Mondays are Tough

Mondays are tough. I find myself Sunday evening into Monday morning trying to psyche myself up to get mentally ready for the week. Sunday I attended a worship service, made a home visit to some shut-in parishioners, cooked and served a simple evening meal at a homeless shelter, and bought some coffee and sandwiches for and spent some time with a couple of homeless people living out in the woods. Lingering in my mind, though, is the dread, no other way to describe it, of immersing myself back into the dog-eat-dog daily routine of work and all the attendant frustration and disagreeable encounters that it sometimes brings.

I am amazed at what happens to me from the “high” of a spiritual Sunday to the “low” (and dread) on Monday. It just doesn’t carry through sometimes, though I know it should and I should be open to allowing that to happen.

So, with apologies to the author of the collect for Proper 14….

Gracious God, grant us the spirit to think and to do those things which are right so that we may be enabled to live according to your will, both on Sunday and on Monday. AMEN.

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Daily office year two:

Jds 12:1-7; Ps 89:1-18/19-52; Acts 5:12-26; John 3:1-21

A Pile of Rocks

A pile of smooth stones which came

from the river -

A woman's single act of extreme

extravagance -

The meaning unknown or forgotten

or perhaps foolish and too simple...

or not reasonable...

At the time when we piled up rocks,

it was meaningful;

we even remembered which rock was ours

in the pile.

The woman knew in her heart

the good service she gave

when she poured oil on the poor, but good, man,

giving him a moment of comfort.

He was not just a good poor man

and that was not just a pile of rocks.

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Daily office year two:

Jos 3:14-4:7; Ps 37:1-18 / 19-42; Rom 12:1-8; Matt 26:1-16

New Journey

Gracious God, help me to follow you so that I may know the way I should go, for I have not passed this way before. It is for you, O Lord, that I wait. It is you, O Lord my God, who will answer. For from you and through you and to you are all things. To you, God, be the glory forever. Amen.

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Daily Office Year Two:

Jos 3:1-13; PS 38 / 119:25-48; Rom 11:25-36; Matt 25:31-46

Loneliness and Light

Healing and protecting God, you are Lord of heaven above and earth below; turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. Relieve the troubles of my heart and bring me out of my distress. Mercifully relieve my affliction and forgive all my sins, so that I may shake off the clouds of this world from my eyes and my heart and enter into your world of light. Amen.

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Daily office year two:
Jos 2:1-14; Ps 25 / 9, 15; Rom 11:1-12; Matt 25:1-13

The Word is Near You

It is the Lord who goes before you;

He will not fail or foresake you.

Those who choose another god

multiply their sorrows.

But the Word is near you,

on your lips and in your heart.

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Daily office year two:

Deut 31:7-15, 24-32:4; Ps 16, 17 / 22; Rom 10:1-13; Matt 24: 15-31

The Long Distance Runner

Help us not to fear, for it is God who fights beside us.
The Lord is our rock, our fortress, and our deliverer,
Our God, our rock in whom we take our refuge,
Our shield and the source of our salvation,
Our stronghold.

We who were not God's people, God will call his people,
And those of us who were unbeloved, God will call his beloved.
In the same place where we were told "you are not God's people,"
We are now called the children of God.

We ask for endurance to the end, for we know we will be saved.
And this is the good news for all the world,
Until the end comes.



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Daily office year two:
Deut 3:18-28; Ps 18:1-20 / 18:21-50; Rom 9:19-33; Matt 24:1-14

The Hollowness Within

Almighty and gracious God, I know that your mercy is not earned by my will but yours, forgive me when my own hollowness makes me quick to condemn. Make me open to be filled with your true grace, that I may be devoted to you with my whole heart and united with your people in true affection. AMEN.

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Daily office year two:

Deut 1:1-18; Ps 119:1-24 / 12, 13, 14; Rom 9:1-18; Matt 23:27-39

The Rest is Commentary

The Talmud tells of a gentile coming to Rabbi Shammai, saying that he would convert to Judaism if Shammai could teach him the whole Torah while standing on one foot: Shammai chased him away!

Rabbi Hillel, however, converted the gentile telling him: "What is hateful to you do not do to your neighbor; that is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary; go and learn it."

Ancient writings writings are full of "The Golden Rule," yet is was a surprise to the Pharisees when Jesus responded in kind to their questioning. How often today do people struggle to find their moral compass? Jokingly, it is said that people go to their business website to see what the current guiding principles are! I think those principles have been around for a long time, and they haven't changed much!

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Daily office year two:

Num. 24:12-25; Ps. 137:1-7, 144 / 104; Rom 8:18-25; Matt. 22:23-40.

Surrounded by Friends

Meditation: Help me, O Lord, to not worry so much about the uncertainties of this life, for I am surrounded by your faithful. Amen.

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Daily office year two:

Num 22;41-23:12; Ps. 119:145-176 / 128, 129, 130; Rom 7:13-25; Matt 21:33-46

Sunrise Over the Mountains

Our soul has had more than its fill of the scorn of those who are at ease,
and the contempt of the proud.

The Lord will keep our going out and our coming in,
from this time on and forever more.

[from Ps 121 and 123]

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Daily Office Year Two:
Num 22:21-38; Ps. 121,122,123 / 124,125,126; Rom 7:1-2; Matt 21:23-32.

The Workers in the Vineyard

Meditation: Lord, may I serve you and my neighbor with a glad and generous heart, not concerned with what I get but with what I give. Amen.

Daily office year two:

Num. 16: 36-50; Ps. 109:1-30/119:121-144; Rom. 4:13-25; Matt. 20:1-16

Quiet

Sometimes just the quiet time feeds us the most. We read a few words, lay the book down, and let our minds go. Sometimes it's just enough to let in, to try and absorb, rather than try to make sense out of something. I have been in close proximity to serious illness, impending death, and death and grieving among friends and family for three months now. This is a sacred time for me and the others who are with me at this time. I need quiet, not noise, not rationalization.

After reading the daily office today I have no words. I would like to share this prayer from the Anglican tradition:

Grant, we beseech the, Almighty God, that the words which we have heard this day with our outward ears, may, through thy grace, be so grafterd inwardly in our hearts, that they may bring forth in us the fruit of good living, to the honor and praise of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Daily office year two:

Num. 16:20-25; Ps. 97, 99 / 94; Rom 4:1-12; Matt. 19:23-30

Encumberance

This image is from a website called barrierpeaksrpg.worldpress.com. and the page I read was talking about virtual reality games (computer games) and how the equipment, weapons, etc. of the character you chose affected how the virtual character was able to play the game.

There's a lot in today's lectionary about baggage, or what encumbers us. To the Levites in Numbers at this point in their journey, envy and jealousy were encumbering them. We see the phrase "is it too little for you ..." a couple of times in the reading. Apparently, attending to the priests and the holy tent wasn't enough...and nor was escaping from Eqypt, being fed and protected along the way, etc. etc. Paul in Romans is still arguing about how the "law" is encumbering the Jews, preventing them from seeing the larger picture: what is important is apart - and above - the "law" as the Jews are focused on it.

Then comes Jesus' two-part injunction in Matthew (NRSV translation):

(19-14) let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the Kingdom of heaven belongs....

(19:21) If you with to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me.

Fast forward to the "Gamma explorers" in the picture visting this planet. They find the remnants of a long-gone society. I wonder how they interpret what they find: is all this stuff what made the absent culture strong or what ultimately ruined them?

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Daily office year two:
Num. 16:1-19; Ps. 89:2-18 / 19-52; Rom 3:21-31; Matt. 19:13-22