Sunday, July 30, 2017

Genesis 9:11-15

God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 

Rainbows

I know. Rainbows appear as the sun embraces the earth and awakens color from water vapor suspended in air, water refracting light.

But this does not explain the delight the bow awakens in the heart—or the rush of happy hope that springs from depth of soul as we see the colors kiss the sky.

Arching over the earth at the end of the rain or amid the spray of waterfall, the bow speaks peace. Love speaks, the Love whose will is the peace of our hearts.

It is God’s peace sign, lighting the sky with the colors of love. And no one can avoid looking when comes the excited shout, “Look, a rainbow!”

Every eye turns skyward to embrace the beauty that embraces the earth. And again, we know … our world is more beautiful and mysterious than we imagine on average days when work consumes our anxious minds.

Love and gratitude are stirred for every expression of love and hope that lifts us into the joy for which we long. And for a moment, we are one with the Heart which our hearts most need.

One, with the Love you are.

Pr. David L. Miller

Friday, July 28, 2017

 John 20:19-23

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. 

Breathe peace

Speak to me today.

I long to hear to hear your voice speaking peace to my heart.

Just one word is enough, for yours is the voice of calm. Your presence stills the heart. Your Soul, the very Soul of God, speaks directly to mine.

You speak and the noise of consciousness falls away. The clamor of the day quiets. There is only you, the sound of your voice, speaking a single word, “Peace.”

This is your first and essential word to me. Hearing you, I am happy, truly, and free to live the truth and blessing I know when I hear your voice and enter the peace you speak to me.

Wrongs are forgiven, fears disappear and doubt vanishes. There is only you, your voice.

So speak to me today. Speak in your wounded hands raised in blessing … to me. Speak in the voice of soul, the Love that rises from depths within. Just speak the word. One will do.

Open my ears to hear you every place I go and in everything I do. Let me hear you in the breeze that stirs the leaves and the birds that serenade my walks.

Speak your peace in the skies to which I lift my eyes, longing to know you more. Speak in every greeting I exchange with those who come my way.

Speak to us today. And when the day ends we will rest, eager to rise and hear your voice again.

Pr. David L. Miller

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Luke 3:21-22

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ 

That smile

I see you there.

I see your head titled slightly to the sky above, the water beneath you. And I see the smile that plays across your lips and shines in your eyes, a smile of knowing.

I see your heart in that smile, warmed and made alive by the Heart you hear speaking to you, calling you beloved.

You look around and everything glistens with the Love you know within.

Everything you see and hear speaks to you of the Love Who Is, the Love who calls you ‘Beloved.’ 
But nothing shines so brightly, nothing speaks so clearly as that smile … of knowing.

I see it. It warms my heart. For in that smile I know that I, too, am beloved.  

Open my eyes to every way you speak to me today that hearing your great love I, too, may smile.

Pr. David L. Miller

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Matthew 13:44-46

‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. ‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

The pearl

You are worth everything, for you are the Love from which all things come.  

You are the Love for which I have longed every hour of my existence, little knowing that what I most needed and wanted was You.

I did not know that the ecstasy of Love filling the heart is the only cure for the anxieties and loneliness of the human heart.

We hunger for reunion, aching to be one with the One Love from which we come. We are restless, until we bask in a Love so encompassing it that it drenches our souls and overflows our hearts and evaporates every dark thought and worry.

Only then do we know what you always intended us to know, for we have found the pearl of great price; we have tripped upon the treasure buried in the field of our own heart.

You are the treasure. You are the pearl. You are the Love beyond all worlds and the Love you awaken in me.

Come wake me today. Come as the Incomprehensible Love you are. Fill my heart so completely that it is impossible to want anything else. Come, satisfy the longing in our leaky hearts.

Light my life with words of grace, with smiles of welcome, with hearts that care, with beauty that awakens every sense and fills my heart with joy and hope.

Let me feel your heart within my own. Set me free to be the Love you are in me.

Pr. David L. Miller