinthians 1:22-25)
Good morning, Lord. Today, I am thankful for:
� A good job for my daughter
� A walk to the store
� Finding most of what I wanted
� Helpful clerks
� A gift for a friend
� A nap
� Sending an Email
� A message from a friend
� Making room in the freezer
� Not having to go out today
My Jesus, your cross cannot make sense to anyone who doesn't know you, and only the Spirit can make you known to us. What then, can we do to encourage those who do not believe?
There are so many who scoff at faith as intellectual laziness. We choose to believe and yet we must first be chosen. It must be revealed to us. What we learned all our lives means nothing if we have never examined it and accepted it for ourselves. Yes, there are paradoxes, and yet our reason shows us that both premises are true. While we can never know you fully in this life or even glimpse your wisdom, you enlighten us. We seek you with our minds as well as with our hearts.
There are many, too, who think that faith makes us placid. Some may use it that way, as a pacifier, but then they are adapting your way to their own needs. You call us to action, to seek social and moral justice. You call some of us to martyrdom, the extreme test of courage and faith. You enjoin us to speak out for mercy and charity. We know that if we follow you we take risks. Your kingdom is not for cowards.
Today, let my mind and heart be tuned to you. Help those who need the wisdom and courage you give to seek you and find you. Thy will be done. Be it done unto me. Fiat! So be it. Amen.