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To pray is to let God into our lives. He knocks and seeks admittance, not only in the solemn hours of secret prayer. He knocks in the midst of your daily work, your daily struggles, your daily grind. That is when you need Him most.
- Ole Kristian O. Hallesby
(How do you hear God knocking? Ask this question all through the day.)
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HEB 7:25—8:6; PS 40:7-8A, 8B-9, 10, 17
MK 3:7-12
Jesus withdrew toward the sea with
his disciples.
A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea.
Hearing what he was doing,
a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem,
from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan,
and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon.
He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd,
so that they would not crush him.
He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases
were pressing upon him to touch
him.
And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him
and shout, "You are the Son of God."
He warned them sternly not to make him known.
USCCB Lectionary
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Mark 3: 7-12 (Jesus and the crowds)
Again and again Mark writes of the
crowds who followed Jesus for healing, teaching, and out of curiosity. Withdrawing from areas where conflict with
the authorities might bring a premature end to his ministry, Jesus takes to the countryside, pursued by the crowds. He ministers on, undaunted.
* An ancient story tells of Satan
instructing evil spirits in the art of damning souls. The most successful temptation was not to deny GodÕs existence, or even the devilÕs existence, but “There’s plenty of time.” Why is this attitude so damning? Would you search for Jesus out in the “countryside”?
* Spend some time with the words
of the psalmist: "Be still and know that I am God!Ó (Psalm 46: 11).
Paperback, Kindle
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God and I: Exploring the Connections between God, Self and Ego, by Philip St. Romain, 2016 (2nd ed.) ____________ Chapter 1: God (excerpts) Given our human longing and need for relationship, one would expect that we might find this need accounted for and, perhaps, even addressed by the
Source of our lives. Yet it is difficult to imagine having an interpersonal relationship with existence -- even a pure conceptualization thereof, as in the Tao te Ching. Existence described therein as the Tao is wise, intelligent, all-pervading, and lawful, but not really someone you can befriend. It is good and wise to respect the Tao and align one’s life with its general tendencies, but that is not the same as having an interpersonal relationship with
it.
Hence, revelation (or the need for it) if we are to encounter the Source of our lives as Someone. God must come forth, out from the mystery of
existence, to address us, to share with us who God is, how God feels about us, what is expected of us, how we might be in relationship with God as individuals and as communities. How could it be otherwise? That is how it works in our human relationships; we must share our inner thoughts, feelings, dreams and expectations with one another to be known by one another. It cannot be otherwise if we are to know God, for we bring the very same human nature to such a relationship as we do with one
another.
Hardback, paperback, eBook and free preview versions.
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