Today's text
Luke 20:34-38
Jesus replied, “The children of this world take wives and husbands, but those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection of the dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the angels, and being children of the resurrection they are children of God. And Moses himself implies that the dead rise again, in the passage about the bush where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is God, not of the dead, but of the living; for to him everyone is alive.”
Prayer
You are God of the living, and all that know you are alive. None are lost, leaving no trace, no mark on your divine heart. All are cradled in your nearness, drinking the nectar of life.
And yet, there are places in my heart that do not know you, dead places where wounds new and old fester and breed resentment and anger. In me are barren landscapes where joy evaporates, where my heart withers in a desert of self-absorption, where I feel nothing but aggrievement and hunger for attention.
There is no freedom there, no life, vitality or joy, for those parts of me do not know you, Living One.
Come to me this day with the fullness of your love and life and let me live. Let me know the blessed rush of feeling truly alive. I weary of the deadness that too often crushes my heart so that I neither receive nor share your love in whole hearted abandonment. I long for that abandonment. It is the certain mark of freedom and joy.
So come, God of the living. Come to every dead place in my heart and to every place of death on this earth. Come. Give us today the life of your eternal tomorrow.
Pr. David L. Miller
http://prayingthemystery.blogspot.com/
Posts
All Comments
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Today's text
Luke 20:27-36
Some Sadducees--those who argue that there is no resurrection—approached and they put this question to him, “Master, Moses prescribed for us, if a man’s brother dies childless, the man must marry the widow to raise up children for his brother. Well then, there were seven brothers; the first, having married a wide, died childless. The second and then the third married the widow. And the same with all seven, they died leaving no children. Finally, the woman herself died. Now at the resurrection, whose wife will she be, since she had been married to all seven?” Jesus replied, “The children of this world take wives and husbands, but those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection of the dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the angels, and being children of the resurrection they are children of God."
Prayer
Death haunts our lives, Jesus. From our earliest moments we know we are timed and that time is short. It runs out before our human hopes and dreams are filled. So we strive to make a name, to leave a mark, so that our presence in this life is not insignificant or soon forgotten. And yet, millions die and leave little trace.
Even the clever and conniving souls who put you to the test with this silly story knew the tragedy of those who die with no progeny of flesh or creative labor. Even they seem to know the sadness of soul that settles upon us when we imagine that there is no one left to remember what we remember, no one remaining to carry on a name, a tradition, a bouquet of fragrant memories bearing what gifts they contain into the future’s unknown.
But you lift me beyond such sadness, Jesus, beyond the tragedy of the forgotten and overlooked who pass with little notice. You shatter the boundaries of imagination, directing my aching eyes to a space where death no longer haunts us, where all you love are children of the resurrection, sharing all the life that you are.
I am a child of the resurrection. Such is the knowledge you hunger for my soul. Thank you. For even now I breathe the fresh air of liberty, knowing life without limits, convinced that nothing is lost to you who have loved us from everlasting.
Pr. David L. Miller
Luke 20:27-36
Some Sadducees--those who argue that there is no resurrection—approached and they put this question to him, “Master, Moses prescribed for us, if a man’s brother dies childless, the man must marry the widow to raise up children for his brother. Well then, there were seven brothers; the first, having married a wide, died childless. The second and then the third married the widow. And the same with all seven, they died leaving no children. Finally, the woman herself died. Now at the resurrection, whose wife will she be, since she had been married to all seven?” Jesus replied, “The children of this world take wives and husbands, but those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection of the dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the angels, and being children of the resurrection they are children of God."
Prayer
Death haunts our lives, Jesus. From our earliest moments we know we are timed and that time is short. It runs out before our human hopes and dreams are filled. So we strive to make a name, to leave a mark, so that our presence in this life is not insignificant or soon forgotten. And yet, millions die and leave little trace.
Even the clever and conniving souls who put you to the test with this silly story knew the tragedy of those who die with no progeny of flesh or creative labor. Even they seem to know the sadness of soul that settles upon us when we imagine that there is no one left to remember what we remember, no one remaining to carry on a name, a tradition, a bouquet of fragrant memories bearing what gifts they contain into the future’s unknown.
But you lift me beyond such sadness, Jesus, beyond the tragedy of the forgotten and overlooked who pass with little notice. You shatter the boundaries of imagination, directing my aching eyes to a space where death no longer haunts us, where all you love are children of the resurrection, sharing all the life that you are.
I am a child of the resurrection. Such is the knowledge you hunger for my soul. Thank you. For even now I breathe the fresh air of liberty, knowing life without limits, convinced that nothing is lost to you who have loved us from everlasting.
Pr. David L. Miller
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Today's text
Luke 20:27-36
Some Sadducees--those who argue that there is no resurrection--approached Jesus] and they put this question to him, “Master, Moses prescribed for us, if a man’s brother dies childless, the man must marry the widow to raise up children for his brother. Well then, there were seven brothers; the first, having married a wide, died childless. The second and then the third married the widow. And the same with all seven, they died leaving no children. Finally, the woman herself died. Now at the resurrection, whose wife will she be, since she had been married to all seven?” Jesus replied, “The children of this world take wives and husbands, but those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection of the dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the angels, and being children of the resurrection they are children of God.
Prayer
Forgive us our presumption, Jesus. Who are we to contend with you? What foundation for argument can we offer to you who dwell in intimacy with the Holy Wonder? What source shall I footnote to overwhelm your understanding and turn the tables on you?
Nonsense, all of this. Yet, you invite us to bring our arguments and objections, our deductions and highest flights of reason. Bring them all, you say. And it is well that we do. Our intellectual tussles with ourselves and you are doorways of relationship.
But what can we know of you and the mysteries of eternity that lie hidden in your soul? You abide in the One who is Love Eternal and Everlasting Surprise. You dwell in the One who is undivided and irreducible, despite myriad human attempts to confine her to human proportions.
Our intellectual thrusts never reach the heart of the matter. For the heart of the matter lies beyond all human understanding, wrapped in the mystery of everlasting love. And from there you invite us to expect a barrier-breaking resurrection and redemption beyond all human reason from the One who is Life.
We will continue our arguments as long as we breathe, Jesus, struggling to know what we can, for that is how the Holy One made us. But at the end of each day, may we lay our battles down and simply hope in a love that transcends our reach, there to find the peace that mere comprehension cannot provide.
Pr. David L. Miller
Luke 20:27-36
Some Sadducees--those who argue that there is no resurrection--approached Jesus] and they put this question to him, “Master, Moses prescribed for us, if a man’s brother dies childless, the man must marry the widow to raise up children for his brother. Well then, there were seven brothers; the first, having married a wide, died childless. The second and then the third married the widow. And the same with all seven, they died leaving no children. Finally, the woman herself died. Now at the resurrection, whose wife will she be, since she had been married to all seven?” Jesus replied, “The children of this world take wives and husbands, but those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection of the dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the angels, and being children of the resurrection they are children of God.
Prayer
Forgive us our presumption, Jesus. Who are we to contend with you? What foundation for argument can we offer to you who dwell in intimacy with the Holy Wonder? What source shall I footnote to overwhelm your understanding and turn the tables on you?
Nonsense, all of this. Yet, you invite us to bring our arguments and objections, our deductions and highest flights of reason. Bring them all, you say. And it is well that we do. Our intellectual tussles with ourselves and you are doorways of relationship.
But what can we know of you and the mysteries of eternity that lie hidden in your soul? You abide in the One who is Love Eternal and Everlasting Surprise. You dwell in the One who is undivided and irreducible, despite myriad human attempts to confine her to human proportions.
Our intellectual thrusts never reach the heart of the matter. For the heart of the matter lies beyond all human understanding, wrapped in the mystery of everlasting love. And from there you invite us to expect a barrier-breaking resurrection and redemption beyond all human reason from the One who is Life.
We will continue our arguments as long as we breathe, Jesus, struggling to know what we can, for that is how the Holy One made us. But at the end of each day, may we lay our battles down and simply hope in a love that transcends our reach, there to find the peace that mere comprehension cannot provide.
Pr. David L. Miller
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)