Today’s text
Psalm 31:19-24
Yahweh, what quantities of good things you have in store for those who fear you, and bestow on those who make you their refuge, for all humanity to see. Safe in your presence you hide them, far from human plotting, shielding them in your tent, far from contentious tongues. Blessed be Yahweh who works for me miracles of his faithful love (in a fortified city)! In a state of terror I cried,--I have been cut off from your sight!--Yet you heard my plea for help when I cried out to you. Love Yahweh, all his faithful: Yahweh protects his loyal servants, but he repays the arrogant with interest. Be brave, take heart, all who put your hope in Yahweh.
Prayer
You hide us, O Lord. Tucked inside your immensity, wrapped in mother’s arms, hidden in the bosom of eternity, you hold us fast and safe.
But so seldom do we believe it. And less seldom do we walk into the new day convinced utterly of the safety of our souls, the enormity of your embrace, the fierceness of your faithfulness. But today, I do. And today, I will.
Security abides this heart. Not the security of hiding away from the day, but the calm of assurance. I have no assurance that what I want or think I need will come to me. It may not, which likely is just as well. I surrendered the idea that I know what’s best years ago.
Nor have I any particular confidence that I possess sufficient strength, will and insight to thrive at the tasks to which I lay my hand. I am well acquainted with how weak and needy I can be, to say nothing of how distractible. And I no longer feel much shame about it. For the most part, I have given up trying to hide or deny it.
I am what I am. Yours.
Of this I am certain.
And you are unimaginable immensity, wrapping me body and soul in innumerable layers of love’s unfailing embrace.
Pr. David L. Miller
http://prayingthemystery.blogspot.com/
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Thursday, June 05, 2008
Monday, June 02, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
Today’s text
Psalm 31:1-5
In you, Yahweh, I have taken refuge, let me never be put to shame, in your saving justice deliver me, rescue me, turn your ear to me, make haste. Be for me a rock--fastness, a fortified citadel to save me. You are my rock, my rampart; true to your name, lead me and guide me! Draw me out of the net they have spread for me, for you are my refuge; to your hands I commit my spirit, by you have I been redeemed. God of truth.
Prayer
Yahweh, almighty, all motherly,
our rest and rock,
our refuge and rescue
our home and joy,
our light and life.
You are our clothing,
love enfolding, all possessing,
love surrounding all we are.
You embrace and grace
all life; you are all
good and the good
of all that is
is you.
Through love you made us,
in love preserve us. From
deepest eternity you know
and hold us. Grant our hearts
true knowledge of you.
Save us amid all
uncertainty that certainty
may abide each heart
that all is well,
all shall be well,
and all manner of things will
be well, for all rests
in you,
whose love never wanes
and never will.
Pr. David L. Miller
Psalm 31:1-5
In you, Yahweh, I have taken refuge, let me never be put to shame, in your saving justice deliver me, rescue me, turn your ear to me, make haste. Be for me a rock--fastness, a fortified citadel to save me. You are my rock, my rampart; true to your name, lead me and guide me! Draw me out of the net they have spread for me, for you are my refuge; to your hands I commit my spirit, by you have I been redeemed. God of truth.
Prayer
Yahweh, almighty, all motherly,
our rest and rock,
our refuge and rescue
our home and joy,
our light and life.
You are our clothing,
love enfolding, all possessing,
love surrounding all we are.
You embrace and grace
all life; you are all
good and the good
of all that is
is you.
Through love you made us,
in love preserve us. From
deepest eternity you know
and hold us. Grant our hearts
true knowledge of you.
Save us amid all
uncertainty that certainty
may abide each heart
that all is well,
all shall be well,
and all manner of things will
be well, for all rests
in you,
whose love never wanes
and never will.
Pr. David L. Miller
Friday, May 30, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
Today’s text
Psalm 131
Yahweh, my heart is not haughty,
I do not set my sights too high.
I have taken no part in great affairs,
in wonders beyond my scope.
No, I hold myself in quiet and silence,
like a little child in its mother’s arms,
like a little child, so I keep myself.
Let Israel hope in Yahweh
henceforth and for ever.
Prayer
For you my heart longs
in the morning. Calm
I seek, to stable restless
mind, its anxious
doubts caressing,
uncertain that the day--
and I--are sufficient
to the day’s demands.
Be certain, my soul;
insufficient you are,
certainly so, hold no
doubt, but know:
it matters not;
go quiet, undaunted
lay hand to task; hope
attends, love abides;
joy is not absence
of challenge, not
abolition of tension
but holy knowing: Yahweh
keeps you, holds your
life, your moments.
In Yahweh rests all
calm, comes your strength.
Pr. David L. Miller
Psalm 131
Yahweh, my heart is not haughty,
I do not set my sights too high.
I have taken no part in great affairs,
in wonders beyond my scope.
No, I hold myself in quiet and silence,
like a little child in its mother’s arms,
like a little child, so I keep myself.
Let Israel hope in Yahweh
henceforth and for ever.
Prayer
For you my heart longs
in the morning. Calm
I seek, to stable restless
mind, its anxious
doubts caressing,
uncertain that the day--
and I--are sufficient
to the day’s demands.
Be certain, my soul;
insufficient you are,
certainly so, hold no
doubt, but know:
it matters not;
go quiet, undaunted
lay hand to task; hope
attends, love abides;
joy is not absence
of challenge, not
abolition of tension
but holy knowing: Yahweh
keeps you, holds your
life, your moments.
In Yahweh rests all
calm, comes your strength.
Pr. David L. Miller
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Today’s text
Psalm 131
Yahweh, my heart is not haughty,
I do not set my sights too high.
I have taken no part in great affairs,
in wonders beyond my scope.
No, I hold myself in quiet and silence,
like a little child in its mother’s arms,
like a little child, so I keep myself.
Let Israel hope in Yahweh
henceforth and for ever.
Prayer
Quiet, I rest,
silent, at home,
in arms of love,
enrapt, needing not,
to speak;
words spell not
what cannot be
spelled or
said or known,
only inhabited,
at rest in arms of
love unspeakable.
Be silent, my soul,
hold still in Thou
who cannot
be held, who
holds all in
mothers’ hands.
Your smallness, O
soul, is your peace,
your place, your
help, your hope,
your might, your
sight, the
wisdom of calm.
Pr. David L. Miller
Psalm 131
Yahweh, my heart is not haughty,
I do not set my sights too high.
I have taken no part in great affairs,
in wonders beyond my scope.
No, I hold myself in quiet and silence,
like a little child in its mother’s arms,
like a little child, so I keep myself.
Let Israel hope in Yahweh
henceforth and for ever.
Prayer
Quiet, I rest,
silent, at home,
in arms of love,
enrapt, needing not,
to speak;
words spell not
what cannot be
spelled or
said or known,
only inhabited,
at rest in arms of
love unspeakable.
Be silent, my soul,
hold still in Thou
who cannot
be held, who
holds all in
mothers’ hands.
Your smallness, O
soul, is your peace,
your place, your
help, your hope,
your might, your
sight, the
wisdom of calm.
Pr. David L. Miller
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Today’s text
Psalm 131
Yahweh, my heart is not haughty,
I do not set my sights too high.
I have taken no part in great affairs,
in wonders beyond my scope.
No, I hold myself in quiet and silence,
like a little child in its mother’s arms,
like a little child, so I keep myself.
Let Israel hope in Yahweh
henceforth and for ever.
Prayer
You are my place, Holy One;
knowing you, I know
myself, and surrender my
grasping for that which you
have not intended
for me.
But when I praise you,
when your greatness
envelops my soul,
I am complete, with
nothing to prove, and
needing nothing
but you.
I go to my tasks, my
heart calm, my
soul assured, my
mind clear, my
focus pure, my
hands given to
the work you give,
my true worship.
You are my place, Holy One;
in you I know myself,
my freedom.
Pr. David L. Miller
Psalm 131
Yahweh, my heart is not haughty,
I do not set my sights too high.
I have taken no part in great affairs,
in wonders beyond my scope.
No, I hold myself in quiet and silence,
like a little child in its mother’s arms,
like a little child, so I keep myself.
Let Israel hope in Yahweh
henceforth and for ever.
Prayer
You are my place, Holy One;
knowing you, I know
myself, and surrender my
grasping for that which you
have not intended
for me.
But when I praise you,
when your greatness
envelops my soul,
I am complete, with
nothing to prove, and
needing nothing
but you.
I go to my tasks, my
heart calm, my
soul assured, my
mind clear, my
focus pure, my
hands given to
the work you give,
my true worship.
You are my place, Holy One;
in you I know myself,
my freedom.
Pr. David L. Miller
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Today’s text
Psalm 8:1-5
Yahweh our Lord,how majestic is your name throughout the world!
Whoever keeps singing of your majesty higher than the heavens,even through the mouths of children, or of babes in arms,you make him a fortress, firm against your foes,to subdue the enemy and the rebel.I look up at your heavens, shaped by your fingers,at the moon and the stars you set firm -what are human beings that you spare a thought for them,or the child of Adam that you care for him?
Yet you have made him little less than a god,you have crowned him with glory and beauty ….'
Prayer
Joy is our strength,
the joy of praising you,
Yahweh, of waking to
morning’s light, knowing
the breath of life in my lungs is
your first gift to me,
breath whose first purpose
is to praise you, Maker of life,
Craftsman of air.
For you employ your power
to craft creation, clearing a
broad and open space
that life--and me--
may be, that being and joy may
pour into the great emptiness where
nothingness ruled, where crimson
sunsets did not spread the sky, speaking
with ancient voice that life is
your purpose,
your way,
your call,
your all.
Your way fills me with
each daybreak breath, and
praise arises from that
depth of heart that hears
the word
the silent air cries:
I am life and the life
in you is me.
Pr. David L. Miller
Psalm 8:1-5
Yahweh our Lord,how majestic is your name throughout the world!
Whoever keeps singing of your majesty higher than the heavens,even through the mouths of children, or of babes in arms,you make him a fortress, firm against your foes,to subdue the enemy and the rebel.I look up at your heavens, shaped by your fingers,at the moon and the stars you set firm -what are human beings that you spare a thought for them,or the child of Adam that you care for him?
Yet you have made him little less than a god,you have crowned him with glory and beauty ….'
Prayer
Joy is our strength,
the joy of praising you,
Yahweh, of waking to
morning’s light, knowing
the breath of life in my lungs is
your first gift to me,
breath whose first purpose
is to praise you, Maker of life,
Craftsman of air.
For you employ your power
to craft creation, clearing a
broad and open space
that life--and me--
may be, that being and joy may
pour into the great emptiness where
nothingness ruled, where crimson
sunsets did not spread the sky, speaking
with ancient voice that life is
your purpose,
your way,
your call,
your all.
Your way fills me with
each daybreak breath, and
praise arises from that
depth of heart that hears
the word
the silent air cries:
I am life and the life
in you is me.
Pr. David L. Miller
Monday, May 19, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Today’s text
Psalm 8:1-5
Yahweh our Lord,how majestic is your name throughout the world!
Whoever keeps singing of your majesty higher than the heavens,even through the mouths of children, or of babes in arms,you make him a fortress, firm against your foes, to subdue the enemy and the rebel.
I look up at your heavens, shaped by your fingers,at the moon and the stars you set firm -what are human beings that you spare a thought for them, or the child of Adam that you care for him?
Yet you have made him little less than a god, you have crowned him with glory and beauty ….'
Prayer
What are we that you should think of us?
What in our tiny lives draws you?
Wrong question. The right one:
Who are you, Loving Mystery,
that you attend to us?
What is it about you
that you care?
I am amazed and moved that you,
Holy Secret, should know me, and more
that you love me. You
whose hands imprison the stars,
whose heart is warm as life,
whose reach stretches beyond the galaxies,
who is as unknowable to me as I
am to the intricate orange ladybug
that flies from my finger to the music
of Ben’s little boy giggles.
Just so, you delight in me, and
for that moment, I get it. I
become the love you are,
the crowning glory of being
human, sharing your beauty,
knowing you.
Pr. David L. Miller
Psalm 8:1-5
Yahweh our Lord,how majestic is your name throughout the world!
Whoever keeps singing of your majesty higher than the heavens,even through the mouths of children, or of babes in arms,you make him a fortress, firm against your foes, to subdue the enemy and the rebel.
I look up at your heavens, shaped by your fingers,at the moon and the stars you set firm -what are human beings that you spare a thought for them, or the child of Adam that you care for him?
Yet you have made him little less than a god, you have crowned him with glory and beauty ….'
Prayer
What are we that you should think of us?
What in our tiny lives draws you?
Wrong question. The right one:
Who are you, Loving Mystery,
that you attend to us?
What is it about you
that you care?
I am amazed and moved that you,
Holy Secret, should know me, and more
that you love me. You
whose hands imprison the stars,
whose heart is warm as life,
whose reach stretches beyond the galaxies,
who is as unknowable to me as I
am to the intricate orange ladybug
that flies from my finger to the music
of Ben’s little boy giggles.
Just so, you delight in me, and
for that moment, I get it. I
become the love you are,
the crowning glory of being
human, sharing your beauty,
knowing you.
Pr. David L. Miller
Friday, May 16, 2008
Friday, May 16, 2008
Today’s text
Matthew 28:16-20
Meanwhile the eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them. When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated. Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And look, I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.'
Prayer
‘Yes,’ this is your word to us.
Yes, I am with you. Yes, I always will be. Yes, in deepest sorrow. Yes, when you have lost your way, your sight, yourself. Yes, when you don’t know what to do and when there is nothing you can do.
Yes, today and tomorrow. Yes, on this corner of my good Earth and wherever your feet may take you.
Yes, to the ends of the Earth and the eternity of time.
Yes, for you are never abandoned. You are forever the unforsaken, the beloved, a cradled child. Mine. And my word to you is singular.
Yes.
My saints long before you clung to my ‘Yes’ in circumstances unimaginable, amid joys inexpressible and griefs unbearable. And I was enough for them.
I was their ‘Yes,’ and ever I shall be. For you.
Pr. David L. Miller
Matthew 28:16-20
Meanwhile the eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them. When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated. Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And look, I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.'
Prayer
‘Yes,’ this is your word to us.
Yes, I am with you. Yes, I always will be. Yes, in deepest sorrow. Yes, when you have lost your way, your sight, yourself. Yes, when you don’t know what to do and when there is nothing you can do.
Yes, today and tomorrow. Yes, on this corner of my good Earth and wherever your feet may take you.
Yes, to the ends of the Earth and the eternity of time.
Yes, for you are never abandoned. You are forever the unforsaken, the beloved, a cradled child. Mine. And my word to you is singular.
Yes.
My saints long before you clung to my ‘Yes’ in circumstances unimaginable, amid joys inexpressible and griefs unbearable. And I was enough for them.
I was their ‘Yes,’ and ever I shall be. For you.
Pr. David L. Miller
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Today’s text
Matthew 28:16-20
Meanwhile the eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them. When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated. Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And look, I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.'
Prayer
‘Go,’ you say.
So we go. We go to the joyous task of naming the Love who embraces all time and space. We go with anticipation, expecting to feel your mysterious nearness which pervades this and every universe.
We go with laughter, eager to embrace each child of earth. Help us to hold them in the tenderness in which you hold us.
We go to cradle their infants and lay loving hands on their beloved dead, pouring on each the ancient waters that flow from the Eternal Spring of your divine heart.
We go to teach a way our feet have not mastered and never will. We go to speak a wisdom for which we barely have words, for what words can contain you?
We go because you send us beyond where we have been and what we know to a world you love for reasons we can’t understand.
We go in the grace of your presence, which will never leave or forsake us.
So we go.
Pr. David L. Miller
Matthew 28:16-20
Meanwhile the eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them. When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated. Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And look, I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.'
Prayer
‘Go,’ you say.
So we go. We go to the joyous task of naming the Love who embraces all time and space. We go with anticipation, expecting to feel your mysterious nearness which pervades this and every universe.
We go with laughter, eager to embrace each child of earth. Help us to hold them in the tenderness in which you hold us.
We go to cradle their infants and lay loving hands on their beloved dead, pouring on each the ancient waters that flow from the Eternal Spring of your divine heart.
We go to teach a way our feet have not mastered and never will. We go to speak a wisdom for which we barely have words, for what words can contain you?
We go because you send us beyond where we have been and what we know to a world you love for reasons we can’t understand.
We go in the grace of your presence, which will never leave or forsake us.
So we go.
Pr. David L. Miller
Monday, May 12, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
Today’s text
Matthew 28:16-20
Meanwhile the eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them. When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated. Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And look, I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.'
Prayer
You spoke to them all, Jesus, those who believed and those who hesitated. Why did they hesitate to fall at your feet?
Did some doubt that it was you, crucified yet alive again? Maybe they wondered if they could believe their eyes. Perhaps, proud, they resisted such humility.
Or they were afraid. If you could come back from the dead, what might you do to those who disappointed and displeased you? And your friends did just that.
They look like the group that circles you on Sunday morning: believing and doubting, fearing and hoping, beaten down and proud, cynical yet with hungry hearts wanting.
But my eyes fix not on them but on you, Jesus. You stand there alive, receiving them all. You send no one away. There is no retribution in your soul, no anger in your bearing, no condemnation in your words.
You speak, your risen voice rising and falling, a gracious music of resurrected welcome embracing the bodies of the all-too-human. Your beloved voice envelops them as beloved and sends them forth as the never forsaken.
All of them, without distinction.
And I know: The voice that speaks with all authority embraces me in my full humanity, loving, wanting and sending me with all my unpredictable quirks and flaws, fears and faith.
All that matters is that voice that receives us all.
Pr. David L. Miller
Matthew 28:16-20
Meanwhile the eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them. When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated. Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And look, I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.'
Prayer
You spoke to them all, Jesus, those who believed and those who hesitated. Why did they hesitate to fall at your feet?
Did some doubt that it was you, crucified yet alive again? Maybe they wondered if they could believe their eyes. Perhaps, proud, they resisted such humility.
Or they were afraid. If you could come back from the dead, what might you do to those who disappointed and displeased you? And your friends did just that.
They look like the group that circles you on Sunday morning: believing and doubting, fearing and hoping, beaten down and proud, cynical yet with hungry hearts wanting.
But my eyes fix not on them but on you, Jesus. You stand there alive, receiving them all. You send no one away. There is no retribution in your soul, no anger in your bearing, no condemnation in your words.
You speak, your risen voice rising and falling, a gracious music of resurrected welcome embracing the bodies of the all-too-human. Your beloved voice envelops them as beloved and sends them forth as the never forsaken.
All of them, without distinction.
And I know: The voice that speaks with all authority embraces me in my full humanity, loving, wanting and sending me with all my unpredictable quirks and flaws, fears and faith.
All that matters is that voice that receives us all.
Pr. David L. Miller
Friday, May 09, 2008
Friday, May 9, 2008
Today’s text
John 7:37-39
On the last day, the great day of the festival, Jesus stood and cried out: 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me! Let anyone who believes in me come and drink! Let anyone who believes in me come and drink! As scripture says, "From his heart shall flow streams of living water.” ' He was speaking of the Spirit which those who believed in him were to receive; for there was no Spirit as yet because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit. Fill our hearts that we may flow with living water, fresh and free, clean and clear, cold and bracing.
We go from places we know and faces we love, unsure of what awaits in parts unknown. Except this: You.
You play. From most ancient days to unseen endings, you play. It is your way.
Once I thought you worked. But I got it wrong.
Bursting from primordial mountainsides, streams flow free, tumbling over rocks, spilling, foaming, dancing down, splashing into each low space, freshening tried earth, greening the ground.
So you are, Spirit of Life: bubbling fresh and free from primordial depths of the Eternal Generosity whose face we cannot see. You spill and splash, greening the soul, making fresh each dusty place, filling, flowing, a dancing stream of life … even in death’s own face.
And we have seen it. We know the dance in our souls. It’s in our bones and blood.
So come Holy Spirit, play, dance. Carry us wherever you choose. It doesn’t matter where.
Your dancing current is our home.
Pr. David L. Miller
John 7:37-39
On the last day, the great day of the festival, Jesus stood and cried out: 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me! Let anyone who believes in me come and drink! Let anyone who believes in me come and drink! As scripture says, "From his heart shall flow streams of living water.” ' He was speaking of the Spirit which those who believed in him were to receive; for there was no Spirit as yet because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit. Fill our hearts that we may flow with living water, fresh and free, clean and clear, cold and bracing.
We go from places we know and faces we love, unsure of what awaits in parts unknown. Except this: You.
You play. From most ancient days to unseen endings, you play. It is your way.
Once I thought you worked. But I got it wrong.
Bursting from primordial mountainsides, streams flow free, tumbling over rocks, spilling, foaming, dancing down, splashing into each low space, freshening tried earth, greening the ground.
So you are, Spirit of Life: bubbling fresh and free from primordial depths of the Eternal Generosity whose face we cannot see. You spill and splash, greening the soul, making fresh each dusty place, filling, flowing, a dancing stream of life … even in death’s own face.
And we have seen it. We know the dance in our souls. It’s in our bones and blood.
So come Holy Spirit, play, dance. Carry us wherever you choose. It doesn’t matter where.
Your dancing current is our home.
Pr. David L. Miller
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Wednesday May 7, 2008
Today’s text
John 7:37-38
On the last day, the great day of the festival, Jesus stood and cried out: 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me! Let anyone who believes in me come and drink! Let anyone who believes in me come and drink! As scripture says, "From his heart shall flow streams of living water." '
Prayer
A stream flows from my depths, Jesus. A spring bubbles there. It fills the heart and spills into my daily world. Life, peace, joy, blessing, all these well from that primordial place, that virginal point where my soul opens to yours.
From that infinitesimal aperture in the dark reaches of inaccessible soul, that which is you flows ancient and true, fresh and cold, into this life, giving life.
When I dwell in that stream, turning mind and heart to your incessant giving, I live.
So why do I not live from the depths of this bubbling heart? Anxieties and angers, conflicts and fears, old wounds and fresh hurts draw me to live the mood of the moment, detached from that life-giving stream that freshens the soul and keeps me human.
So I return and drink from that stream of grace that flows from you into this heart of mine. And you pull me into its flow. You still my soul and give all I need to live as your beloved, filled and encompassed by an eternal spring.
Pr. David L. Miller
John 7:37-38
On the last day, the great day of the festival, Jesus stood and cried out: 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me! Let anyone who believes in me come and drink! Let anyone who believes in me come and drink! As scripture says, "From his heart shall flow streams of living water." '
Prayer
A stream flows from my depths, Jesus. A spring bubbles there. It fills the heart and spills into my daily world. Life, peace, joy, blessing, all these well from that primordial place, that virginal point where my soul opens to yours.
From that infinitesimal aperture in the dark reaches of inaccessible soul, that which is you flows ancient and true, fresh and cold, into this life, giving life.
When I dwell in that stream, turning mind and heart to your incessant giving, I live.
So why do I not live from the depths of this bubbling heart? Anxieties and angers, conflicts and fears, old wounds and fresh hurts draw me to live the mood of the moment, detached from that life-giving stream that freshens the soul and keeps me human.
So I return and drink from that stream of grace that flows from you into this heart of mine. And you pull me into its flow. You still my soul and give all I need to live as your beloved, filled and encompassed by an eternal spring.
Pr. David L. Miller
Monday, May 5, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
Today’s text
John 7:37-38
On the last day, the great day of the festival, Jesus stood and cried out: 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me! Let anyone who believes in me come and drink! Let anyone who believes in me come and drink! As scripture says, "From his heart shall flow streams of living water." '
Prayer
I see you there, Jesus. You stand in the midst of the people, crying out your heart. More: I feel you there. I sense your desire, “Let them come and drink.”
But only the thirsty, of course. And that excludes … no one. Certainly not me.
We all thirst. We are made for more, more than we know or possess, more love, more grace, more peace and purpose, more of your blessed presence.
Our thirst is the mark of having been created in your image. And I know something of your image as I watch you at the festival, crying aloud, inviting the thirsty to come, believe and drink in the secret substance of your life.
You fill our souls with all that you are, slaking our ancient thirst, satisfying our desire. And we become flowing springs of your goodness and grace, giving our lives in gentle acts of generosity.
You never cease to keep this promise, Jesus. It is your heart’s desire. So let us believe you and go our ways in peace. For we know: You will give living water to our parched souls in the heat of this and every day.
Pr. David L. Miller
Today’s text
John 7:37-38
On the last day, the great day of the festival, Jesus stood and cried out: 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me! Let anyone who believes in me come and drink! Let anyone who believes in me come and drink! As scripture says, "From his heart shall flow streams of living water." '
Prayer
I see you there, Jesus. You stand in the midst of the people, crying out your heart. More: I feel you there. I sense your desire, “Let them come and drink.”
But only the thirsty, of course. And that excludes … no one. Certainly not me.
We all thirst. We are made for more, more than we know or possess, more love, more grace, more peace and purpose, more of your blessed presence.
Our thirst is the mark of having been created in your image. And I know something of your image as I watch you at the festival, crying aloud, inviting the thirsty to come, believe and drink in the secret substance of your life.
You fill our souls with all that you are, slaking our ancient thirst, satisfying our desire. And we become flowing springs of your goodness and grace, giving our lives in gentle acts of generosity.
You never cease to keep this promise, Jesus. It is your heart’s desire. So let us believe you and go our ways in peace. For we know: You will give living water to our parched souls in the heat of this and every day.
Pr. David L. Miller
Friday, May 02, 2008
Friday, May 2, 2008
Today’s text
John 17:7-11
Now at last they have recognized that all you have given me comes from you for I have given them the teaching you gave to me, and they have indeed accepted it and know for certain that I came from you, and have believed that it was you who sent me. It is for them that I pray. I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, because they belong to you. All I have is yours and all you have is mine, and in them I am glorified. I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep those you have given me true to your name, so that they may be one like us.
Prayer
Like us … . Two small words spark joy and tears for which I am thankful. They tell me my soul is neither dead nor dull but still able to taste your goodness.
You pray, Jesus, that we be one like you and the Blessed Mystery are one, sharing all that you are so that to see the one is to know the other. And in this case, the Totally Other, the face of God.
You are glorified in us, Jesus, as we hold you fast, abiding in your love and loving to the end of our souls, the end of our abilities, the end of our days. In the loving, we taste and know the goodness of all you share with the Holy One.
It is a feast we shall know when our breath here stops--and now, in the sweetness of sharing, made sweeter by the endings which rush at us: the end of lives, the end of school, the departure of friends and treasured colleagues, the great exodus that takes our souls down the roads you appoint for us.
As we prepare to go, be glorified in us, my brother.
Be glorified in the love you pry out of your hearts to share with those with whom we have been privileged to share our lives. Be glorified in us as we leave to find fresh connections with faces far off for whom you also pray.
Be glorified that we may taste what it is to be like you, one with the Blessed Mystery whose love never departs, even when we must.
Pr. David L. Miller
John 17:7-11
Now at last they have recognized that all you have given me comes from you for I have given them the teaching you gave to me, and they have indeed accepted it and know for certain that I came from you, and have believed that it was you who sent me. It is for them that I pray. I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, because they belong to you. All I have is yours and all you have is mine, and in them I am glorified. I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep those you have given me true to your name, so that they may be one like us.
Prayer
Like us … . Two small words spark joy and tears for which I am thankful. They tell me my soul is neither dead nor dull but still able to taste your goodness.
You pray, Jesus, that we be one like you and the Blessed Mystery are one, sharing all that you are so that to see the one is to know the other. And in this case, the Totally Other, the face of God.
You are glorified in us, Jesus, as we hold you fast, abiding in your love and loving to the end of our souls, the end of our abilities, the end of our days. In the loving, we taste and know the goodness of all you share with the Holy One.
It is a feast we shall know when our breath here stops--and now, in the sweetness of sharing, made sweeter by the endings which rush at us: the end of lives, the end of school, the departure of friends and treasured colleagues, the great exodus that takes our souls down the roads you appoint for us.
As we prepare to go, be glorified in us, my brother.
Be glorified in the love you pry out of your hearts to share with those with whom we have been privileged to share our lives. Be glorified in us as we leave to find fresh connections with faces far off for whom you also pray.
Be glorified that we may taste what it is to be like you, one with the Blessed Mystery whose love never departs, even when we must.
Pr. David L. Miller
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Today’s text
John 17:4-6
And eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I have glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. Now, Father, glorify me with that glory I had with you before ever the world existed. I have revealed your name to those whom you took from the world to give me. They were yours and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
Prayer
You reveal your glory, Holy One. And it brings us joy when you do.
For your glory is the love that courses through the heart of your Triune life. And you reveal this glory in humble circles of loving care where human souls are truly human.
Drawn into circles of sharing, we name our cares and the places where, amid noise and silence, we know you. We listen and learn we are not alone. Such exquisite knowledge opens our hearts, and you join as one.
We share in common the loving mystery of your life. It flows among us. We see the beauty you are in the face of another you love more than we can know. And we love them too, knowing you in that love.
This is the glory of your life, O three-personed God, to be joined with you and each other in the community of loving care you are. To taste the glory of your life in unity of soul with other souls who know you.
And there, finally, to know you and eternity as well.
Pr. David L. Miller
John 17:4-6
And eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I have glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. Now, Father, glorify me with that glory I had with you before ever the world existed. I have revealed your name to those whom you took from the world to give me. They were yours and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
Prayer
You reveal your glory, Holy One. And it brings us joy when you do.
For your glory is the love that courses through the heart of your Triune life. And you reveal this glory in humble circles of loving care where human souls are truly human.
Drawn into circles of sharing, we name our cares and the places where, amid noise and silence, we know you. We listen and learn we are not alone. Such exquisite knowledge opens our hearts, and you join as one.
We share in common the loving mystery of your life. It flows among us. We see the beauty you are in the face of another you love more than we can know. And we love them too, knowing you in that love.
This is the glory of your life, O three-personed God, to be joined with you and each other in the community of loving care you are. To taste the glory of your life in unity of soul with other souls who know you.
And there, finally, to know you and eternity as well.
Pr. David L. Miller
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Today’s text
John 17:1-3
After saying this, Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said: Father, the hour has come: glorify your Son so that your Son may glorify you; so that, just as you have given him power over all humanity, he may give eternal life to all those you have entrusted to him. And eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Prayer
Grant us your greatest treasure, O God. Pour out your riches and lift us above our poverty of soul. Give us the immensity of your enormity that we may longer scrape by.
For I do. I have ample wealth for food and clothing and shelter. But I scrape through many situations with my soul no longer intact. My actions and words are barren and poor of Spirit. They lack generosity and depth, and fail to voice the joy that marks true knowledge of you.
And all because my mind and heart dwell far from the places where I know you. I dwell in the land of my insufficiency, the territory of anxiety over unfinished tasks and too little time.
I scrape by but fail to thrive and bless. Conversations wind to an end without a word of joy and generosity passing my lips to enrich the poverty of another.
For my soul is poor. I am bedeviled by the next thing I must do, not on sharing the love that gives true knowledge of you and builds community of heart and mind.
This I confess. But much more: I seek to drink the fullness of your Fullness. My great joy is to brim with the elation of this love that fills me as I am here with you. It fills and spills from my soul, running over, a current of life and joy.
So keep me mindful of you and of the love you are. Fill me with knowledge of you that I may live with largess. Give us this, your greatest treasure, and we will be poor of soul no longer.
We shall live, and all we touch will be more alive for the treasure we bear.
Pr. David L. Miller
John 17:1-3
After saying this, Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said: Father, the hour has come: glorify your Son so that your Son may glorify you; so that, just as you have given him power over all humanity, he may give eternal life to all those you have entrusted to him. And eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Prayer
Grant us your greatest treasure, O God. Pour out your riches and lift us above our poverty of soul. Give us the immensity of your enormity that we may longer scrape by.
For I do. I have ample wealth for food and clothing and shelter. But I scrape through many situations with my soul no longer intact. My actions and words are barren and poor of Spirit. They lack generosity and depth, and fail to voice the joy that marks true knowledge of you.
And all because my mind and heart dwell far from the places where I know you. I dwell in the land of my insufficiency, the territory of anxiety over unfinished tasks and too little time.
I scrape by but fail to thrive and bless. Conversations wind to an end without a word of joy and generosity passing my lips to enrich the poverty of another.
For my soul is poor. I am bedeviled by the next thing I must do, not on sharing the love that gives true knowledge of you and builds community of heart and mind.
This I confess. But much more: I seek to drink the fullness of your Fullness. My great joy is to brim with the elation of this love that fills me as I am here with you. It fills and spills from my soul, running over, a current of life and joy.
So keep me mindful of you and of the love you are. Fill me with knowledge of you that I may live with largess. Give us this, your greatest treasure, and we will be poor of soul no longer.
We shall live, and all we touch will be more alive for the treasure we bear.
Pr. David L. Miller
Friday, April 25, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
Today’s text
John 14:18-21
I shall not leave you orphans; I shall come to you. In a short time the world will no longer see me; but you will see that I live and you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you. Whoever holds to my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me; and whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I shall love him and reveal myself to him.'
Prayer
It is in love you are revealed, Holy One.
In love, we know you. In love, we see you. In love, we understand your command is the love you are, the love you give, the love in us that opens our eyes to see that love is the source and omega point of the cosmos and of our little lives.
In love you make the universe that in love you may join with it. In love you sing your song that all may join with you in seamless harmony.
In love, our brother Jesus entered this garden of your delight revealing the intention of love. And in love you continue to delight in this garden despite its defilement and our determined rejection of your generosity.
For neither defilement nor rejection drives you away. In love your hungry heart hunts out every opening to your love that all may glow with the love you are. And all reveal the beauty of your face.
May we see and be such beauty.
Pr. David L. Miller
John 14:18-21
I shall not leave you orphans; I shall come to you. In a short time the world will no longer see me; but you will see that I live and you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you. Whoever holds to my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me; and whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I shall love him and reveal myself to him.'
Prayer
It is in love you are revealed, Holy One.
In love, we know you. In love, we see you. In love, we understand your command is the love you are, the love you give, the love in us that opens our eyes to see that love is the source and omega point of the cosmos and of our little lives.
In love you make the universe that in love you may join with it. In love you sing your song that all may join with you in seamless harmony.
In love, our brother Jesus entered this garden of your delight revealing the intention of love. And in love you continue to delight in this garden despite its defilement and our determined rejection of your generosity.
For neither defilement nor rejection drives you away. In love your hungry heart hunts out every opening to your love that all may glow with the love you are. And all reveal the beauty of your face.
May we see and be such beauty.
Pr. David L. Miller
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Today’s text
John 14:18-21
I shall not leave you orphans; I shall come to you. In a short time the world will no longer see me; but you will see that I live and you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you. Whoever holds to my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me; and whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I shall love him and reveal myself to him.'
Prayer
You invite me into a great circle of intimate connection, Jesus. You in the Father, me in you, you in me: one great shared love coursing among us.
And there, in that circle of love, to find the secret stream that draws all time and space into its flow.
And that flow is you, Holy One, your triune life.
I have no idea where that blessed current will carry me. But unknowing is a way. So I come again begging.
Carry me in that great flow that has been going on since the universe was darkness. Carry me in the current of love you are. Carry me wherever you please even though I may fight you all the way. Draw me deep and dizzy into the spinning whirlpool where you are in the Father and I in you and you in me.
For then only am I free. Then only do find within this love for your command. Then only do I know, truly know, that I am not and never will be an orphan.
Pr. David L. Miller
John 14:18-21
I shall not leave you orphans; I shall come to you. In a short time the world will no longer see me; but you will see that I live and you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you. Whoever holds to my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me; and whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I shall love him and reveal myself to him.'
Prayer
You invite me into a great circle of intimate connection, Jesus. You in the Father, me in you, you in me: one great shared love coursing among us.
And there, in that circle of love, to find the secret stream that draws all time and space into its flow.
And that flow is you, Holy One, your triune life.
I have no idea where that blessed current will carry me. But unknowing is a way. So I come again begging.
Carry me in that great flow that has been going on since the universe was darkness. Carry me in the current of love you are. Carry me wherever you please even though I may fight you all the way. Draw me deep and dizzy into the spinning whirlpool where you are in the Father and I in you and you in me.
For then only am I free. Then only do find within this love for your command. Then only do I know, truly know, that I am not and never will be an orphan.
Pr. David L. Miller
Monday, April 21, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Today’s text
John 14:15-17
If you love me you will keep my commandments. I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete to be with you for ever, the Spirit of truth whom the world can never accept since it neither sees nor knows him; but you know him, because he is with you, he is in you.’
Prayer
I have seen the truth, my Brother; in rarest moments of blessedness its Spirit fills me.
The truth is the eyes of a mother gazing into the sleeping face of her new born. It is a loving tenderness before which all words are beggars.
The truth is the sparkling laughter of a two-year old, alight with the fire of joy. It is the abundance of meeting every moment without reserve.
This is the Spirit you send to be with and in us, Jesus, your Spirit: the Spirit of God’s loving delight, the Spirit of God’s great giving, the Spirit of God’s holy joy, the Spirit that bears us into the truth that we might live the truth you are.
It is your commandment that we might be as you, alive with the fire of loving delight. Such life is far beyond our cramped hearts. But you give the Spirit of truth that sweeps us into the flood of holy generosity flowing from the hidden heart of the universe.
So fill us, my Brother. Fill us to overflowing with whatever magic lies behind the eyes of the loving mother and the fiery sparkle of the child.
May we be as full of your truth as they, and you.
Pr. David L. Miller
John 14:15-17
If you love me you will keep my commandments. I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete to be with you for ever, the Spirit of truth whom the world can never accept since it neither sees nor knows him; but you know him, because he is with you, he is in you.’
Prayer
I have seen the truth, my Brother; in rarest moments of blessedness its Spirit fills me.
The truth is the eyes of a mother gazing into the sleeping face of her new born. It is a loving tenderness before which all words are beggars.
The truth is the sparkling laughter of a two-year old, alight with the fire of joy. It is the abundance of meeting every moment without reserve.
This is the Spirit you send to be with and in us, Jesus, your Spirit: the Spirit of God’s loving delight, the Spirit of God’s great giving, the Spirit of God’s holy joy, the Spirit that bears us into the truth that we might live the truth you are.
It is your commandment that we might be as you, alive with the fire of loving delight. Such life is far beyond our cramped hearts. But you give the Spirit of truth that sweeps us into the flood of holy generosity flowing from the hidden heart of the universe.
So fill us, my Brother. Fill us to overflowing with whatever magic lies behind the eyes of the loving mother and the fiery sparkle of the child.
May we be as full of your truth as they, and you.
Pr. David L. Miller
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Today’s text
John 14:5-11
Thomas said, 'Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?' Jesus said: I am the Way; I am Truth and Life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father too. From this moment you know him and have seen him. Philip said, 'Lord, show us the Father and then we shall be satisfied.' Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? 'Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father, so how can you say, "Show us the Father"? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? What I say to you I do not speak of my own accord: it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his works. You must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe it on the evidence of these works. I am.
Prayer
Many ways beckon, Jesus. They promise to make us real, alive and significant, at least in our own eyes. There is the way of knowledge in which we wrap ourselves in words and concepts imagining we can tame reality to our categories.
There is the way of accomplishment in which we consider ourselves more worthy than others, admiring (as we do) the distance between us and those who have and thus are less.
There is the way of experience in which we pretend to be more real by what we have seen, done and absorbed into memory. There are even ways of claiming our pain to separate and hold ourselves above others, as if pain and finitude were not great levelers of all humanity.
There are not enough words to name all the ways we quest for that elusive life where we finally we become real and the anxious whispers of our emptiness are silenced.
Then there is your way, Jesus. You dwell as one with the Loving Mystery for whom we have no good name. You live in utter dependence on a love human flesh cannot command, partaking and sharing a wealth beyond all human endeavor.
You live knowing that all that belongs to this Loving Mystery is yours, and to this One you belong. In this fullness, you act and speak and give what is yours. And you tell me that you are the way, bidding me to trust, to believe and to live in the fullness you share.
May I dwell in your way, my Brother. Only then will my heart become so generous that I will finally be real, beyond this shadow.
Pr. David L. Miller
John 14:5-11
Thomas said, 'Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?' Jesus said: I am the Way; I am Truth and Life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father too. From this moment you know him and have seen him. Philip said, 'Lord, show us the Father and then we shall be satisfied.' Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? 'Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father, so how can you say, "Show us the Father"? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? What I say to you I do not speak of my own accord: it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his works. You must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe it on the evidence of these works. I am.
Prayer
Many ways beckon, Jesus. They promise to make us real, alive and significant, at least in our own eyes. There is the way of knowledge in which we wrap ourselves in words and concepts imagining we can tame reality to our categories.
There is the way of accomplishment in which we consider ourselves more worthy than others, admiring (as we do) the distance between us and those who have and thus are less.
There is the way of experience in which we pretend to be more real by what we have seen, done and absorbed into memory. There are even ways of claiming our pain to separate and hold ourselves above others, as if pain and finitude were not great levelers of all humanity.
There are not enough words to name all the ways we quest for that elusive life where we finally we become real and the anxious whispers of our emptiness are silenced.
Then there is your way, Jesus. You dwell as one with the Loving Mystery for whom we have no good name. You live in utter dependence on a love human flesh cannot command, partaking and sharing a wealth beyond all human endeavor.
You live knowing that all that belongs to this Loving Mystery is yours, and to this One you belong. In this fullness, you act and speak and give what is yours. And you tell me that you are the way, bidding me to trust, to believe and to live in the fullness you share.
May I dwell in your way, my Brother. Only then will my heart become so generous that I will finally be real, beyond this shadow.
Pr. David L. Miller
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