Pause for Prayer: FRIDAY 5/30

Photo by John Maloney

 

All you flowering shrubs,
   purple and lavender, 

        praise the Lord! 

Rhododendrons,
   white and pink, 

        praise the Lord!

Azaleas, 

    red and crimson,
       praise the Lord!

Let every perfect petal 

    praise the Lord!

 

Photo by CP

Tweet   

SUBSCRIBE HERE!

  

NIGHT PRAYER: Thursday 5/29

Ascension Day is almost over. Before ascending into heaven, Jesus instructed his friends not to leave Jerusalem until they had received the Holy Spirit - and so they waited 9 days, until Pentecost.

 

I know the story, Lord,

    of your gathering with your friends

        and ascending from their sight,

    leaving them the promise

        of the Spirit, soon to come... 

 

So for nine days your friends waited 

    and prayed for the Spirit's coming

in wind and grace and blessing,

    with the fire of your love...  

 

I picture them huddled together, Lord,

    in that same upper room 

where, on the night before you died,

    you broke the Bread of Life

        and blessed your saving Cup...

I hear them telling, again and again, 

  the stories of your life:

    - the story of your calling them 

            and naming them your friends;

    - the stories in your parables,

          the truth you came to share;

    - the stories of your healing those
          distressed, diseased, bent low;

    - the stories of your traveling 'round

          to share your Father's mercy;
    - the story of your passion, 

          of your suffering and your death,
      and how your friends abandoned you

          when you were most in need;
    - and the story of your rising, Lord,

          and meeting them again,
      greeting them with blessings 

        of your pardon, grace and peace... 

 

Tonight, help me remember, Lord

    - the story of your calling me

          and how I came to know you

              and your presence at my side;
    - your parables of wisdom

         and how truth has touched my life;
    - the stories of your healing
          my wounded, broken heart;
    - the story of your offering me

          your life upon the Cross,      

      in spite of - well because of - 

          all the ways I've failed

            and betrayed your faithful love;
    - the stories of your showing up

            along the path I walk
       in ways I least expected 

          - but just when I most needed you;
    - the story of my life with you, 

            the story of your love for me,

       a story we're still writing, sharing, living 

            - you and I...

 

There is no greater story

    than the story of your love,

of your Holy Spirit guiding me,

    blessing me both night and day,

        in good times and in bad, 

        in sorrow and in joy...

 

Well, that's my story, Lord

    - and yes, I'm stickin' to it!

Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake

    and watch over me while I sleep

that awake I might keep watch for you

    and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen.

My Story by Big Daddy Weave 

 

If a widget doesn't appear below, click here!

 

If I told you my story
You would hear hope, that wouldn't let go
And if I told you my story
You would hear love that never gave up

And if I told you my story
You would hear life, but it wasn't mine

 
If I should speak, then let it be of the grace
That is greater than all my sin

Of when justice was served, and where mercy wins!
Of the kindness of Jesus, that draws me in
Oh to tell you my story, is to tell of Him

 

If I told you my story, 

you would hear victory over the enemy
And if I told you my story, you would hear freedom
That was won for me

 

And if I told you my story, 

you would hear life overcome the grave
If I should speak, then let it be of the grace
That is greater than all my sin

Of when justice was served, and where mercy wins!
Of the kindness of Jesus, that draws me in
Oh to tell you my story, is to tell of Him

 

This is my story, this is my song
Praising my savior, all the day long
This is my story, this is my song
Praising my savior, all the day long

 

For the grace that is greater, than all my sin
Of when justice was served, and when mercy wins!
Of the kindness of Jesus, that draws me in
Oh to tell you my story, is to tell

Of the grace that is greater, than all my sin
Of when justice was served, and when mercy wins!
Of the kindness of Jesus, that draws me in
Oh to tell you my story, is to tell of Him
Oh to tell you my story, is to tell of Him

 

This is my story, this is my song
Praising my savior, all the day long

  

Tweet   

SUBSCRIBE HERE!

  

A point for reflection on Ascension

Remain true to yourself, but move ever upward 
toward greater consciousness and greater love! 

 
At the summit you will find yourselves united 
with all those who, from every direction, 
have made the same ascent. 

 
For everything that rises must converge.
 

– Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Tweet   

SUBSCRIBE HERE!

  

Pause for Prayer: ASCENSION DAY

The image above is of a sculpture protruding from the ceiling of the Chapel of the Ascension at the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in England.

The Ascension is so much more than just an exit line after the Resurrection: the Ascension, the rising of the Risen Lord, home to his Father in heave, fulfills Jesus' mission and brings it to completion.  The Risen One rises...

Pause for Prayer

Just 40 days after Easter, Lord,
you brought your friends together,
to say goodbye, to bid them all farewell...

Taking leave was bittersweet:
    the memory of what was,
    the promise of what yet would be,
    the pledge that on a day to come
    you'd all be one again...

There'd been coming and going, meeting and knowing,

    sorrow and sadness, miracles and joy,

    deserts and dinners, feasting and fasting,

    preaching, parables, words of wisdom, 

    comfort and conflict, judgment and suffering,

    surrender and sacrifice, dying, rising

    and hope born again with promise for all

    of life without end...

You left your friends
    but didn't abandon them, Lord:
you promised your Spirit, the Spirit of truth
    to lead and guide, console and comfort
to show us the path we're called to walk,
    the way that leads us home to you
and to that day, still yet to come,
    when all will be one, Lord, once again...

Amen.

Tweet   

SUBSCRIBE HERE!

  

NIGHT PRAYER: Wednesday 5/28

There's a power for evil, Lord,
a power roaming the world,
    seeking the ruin of humanity's soul,
    working to dismantle all we've built up,
    to pull apart all we've brought together,
    to sour and spoil all we've sweetened
       through our sacrifice and love...

And when evil fails to claim the day
it satisfies itself with lesser, minor victories:
   - seeding faith with doubt and fear
   - weakening hope through disappointment
   - abusing trust by threat of force
   - distorting truth through lies and pretense,
   - ceding law to power and privilege
   - stifling spirits, joy and hope         

         - one soul at a time... 

 

And when even these fail, Lord,
evil takes delight in all the ways we
   - mistake the part for the whole,
   - confuse our bias with reality,
   - care for ourselves before tending to others,
   - take for granted all that we have,
   - lose ourselves and those we love 

        in resentments and disputes...

We satisfy ourselves, Lord, 

in heated discussions that
   - are minor and pointless
   - signal our virtue
   - corrupt the truth
   - avoid the real questions 
   - and lead us to think our debates might
        resolve the issues and problems at hand 

          - but they don't and won't and can't...      

So, even on a losing day, Lord,
    evil can often find something to smile about...

And on different days, Lord, 

    and in different ways,
       - I'm a part of all of this -
    as I may have been this very day

        now coming to a close...

Forgive me, Lord, 

    forgive me for the times today when I let evil 

        get too close, 

        influence my thoughts,

        whisper through my words,

        nip at my heels,

        warp my attitude,

        divide my heart

    and tempt to hate rather than love

        my family, my friends, 

            my neighbors, my enemies...

Forgive me, Lord, 
    for the energy and effort,
        the breath and words I wasted
    when I might have given my heart and time
        to you in prayer,
    and myself to others much in need
        of my attention, support and care...

Forgive me, Lord, 
    and give me a good night's rest
that tomorrow I might wake refreshed
    and in the power of your Spirit rise above 
        what temptations may come my way...

Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake     

    and watch over me while I sleep
that awake, I might keep watch with you
    and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen.

  He Will Keep You From All Evil

    by Sovereign Grace

If a widget doesn't appear below, click here!

 

 

I lift my eyes and see
I need not be afraid
All my help comes from the Lord
Who the earth and sky has made

 

He will keep you from all evils
Behind you and before
He will sustain you, through this journey
From now and evermore

 

The Lord will never sleep
My steps He has ordained
For the One who holds the night
Is the Sovereign of my days

 

He will keep you from all evils
Behind you and before
He will sustain you, through this journey
From now and evermore...

 

Tweet   

SUBSCRIBE HERE!

  

 

Tweet   

SUBSCRIBE HERE!

  

Ascension: Thursday or Sunday?

Ascension by Salvador Dali

The perspective of Dali's Ascension never fails to draw me in!  The earthy feet of the Risen Jesus ascending into heaven to reign for ever at the Father's right hand in the power of the Holy Spirit!

In my part of the vineyard the Ascension is still celebrated on Thursday of the sixth week of Easter (this year on May 29).  Much of the Catholic world, however, now celebrates this feast transferred to the Seventh Sunday of Easter.  In the US, the Ascension is celebrated on Thursday of the sixth week of Easter only in the ecclesiastical provinces of Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, and Omaha.  In all other US dioceses, the celebration of the Feast of the Ascension is transferred to this coming Sunday, June 1. 

 

 

(Yes! I wish the eastern provinces (and Omaha!) would all transfer the Ascension to the Seventh Sunday!)

Regardless of which day you celebrate the Ascension, the readings are the same and can be found, with brief commentary, here. 

Tweet   

SUBSCRIBE HERE!

  

Pause for Prayer: WEDNESDAY 5/28

Tweet   

SUBSCRIBE HERE!

  

NIGHT PRAYER: Tuesday 5/27

Sometimes, Lord, I miss your signs, 

    I miss your cues and signals,

I miss your tapping on my shoulder

    and your spirit, 

        moving in my mind and heart...

 

Sometimes in the dry and wizened brambles

    of my day-to-day existence

I miss the branch that's slowly turning,

    showing color, budding

when the promise of your springtime

    stirs to life within my soul...

 

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord,

    to all the subtle ways 

you reveal yourself around me

    and in the hidden pockets 

        of my soul's imagination...

 

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord,

    lest I miss the ways 

        your grace begins to bud

where I live, where I work and where I play,

    in all my comings and my goings...

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord,

    to the spring you offer all year 'round

in every season, night and day,

    when I need to know you're near...

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord,

    when I've closed them tight 

in loneliness, in doubt and fear,

    in anger or self-pity...

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord,

    to all the ways you show yourself,

in every glimmer, glance and glimpse I have

    of you right by my side...

 

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord,

    to every door you open wide,

inviting me to come, to see,

    to gaze upon and revel in your glory...

 

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord,

    and open the eyes in my head

to recognize and see your face

    in everyone I know and meet...

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord

    open the eyes of my soul,

I want to see you, meet and know you

    every time you show yourself  to me...

 

Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake

    and watch over me while I sleep

that awake, I might keep watch with you

    and asleep, rest in your peace...

 

Amen.

    

Open the Eyes of My Heart by Paul Baloche

 

If a widget doesn't appear below, click here!

 

 

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord,

open the eyes of my heart;

I want to see you, I want to see you. (4 X)

 

To see you high and lifted up,

shining in the light of your glory.

Pour out your pow'r and love,

as we sing, "Holy, Holy, Holy."  (2 X)

 

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord,

open the eyes of my heart:

I want to see you, I want to see you. (2 X)

 

To see you high and lifted up,

shining in the light of your glory.

Pour out your pow'r and love,

as we sing, "Holy, Holy, Holy." (2 X)

 

You are holy, holy, holy  

holy, holy, holy,

I want to see you,

holy, holy, holy,

you are holy, holy, holy, 

I want to see you...

 

 

Tweet   

SUBSCRIBE HERE!