Today’s text
2 John 1:1-2
“The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth, and not only I but also all who know the truth because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever.”
Prayer
Do we love that which abides in us, Holy One? Do we adore that truth which roots itself deeply in our souls, springing from seeds long since sown?
If so, you have sown seeds of beauty in my soul, for it is beauty that enchants me, filling my heart again and again on these summer days. It comes in many forms: the delicate yellow roses near my chair, the playful smile and shimmering dark eyes of a two-year old who dares me to catch him, a human soul embracing the crazy, unpredictable given-ness of her life as the precious gift that it is.
All of it beautiful. All of it fills the soul with joy. Does this mean the beauty I behold in each of them dwells also in me? If so, thank you, for the beauty I behold is you who are Beauty Itself.
You are the sower of the holy seed. You are the beauty that grows. You are the truth that abides, filling and moving us to love … you, and to love you in all the infinite disguises in which you are pleased to appear.
So abide Hidden Mystery. Abide here in us forever that our souls forever may be filled with love for you and all that shimmers with your beauty. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
http://prayingthemystery.blogspot.com/
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Friday, June 15, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Today’s text
2 John 1:1-2
“The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth, and not only I but also all who know the truth because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever.”
Prayer
I praise you this day for your irresistible presence. My heart is no immovable object. You know how to move me and you do so again and again.
Your truth abides and resides here in us, in me. I hear the stories and struggles of your children, and in each one you call to me: “Speak, write, witness. Gather up the fullness of your heart, and speak from the incomprehensible depths of my love.”
Your words fill my heart with desire and tears of yearning until I witness again to a love that refuses to release me--or any of your beloved. Your grasp on our hearts is strong, and the longing in our hearts is your longing living and abiding in us, filling us with knowledge of the love you are and the pain you bear.
This truth abiding in us will be with us forever. For you are eternal, and our lives are caught up in your eternal longing. The deep well of desire of my heart tells me at least this much.
Thank you for that longing, for in it I know you, the incomprehensible, the irresistible, the love I cannot name.
Thank you for allowing me to know your beloved chosen ones, to hear their stories which fill me with your love for them in all their pain and beauty. There, too, I know you, and I see your abiding as you take shape in the contours of their faces. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
2 John 1:1-2
“The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth, and not only I but also all who know the truth because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever.”
Prayer
I praise you this day for your irresistible presence. My heart is no immovable object. You know how to move me and you do so again and again.
Your truth abides and resides here in us, in me. I hear the stories and struggles of your children, and in each one you call to me: “Speak, write, witness. Gather up the fullness of your heart, and speak from the incomprehensible depths of my love.”
Your words fill my heart with desire and tears of yearning until I witness again to a love that refuses to release me--or any of your beloved. Your grasp on our hearts is strong, and the longing in our hearts is your longing living and abiding in us, filling us with knowledge of the love you are and the pain you bear.
This truth abiding in us will be with us forever. For you are eternal, and our lives are caught up in your eternal longing. The deep well of desire of my heart tells me at least this much.
Thank you for that longing, for in it I know you, the incomprehensible, the irresistible, the love I cannot name.
Thank you for allowing me to know your beloved chosen ones, to hear their stories which fill me with your love for them in all their pain and beauty. There, too, I know you, and I see your abiding as you take shape in the contours of their faces. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
Monday, June 11, 2007
Monday, June 11, 2007
Today’s text
1 John 5:21
“Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”
Prayer
I resist endings, Eternal One, all endings. They remind me that I will come to an end. I am mortal flesh. I will pass away, disappearing into your eternity, hoping to awaken in intimate abiding with you have haunted me every day of my existence. But in this life every ending reminds me of all the others, the ‘going aways,’ the ‘good byes,’ the deaths and departures that have torn my soul.
And now I come to the end of this little book that has led my soul in prayer these months, leading me into lands previously unknown to me. I don’t want to go. I fear I will forget what you have written on my soul. I do not know or trust that you have inscribed it so deeply that it will stay and abide in my heart, teaching me what I need to know to live. For I want to live, not merely exist, and it truly consoles me that this is your desire too. Make it so, dear One, this day and always.
But now one last verse: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” Here, too, you miss no opportunity to console and guide this heart of mind. I am your child, beloved, like all those others to whom you are so tender. And you would not have me walk outside the cloud of your enveloping love. I am to live in awareness of you who are true and eternal, who are all-possessing love.
Idols of self-indulgence and self-chosen principles, idols of goals and values, of gain and victories that would displace you in my heart--these are not you. They do not and cannot envelop me in the love that birthed the universe. They drain life and vitality from me, stripping me of the awareness and enjoyment of eternal life.
So I will cling to you, the true and eternal, the love illimitable, the infinite nearness, the intimate transcendence, the dazzling darkness, the One I name Loving Mystery, who abides, awaiting me each day like the morning sun with a holy invitation, whispering, “Come, stand in the warmth of my light. You will live.”
Thank you.
Pr. David L. Miller
1 John 5:21
“Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”
Prayer
I resist endings, Eternal One, all endings. They remind me that I will come to an end. I am mortal flesh. I will pass away, disappearing into your eternity, hoping to awaken in intimate abiding with you have haunted me every day of my existence. But in this life every ending reminds me of all the others, the ‘going aways,’ the ‘good byes,’ the deaths and departures that have torn my soul.
And now I come to the end of this little book that has led my soul in prayer these months, leading me into lands previously unknown to me. I don’t want to go. I fear I will forget what you have written on my soul. I do not know or trust that you have inscribed it so deeply that it will stay and abide in my heart, teaching me what I need to know to live. For I want to live, not merely exist, and it truly consoles me that this is your desire too. Make it so, dear One, this day and always.
But now one last verse: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” Here, too, you miss no opportunity to console and guide this heart of mind. I am your child, beloved, like all those others to whom you are so tender. And you would not have me walk outside the cloud of your enveloping love. I am to live in awareness of you who are true and eternal, who are all-possessing love.
Idols of self-indulgence and self-chosen principles, idols of goals and values, of gain and victories that would displace you in my heart--these are not you. They do not and cannot envelop me in the love that birthed the universe. They drain life and vitality from me, stripping me of the awareness and enjoyment of eternal life.
So I will cling to you, the true and eternal, the love illimitable, the infinite nearness, the intimate transcendence, the dazzling darkness, the One I name Loving Mystery, who abides, awaiting me each day like the morning sun with a holy invitation, whispering, “Come, stand in the warmth of my light. You will live.”
Thank you.
Pr. David L. Miller
Friday, June 08, 2007
Friday, June 8, 2007
Today’s text
1 John 5:20b
“We are in him who is true, in his son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
Prayer
Center my heart this day in the middle of the enveloping cloud of your loving presence. Quiet my soul and give me the peace that knows all is well, for I am in you, who are Love.
Anxieties seek to undermine the assurance and calm in which you welcome me to live. I weary of beating back the fears that haunt my soul even after decades of struggle. But I will quit fighting. For I know quiet of mind flows from one thing, one truth, one reality--you, from the awareness that in every moment I am in you, the true, the eternal, the Loving Mystery.
Abiding in you is eternal life. In you I find rest and peace, hope and strength. Fears evaporate, and my heart beats slow and steady. My soul flows with a love and joy that springs from eternity. I walk surrounded by your cloud of enveloping presence, and I know you, for I know your desire. And what are you if not the constant desire of your divine heart?
You seek to fill my flesh and all that is with your love and life. So this day I shall dwell in the cloud of awareness, knowing that which is true and eternal and near as my breath--the Love whom you are--that you may fill me and be glorified in my mortal flesh. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
1 John 5:20b
“We are in him who is true, in his son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
Prayer
Center my heart this day in the middle of the enveloping cloud of your loving presence. Quiet my soul and give me the peace that knows all is well, for I am in you, who are Love.
Anxieties seek to undermine the assurance and calm in which you welcome me to live. I weary of beating back the fears that haunt my soul even after decades of struggle. But I will quit fighting. For I know quiet of mind flows from one thing, one truth, one reality--you, from the awareness that in every moment I am in you, the true, the eternal, the Loving Mystery.
Abiding in you is eternal life. In you I find rest and peace, hope and strength. Fears evaporate, and my heart beats slow and steady. My soul flows with a love and joy that springs from eternity. I walk surrounded by your cloud of enveloping presence, and I know you, for I know your desire. And what are you if not the constant desire of your divine heart?
You seek to fill my flesh and all that is with your love and life. So this day I shall dwell in the cloud of awareness, knowing that which is true and eternal and near as my breath--the Love whom you are--that you may fill me and be glorified in my mortal flesh. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Today’s text
1 John 5:19-20
“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
Prayer
You are true, which means you are holy and firm, solid and constant, certain presence and undiluted nearness, the first and last word of life itself. On you we can ever depend, for you are true.
Eternal you are, which means you are forever young, yet ancient and abiding, never frenzied or fevered. All time is at your disposal and serves your purpose. No secret of existence is lost to you, no life, no being, no moment. You are the Dazzling Dark, present to all that was and is and shall be, the eternal.
You are eternal life. You are everlasting, Being Itself, Infinite Source, Impenetrable Mystery, the Divine Darkness from whom all life springs fresh and flows like a river through time and space. Time and history are the flow of your creativity joy … and sorrow in the emptiness.
And we are in you, the true, the eternal, the Loving Mystery who is life, eternal life. We partake of the fullness of you who are all Fullness, receiving the fullness of life and love that we might live with joy and holy purpose, and at the end fall asleep in you for whom our moment of time is but a blink.
We know you. I know you, true, eternal, life and love. And you hold nothing of what you are from me. May my heart and mind abide constantly in you. Dwelling in the enveloping cloud of your presence, consenting to your life and love, may I, too, be true, eternal, life and love, receiving and being all you are pleased to share. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
1 John 5:19-20
“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
Prayer
You are true, which means you are holy and firm, solid and constant, certain presence and undiluted nearness, the first and last word of life itself. On you we can ever depend, for you are true.
Eternal you are, which means you are forever young, yet ancient and abiding, never frenzied or fevered. All time is at your disposal and serves your purpose. No secret of existence is lost to you, no life, no being, no moment. You are the Dazzling Dark, present to all that was and is and shall be, the eternal.
You are eternal life. You are everlasting, Being Itself, Infinite Source, Impenetrable Mystery, the Divine Darkness from whom all life springs fresh and flows like a river through time and space. Time and history are the flow of your creativity joy … and sorrow in the emptiness.
And we are in you, the true, the eternal, the Loving Mystery who is life, eternal life. We partake of the fullness of you who are all Fullness, receiving the fullness of life and love that we might live with joy and holy purpose, and at the end fall asleep in you for whom our moment of time is but a blink.
We know you. I know you, true, eternal, life and love. And you hold nothing of what you are from me. May my heart and mind abide constantly in you. Dwelling in the enveloping cloud of your presence, consenting to your life and love, may I, too, be true, eternal, life and love, receiving and being all you are pleased to share. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Today’s text
1 John 5:19-20
“We know that we are God’s children, and that the whole world lies under the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
Prayer
I dwell in the cloud of knowing. I dwell in you, the true, where that which is false and illusory disappears and fails to confuse my sight and soul. In the true, I know what is real and substantial. I know you and only you. For you are the true, the lasting, the real, the constant. There is no illusion or lie in you, no failure or fading, no dilution of love or life, only the ultimate and eternal truth of life itself: You.
You who are love: That is the true that never fails or falters.
Enveloped by the in the cloud of your all-possessing love, I no longer see the “realities” I confuse with the true. The lies about what gives strength and security, meaning and purpose disappear. The only security that is real is You, your love alone. And my true self appears only as I rest in you. All else is illusion.
Clothed and surrounded, enveloped and enclosed within the cosmic expanse of your embrace, I no longer dwell under the power of evils and fears that enslave me body and soul. I know the freedom of being in Love Itself, and I know that anything less is half-life and illusion. This is real and true, as eternal as your love. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
1 John 5:19-20
“We know that we are God’s children, and that the whole world lies under the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
Prayer
I dwell in the cloud of knowing. I dwell in you, the true, where that which is false and illusory disappears and fails to confuse my sight and soul. In the true, I know what is real and substantial. I know you and only you. For you are the true, the lasting, the real, the constant. There is no illusion or lie in you, no failure or fading, no dilution of love or life, only the ultimate and eternal truth of life itself: You.
You who are love: That is the true that never fails or falters.
Enveloped by the in the cloud of your all-possessing love, I no longer see the “realities” I confuse with the true. The lies about what gives strength and security, meaning and purpose disappear. The only security that is real is You, your love alone. And my true self appears only as I rest in you. All else is illusion.
Clothed and surrounded, enveloped and enclosed within the cosmic expanse of your embrace, I no longer dwell under the power of evils and fears that enslave me body and soul. I know the freedom of being in Love Itself, and I know that anything less is half-life and illusion. This is real and true, as eternal as your love. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
Monday, June 04, 2007
Monday, June 4, 2007
Today’s text
1 John 5:18
“We know that those who are born of God do not sin, but the one who was born of God protects them, and the evil one does not touch them."
Prayer
You would have me know this. You want me to live with quiet assurance that, born of God, I bear your life that keeps me from sin that undermines your purpose and distances my soul from your fullness.
You want me to live … knowing that you live in me and I live in you so that neither fear nor worry, not past, present or future can shake my heart from the calm your love claims for me.
There is a cloud of knowing in which I sometimes find myself. In the cloud, I know myself in you, surrounded and enveloped. I dwell in this cloud of knowing. It is palpable, embracing my every move and thought, overshadowing my body and being.
It reveals reality to me: I dwell in the atmosphere of you, the environment of an unspeakable divine love. I am in you. Aware and abiding in the cloud, I cannot sin for I dwell in a love that also fills me. The fears and anxieties that are the seed of my sin do not exist in the cloud. With the demons that attack in the wee hours, they are absorbed and dissolved in the cloud of your holy presence.
I am, in a word, safe, for all I know is you, the cloud of presence, the cloud of knowing where I know only peace and a joy that does, indeed, pass understanding. I am a child of the cloud, born of an all-possessing love who dwells within and in all the places of my wandering. I want to know this always. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
Today’s text
1 John 5:18
“We know that those who are born of God do not sin, but the one who was born of God protects them, and the evil one does not touch them."
Prayer
You would have me know this. You want me to live with quiet assurance that, born of God, I bear your life that keeps me from sin that undermines your purpose and distances my soul from your fullness.
You want me to live … knowing that you live in me and I live in you so that neither fear nor worry, not past, present or future can shake my heart from the calm your love claims for me.
There is a cloud of knowing in which I sometimes find myself. In the cloud, I know myself in you, surrounded and enveloped. I dwell in this cloud of knowing. It is palpable, embracing my every move and thought, overshadowing my body and being.
It reveals reality to me: I dwell in the atmosphere of you, the environment of an unspeakable divine love. I am in you. Aware and abiding in the cloud, I cannot sin for I dwell in a love that also fills me. The fears and anxieties that are the seed of my sin do not exist in the cloud. With the demons that attack in the wee hours, they are absorbed and dissolved in the cloud of your holy presence.
I am, in a word, safe, for all I know is you, the cloud of presence, the cloud of knowing where I know only peace and a joy that does, indeed, pass understanding. I am a child of the cloud, born of an all-possessing love who dwells within and in all the places of my wandering. I want to know this always. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
Friday, June 01, 2007
Friday, June 1, 2007
Today’s text
1 John 5:16-17
“If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one--to those whose sin is not mortal. There is a sin that is mortal; I do not say that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal.”
Prayer
I do not know what mortal sin means, Dearest One. I cannot grasp it. I know only that sin kills, right here and now. It is the illusion of separation from you. It is living without awareness that I and all that is are always in you, and you are in us. We exist only because we bear your Being. We are never separate from you, from your life, from your wonder, from the vitality and love you are.
Such awareness brings gratitude and calm. Anxiety flees the field, leaving the assurance that I am alive with you. The life I live is your life breathed into flesh. Every breath resonates with the peace that I have all I need in life and death. For, I am alive with you, the Boundless Spring of love and being itself.
What can mortal sin be but the determination to live in the illusion that this is not so? Your divine life has come in the flesh of my brother Jesus--and continues to come in and to the flesh of all you love? And you all love all you have made. Is mortal sin this dualism that separates you from our common life, denying that you are here, present and knowable in every moment?
If so, I will pray for those who fall into such sin including myself, for it is a terrible darkness.
Awaken our senses, Abiding Presence. Evaporate the illusion that clouds our vision so that we may know every breath we take draws in your creative love as you seek to fill us and all that is. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
1 John 5:16-17
“If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one--to those whose sin is not mortal. There is a sin that is mortal; I do not say that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal.”
Prayer
I do not know what mortal sin means, Dearest One. I cannot grasp it. I know only that sin kills, right here and now. It is the illusion of separation from you. It is living without awareness that I and all that is are always in you, and you are in us. We exist only because we bear your Being. We are never separate from you, from your life, from your wonder, from the vitality and love you are.
Such awareness brings gratitude and calm. Anxiety flees the field, leaving the assurance that I am alive with you. The life I live is your life breathed into flesh. Every breath resonates with the peace that I have all I need in life and death. For, I am alive with you, the Boundless Spring of love and being itself.
What can mortal sin be but the determination to live in the illusion that this is not so? Your divine life has come in the flesh of my brother Jesus--and continues to come in and to the flesh of all you love? And you all love all you have made. Is mortal sin this dualism that separates you from our common life, denying that you are here, present and knowable in every moment?
If so, I will pray for those who fall into such sin including myself, for it is a terrible darkness.
Awaken our senses, Abiding Presence. Evaporate the illusion that clouds our vision so that we may know every breath we take draws in your creative love as you seek to fill us and all that is. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
Friday, June 1, 2007
Today’s text
1 John 5:16-17
“If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one--to those whose sin is not mortal. There is a sin that is mortal; I do not say that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal.”
Prayer
I do not know what mortal sin means, Dearest One. I cannot grasp it. I know only that sin kills, right here and now. It is the illusion of separation from you. It is living without awareness that I and all that is are always in you, and you are in us. We exist only because we bear your Being. We are never separate from you, from your life, from your wonder, from the vitality and love you are.
Such awareness brings gratitude and calm. Anxiety flees the field, leaving the assurance that I am alive with you. The life I live is your life breathed into flesh. Every breath resonates with the peace that I have all I need in life and death. For, I am alive with you, the Boundless Spring of love and being itself.
What can mortal sin be but the determination to live in the illusion that this is not so? Your divine life has come in the flesh of my brother Jesus--and continues to come in and to the flesh of all you love? And you all love all you have made. Is mortal sin this dualism that separates you from our common life, denying that you are here, present and knowable in every moment?
If so, I will pray for those who fall into such sin including myself, for it is a terrible darkness.
Awaken our senses, Abiding Presence. Evaporate the illusion that clouds our vision so that we may know every breath we take draws in your creative love as you seek to fill us and all that is. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
1 John 5:16-17
“If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one--to those whose sin is not mortal. There is a sin that is mortal; I do not say that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal.”
Prayer
I do not know what mortal sin means, Dearest One. I cannot grasp it. I know only that sin kills, right here and now. It is the illusion of separation from you. It is living without awareness that I and all that is are always in you, and you are in us. We exist only because we bear your Being. We are never separate from you, from your life, from your wonder, from the vitality and love you are.
Such awareness brings gratitude and calm. Anxiety flees the field, leaving the assurance that I am alive with you. The life I live is your life breathed into flesh. Every breath resonates with the peace that I have all I need in life and death. For, I am alive with you, the Boundless Spring of love and being itself.
What can mortal sin be but the determination to live in the illusion that this is not so? Your divine life has come in the flesh of my brother Jesus--and continues to come in and to the flesh of all you love? And you all love all you have made. Is mortal sin this dualism that separates you from our common life, denying that you are here, present and knowable in every moment?
If so, I will pray for those who fall into such sin including myself, for it is a terrible darkness.
Awaken our senses, Abiding Presence. Evaporate the illusion that clouds our vision so that we may know every breath we take draws in your creative love as you seek to fill us and all that is. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Today’s text
1 John 5:16
“If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one--to those whose sin is not mortal.”
Prayer
I know sin all too well. My heart is not singular and pure. My soul does not shine with the crystalline clarity of your divine heart. Each intricate facet of your Being glimmers with the unsullied, undiluted purity of the Love whom you are. Who can gaze into light so pure, so piercing?
I am nothing like this. My sin is the source of most of my pain and sadness, my weakness and worry. I would love and trust you, finding strength and calmness of heart amid the feverishness of life. But on too many days I turn from the plentitude of your provision and quickly am trapped in anxiety about my want of skill and time, insight and ability. My incompetence and inadequacy for the tasks of your calling mock me.
In abject need, I turn and fall again into the fullness of your love, and my soul is enveloped in a cloud of knowing assurance. I am certain again, not of me, but of you, of the constant presence of your love, of the infinitely abundant reality that I dwell in the atmosphere of a love that will never abandon me to my own devices.
My heart is filled my life, eternal life, which is to say, with you. And I live. Oh, that I could always live like this. This alone is life, a life you give to sinners and wanderers like me. Pour your loving nearness on all of us this day that we may glow with a glory not our own. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
1 John 5:16
“If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one--to those whose sin is not mortal.”
Prayer
I know sin all too well. My heart is not singular and pure. My soul does not shine with the crystalline clarity of your divine heart. Each intricate facet of your Being glimmers with the unsullied, undiluted purity of the Love whom you are. Who can gaze into light so pure, so piercing?
I am nothing like this. My sin is the source of most of my pain and sadness, my weakness and worry. I would love and trust you, finding strength and calmness of heart amid the feverishness of life. But on too many days I turn from the plentitude of your provision and quickly am trapped in anxiety about my want of skill and time, insight and ability. My incompetence and inadequacy for the tasks of your calling mock me.
In abject need, I turn and fall again into the fullness of your love, and my soul is enveloped in a cloud of knowing assurance. I am certain again, not of me, but of you, of the constant presence of your love, of the infinitely abundant reality that I dwell in the atmosphere of a love that will never abandon me to my own devices.
My heart is filled my life, eternal life, which is to say, with you. And I live. Oh, that I could always live like this. This alone is life, a life you give to sinners and wanderers like me. Pour your loving nearness on all of us this day that we may glow with a glory not our own. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Today’s text
1 John 5:14-15
“And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him.”
Prayer
According to your will, you say. Whatever we ask … according to your will … we will receive. And what is your will other than what you are? You are love, and you are glorified in words and deeds of love. These reveal you. They glorify you, enlarging your life on this thirsty planet. This is your will, and this prayer you never turn away. You always answer.
The longer I live the more I believe that, Holy One. The longer I live the more I know I need that prayer. Faces pass through my life, my office, crossing my path with human pain and joy beyond my capacity to understand. I listen agnostically, knowing only that I do not know their want, their need or their wounds.
And I pray: Help me to love this person. Help me to love this person …and the unique journey that brought them to my door. Truly, my Lord, I want nothing more than this.
Then I wait, and you answer. Of that, I am certain.
So I boldly pray again, over this and every day, over each person I shall meet today: Let me love them, regardless how pleasant or troubling they may be to me. May my words and deeds glorify you, enlarging your life on this thirsty planet, making you more present. That is your will, and for that I shall pray. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
1 John 5:14-15
“And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him.”
Prayer
According to your will, you say. Whatever we ask … according to your will … we will receive. And what is your will other than what you are? You are love, and you are glorified in words and deeds of love. These reveal you. They glorify you, enlarging your life on this thirsty planet. This is your will, and this prayer you never turn away. You always answer.
The longer I live the more I believe that, Holy One. The longer I live the more I know I need that prayer. Faces pass through my life, my office, crossing my path with human pain and joy beyond my capacity to understand. I listen agnostically, knowing only that I do not know their want, their need or their wounds.
And I pray: Help me to love this person. Help me to love this person …and the unique journey that brought them to my door. Truly, my Lord, I want nothing more than this.
Then I wait, and you answer. Of that, I am certain.
So I boldly pray again, over this and every day, over each person I shall meet today: Let me love them, regardless how pleasant or troubling they may be to me. May my words and deeds glorify you, enlarging your life on this thirsty planet, making you more present. That is your will, and for that I shall pray. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Today’s text
1 John 5:13
“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
Prayer
There are some things I know, O Nameless Love. I know the breath in my lungs. I know the sound of the crickets and tree frogs as I sit long evenings on the patio. I know the beauty of human souls surrendered to a great love for which they are willing to suffer.
And I know all these are your dance in the emptiness of time and space.
I know that all love and life, all beauty and wonder, all self-sacrifice and true generosity, all kindness and gentleness, all joy and peace are the fullness of your Being playing a holy game, coaxing me to join in that I might live.
I know it brings you joy to lift human souls into the fullness of the Love you are, where we find fullness of life and joy.
In all of this, I know you. And knowing you is eternal life. Thanks for letting me know. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
1 John 5:13
“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
Prayer
There are some things I know, O Nameless Love. I know the breath in my lungs. I know the sound of the crickets and tree frogs as I sit long evenings on the patio. I know the beauty of human souls surrendered to a great love for which they are willing to suffer.
And I know all these are your dance in the emptiness of time and space.
I know that all love and life, all beauty and wonder, all self-sacrifice and true generosity, all kindness and gentleness, all joy and peace are the fullness of your Being playing a holy game, coaxing me to join in that I might live.
I know it brings you joy to lift human souls into the fullness of the Love you are, where we find fullness of life and joy.
In all of this, I know you. And knowing you is eternal life. Thanks for letting me know. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Today’s text
1 John 5:10-12
“Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
Prayer
Eternal life is in you, my blessed brother. And the life that is in you is in me, for you are in me. What is it to have you, to have life?
You are the incandescent burning of a love that has no name. You are the visible face of impenetrable eternity. You are the human features of infinite wonder. You are the unceasing love of the Father’s unfathomable heart.
To have you is to have this love, this life abiding in the depths of one’s being. It is to be in-dwelt by a divine abiding in which one’s heart can finally rest and abide. This awareness, this reality is eternal life.
I have no idea what it was like for you, my Jesus, to know the fullness of this life in your mortality. There must have been as much sorrow as joy as you witnessed what we do to each other and your creation. But joy is unmistakable, in you and even in my sad soul.
So, too, are freedom of heart and mind and a peace that comes as love abiding melts sadness and doubt and fills with the awareness that you are love; you are always love and you fill me with the love you are.
In moments of fullness, the only possible sadness is the knowledge that, too soon, I will lose awareness of you and revert to ordinary consciousness, not knowing your exquisite nearness. But in those moments I know you; I know myself, and I know what life is for. Let me, let none of us, ever forget. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
1 John 5:10-12
“Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
Prayer
Eternal life is in you, my blessed brother. And the life that is in you is in me, for you are in me. What is it to have you, to have life?
You are the incandescent burning of a love that has no name. You are the visible face of impenetrable eternity. You are the human features of infinite wonder. You are the unceasing love of the Father’s unfathomable heart.
To have you is to have this love, this life abiding in the depths of one’s being. It is to be in-dwelt by a divine abiding in which one’s heart can finally rest and abide. This awareness, this reality is eternal life.
I have no idea what it was like for you, my Jesus, to know the fullness of this life in your mortality. There must have been as much sorrow as joy as you witnessed what we do to each other and your creation. But joy is unmistakable, in you and even in my sad soul.
So, too, are freedom of heart and mind and a peace that comes as love abiding melts sadness and doubt and fills with the awareness that you are love; you are always love and you fill me with the love you are.
In moments of fullness, the only possible sadness is the knowledge that, too soon, I will lose awareness of you and revert to ordinary consciousness, not knowing your exquisite nearness. But in those moments I know you; I know myself, and I know what life is for. Let me, let none of us, ever forget. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
Monday, May 21, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
Today’s text
1 John 5:6-9
“This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, for the Spirit is the truth. There are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree. If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to the Son.”
Prayer
I can’t say that I quite understand this, My Lord Christ, dearest friend. Does water refer to your baptism in human flesh? Does blood point to your death, faithful to God at the hands of those who hated and feared you? And the Spirit? Shall I think of this elusive constant one as that vitality of life and joy, who evermore recreates the face of the Earth--and me--in the divine image you reveal and are?
These three agree, giving God’s own witness that you are Lord, the revelation of God, the human, incarnate face of Eternal Wonder. You are the smile of God on the madness of the world. You are the knowing face of eternity turned in love to me amid all the unruliness of my life.
The water, the blood and the Spirit of joy that attends me each time I think of you: these invite me to know you, not merely as human friend but as abiding, divine presence, attending my every breath. Breathing in, I know you. I know you as the love of the Holy One who wants to known by every heart, by all that lives and by each spoonful of matter. Constant divine desire.
And I? I come to the close of another chapter, another semester, changed, deeper I hope. But you remain unchanged, constantly making witness to the love you are through our brother Jesus, the Christ.
Give us eyes and ears to receive your witness as we go our ways. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
1 John 5:6-9
“This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, for the Spirit is the truth. There are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree. If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to the Son.”
Prayer
I can’t say that I quite understand this, My Lord Christ, dearest friend. Does water refer to your baptism in human flesh? Does blood point to your death, faithful to God at the hands of those who hated and feared you? And the Spirit? Shall I think of this elusive constant one as that vitality of life and joy, who evermore recreates the face of the Earth--and me--in the divine image you reveal and are?
These three agree, giving God’s own witness that you are Lord, the revelation of God, the human, incarnate face of Eternal Wonder. You are the smile of God on the madness of the world. You are the knowing face of eternity turned in love to me amid all the unruliness of my life.
The water, the blood and the Spirit of joy that attends me each time I think of you: these invite me to know you, not merely as human friend but as abiding, divine presence, attending my every breath. Breathing in, I know you. I know you as the love of the Holy One who wants to known by every heart, by all that lives and by each spoonful of matter. Constant divine desire.
And I? I come to the close of another chapter, another semester, changed, deeper I hope. But you remain unchanged, constantly making witness to the love you are through our brother Jesus, the Christ.
Give us eyes and ears to receive your witness as we go our ways. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
Friday, May 18, 2007
Friday May 18, 2007
Today’s text
1 John 5:3b-5
“And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God."
Prayer
What is of the world but that which binds my heart and prevents me from loving? And why should I remain so attached to that which enslaves and dehumanizes? I don’t know why, but I do.
Mysteries, these are, but deeper still is the eternal which also is born in us, a newness that battles the ravages of ego and restless anger, coaxing and cajoling us to a humanity that is real and true, bearing the marks of our brother Jesus.
We are born of you Dearest One, brought forth in love, by love and for loving. So help us hear, trust and love that other inner voice which hungers for a humanity and mercy beyond our capacities to create.
Our hunger signals not your absence but your present Spirit healing and humanizing, revealing that we bear a treasure we shall never exhaust, neither in this life nor in that into which we shall one day disappear.
We are born of you, bearing a wonder and a grace, a mercy and a life for which we shall yearn until the most unruly and enslaved parts of our being are altogether new, born of God, fresh and free as a spring morning.
May we taste that newness this day and forever. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
1 John 5:3b-5
“And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God."
Prayer
What is of the world but that which binds my heart and prevents me from loving? And why should I remain so attached to that which enslaves and dehumanizes? I don’t know why, but I do.
Mysteries, these are, but deeper still is the eternal which also is born in us, a newness that battles the ravages of ego and restless anger, coaxing and cajoling us to a humanity that is real and true, bearing the marks of our brother Jesus.
We are born of you Dearest One, brought forth in love, by love and for loving. So help us hear, trust and love that other inner voice which hungers for a humanity and mercy beyond our capacities to create.
Our hunger signals not your absence but your present Spirit healing and humanizing, revealing that we bear a treasure we shall never exhaust, neither in this life nor in that into which we shall one day disappear.
We are born of you, bearing a wonder and a grace, a mercy and a life for which we shall yearn until the most unruly and enslaved parts of our being are altogether new, born of God, fresh and free as a spring morning.
May we taste that newness this day and forever. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Tuesday May 15, 2007
Today’s text
1 John 4:17-18
“We love because God first loved us. Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers and sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not see. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters.”
Prayer
I wake in the morning and begin the day with you for you make the morning. And when the sun lies low on its evening horizon, you are there. May my heart praise you then, too. And when the Earth’s good star fades and grows cold, when the sun’s golden rays wane and blink out, when it collapses and is a dark hole in infinite space, long after we and the stars of night have exhausted our substance and Earth’s fair beauty, too, is forgotten, even then you will be there, and you will be love. And you will not forget.
You are first, the love from which all things come and to which they go. You are the love who creates in joy and saves in holy passion. Your love is first in all things, setting life in motion and calling us to yourself in our brother Jesus who wore our mortal flesh and the eternity of your love.
Apart from you nothing is, for you are first, and you are love, a love that is the last word, too, the final reality into which all that is--and I--shall disappear, becoming one, at last, with the love that is the first movement in all life and creation.
Against your eternity it is hard to see that I and anything I do should matter. But it does, you say. The command you write on my being is be the love I receive, the love in which you fashioned and made me, the love that meets me in the morning and will awaken me to eternity, the love you are.
You are first; you are love. Let us know and be that love in our little moment of time. We will pass away, but the love we live will endure for eternity. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
1 John 4:17-18
“We love because God first loved us. Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers and sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not see. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters.”
Prayer
I wake in the morning and begin the day with you for you make the morning. And when the sun lies low on its evening horizon, you are there. May my heart praise you then, too. And when the Earth’s good star fades and grows cold, when the sun’s golden rays wane and blink out, when it collapses and is a dark hole in infinite space, long after we and the stars of night have exhausted our substance and Earth’s fair beauty, too, is forgotten, even then you will be there, and you will be love. And you will not forget.
You are first, the love from which all things come and to which they go. You are the love who creates in joy and saves in holy passion. Your love is first in all things, setting life in motion and calling us to yourself in our brother Jesus who wore our mortal flesh and the eternity of your love.
Apart from you nothing is, for you are first, and you are love, a love that is the last word, too, the final reality into which all that is--and I--shall disappear, becoming one, at last, with the love that is the first movement in all life and creation.
Against your eternity it is hard to see that I and anything I do should matter. But it does, you say. The command you write on my being is be the love I receive, the love in which you fashioned and made me, the love that meets me in the morning and will awaken me to eternity, the love you are.
You are first; you are love. Let us know and be that love in our little moment of time. We will pass away, but the love we live will endure for eternity. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
Monday, May 14, 2007
Monday May 14, 2007
Today’s text
1 John 4:17-18
“We love because God first loved us. Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers and sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not see. The commandment we have from him is this those who love God must love their brothers and sisters.”
Prayer
I do not want my life to be a lie, Holy One. For you are truth, and more than anything I want to dwell in you, my heart living in face-to-face unity with your divine heart so that there will be nothing false in me.
There is, of course, for I am not pure of heart; my eye is not singular, given to you alone. Unjust anger, snap judgments and rejection of others come far too easily to my mind and well before I truly listen and know the truth of others lives and hearts. I value others for what they can give me, not as you love them, a flowing fountain of compassion whose reach knows no limit.
This is how you love each of us and me. You forgive my divided heart and the hard words that live in me, spoken or not, awakening again the desire of heart that never left, that was always there: to love as you love, to embrace all reality and every face with compassion that flows also in me when I know myself in you.
This is your will, the holy work you never abandon. Thank you.
Show me what is to love and not just in word or thought. Teach me how to love each face I meet. Give me a seeking heart that seeks this alone from you its only source. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
1 John 4:17-18
“We love because God first loved us. Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers and sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not see. The commandment we have from him is this those who love God must love their brothers and sisters.”
Prayer
I do not want my life to be a lie, Holy One. For you are truth, and more than anything I want to dwell in you, my heart living in face-to-face unity with your divine heart so that there will be nothing false in me.
There is, of course, for I am not pure of heart; my eye is not singular, given to you alone. Unjust anger, snap judgments and rejection of others come far too easily to my mind and well before I truly listen and know the truth of others lives and hearts. I value others for what they can give me, not as you love them, a flowing fountain of compassion whose reach knows no limit.
This is how you love each of us and me. You forgive my divided heart and the hard words that live in me, spoken or not, awakening again the desire of heart that never left, that was always there: to love as you love, to embrace all reality and every face with compassion that flows also in me when I know myself in you.
This is your will, the holy work you never abandon. Thank you.
Show me what is to love and not just in word or thought. Teach me how to love each face I meet. Give me a seeking heart that seeks this alone from you its only source. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Tuesday May 10, 2007
Today’s text
1 John 4:17-18
“Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so we are in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment; and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.”
Prayer
My love is hardly perfect, but you, Blessed One are. You are perfect love, whole and true, constant and unwavering, without beginning or end, a deep current flowing in the eddies of our little moment of time that we may know you. Thank you. You are our life.
You, Incarnate One, are the love that called us to know you, inviting us each to grow into what we may be, flesh and blood articulations of your loving desire, each of us giving particular expression of your divine heart.
Your all-possessing stream brought us to this place and carries us on to experiences and faces unknown. Let us ever abide in you wherever we are or go.
Abiding in you, fear evaporates, an illusion of human aloneness. You never leave us alone. We are always in you, having our being in your abiding. May we rest in the currents of your living nearness.
Perfect us in your love. Leave no part of our being untouched, unwashed, unpossessed that as you are, we may be: eternity in time, the love that casts out fear. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
1 John 4:17-18
“Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so we are in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment; and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.”
Prayer
My love is hardly perfect, but you, Blessed One are. You are perfect love, whole and true, constant and unwavering, without beginning or end, a deep current flowing in the eddies of our little moment of time that we may know you. Thank you. You are our life.
You, Incarnate One, are the love that called us to know you, inviting us each to grow into what we may be, flesh and blood articulations of your loving desire, each of us giving particular expression of your divine heart.
Your all-possessing stream brought us to this place and carries us on to experiences and faces unknown. Let us ever abide in you wherever we are or go.
Abiding in you, fear evaporates, an illusion of human aloneness. You never leave us alone. We are always in you, having our being in your abiding. May we rest in the currents of your living nearness.
Perfect us in your love. Leave no part of our being untouched, unwashed, unpossessed that as you are, we may be: eternity in time, the love that casts out fear. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Monday May 9, 2007
Today’s text
1 John 4:15-16
“God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God and God abides in them.”
Prayer
You do not Love, Holy One. You are love. To say less is heresy and lie. I will not cheat my soul from its singular consolation, so I say again: You do not love. You are love. And you love me, filling this cold heart with the liquid fire of your own life.
And I know you, such as a human heart can. I know you as love enveloping body and being entire, embraced, possessed, lifted, carried, filled, lighter than air and needing nothing. Heart and mind fall silent and satisfied, at rest in final Sabbath, the soul’s journey done. Home at last, I rest.
You abide within as the true and pure substance of soul, uncut and unadulterated, the eternal triunity of the Love you are. Here.
You are love, and you abide. Abiding in you, words and deeds flow from that truest self that is entirely gift and not of my making, and I, too, am love. Not unadulterated perhaps, but … still. May it be so today. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
1 John 4:15-16
“God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God and God abides in them.”
Prayer
You do not Love, Holy One. You are love. To say less is heresy and lie. I will not cheat my soul from its singular consolation, so I say again: You do not love. You are love. And you love me, filling this cold heart with the liquid fire of your own life.
And I know you, such as a human heart can. I know you as love enveloping body and being entire, embraced, possessed, lifted, carried, filled, lighter than air and needing nothing. Heart and mind fall silent and satisfied, at rest in final Sabbath, the soul’s journey done. Home at last, I rest.
You abide within as the true and pure substance of soul, uncut and unadulterated, the eternal triunity of the Love you are. Here.
You are love, and you abide. Abiding in you, words and deeds flow from that truest self that is entirely gift and not of my making, and I, too, am love. Not unadulterated perhaps, but … still. May it be so today. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
Monday, May 07, 2007
Monday May 7, 2007
Today’s text
1 John 4:13-15
“By this we know that we abide in him and he is us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.”
Prayer
Sleep refuses to clear from consciousness. Early morning fogs my mind, yet my soul seeks you, not by any conscious movement but by a willing I do not command. Open thou my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.
I will declare it for you awaken my heart’s deep desire before my lethargic will can shake its slumber. My desire is for you long before conscious willing can catch up to whatever it is, whomever it is that long ago took possession of this heart of mine.
But I know who it is, for it is you, who neither slumber nor sleep. Thank you.
You abide in those whose hearts and lives testify to Jesus. That testimony, even through the befuddled haze of stuperous morning mind, reveals again that I am not my own. I am yours.
I know of no better thought with which to start the day.
You abide, and I can no more escape you than I can shed my skin. I am possessed of the desire to say again, “May Jesus Christ be praised in the morning, every morning, in this and every human heart.”
May my words reveal you to all I meet this day, and to my own sleepy self. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
1 John 4:13-15
“By this we know that we abide in him and he is us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.”
Prayer
Sleep refuses to clear from consciousness. Early morning fogs my mind, yet my soul seeks you, not by any conscious movement but by a willing I do not command. Open thou my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.
I will declare it for you awaken my heart’s deep desire before my lethargic will can shake its slumber. My desire is for you long before conscious willing can catch up to whatever it is, whomever it is that long ago took possession of this heart of mine.
But I know who it is, for it is you, who neither slumber nor sleep. Thank you.
You abide in those whose hearts and lives testify to Jesus. That testimony, even through the befuddled haze of stuperous morning mind, reveals again that I am not my own. I am yours.
I know of no better thought with which to start the day.
You abide, and I can no more escape you than I can shed my skin. I am possessed of the desire to say again, “May Jesus Christ be praised in the morning, every morning, in this and every human heart.”
May my words reveal you to all I meet this day, and to my own sleepy self. Amen.
Pr. David L. Miller
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