The Weekend Approaches
This week we have used a prayer by Kenneth Phifer entitled, “I Need to Listen”, as a focal point for our devotional life. We conclude our meditation time on becoming better listeners with the concluding section of Ken’s prayer to the Great Listener, God our Creator.
“Steady me, O God, as a listener.
And when I speak, make me careful lest I use words as weapons
and language as a severing sword.
Enable me to sort out what I hear and not be thrown off balance
when the tongue of another is careless.
When prejudice and passion weigh the words I hear
with divisiveness and conflict,
give me sense enough to reject them.
Grant me judgment and common sense to cut through words
that evade and distort lest I be misled.
Steady me, O Lord, as I learn to listen. Amen.”
Divine presence and help is near. Have a good day and weekend listening to the voices of those in this place. And, if you are one of the privileged who can enjoy a weekend away from Hendricks Regional Health, then may your listening ears be well tuned to family and friends as well as the songs of nature!
--Ben Keckler
04.13.12
Showing posts with label Ken Phifer prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ken Phifer prayer. Show all posts
Friday, April 13, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Daily Devotion - Thursday, April 12
Awareness in the Workplace
This week we are praying through a prayer by Kenneth Phifer.
“Help me to listen to myself,
to still small voices of conscience, to whispers of faith,
and to the soft inner humming of hope.
Help me to learn to trust myself more than I do,
trust myself not because I am wise and good,
but because I am loved and wanted.
Help me to listen to the stranger who may be an angel is disguise,
to the friend who may be lonely and lost.
Help me to listen to the angry and the outraged
who may be saying to me words I need to hear.”
Divine presence and help is near. I trust that you can find time to mediate on Dr. Phifer’s words, as you strive to maintain a quiet center in your life. A listening Creator can enable us to be better listeners. Have a good day.
--Ben Keckler
04.12.12
This week we are praying through a prayer by Kenneth Phifer.
“Help me to listen to myself,
to still small voices of conscience, to whispers of faith,
and to the soft inner humming of hope.
Help me to learn to trust myself more than I do,
trust myself not because I am wise and good,
but because I am loved and wanted.
Help me to listen to the stranger who may be an angel is disguise,
to the friend who may be lonely and lost.
Help me to listen to the angry and the outraged
who may be saying to me words I need to hear.”
Divine presence and help is near. I trust that you can find time to mediate on Dr. Phifer’s words, as you strive to maintain a quiet center in your life. A listening Creator can enable us to be better listeners. Have a good day.
--Ben Keckler
04.12.12
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Daily Devotion - Wednesday, April 11
Awareness in the Workplace
This week we are praying through a prayer by Kenneth Phifer.
“Lord, this is a shouting world.
There are voices of rage and of protest.
There are voices of defiance and of contempt.
How carefully I sift out the shouting, ignore the screaming.
Make me listen, O God, I pray.
You are the Creator of us all, and sometimes the voices of anger carry messages from you.
Enable me to be a listener, I ask.
For in listening I may find direction and guidance.”
War and rage continue to be a part of the fabric of our world; we seem accustomed to destruction and devastation -- people continuing to act out the anger within with hands and voices. From the comfort and relative quiet of our surroundings we listen to a world of people shouting at us, trying to say things that are difficult to hear. Here in our workplace the shouting will be muffled, weakened by disease, but still very present. Listen closely today to shouts and screams, softened so much that we can easily miss them. God bless you.
--Ben Keckler
04.11.12
This week we are praying through a prayer by Kenneth Phifer.
“Lord, this is a shouting world.
There are voices of rage and of protest.
There are voices of defiance and of contempt.
How carefully I sift out the shouting, ignore the screaming.
Make me listen, O God, I pray.
You are the Creator of us all, and sometimes the voices of anger carry messages from you.
Enable me to be a listener, I ask.
For in listening I may find direction and guidance.”
War and rage continue to be a part of the fabric of our world; we seem accustomed to destruction and devastation -- people continuing to act out the anger within with hands and voices. From the comfort and relative quiet of our surroundings we listen to a world of people shouting at us, trying to say things that are difficult to hear. Here in our workplace the shouting will be muffled, weakened by disease, but still very present. Listen closely today to shouts and screams, softened so much that we can easily miss them. God bless you.
--Ben Keckler
04.11.12
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Daily Devotion - Tuesday, April 10
Awareness in the Workplace
This week we are praying through a prayer by Kenneth Phifer.
“Lord, this is a sobbing world.
There are voices filled with echoes of hurt and pain everywhere.
There are voices almost choked out by tears and
voices that come out of aching.
There are hollow voices, empty voices.
I would rather not hear them—
the voices of hungry children
and of sorrowing women
and of desperate men.
But they are all around me.
Enable me to hear them, I pray, and in the hearing
Be able to be near my brothers and sisters.”
Have a blessed day as you listen.
--Ben Keckler
04.10.12
This week we are praying through a prayer by Kenneth Phifer.
“Lord, this is a sobbing world.
There are voices filled with echoes of hurt and pain everywhere.
There are voices almost choked out by tears and
voices that come out of aching.
There are hollow voices, empty voices.
I would rather not hear them—
the voices of hungry children
and of sorrowing women
and of desperate men.
But they are all around me.
Enable me to hear them, I pray, and in the hearing
Be able to be near my brothers and sisters.”
Have a blessed day as you listen.
--Ben Keckler
04.10.12
Monday, April 9, 2012
Daily Devotion - Monday, April 9
Awareness in the Workplace
This week we are going to work through a prayer by Kenneth Phifer.
“How strange it is, O Lord,
that I should feel I need to ask you to hear me.
Is it not I who need to learn to listen?
Should I not ask you to jerk me to my feet,
to snatch me out of my drowsy indifference,
to nudge me into alertness?
I am constantly surrounded by sounds I do not hear,
By voices to which I am indifferent.
“This is a singing world.
There are voices of angels
and voices of those inviting me to share in their lives.
Enable me to hear them, I pray,
and in the hearing be lifted up to gratitude
for the mystery and magic of being human.”
Have a meaningful Monday!
--Ben Keckler
04.09.12
This week we are going to work through a prayer by Kenneth Phifer.
“How strange it is, O Lord,
that I should feel I need to ask you to hear me.
Is it not I who need to learn to listen?
Should I not ask you to jerk me to my feet,
to snatch me out of my drowsy indifference,
to nudge me into alertness?
I am constantly surrounded by sounds I do not hear,
By voices to which I am indifferent.
“This is a singing world.
There are voices of angels
and voices of those inviting me to share in their lives.
Enable me to hear them, I pray,
and in the hearing be lifted up to gratitude
for the mystery and magic of being human.”
Have a meaningful Monday!
--Ben Keckler
04.09.12
Friday, March 23, 2012
Daily Devotion - Friday, March 23
Prayer Thoughts
“Out of my distress I called on the Lord…
The Lord is my strength and my might;
God has become my salvation.”
--Psalm 118:5, 14
Daily we are greeted with unsettling stuff, challenges that are most difficult. Some are close and personal, others are more global. The up close, personal things can grab us and really shake up all the things we are trying to balance. Ken Phifer’s prayer “I Need a Sense of Peace” can be helpful,
“Give me peace, O God, a central peace.
Let me know that at the heart of turbulence
There is the calm that comes from faith in you
That at the core of life
There is great confidence
From which springs forth courage and gladness.
Give me a standing place in life
Wherefrom I may be able to look steadily
Upon the world without panic.
Out of my central peace,
Let there ripple forth concern and compassion,
Indignation at injustice,
And willingness to give of myself
Knowing your spirit is with me.
“May I attain the feeling
That I have touched that central peace,
The peace that abides amid the confusion of life. Amen.”
--Ben Keckler
03.23.12
“Out of my distress I called on the Lord…
The Lord is my strength and my might;
God has become my salvation.”
--Psalm 118:5, 14
Daily we are greeted with unsettling stuff, challenges that are most difficult. Some are close and personal, others are more global. The up close, personal things can grab us and really shake up all the things we are trying to balance. Ken Phifer’s prayer “I Need a Sense of Peace” can be helpful,
“Give me peace, O God, a central peace.
Let me know that at the heart of turbulence
There is the calm that comes from faith in you
That at the core of life
There is great confidence
From which springs forth courage and gladness.
Give me a standing place in life
Wherefrom I may be able to look steadily
Upon the world without panic.
Out of my central peace,
Let there ripple forth concern and compassion,
Indignation at injustice,
And willingness to give of myself
Knowing your spirit is with me.
“May I attain the feeling
That I have touched that central peace,
The peace that abides amid the confusion of life. Amen.”
--Ben Keckler
03.23.12
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