Corona Virus TimesAre you ever pleased and delighted to have your grown children encourage you with a gift of spiritual insight? After all those years of being the adult, it is such a delight to have one of them suddenly turn to you and give you deeply spiritual encouragement. Every time it happens to me, I feel such an upwelling of joy. Wow, my children are returning some of their spiritual learning - tempered and filtered through their own lives, coming fresh from their experience with God. It is so humbling. My son has done that on a regular basis, as an outgrowth of his own journey. But this week it came from my oldest child, right in the midst of some of the most difficult times in her life. Things are not hunky-dory. Although beautiful and merry on the outside, she has weathered some very difficult situations, which continue to demand her attention. There is no perfect resolution in her life. But still, in spite of all the difficulties and pain that she has come to accept, she spoke the sweetest, most insightful words right over the telephone. She did it because she thought I needed to be encouraged. And I was. Both by her love and her words, but also by the God who loves us both. Will My Children Ever |
Ordinary Time Proper 17O Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow after us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. | GraceAmerican Heritage Dictionary: Divine love and protection bestowed freely on people. The state of being protected by God. A temporary immunity or exemption, i.e., a reprieve. |
Boy, we aren’t supposed to be doing that, are we? Well, actually, being honest with God about our innermost thoughts is exactly what we are supposed to be doing. Our original prayerbook in the Bible, the Psalms, demonstrates for us how to be really truthful with God. Maybe our problem is that we complain to one another all the time and are never honest with God. We have got to reverse that position.
We have the example and format of how to individually and corporately complain about our situation to God. We can beg; we can accuse. Every Sunday, we pray the Collect for Purity that affirms that God knows our innermost hearts and yet He still loves us. Our relationship with God does not get real though until we openly admit our thoughts, pain and grief to Him.
These Psalms, called Lamentation Psalms, can be guides to developing this open clear communication with God and then receiving from Him assurance of his presence and grace. Psalms 10 and 12 are both examples of such lamentation to God both individually and corporately.
Now is a time we could really develop that true communion with God about the things that are affecting and grieving us.
In fact, we could read the book of Lamentations in the OT, which is full of the pain and suffering of God’s people at the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 587 BC. If you have some time, watch the Bible Project video about Lamentations and then read the scripture itself to see how the genuine suffering of God’s people is addressed here. This short video helps us understand the meaning and purpose of this difficult book and men’s suffering. (https://bibleproject.com/explore/lamentations/)
We have the example and format of how to individually and corporately complain about our situation to God. We can beg; we can accuse. Every Sunday, we pray the Collect for Purity that affirms that God knows our innermost hearts and yet He still loves us. Our relationship with God does not get real though until we openly admit our thoughts, pain and grief to Him.
These Psalms, called Lamentation Psalms, can be guides to developing this open clear communication with God and then receiving from Him assurance of his presence and grace. Psalms 10 and 12 are both examples of such lamentation to God both individually and corporately.
Now is a time we could really develop that true communion with God about the things that are affecting and grieving us.
In fact, we could read the book of Lamentations in the OT, which is full of the pain and suffering of God’s people at the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 587 BC. If you have some time, watch the Bible Project video about Lamentations and then read the scripture itself to see how the genuine suffering of God’s people is addressed here. This short video helps us understand the meaning and purpose of this difficult book and men’s suffering. (https://bibleproject.com/explore/lamentations/)
0 Comments