The Lord is my light…….and my salvation…..whom……shall I ….fear?

From Evening Prayer lessons we have Psalm 27. I hear the tune from Lift Every Voice and Sing to the above words echoing in my head every time I read Psalm 27. If I could sing, I would record it for you….but alas, you do not need to hear that unless you are looking for some way to be punished for your sins!

Later in the 8th verse, the Psalmist writes:

⁸Even now he lifts up my head *

I love that image. Lifts up our heads so we see the light, we see our salvation. Our tender, loving God, like a parent to a small child, gently lifts up our heads so we can gaze upon the light, the light of Christ.

Whom shall I fear?

St. Paul’s Cycle of Prayer – Saturday – for the Green Team and for all Creation, for our ministries to Seniors, and for all on our Parish prayer list.

(click Prayer Instructions for links to Morning or Evening Prayer for today)

Do not deceive yourselves…

1st Corinthians 3, appointed for today, is especially good in light of the presidential debate this week:

18 Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise. 19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their craftiness,’ 20and again, ‘The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.’

21 So let no one boast about human leaders. For all things are yours, 22whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future-all belong to you, 23and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

All things are yours because you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God. A great thought to take into the day. May we all become fools for Christ.

St. Paul’s Cycle of Prayer – Friday – Daughters of the King, Brotherhood of St. Andrew, Marthas, worship volunteers (acolytes, ushers and greeters, chalice bearers) and all over volunteer groups who work so tirelessly and joyfully for the Kingdom of God and the Body of Christ at St. Paul’s.

(click Prayer Instructions for links to Morning or Evening Prayer for today)

I want patience and I want it NOW…

Psalm 71 takes us on a journey today:

¹⁴But I shall always wait in patience, *
and shall praise you more and more.

Always wait in patience? I find this the most difficult of callings.

¹⁵My mouth shall recount your mighty acts
and saving deeds all day long; *
though I cannot know the number of them.

¹⁶I will begin with the mighty works of the Lord GOD; *
I will recall your righteousness, yours alone.

So perhaps we have here the key – waiting is not passive. Waiting does not mean sit on the couch or wander around, shuffling your feet and murmuring like an Israelite in the wilderness. The waiting is active. And it is to be filled with prayer – the Psalm says not necessarily prayer like HELP ME LORD, but prayer that praises God. “Begin with the mighty works of the Lord GOD” and keep it up all day: “recount your mighty acts and saving deeds all day long”.

¹⁷O God, you have taught me since I was young, *
and to this day I tell of your wonderful works.

Yes you have, O God. Thanks for the reminder!

St. Paul’s Cycle of Prayer – Thursday – The people of Bondeau, Haiti, especially Pere Phanord, the school teachers and medical clinic volunteers, for our Cursillo community.

(click Prayer Instructions for links to Morning or Evening Prayer for today)

Faith

I have had some interesting conversations around faith recently (including several with myself!). I am working on a longer blog post around this topic, in particular around a commonly used expression – “I know it was in God’s plan for me” or something similar. Stay tuned, it will be on the “Main Blog” portion of the site.

Meanwhile in my prayer time I came across this beautiful prayer from the St. Augustine’s Prayer Book (available from Forward Movement on behalf of the Order for the Holy Cross), which I have been using for my daily prayer time. I used it for both our staff meeting and our Day School board meetings today:

A Prayer for Faith (page 73):

Increase my Faith, O Lord; give me diligence to learn and understand the Gospel; open my heart to trust in you; let my doubts spur me to seek deeper your understanding with patience; for you have given me a mind to question, time to grow and mature, and you call me to know, to love, and to serve you even in the midst of uncertainty. Amen.

St. Paul’s Cycle of Prayer – Tuesday – Seekers and other Young Adults, those in our community who are unchurched, our community and those in need, especially Family Promise and CROS ministries

(click Prayer Instructions for links to Morning or Evening Prayer for today)

St. Paul’s Cycle of Prayer – Monday – Children, youth, and family ministries of St. Paul’s and those who teach and work with our youth. Our music program and choirs.

(click Prayer Instructions for links to Morning or Evening Prayer for today)

Today is the Feast of the Holy Cross. This major feast day is celebrated on the anniversary of the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the year 335. During the reign of Constantine, first Roman Emperor to profess the Christian faith, his mother Helena went to Israel and there undertook to find the places especially significant to Christians. (She was helped in this by the fact that in their destructions around 135, the Romans had built pagan shrines over many of these sites.) Having located, close together, what she believed to be the sites of the Crucifixion and of the Burial (at locations that modern archaeologists think may be correct), she then had built over them the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was dedicated on 14 September 335. It has become a day for recognizing the Cross (in a festal atmosphere that would be inappropriate on Good Friday) as a symbol of triumph, as a sign of Christ’s victory over death, and a reminder of His promise, “And when I am lifted up, I will draw all men unto me.” (John 12:32). (from http://satucket.com/lectionary/Holy_Cross.htm, written by James Keifer.

Holy Cross Day is our only feast day that commemorates an object. On this day in particular our thoughts turn to the cross of Christ, an instrument of torture and execution which became a sign and symbol of our faith in redemption and resurrection.

The Collect for Holy Cross Day:

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ was lifted high upon the cross that he might draw the whole world to himself: Mercifully grant that we, who glory in the mystery of our redemption, may have grace to take up our cross and follow him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting.