Morning Repast.”Loaves and Fishes.”
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works. Psalm 145:8-9
Today I will remember I am made in the image and likeness of God. I will not let anger control me, but rather I will feed others with generous measures of kindness, goodness, and compassion.
Philip Galle (1537-1612) after Jan van der Straet
The Meeting of the Apostles and the Women
in the Upper Room
engraving
National Gallery of Art
Hear, O Lord, the sound of my call;
have pity on me, and answer me.
Of you my heart speaks; you my glance seeks. Psalm 27:7-8
There are so many people to pray for, so many people who are ill, suffering, lonely, afraid, or abused. People who are locked down in nursing homes because of the COVID-19 virus. People who have lost their homes and have become refugees. People who are fleeing unjust and unsafe regimes and are seeking asylum in new countries. People who are being trafficked and sold into slavery. People who have no one to pray for them.
Today I will remember to pray. I will ask the Lord to hear me as I pray for those in need in our fragile, troubled world.
Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you. Psalm 33:22
Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”
John 14:6a
The way is love.
Love is the truth we serve.
Love is how we make our lives reflect the image of the One who loved us first.
Set of thirteen select slides of shepherd life, illustrating the Twenty Third Psalm. “He restoreth my soul”
The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. Psalm 23:1
God is in charge. As I listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd, I know that everything I need shall be provided.
De maaltijd te Emmaüs, Jacobus Buys, naar Rembrandt van Rijn, 1765
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum
I set the LORD ever before me; with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed. Psalm 16:8
God is present at all times. God is in illness and loneliness, in sorrow and suffering — in the wounds of the human condition and in the silence of healing.
Today I will practice the presence of God in ordinary events and in the people I encounter.
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Icon of the Resurrection
This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
Psalm 118:24
Today is a gift from God. May I open my eyes, ears, and heart to find reasons to rejoice and be glad in it.
American Colony (Jerusalem). Photo Department, photographer
Set of thirteen select slides of shepherd life, illustrating the Twenty Third Psalm. “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures”
The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. Psalm 23:1
May my heart reflect and bless the world with the goodness and love that is my birthright.
May I live as a child of the Light and produce every kind of goodness and love.
May the Lord open my eyes that I may see goodness and love in everyone I encounter.
Rip Caswell (b.1962)
Baptism of Christ
May the Lord bless his people with peace. Psalm 29:11b
Today may we be blessed with
trust in God’s unfailing presence,
confidence in God’s love and patience,
comfort in God’s peace.
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Ion Chibzii
“Grief” (70th years)
12 June 2011, 20:50
In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge. Psalm 90:1
We carry a cross of grief throughout our lives. To live with our grief requires courage and compassion. When we accept the moments of anger, resentment, finger-pointing, forcing solutions, and depression as symptoms, we dare to identify the source of our grief: the death of loved ones, disillusionment with government, church, and community leaders, being the target of prejudice, racism, violence, and injustice, illness, loss of employment and income, the frailties that come with aging, unfulfilled dreams. Grief challenges us every day, individually and collectively.
Lord, help me identify the source of the grief in my life. Grace me with the courage to be honest about my emotions and accountable for them. Shelter me with your love and compassion as I grieve. Bless me with great compassion for all who grieve.
The Blue Marble
NASA/Apollo 17 crew; taken by either Harrison Schmitt or Ron Evans, December 7, 1972
We human persons are so small, frail, weak, and fragile. But filled with God’s Holy Spirit, we have the choice to be spacious in love, unbreakable in generosity, powerful in compassion, and invincible in forgiveness.
When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you set in place — What is man that you should be mindful of him, or the son of man that you should care for him? Psalm 8:4-5
