Holy Week / Last Week of March 2015

I ASKED GOD

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I asked God to take away my pain. God said, No.
It is not for me to take it away, but for you to give it up.

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.
God said, No. Her spirit was whole, her body was only temporary.

I asked God to grant me patience. God said, No.
Patience is a by-product of tribulations, it isn’t granted, it is earned.

I asked God to give me happiness. God said, No.
I give you blessings, Happiness is up to you.

I asked God to spare me pain. God said, No.
Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.

I asked God to make my spirit grow. God said, No.
You must grow on your own, but I will prune you to make you fruitful.

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life. God said, No.
I will give you life so that you may enjoy all things.

I ask God to help me LOVE others, as much as he loves me.
God said… now you understand!

LIFE IS SHORT, AND WE DO NOT HAVE MUCH 
TIME TO GLADDEN THE HEARTS OF THOSE WHO
MAKE THE JOURNEY WITH US.SO, BE SWIFT
TO LOVE, AND MAKE HASTE TO BE KIND. AMEN.

                                                          Prayer by Dr. Edmund Jones

Be an instrument of Peace

Think about this:

         

       “An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.”   

                                                              ― Mahatma Gandhi

How are you loving those around you?

How are you being an instrument of peace in this world?

Peace Calendar by Deepa Chopra

Sunday: Being for Peace

Monday: Thinking for Peace

Tuesday: Feeling for Peace

Wednesday: Speaking for Peace

Thursday: Acting for Peace

Friday: Creating for Peace

Saturday: Sharing for Peace

Life is short, and we do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those who make the journey with us. So, be swift to love, and make haste to be kind. Amen.

Prayer of Self-dedication

Almighty and Eternal God, so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly yours, utterly dedicated to you, and then use us, we pray, as you will, and always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.                            

                                      (Book of Common Prayer pg. 832)

First Week of March 2015

"14 “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven."  - Matthew 5:13-16

HOW ARE YOU SHARING YOUR LIGHT 

WITH THE WORLD?

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.

                                                                                                               
                                                                                   - St. Francis Prayer

Fourth Week of Feb.

I WAS DYING

ANONYMOUS

First I was dying to finish high school and start college.

And then I was dying to finish college and start work.

And then I was dying to marry and have children.

And then I was dying for my children to grow old enough

    for school so I could return to work.

And then I was dying to retire.

And now, I am dying... and suddenly I realize I forgot to live.

Today is a gift given to you! Today is a gift that you will not have tomorrow. How are you using this gift to transform your life and the life of others?

"34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another." John 13:34

Not to be Provoked to Evil

Entangled States 

by Nick Knisely and Friends

I’m waking to the news that there’s been a mass execution of Coptic Christians in Libya this morning by masked men who claim affiliation with the Islamic State movement. The victims died with the words “Jesus is Lord” on their lips. Violent actions like these, shared widely in an intentional media campaign, are carefully calculated to provoke a response in the rest of world, to bring about a world wide religious war.

And here in America, in some isolated incidents, it might be having the desired effect. The details are still sketchy as to the motivation of the shooter, but last week three of the shining lights of the American muslim community were murdered in Chapel Hill North Carolina by a professed anti-theist. (Not an atheist in the strict sense of the word — someone who doesn’t believe in God, but a person who actively rejects those who do believe. It’s a relatively new phenomenon in the US apparently.)

In West Warwick Rhode Island yesterday, disturbing vandalism against a local Islamic school has brought the conflict to our community.

A day after holding a vigil for three Muslim students killed in North Carolina, the Islamic School of Rhode Island was vandalized.

Some time Saturday night racial slurs were spray-painted over the entrance of the school that serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, school officials said.

Orange paint covered the school’s doors with the words, “Now this is a hate crime” and “pigs,” among other expletives referencing the prophet Muhammad.

The irony is, such actions, if they are meant to be some sort of retaliation, are exactly what the violent actions in Syria, Iraq and now Libya are meant to provoke.

Jesus taught us that the great commandment was to love God above all else. And then he told us we could do that in a practical way by willing to love our neighbor as ourselves. Any thing else leads us away from God and into the realm of violence and death.

It will take a great deal of spiritual discipline to not be drawn into the whirlwind of violence which is the dream of those who have done such killings.

Will you join me in praying that God will grant us the courage and the will to resist? Pray that we focus on doing what we can to make our community stronger, to live into what America was founded to be, a place where freedom of religion was intended to put an end to religious violence of all forms.

It seems appropriate, on this President’s Day in 2015 to make the following prayer:

“O Judge of all the nations, we remember before you with grateful hearts the men and women of our country who in the day of decision ventured much for the liberties we now enjoy. Grant that we may not rest until all the people of this land share the benefits of true freedom and gladly accept its disciplines. This we ask in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Book of Common Prayer, p. 839)     Amen.

http://entangledstates.org/2015/02/16/to-not-be-provoked-to-evil/

Peace

"I want to live in a peaceful world. Yet I may ask myself, What difference can I make? Mother Teresa once said, “We can do no great things—only small things with great love.” Each peaceful prayer and caring thought contributes to world peace. As I hold thoughts of kindness and compassion, they ripple out to bless the world." - Daily Word

To feel the tranquil presence of Spirit, I pray and meditate every day. I let this energy of peace grow in me. I bring it to my daily interactions and to every situation of my life. When I envision and practice peace, I make a positive difference in the world. Serene in the presence of God, I help others experience peace.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.—John 14:27