Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

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Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Isaiah 45:9-13
I say to the captives, "Come out," and to those in darkness, "Be free!" They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water. Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains!

For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.

At the Berkeley Creative Community Project we shared everything. Our money went into a common pot. Sitting in circles we shared our food, breaking sandwiches in half and putting them on each other's plates. In the morning we gathered in a large group and prayed aloud, a cacophony which gradually became soothing. Day by day we began to understand that God had plenty for all of us, enough to go around and around and around.

Captives aren't captives till they are captured by captors. Why would anyone imprison a brother or sister? Isn't there plenty for everybody? Cain and Abel's original competition poisons us all with the fear of being second, with being left behind. I want God to love me most.

Happy St. Patrick's Day, by the way.

The Irish know all about being second, about being hungry, about fighting back. But their truth too is that we are all afflicted and all need God's comfort. The great peace-makers communicate this truth with all they do, all they say, all they are. Neither the persecuted nor the persecutors are going to get God's love first. "Love your enemies," Jesus says. "Blessed are those who are persecuted when they do the right thing, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." "Judge not, lest ye be judged." "The rain falls on the just and the unjust."

Whether I follow Jesus' direction or not, God will love me just the same. But I want to feel my world expanding with grace and peace, often, and not just now and then in momentary epiphany. When I give up my claim to God's love before someone else, or stop thinking it's only mine after I've fixed things up ... that's when it's right there before me.

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

The old Irish Blessing, so sweet to every ear, is not just for family, not just for friends. It's for all of us.

Sweet surrender, let me bask in your warmth, light up my darkness and free me to be free. Oh God, you are my God.

Devotions Archive

Right here, right now

Wednesday, March 17, 2010