Today’s text
Matthew 10:40-42
[Jesus said:] 'Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 'Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will have a prophet's reward; and anyone who welcomes an upright person because he is upright will have the reward of an upright person. 42 'If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then in truth I tell you, he will most certainly not go without his reward.'
Prayer
And our reward? It’s you, isn’t it, Jesus?
You are my reward. You are the gift I receive for whatever cup of water I lift to the lips of those who belong to you. I get to know you, the love, the passion, the giving, the mercy, the suffering, the pain of your life. All of it.
And in it all I receive life of a depth and sweetness that transcends my knowing and speaking. A life worthy of the names eternal and everlasting. Your life.
You send us to give the life and blessing you are, only to receive exactly what you are.
That appears to be the way your kingdom works: In giving we receive; in loving we know love; and in dying we live.
Pr. David L. Miller
http://prayingthemystery.blogspot.com/
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Thursday, June 26, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Today’s text
Matthew 10:40-42
[Jesus said:] 'Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 'Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will have a prophet's reward; and anyone who welcomes an upright person because he is upright will have the reward of an upright person. 42 'If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then in truth I tell you, he will most certainly not go without his reward.'
Prayer
I see it, Jesus, a cup of cold water. Two hands cup around it lifting it to be received by another. But who?
Then I see your face. You receive the water. With that gift, a human soul connects with your kingdom; human kindness joins with the mercy of your eternal giving.
This is what your face evokes in our hearts. Seeing you, hearing word of a kingdom of grace we don’t make, this raises our hands to give what we can and have to your eternal project of divine kindness.
You evoke what you are in every heart willing to receive your word. So we go to our service expecting to see this miracle of transformation: human hands lifting their cup of cold water in gratitude for the word of grace we are privileged to bear.
Rejection and confusion come to all who follow you. But in every lifted hand bearing gifts of life, we find the blessing of oneness in mercy and mission with sisters and brothers we did not know we had.
So we lift our hands with gifts you have given.
Pr. David L. Miller
Matthew 10:40-42
[Jesus said:] 'Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 'Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will have a prophet's reward; and anyone who welcomes an upright person because he is upright will have the reward of an upright person. 42 'If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then in truth I tell you, he will most certainly not go without his reward.'
Prayer
I see it, Jesus, a cup of cold water. Two hands cup around it lifting it to be received by another. But who?
Then I see your face. You receive the water. With that gift, a human soul connects with your kingdom; human kindness joins with the mercy of your eternal giving.
This is what your face evokes in our hearts. Seeing you, hearing word of a kingdom of grace we don’t make, this raises our hands to give what we can and have to your eternal project of divine kindness.
You evoke what you are in every heart willing to receive your word. So we go to our service expecting to see this miracle of transformation: human hands lifting their cup of cold water in gratitude for the word of grace we are privileged to bear.
Rejection and confusion come to all who follow you. But in every lifted hand bearing gifts of life, we find the blessing of oneness in mercy and mission with sisters and brothers we did not know we had.
So we lift our hands with gifts you have given.
Pr. David L. Miller
Monday, June 23, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Today’s text
Matthew 10:40
[Jesus said:] 'Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.
Prayer
Grant us hearts, Jesus, that welcome the presence of your kingdom. Too often our minds are more attuned to ugliness than beauty, quicker by far to see error and find fault than to savor stirrings of your Spirit.
We are more eager to criticize than to praise. Criticism puffs us up, assuring us that we are above the others. But a moment’s guilty pleasure erodes the heart ties you would weave, leaving us so terribly alone.
And it is clear that you are a weaver. In a simple act of welcome, you join our soul with another and your own heart. In a simple invitation, a blessed tri-unity of mutual sharing springs into being, and the holy heart of the Loving Mystery is as incarnate as my fingers on these keys.
So this is your purpose, Jesus. You join us with each other in you to know the heart of the All Loving.
So let us welcome each other, trusting that your gracious kingdom will spring from nothing into life in the simple hospitality of heart and hand.
Pr. David L. Miller
Matthew 10:40
[Jesus said:] 'Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.
Prayer
Grant us hearts, Jesus, that welcome the presence of your kingdom. Too often our minds are more attuned to ugliness than beauty, quicker by far to see error and find fault than to savor stirrings of your Spirit.
We are more eager to criticize than to praise. Criticism puffs us up, assuring us that we are above the others. But a moment’s guilty pleasure erodes the heart ties you would weave, leaving us so terribly alone.
And it is clear that you are a weaver. In a simple act of welcome, you join our soul with another and your own heart. In a simple invitation, a blessed tri-unity of mutual sharing springs into being, and the holy heart of the Loving Mystery is as incarnate as my fingers on these keys.
So this is your purpose, Jesus. You join us with each other in you to know the heart of the All Loving.
So let us welcome each other, trusting that your gracious kingdom will spring from nothing into life in the simple hospitality of heart and hand.
Pr. David L. Miller
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