Today’s reading
Philippians 1:29-30
“For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well--since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have” (Phil.1:29-30).
Prayer
My Wounded Friend, thank you. For I am among those victories you have won in bitter woundedness. I am yours, and never do I want to be otherwise. Take and receive my heart’s desire as my morning praise to you. Your battered body greets me daily from the crucifix, my shoes echoing across the shale as they anxiously bear me to the day’s duties. You hang there, silent and dying, saying not a word yet speech pours forth day and night into the chapel’s dimness, and my heart hears.
“Fully given,” you whisper in the darkness. “Fully given.” There is no part of you unsurrendered to the blessed and holy dream of the One you call Father, and others call Mother, and I call Loving Mystery for that is what you are to me. But no name will do. They all collapse in abject defeat beneath the weight of the wonder you are. And I stand amazed at the fullness of your heart, surrendered to one holy purpose.
For your name is Fully Given. You are the face of the Eternal Wonder whose love is fully given to gathering up all the broken fragments of creation--and me--so that nothing is lost, so all that is finds its final home and fulfillment in your love, a love constantly poured into this dark chapel and every shadowed corner of creation.
And I hear you in the darkness: “Give all to me, and you will know the life of the One who is Life. Give all to me, and you will know my joy. Give all to me, and you will know what only saints can know: there is a love worth suffering for.” My Wounded Friend, this day, may I be as fully given as you. Amen.
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Friday, September 29, 2006
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Today’s reading
Philippians 1:27-30
“Only, live your life in a manner worthy of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing. For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well” (Phil. 1:27-29).
Prayer
Silently, you speak in the soft glow of morning, O Eternal and Constant One. The day is born, alive in pinks and lavender with mountains of bulbous purple clouds resting their weight on the lake’s horizon. They signal with certainty that fall has come once more. The season’s insistent turn, assured and unyielding reminds me again that I am not.
So I turn again to you, Eternal Wonder. You alone are more certain than the morning. You are constant and firm, your love for me and all I see remains sure, amid the passing of days into seasons, and seasons into the years of my lifetime.
May I share in the constancy of your life and purpose? I long for you. I want my heart and my days to be marked by a calm and quiet confidence, resting in the arms of your eternity. Then, perhaps, Paul’s words will trouble me less. For I know: I avoid pain … religiously. I have well-practiced strategies for self-protection. I escape struggle whenever I can, or so it seems. And opponents I meet, they do intimidate me, so that sometimes I am no longer me, no longer that self I am when I rest in the eternal constancy of your infinite nearness.
My heart is too little given to you and your eternal desire to love all things into life. O Christ, ever the same, and more insistent than the seasons, awaken in me such a sense of your constancy and compassion that I may be fully given to your eternal purpose; however it appears in my days. Grant me the privilege of suffering for your holy desire that all the world should live in the eternity of your love. Amen.
Philippians 1:27-30
“Only, live your life in a manner worthy of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing. For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well” (Phil. 1:27-29).
Prayer
Silently, you speak in the soft glow of morning, O Eternal and Constant One. The day is born, alive in pinks and lavender with mountains of bulbous purple clouds resting their weight on the lake’s horizon. They signal with certainty that fall has come once more. The season’s insistent turn, assured and unyielding reminds me again that I am not.
So I turn again to you, Eternal Wonder. You alone are more certain than the morning. You are constant and firm, your love for me and all I see remains sure, amid the passing of days into seasons, and seasons into the years of my lifetime.
May I share in the constancy of your life and purpose? I long for you. I want my heart and my days to be marked by a calm and quiet confidence, resting in the arms of your eternity. Then, perhaps, Paul’s words will trouble me less. For I know: I avoid pain … religiously. I have well-practiced strategies for self-protection. I escape struggle whenever I can, or so it seems. And opponents I meet, they do intimidate me, so that sometimes I am no longer me, no longer that self I am when I rest in the eternal constancy of your infinite nearness.
My heart is too little given to you and your eternal desire to love all things into life. O Christ, ever the same, and more insistent than the seasons, awaken in me such a sense of your constancy and compassion that I may be fully given to your eternal purpose; however it appears in my days. Grant me the privilege of suffering for your holy desire that all the world should live in the eternity of your love. Amen.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Today’s reading
Philippians 1:27-30
“Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that your are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel” (Phil. 1:27).
Prayer
What can be worthy of you, who surrender yourself to the sole holy purpose under heaven, that for which all things cry out in longing? You, O Christ, are the fleshly face of the Invisible Darkness that haunts human souls. You are the near appearing of the Blessed Abyss no eye has seen and no name can capture. You come and show mortal eyes the the Immortal Beloved they could not have imagined.
You come fully given to that holy purpose. Shying not from suffering, you surrender yourself to the executioners scaffold. You reveal the persistent passion burning in the heart of the Eternal Wonder to bring all things home, to the heart of mercy from which they spring.
You are the fulfillment of our longing for that home we have never known but for which we have never ceased yearning. There, the anxious separation we feel among ourselves and from you is abolished. There, all things bask in the Infinite Love who fashioned them in delight. There, finally united with the Loving Mystery of whom you are the human face, we know the peace, the shalom, for which you made us.
And we know it even amid our dailiness. Sometimes, surely. In our common prayers and song, in the unity of our purpose to know you and make you known, in the smile and embrace expressing more than words can, there appears a unity of heart and endeavor in which we taste the sweetness of the final unity of all in you. Today, don’t let me forget that. But, like you, let me give myself to the unity of love and spirit, faith and hope you labor to fashion among us and all that is. Amen.
Philippians 1:27-30
“Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that your are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel” (Phil. 1:27).
Prayer
What can be worthy of you, who surrender yourself to the sole holy purpose under heaven, that for which all things cry out in longing? You, O Christ, are the fleshly face of the Invisible Darkness that haunts human souls. You are the near appearing of the Blessed Abyss no eye has seen and no name can capture. You come and show mortal eyes the the Immortal Beloved they could not have imagined.
You come fully given to that holy purpose. Shying not from suffering, you surrender yourself to the executioners scaffold. You reveal the persistent passion burning in the heart of the Eternal Wonder to bring all things home, to the heart of mercy from which they spring.
You are the fulfillment of our longing for that home we have never known but for which we have never ceased yearning. There, the anxious separation we feel among ourselves and from you is abolished. There, all things bask in the Infinite Love who fashioned them in delight. There, finally united with the Loving Mystery of whom you are the human face, we know the peace, the shalom, for which you made us.
And we know it even amid our dailiness. Sometimes, surely. In our common prayers and song, in the unity of our purpose to know you and make you known, in the smile and embrace expressing more than words can, there appears a unity of heart and endeavor in which we taste the sweetness of the final unity of all in you. Today, don’t let me forget that. But, like you, let me give myself to the unity of love and spirit, faith and hope you labor to fashion among us and all that is. Amen.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Today’s reading
Philippians 1:21-26
“I know I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again” (Phil. 1:25-26).
Prayer
What is our boast? What shall I lift before you as my morning offering, O Near Immensity? You sprinkle the roaring stars across the cosmos with slightest command. You breathe life into every leaf and lung so that the universe itself inhales the wonder of you. You labor in impenetrable depths of being beyond all seeing. You seek mercy for all Earth’s tender children, holding in the near immensity of your divine heart all who are denied the loving reverence in which you hold all that you have made.
Tell me, what can my empty hands hold before you this day? Only this: you. I shall boast of what you do in the children of Earth. In your divine delight, you begin a good work, brimming with love that overflows with knowledge so that I may determine what is best, what perishable words and work might praise the wonder of your imperishability.
I shall boast of what you have begun and will complete in all your beloved: a knowledge born of love, a knowledge born of your inner life, for you are love. To love is to know you. To love is to be in you. To love is to share in the intimacy of your divine life. To love is know the blessing of the eternal Christ encompassed within the limits of our little lives, transforming us at last into human beings.
I shall boast. For you who are love will bring us to full union with you, full participation in the love you are, and this for the blessing of a world to which you are pleased to give yourself. This day, may I be among those so given. Amen.
Philippians 1:21-26
“I know I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again” (Phil. 1:25-26).
Prayer
What is our boast? What shall I lift before you as my morning offering, O Near Immensity? You sprinkle the roaring stars across the cosmos with slightest command. You breathe life into every leaf and lung so that the universe itself inhales the wonder of you. You labor in impenetrable depths of being beyond all seeing. You seek mercy for all Earth’s tender children, holding in the near immensity of your divine heart all who are denied the loving reverence in which you hold all that you have made.
Tell me, what can my empty hands hold before you this day? Only this: you. I shall boast of what you do in the children of Earth. In your divine delight, you begin a good work, brimming with love that overflows with knowledge so that I may determine what is best, what perishable words and work might praise the wonder of your imperishability.
I shall boast of what you have begun and will complete in all your beloved: a knowledge born of love, a knowledge born of your inner life, for you are love. To love is to know you. To love is to be in you. To love is to share in the intimacy of your divine life. To love is know the blessing of the eternal Christ encompassed within the limits of our little lives, transforming us at last into human beings.
I shall boast. For you who are love will bring us to full union with you, full participation in the love you are, and this for the blessing of a world to which you are pleased to give yourself. This day, may I be among those so given. Amen.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Today’s reading
Philippians 1:21-26
“I know I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again” (Phil. 1:25-26).
Prayer
What is our boast? What shall I lift before you as my morning offering, O Near Immensity? You sprinkle the roaring stars across the cosmos with slightest command. You breathe life into every leaf and lung so that the universe itself inhales the wonder of you. You labor in impenetrable depths of being beyond all seeing. You seek mercy for all Earth’s tender children, holding in the near immensity of your divine heart all who are denied the loving reverence in which you hold all that you have made.
Tell me, what can my empty hands hold before you this day? Only this: you. I shall boast of what you do in the children of Earth. In your divine delight, you begin a good work, brimming with love that overflows with knowledge so that I may determine what is best, what perishable words and work might praise the wonder of your imperishability.
I shall boast of what you have begun and will complete in all your beloved: a knowledge born of love, a knowledge born of your inner life, for you are love. To love is to know you. To love is to be in you. To love is to share in the intimacy of your divine life. To love is know the blessing of the eternal Christ encompassed within the limits of our little lives, transforming us at last into human beings.
I shall boast. For you who are love will bring us to full union with you, full participation in the love you are, and this for the blessing of a world to which you are pleased to give yourself. This day, may I be among those so given. Amen.
Philippians 1:21-26
“I know I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again” (Phil. 1:25-26).
Prayer
What is our boast? What shall I lift before you as my morning offering, O Near Immensity? You sprinkle the roaring stars across the cosmos with slightest command. You breathe life into every leaf and lung so that the universe itself inhales the wonder of you. You labor in impenetrable depths of being beyond all seeing. You seek mercy for all Earth’s tender children, holding in the near immensity of your divine heart all who are denied the loving reverence in which you hold all that you have made.
Tell me, what can my empty hands hold before you this day? Only this: you. I shall boast of what you do in the children of Earth. In your divine delight, you begin a good work, brimming with love that overflows with knowledge so that I may determine what is best, what perishable words and work might praise the wonder of your imperishability.
I shall boast of what you have begun and will complete in all your beloved: a knowledge born of love, a knowledge born of your inner life, for you are love. To love is to know you. To love is to be in you. To love is to share in the intimacy of your divine life. To love is know the blessing of the eternal Christ encompassed within the limits of our little lives, transforming us at last into human beings.
I shall boast. For you who are love will bring us to full union with you, full participation in the love you are, and this for the blessing of a world to which you are pleased to give yourself. This day, may I be among those so given. Amen.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Monday, September 25, 2006
Today’s reading
Philippians 1:21-26
“I know I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again” (Phil. 1:25-26).
Prayer
What progress is there for us, O Changeless Compassion? What advance toward completion can I know? The struggles and sins that cloud my joy and erode my determination to serve you remain. They leave for a time only to reappear with subtle twists in unexpected places to hector my heart. They unnerve me, these struggles, stealing my sleep and disquieting my soul so that my mind and heart are not pure, singular and fully given to you and to all that pains your divine heart.
Decades come and go, and I continue to trip over the same fault lines in my soul: Am I good enough? Will they like what I do? Why should that matter? Why do my efforts so often feel so partial, so inadequate, so imperfect? And why am I so self-absorbed? I march around the same center, the same struggles that have been with me since I was small, never moving far beyond them.
What progress is this? Will I never know you so well that nothing else matters? Sometimes I do. There are moments, times and seasons when I no longer march around the crumbling tower of self, but my heart fixes upon your love alone, and that is all I see or can see. Freedom of heart and a quiet mind then become a bubbling spring from which love and wonder flow, a stream of blessing from the infinite depths of your eternity.
Self-absorbed fears instantly dissolve in that boundless spring, leaving joy and the desire to know nothing but you, to be wholly given to the love that bears your face, blessed Jesus. Is this progress? Surely, I will fall back again into self-preoccupation and the struggles that cloud such clear vision. But I will have known true freedom, the fulfillment of soul you alone give. And I will seek your face. Let me seek and see you this day, so that I may know the holy completion you alone can give. Amen.
Philippians 1:21-26
“I know I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again” (Phil. 1:25-26).
Prayer
What progress is there for us, O Changeless Compassion? What advance toward completion can I know? The struggles and sins that cloud my joy and erode my determination to serve you remain. They leave for a time only to reappear with subtle twists in unexpected places to hector my heart. They unnerve me, these struggles, stealing my sleep and disquieting my soul so that my mind and heart are not pure, singular and fully given to you and to all that pains your divine heart.
Decades come and go, and I continue to trip over the same fault lines in my soul: Am I good enough? Will they like what I do? Why should that matter? Why do my efforts so often feel so partial, so inadequate, so imperfect? And why am I so self-absorbed? I march around the same center, the same struggles that have been with me since I was small, never moving far beyond them.
What progress is this? Will I never know you so well that nothing else matters? Sometimes I do. There are moments, times and seasons when I no longer march around the crumbling tower of self, but my heart fixes upon your love alone, and that is all I see or can see. Freedom of heart and a quiet mind then become a bubbling spring from which love and wonder flow, a stream of blessing from the infinite depths of your eternity.
Self-absorbed fears instantly dissolve in that boundless spring, leaving joy and the desire to know nothing but you, to be wholly given to the love that bears your face, blessed Jesus. Is this progress? Surely, I will fall back again into self-preoccupation and the struggles that cloud such clear vision. But I will have known true freedom, the fulfillment of soul you alone give. And I will seek your face. Let me seek and see you this day, so that I may know the holy completion you alone can give. Amen.
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