Empty pots of pride ...

Another prayer from Leaving Ruin:

We sit, and wait for your words. Carve the words into us, Lord, let us know your words as we know the heat of the desert, in our pores, and don’t forget to give us water when we forget to take a drink. We are foolish, we know. But we want to listen, we want to walk on the mountain with you, but we are stuck down below, and our hands cannot reach high. Will we hear you today, O God, or will we only talk to hear our heads rattle, empty pots of pride and boasting? Speak, Maker, and with a God war-hammer break the stern fortress, and march around our stupidity and rage seven days, and blow trumpets and shout, so that we might fall to a gentler rule.

I wish you were here to speak.

Walk among us. Amen

This prayer brings to mind the words of a song we sing at times (I think I may have mixed up the lyrics, if so, I am sorry).

Break my heart, dear Lord.
Tear the barriers down.
Show me, Father where to start
And gently break my heart.

My heart is hard, my soul so weak.
The ways of evil cut so deep
I need you, Lord, to come inside
And gently break my heart.

To learn from our mistakes.
To see that resources are right in front of us for our pain.
To be more aware next time.
To be ready for God’s work on us and not forget to go to Him as the well.

I pray, as I write this, that we would be able and willing to move from the gutter and trash and look up for God to help us. That we may see the bigger beauty in the mess. That we may be able to reach for hope even in the darkest time. That we may have the courage to not dwell on our time as a victim but to dwell on our victory.

Shiann

How much ...

Today, a prayer:

Lord,
How much juice you can squeeze from a single grape.
How much water you can draw from a single well.
How great a fire you can kindle from a tiny spark.
How great a tree you can grow from a tiny seed.
My soul is so dry that by itself it cannot pray,
Yet you can squeeze from it the juice of a
thousand prayers.
My soul is so parched that by itself it cannot love;
Yet you can draw from it boundless love for you
and for my neighbor.
My soul is so cold that by itself it has no joy,
Yet you can light the fire of heavenly joy within me.
My soul is so feeble that by itself it has no faith;
Yet by your power my faith grows to a great height.
Thank you for prayer, for love, for joy, for faith;
Let me always be prayerful, loving, joyful, faithful.

Amen.

A prayer of Guigo the Carthusian (d. 1188)

Blessings,

Ron

The kingdom isn't food and drink ...

How do we live in the Jesus community? In the kingdom of God?

Hear the words of Paul:

Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.

We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written,

"As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall give praise to God."

So then, each of us will be accountable to God.

Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. If your brother or sister is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. So do not let your good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The one who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and has human approval. Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for you to make others fall by what you eat; it is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that makes your brother or sister stumble. The faith that you have, have as your own conviction before God. Blessed are those who have no reason to condemn themselves because of what they approve. But those who have doubts are condemned if they eat, because they do not act from faith; for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

Romans 14 - NRSV

How does this scripture shape our lives as a community today?

Blessings,

Ron