Friday, February 8, 2013

Today’s text

Psalm 32:6-7

Let all who are faithful
   offer prayer to you;
at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters
   shall not reach them.
You are a hiding-place for me;
   you preserve me from trouble;
   you surround me with glad cries of deliverance.

Reflection

I can never bypass the simple fact, O Lord, that you seek my joy.

You come to me again and again to gladden my heart, deliver me from my fears, raise me when I am down and rescue me from the distress that seizes my soul.

You preserve me from all that prevents my heart and life from shining like the sun, hiding me in the heart of your love where I know what I most need to know.

This winter morning you fill me once more with the grace of gladness.

Night has gone. Dawn is breaking. The world wakes, and I receive another day, another chance to face the sun and feel the rain, another day to taste and share grace in this crazy world, another chance to laugh with the lives around me, another day to melt the tears of the troubled, another chance to find my way and to let you, Lord, find me in the midst of it all.

I am here, alive in a world where love shines in the eyes of those who assure me of the worth and beauty of my life, awakening my soul to the splendor of all life

I have another day to be thankful for what is, for who I am and for all I get to see and do and feel each day.

Thankfulness is powerful. It delivers my heart from sadness. It lifts me above the rushing waters that wash away peace of mind. It cleanses the soul of self-doubt, nagging fears and the obsession with troubling thoughts.

So I will ride the wings of gratitude into the joy and strength I need to live this day well, thanking you once more for all I have, all you give me each day.

But it is not such things, such blessings that most rescue my soul from being lost amid the weight and troubles of life.

It is you, knowing you, knowing the love you are, feeling the desire in your heart for me, becoming aware once more that you long for me to live with joy, free from all that drains the delight of living and loving from my face.

It is knowing and feeling your desire that fills me with the grace of gladness and allows me to give my heart and mind away as freely as you give your love to me.

So I come … once more … to this quiet morning place where I feel your desire for me … and in me, hoping that the lightness of being will fill me again with gratitude for another day to know you.

I just want to know you. It is all I really need.

Pr. David L. Miller