Message of 12-31-08
Published: Sat, 12/27/08
MESSAGE OF THE DAY
Prayer and love are learned in the hour when prayer becomes
impossible and the heart has turned to stone.
- Thomas Merton
(Goes right along with Eckhart's teaching below.)
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
1 Jn 2:18-21; Ps 96:1-2, 11-12, 13; Jn 1:1-18
R. (11a) Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name;
announce his salvation, day after day.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then shall all the trees of the forest exult before the LORD.
The LORD comes,
he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.
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SCRIPTURE MEDITATION
From "Daily Bread"
- http://www.preacherexchange.com/daily_bread.htm
"From his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace."
As this year draws to its close, we might find resolutions for the
new one arising from our gratitude for these past 12 months. Our
gratitude list might include new friends we have made or old ones
with whom we have reconnected; bad habits we have broken and new,
healthy disciplines we have adopted; trials we have endured and
lessons we have learned; our homes, our jobs, our health and our
families. As we count our blessings, may we envision the further
good God wants us to accomplish in us. As we recall how God has led
us, may we be guided into new ways of grace.
"For a grace-filled new year, we pray."
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NOTES FROM A CLASSICAL WORK
- "Meister Eckhart's Sermons"
Although God is Almighty, He can only work in a heart when He finds
readiness or makes it. He works differently in humans than in
stones. For this we may take the following illustration: if we bake
in one oven three loaves of barley-bread, of rye-bread, and of
wheat, we shall find the same heat of the oven affects them
differently; when one is well-baked, another will be still raw, and
another yet more raw. That is not due to the heat, but to the
variety of the materials. Similarly God works in all hearts not
alike but in proportion as He finds them prepared and susceptible.
If the heart is to be ready for the highest, it must he vacant of
all other things. If I wish to write on a white tablet, whatever
else is written on the tablet, however noble its purport, is a
hindrance to me. If I am to write, I must wipe the tablet clean of
everything, and the tablet is most suitable for my purpose when it
is blank. Similarly, if God is to write on my heart, everything
else must come out of it till it is really sanctified. Only so can
God work His highest will, and so the sanctified heart has no
outward object at all.
- #6, Sanctification
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REVIEW OF DAY
- from, "Handbook for Spiritual Directees"
http://shalomplace.com/view/hndbk-lite.pdf
Here is a practice used by many at the end of the day to see what
lessons can be learned and how God was present and active through
the day. Set aside fifteen to twenty minutes at the end of the
day for prayer and review of your day. A suggested format is
described below:.
1. Take a few moments of quiet. Breathe deeply. Ask God to help you
see yourself as you truly were during the day.
2. Look back over your day - not to see what you did wrong but to
honestly acknowledge what was going on with you and others.
* What happened? What did I do today?
* How did I feel? Why did I feel that way?
* Were my expectations and beliefs reasonable?
3. Affirm the healthy things you recognize.
4. Admit to yourself and God the unhealthy things. Ask God's
forgiveness, believe it is yours, then decide if you need to
apologize or make amends.
5. Use creative visualization to grow stronger. Honestly
acknowledge the troubling situations of the day. See and feel
yourself acting honestly and lovingly in these situations. Ask God
for the grace to help you act in this new way.
6. Close with simple awareness of the sights and sounds around you,
grateful for the good things in your life.
This process can be undertaken as a daily journal exercise or by
prayerfully reviewing your day in your own mind. I like to take a
walk before bedtime for examen. The important thing is to do it. It
is a discipline, to be sure, but a very important one.
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SHALOM PLACE PREMIUM GROUPS
- Life-long learning and formation in Christian spirituality.
Groups now open include the following:
A. Psychological Types and Spirituality
B. The Way of Christian Spirituality
C. Freedom from Codependency
D. Christian Spirituality Resources
E. Wonderfully Made (Christian Metaphysics)
F. Growing in Christ
G. Spiral Dynamics®
H. Discerning God's Will
I. Dark Night of the Soul
J. Silence, Solitude and Sabbath
K. Alpha Group -- includes all the above and all to come.
- see http://shalomplace.org/groups.html
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