Trust
"Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
and put away your indignation toward us.
Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
Will you not revive us again,
so that your people may rejoice in you?
Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation."
Sometimes a lot of stuff comes our way and we feel that the steadfast love of God is missing. Trusting in God's steadfast love is not necessarily easy. It sounds like the Psalm writer is experiencing the difficulty of trust.
Have you ever been in a group that is working on trust exercises? One activity that facilitators sometimes use is called "Trust Fall". Here is how it works: One person stands facing away from the rest of the group. The assignment is to fall backwards into the arms of another person or persons in the group. Many people have great difficulty with this exercise. In Mitch Albom's book, Tuesdays with Morrie. he tells of a time when Morrie asked his class to attempt this exercise. Mitch still remembers when one person was able to trust and fall backwards. The person was caught and it worked fine. Morrie, Mitch's professor, observed:
"You see, you closed your eyes. That was the difference. Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them, too—even when you're in the dark. Even when you are falling." (Page 61)
A prayer for today: God, help me to trust. And, if it is possible, show me your steadfast love.
Ben Keckler 10.31.07
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Daily Devotions - Tuesday 10.30.07
Taking Courage, Moving Forward
Rabindranath Tagore had the gift of precision with language and thought. One of his compact prayers is filled with great power and I share it with you today:
Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers
but to be fearless in facing them.
Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain
but for the heart to conquer it.
Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved
but hope for the patience to win my freedom.
Ben Keckler 10.30.07
Rabindranath Tagore had the gift of precision with language and thought. One of his compact prayers is filled with great power and I share it with you today:
Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers
but to be fearless in facing them.
Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain
but for the heart to conquer it.
Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved
but hope for the patience to win my freedom.
Ben Keckler 10.30.07
Monday, October 29, 2007
Daily Devotions - Monday 10.29.07
Signs of Seasonal Change
"Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
Teach me."
A simple prayer song
The leaves with splendid color are falling and now before us are barren branches that remind us of change. I write this devotional on a day when I am giving thanks for an elderly friend who died just last night. Her journey of these past six months has not been easy; accepting diminishing abilities is really tough. On days like this I like to spend time reading prayers and thoughts written by other sojourners who have safely completed their earth bound tasks. Frenchman, Teilhard de Chardin, offers this insightful prayer:
When the signs of age begin to mark my body
(and still more when they touch my mind);
when the ill that is to diminish me or carry me off strikes from without
or is born within me;
when the painful moments come in which I suddenly waken
to the fact that I am ill or growing old;
and above all at the last moments
when I feel I am losing hold of myself
and am absolutely passive in the hands
of the great unknown forces that have formed me;
in all those dark moments, O God,
grant that I may understand that it is you
(provided only my faith is strong enough)
who is painfully parting the fibers of my being
in order to penetrate to the very marrow of my substance
and bear me away within yourself.
A prayer: Embrace my soul in the season of change, O Holy One.
Ben Keckler 10.29.07
"Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
Teach me."
A simple prayer song
The leaves with splendid color are falling and now before us are barren branches that remind us of change. I write this devotional on a day when I am giving thanks for an elderly friend who died just last night. Her journey of these past six months has not been easy; accepting diminishing abilities is really tough. On days like this I like to spend time reading prayers and thoughts written by other sojourners who have safely completed their earth bound tasks. Frenchman, Teilhard de Chardin, offers this insightful prayer:
When the signs of age begin to mark my body
(and still more when they touch my mind);
when the ill that is to diminish me or carry me off strikes from without
or is born within me;
when the painful moments come in which I suddenly waken
to the fact that I am ill or growing old;
and above all at the last moments
when I feel I am losing hold of myself
and am absolutely passive in the hands
of the great unknown forces that have formed me;
in all those dark moments, O God,
grant that I may understand that it is you
(provided only my faith is strong enough)
who is painfully parting the fibers of my being
in order to penetrate to the very marrow of my substance
and bear me away within yourself.
A prayer: Embrace my soul in the season of change, O Holy One.
Ben Keckler 10.29.07
Friday, October 26, 2007
Daily Devotions - Friday 10.26.07
Thought for the Journey
As we prepare for the weekend, I hope you have experienced some personal challenge with the devotions this week. I am hopeful that you have let the Spirit dance within you, that you have allowed your thoughts to be expanded, and that you may feel a bit better equipped for living in this global community.
• Enjoy this weekend, maybe jump in a pile of fallen leaves or pack a picnic lunch and go to a favorite park to enjoy nature's surroundings.
• Play this weekend, maybe toss a football around and see if you can keep from getting any body parts broken.
• Let your inner child be alive!
W. H. Davies puts it well: "It seems to me that the whole secret of life, if it is to be happy, is in the spirit of love; and when an old form of love dies we must take on the new. If life is to be made interesting and worth its breath, we must look on ourselves as growing children, right up to the end of our days."
A Prayer: O God, come to me, so that we may dwell together right up to the end. Amen.
Ben Keckler
10.26.07
As we prepare for the weekend, I hope you have experienced some personal challenge with the devotions this week. I am hopeful that you have let the Spirit dance within you, that you have allowed your thoughts to be expanded, and that you may feel a bit better equipped for living in this global community.
• Enjoy this weekend, maybe jump in a pile of fallen leaves or pack a picnic lunch and go to a favorite park to enjoy nature's surroundings.
• Play this weekend, maybe toss a football around and see if you can keep from getting any body parts broken.
• Let your inner child be alive!
W. H. Davies puts it well: "It seems to me that the whole secret of life, if it is to be happy, is in the spirit of love; and when an old form of love dies we must take on the new. If life is to be made interesting and worth its breath, we must look on ourselves as growing children, right up to the end of our days."
A Prayer: O God, come to me, so that we may dwell together right up to the end. Amen.
Ben Keckler
10.26.07
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Daily Devotions - Thursday 10.25.07
Thought for the Journey
You may want to live with this thought-provoking prayer by Ted Loder as you do your work today:
Holy One,
Gentle me into an unclenched moment,
A deep breath,
A letting go
Of heavy experiences, of shriveling anxieties,
Of dead certainties,
That, softened by the silence,
Surrounded by the light,
And open to the mystery,
I may be found by wholeness,
Upheld by the unfathomable,
Entranced by the simple,
And filled with the joy
That is YOU!
May you be gently touched today, friends.
--Ben Keckler 10.25.07
You may want to live with this thought-provoking prayer by Ted Loder as you do your work today:
Holy One,
Gentle me into an unclenched moment,
A deep breath,
A letting go
Of heavy experiences, of shriveling anxieties,
Of dead certainties,
That, softened by the silence,
Surrounded by the light,
And open to the mystery,
I may be found by wholeness,
Upheld by the unfathomable,
Entranced by the simple,
And filled with the joy
That is YOU!
May you be gently touched today, friends.
--Ben Keckler 10.25.07
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
