If we
have not quiet in our minds, outward comfort will do no more for us than a golden slipper on a gouty foot.
- John Bunyan
(How quiet is your mind these days? Take extra time today for silence, solitude and prayer if it is unpleasantly
noisy.)
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1 SM 18:6-9; 19:1-7; PS 56:2-3, 9-10A, 10B-11, 12-13; MK 3:7-12
R. In God I trust; I shall not fear.
Have mercy on me, O God, for men trample upon me;
all the day they press their attack against me.
My adversaries trample upon me all the day;
yes, many fight against me.
My wanderings you have counted;
my tears are stored in your flask;
are they not recorded in your book?
Then do my enemies
turn back,
when I call upon you.
Now I know that God is with me.
In God, in whose promise I glory,
in God I trust without fear;
what can flesh do against me?
I am bound, O God, by vows to you;
your thank offerings I will fulfill.
For you have rescued me from death,
my feet, too, from stumbling;
that I may walk before God in the light of the living.
- a great way to begin the new year!
Christian Prayer Methods Online Course (by Philip St. Romain)
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Individual discounts, gift certificates and group rates available.
Find out more.
Specific guidance on the practice of prayer from Christianity's rich tradition on this topic. 10 short presentations, with handout resources and discussion options.
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Reflection on the Scriptures |
An old song suggests we count our blessings when we can’t sleep. Instead of worrying about what others have that we don’t, we can dwell on how blessed we are. Our lives have challenges and pitfalls, but we can ask God to help us find ways to cope and overcome them. We also can ask God to help us focus on our lives and what we are doing instead of taking note of what others have and don’t have. Taking the time to count our blessings, whether every night or every morning or whenever we feel resentment and jealousy, is a good recipe for clearing those toxins out of our systems.
In the Gospel today, we read of Jesus’ working miracles yet being surrounded by so many people that he was afraid of being crushed. Jesus was a man and God, and he, like us, needed space and time to reflect and refresh. We need to rest our spirits as well as our bodies so we can do the work and live the lives we are meant to. Taking time to count our blessings and thank God for them is one way to refresh and
rest.
- by Carol Zuegner
Revelations of Divine Love - by Julian of Norwich
Second Revelation, Chapter 10
“God willeth to be seen and to be sought: to be abided and to be
trusted”
These are two workings that may be seen in this Vision: the one is seeking, the other is beholding. The seeking is common,—that every soul may have with His grace,—and ought to have that discretion and teaching of the Holy Church. It is God’s will that we have three things
in our seeking:—The first is that we seek earnestly and diligently, without sloth, and, as it may be through His grace, without unreasonable heaviness and vain sorrow. The second is, that we abide Him steadfastly for His love, without murmuring and striving against Him, to our life’s end: for it shall last but awhile. The third is that we trust in Him mightily of full assured faith. For it is His will that we know that He shall appear suddenly and blissfully to all that love
Him.
For His working is privy, and He willeth to be perceived; and His appearing shall be swiftly sudden; and He willeth to be trusted. For He is full gracious and homely: Blessed may He be!
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