Lord is there too much You in my life? Are You more in my mind than a part of my whole being? Do I set You before others rather than be filled with You as I stand before others?<< MORE >>
Lord, so small. Lord, the baby. Lord, the entirety of creation. Created in man.
The Epiphany is Your coming out to the peoples of the earth. The foundation of Your people is the stage upon which Your word becomes apparent to all. A small baby heralds God's penetration into the minds of humans in a comprehensible form, yet a mysterious form. The God man given to all, to live 30 years, to preach the Good News, then just as humbly as His birth, to accept the call for His death.
To follow, to love, to honor His revelation among humankind is the challenge laid before us. Lord, may my every moment this day and those that follow resonate with Your presence. Amen.
Lord, You know my heart, my soul, my desires, all that is created in me. I would return the love that caused creation to You and to those around me. Is there an earthly guide for my travel to You? I pray to find him or her. I fall short my attempts to do Your will and serve Love by loving in return.
Lord Jesus, I know You acquiesced to the trial and path toward the Cross. Is that my current journey? Is it my part in our family to be misunderstood and scorned in my pursuit of You? Have I become blinded to true and better ways of finding Your truth? Do I return You love in ways unintelligible to those around me, especially my spouse?
I pray for guidance, Lord. I pray for acceptance of Your will and that even now in the midst of renting emotions, I may serve this particular path well, because it is part of Your plan. Amen.
Today I rise to give You thanks and praise! What is this life if not lived in the certainty of Your presence? Only this moment seems to belong to me. Yet within it is eternity, and You await.
My Lord, bless the work of my mind and words today. Bless my family, wife daughters and sons. Thank you for another sunrise and the witness of creation. I dedicate this moment and all those that follow to You, in praise and gratitude. Amen.
Lord, I have walked through the valley in the shadow of death. And You were with me. In my search there was only You, at times, there to guide me. Sometimes I could not follow. I was and am weak, still. I could not always even follow Your law. I dispaired.
I have emerged from the shadow; a new gift of earthly labor lays before me. May I know You always in this new journey. May my soul always thirst for You. May I praise You always.
You are the Alpha and Omega of all activity. This dust became alive when You encased it in flesh and breathed life into it. By Your presence it is sustained, in sickness, health, trial, and triumph.
Lord, make of me all that I may be to serve You. In serving You, may this dust be a blessing to Your people. Amen.
This morning I arose to recall that You have risen. Death did not end the story. The tomb did not contain the love and forgiveness, the memory of Your life and final moments on the Cross.
We have a new mother. We have a new path. The Lamb slain for our sins has returned to glorify the Father and magnify the Word made Flesh.
My Lord, You lived Your life fully human and fully part of Your earthly community.
For nearly three decades no one could fathom that in You, God's Word was ripening for the world. You knew the daily toils of man, the work and pains of everyday life. Joys. Sorrows. Then, You left, full of this earthly life and experience, to empty Yourself of God's Word, wrapped in the experience of Your life. And the world opens to heaven and all may be reborn in this Word.
Now is the time we recognize the close of Your earthly mission. The final hours are approaching when the love of Your father is fully consummated with the Word and the gift of life is delivered in sacrifice to death.
In the garden of Your delivery to the hands of man I watch. Fully human, I prepare for the divine sacrifice. To realize it. To share in it. To embrace the death of self to more closely follow You. Amen
Lord, I retreat from this world to find You. This body and its senses are awash in Your creation and in man's recreation of Your worldly things. For myself, I would withdraw for long periods, like the desert fathers. To contemplate with this mind, given by You whose thoughts return naturally to You. In Silence.
For today Lord, may I know You in my mind, in my heart. And my my words and thoughts be guided by Your presence. In this crucible, which is Your creation, may the tussle of senses, thoughts and actions all be offered to You and through You. Amen.
My Lord, You are among us. Your birth joined Heaven and Earth, spirit and body, God and man.
Each of us by our birth is a package of gifts conceived by creation and destined to be some part of this world. May that path that is ours be shown before us. May we know You Will to choose that path. May we be filled by the awareness that Your love became incarnate, so that we might never travel life's road blindly, but always with Your guidance.
