Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2006

Today’s reading

Philippians 1:1-5

“I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now” (Phil. 1:3-5).

Prayer

The parade grows longer every year, dear Friend. A long line of souls, saints all, marches through my heart, each one shining like the stars, afire with a far light greater than their own. Each stirs the prayer that I, too, may be animated by the flow of joy and life that bubbles from the dark spring of eternity and flows from their depths. I see their faces, and I name their lives before you as my morning act of praise, filled with gratitude for what you have done in them, and through them in me. I carry them with me wherever I go, though many of them have no idea of the divine blessing they bore (and bear) to hungry souls, like mine. Through them, you fill me and sharpen my vision that I may drink in your beauty--ever ancient, ever new--without which I do not live but merely exist.

In the living contours of those around me, I see hearts that know you. And in them, I know you. I taste the sweetness of your divine life. I savor the unspeakable beauty you are. I am filled with hope and restored by the energy of Life Itself. I discover the destination--the home--for which you intend me, and all. I thank you for them. I thank you that in them I know you, whom I need more than anything else. Amen.



Pr. David L. Miller
Dean of the Chapel,
Director of Spiritual Formation