Posts Tagged ‘Christianity’
A Bit of Lectio Divina
Psalm 1816-19
16 He reached down from on high, he took me;
he drew me out of mighty waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy,
and from those who hated me;
for they were too mighty for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity;
but the Lord was my support.
19 He brought me out into a broad place;
he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
Acts 27:33-38
33 Just before daybreak, Paul urged all of them to take some food, saying, ‘Today is the fourteenth day that you have been in suspense and remaining without food, having eaten nothing. 34Therefore I urge you to take some food, for it will help you survive; for none of you will lose a hair from your heads.’ 35After he had said this, he took bread; and giving thanks to God in the presence of all, he broke it and began to eat.36Then all of them and took food for themselves.37(We were in all two hundred and seventy-six* persons in the ship.)38After they had satisfied their hunger, they lightened the ship by throwing the wheat into the sea.
As I prayed Morning Office at noon today, these are the verses which stood out for me. God delights in me – DELIGHTS – in all my foibles, selfishness, laziness and my neglect of meeting weekly with His church, He delights in me. He will swoop down and rescue me from myself and my enemies. Who needs a super hero when one has God?
Paul, as prisoner in a shipwreck, advises the crew and others to keep hope; being, in our vernacular, pro-active. The verse in bold is what struck my heart – Paul offers one of the first public blessings (as I and some families I see do in restaurants), then eats, leaving an example of blessing and need for sustenance before the work he, by God, knew was ahead.
Thus, I am encouraged to give thanks and know God delights in me! Good morning afternoon to you all!
P.S. Please keep the repairs of our National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. in your prayers and pocketbook; the insurance does not cover earthquakes.
from my visit to our Natl Cathedral, Washington, D.C.
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God Wants Us
Image via Wikipedia
14″We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up. But God will not take away a life; he will devise plans so as not to keep an outcast banished forever from his presence.” ~ 2nd Samuel 14:14
12″What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14So it is not the will of your* Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.” ~ Matthew 18:12-14
What reassurance from Scripture of God seeking us even when we are lost and strayed from Her. This is a great consolation to me as I am not the most faithful of followers – rarely anymore “doing” what is church doctrine (church attendance) - and unable ever to take in the Holy Eucharist. However, an abbot once spoke to me how I take Eucharist by intention if not in fact. God finds us, enabling us as part of Him even if “outside the box.”
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