Friday, June 22, 2007

Friday, June 22, 2007

Today’s text

2 John 1:7-8

“Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh; any such person is a deceiver and the antichrist! Be on your guard, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but may receive the full reward."

Prayer

You are our full reward, one we receive even now in water and word, flesh and blood. I will not deny your flesh, for that would be to deny my own flesh and the flesh of those who have been holy sacraments of your life for me, touching me with your divine love in flesh and blood, sweat and tears.

You appear in the flesh, Impenetrable Mystery, putting a face on the hunger for that More we could never fully name. Only in seeing you, touching you, hearing words carried by finite human breath, can we say, “Yes, this--you--is that which I have always wanted and needed.”

You, Loving Mystery, Divine Darkness, appear in our brother Jesus who reveals the fullness of your desire to pour blessing onto all creation, and more: In him we discover the mystery of our own life. You pour your life into us, en-fleshing yourself, each of us an expression of your divine delight, each a particular articulation of your love and creative joy, each a partial expression of the wonder no eye has seen.

Stir the presence and power of your Spirit within us this day that we may fulfill the holiness and reveal the eternal beauty you would speak in and through our flesh. Amen.

Pr. David L. Miller

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Today’s text

2 John 1: 5-6

“But now, dear lady, I ask you, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning, let us love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment just as you heard it from the beginning--you must walk in it.”

Prayer

You are our commandment, Hidden Spring. You are love, and we are alive with your being. You are Being itself, the infinite, bubbling, blessed source of our souls, the living spring of all that is. We are alive with your life, a life which is love, unceasing, unfailing, ever-seeking, constantly-generating, self-giving love.

The command of our very being is the love you are. The secret of our joy and all lasting satisfaction is to obey you, to be true to the need to love with which you fill us.

We know your command. It is as alive in us as the life we live, for it is the life we live. It is your life, the life of the boundless spring of unceasing love.

To walk in your way is a blessed gift, for it is to know the love in which you made us, the love that surrounds and embraces us, the love the bubbles, too, in our secret depths where you continue to pour yourself into us that we may live.

So let us walk in your commandment, true to the particular love you have given us to share. Amen.

Pr. David L. Miller

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Today’s text

2 John 1:4-5

“I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we have been commanded by the Father. But now, dear lady, I ask you, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning, let us love one another.”


Prayer

You are truth, and the truth that you are is love. All that is flows from your divine heart, the boundless fountain of being, a river of overflowing generosity.

From you the cosmos explodes into life from an infinitesimal grain expanding even now into myriad forms of magnificence. Life and matter, color and impenetrable darkness, intricate worlds invisible to human eye, the vast immensity of space that staggers the soul: all of it fills us with wonder that it--that anything--should be.

Why is there anything, if not for you? Your creative love births a billion worlds and raises human consciousness that the universe might know and name and praise you, the Unspeakable Wonder.

And you are not done. We do not know what forms of life and awareness you may yet raise from the dust to humble our human presumption that we are highest and greatest.

What is it to walk in the truth in such a universe? What can it mean but to tenderly love and care for all you continue to make, for each other, and for our own fragile souls? Fill us with wonder and gratitude for all that is, for life itself--and for all you must be, Unspeakable One. For you are truth, and we would walk in the truth of your overflowing heart. Amen.

Pr. David L. Miller

Monday, June 18, 2007

Monday, June 18, 2007

Today’s text

2 John 1:3

“Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, in truth and love.”

Prayer

You give such promise for the day, Joyous One, a reason to go forward with great expectation. I sense your smile, your joy, in these words, and they evoke lightness of soul and being in my body as well.

Your grace, mercy and peace will be with us. The gifts of your life will attend us on our various journeys through the routines and surprises of the day, this day. There is no uncertainty here, only purest assurance of your blessed nearness and of the joy you take in blessing those you love.

You will be with us. And we will know you, blessed Jesus. We will know you as the truth and love of the great Loving Mystery whose immensity makes beggars of all us who try to name what our minds cannot grasp.

The prospect of living the day with you fills me with delight and the delicious joy of anticipation. Is this joy an expression of the joy I sense in you, Holy One? Are we and all creation intended to be enrapt in this joy? Is this your purpose?

You smile. It is true. This is your desire. Lift our souls with your grace, mercy and peace that we may share and shimmer with your divine joy. Amen.

Pr. David L. Miller