Devotions Archive Archive: 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 Search Archive Print This Article The descendants' gratitude Sunday, May 12, 2013 John 17:20-21 Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: "Holy Father, I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me." With his last breath on the cross, Jesus sighed, "It is finished." And he died - his body had done its work. And yet as he died and returned so soon to life, the work would now begin. The body of Christ will be spread throughout the world first by one person, then by twelve, then by multitudes and hosts. More than two thousand years later, we long to stand as one people and say, "Thank you, Jesus!" For many bad reasons we do not stand as one people, and we do not say, "Thank you," and we do not even acknowledge Jesus. But all the same, in the depth of ourselves which is our soul, this is our longing, this is our desire, this is the cry that wants to make us whole. Jesus was the smartest man who ever lived, and he tells us we are meant to be "in" him. He wants us to be his body and put on his mind and then, living in the love of God that shatters our ego and self-protection, love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Dallas Willard suggests that this "love" means that we seek and do for ourselves and our neighbor only what is "good for God." How do I know what is "good for God?" By getting to know God, I think. By talking less, much less, and listening far more. In a witty moment Willard says, "The practice of silence can help you realize that you don't stop breathing when you stop talking." In God's love he does not leave us alone. He truly is like our breath, always with us. But if God's first language is silence, then silence is where I hear Him. In the gradual quieting of my life, my soul can risk an appearance. Perhaps I did not realize, until now, that I even have a soul. But it is in my soul that God makes all things new, and brings unity to my heart and mind and strength. The value I placed in created things fades away, and what is "good for God" is all that matters now. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng. Why so downcast, o my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me - a prayer to the God of my life. Today is the seventh Sunday of Easter and so this will be the last devotion for awhile. What does this "awhile" consist of? Next Sunday, May 19, is Pentecost Sunday, followed by Sunday celebrating the Trinity, followed by Sunday celebrating the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Then, on June 9 comes the 10th Sunday of ordinary time, followed by 24 more Sundays in "ordinary time." Then on December 1 comes the first Sunday of Advent. The days flow and run, flow and run, and God's goodness pours over us all like honey. If we will, we can feel that honey every day ... in that flood, may the Lord bless you and keep you, make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you Peace. "; Add      Edit    Delete