Good morning on what promises to be a lovely spring day even as the world around us keeps spinning around. You can take your choice on Congressional hearings planned on GEO and Delaney Hall, the establishment of an Israeli army base in the West Bank, in violation of the Oslo accords, or Kyiv’s bombing of a Russian oil refinery near Moscow in response to the Russian destruction of the Dormition Cathedral and killing of 11 (note Ukraine hits infrastructure, not apartment buildings like that butcher Putin).
So, where do we start? Then, of course, there’s the political news at home: FBI agents talking to people about Gavin Newsome is not a bad place to start. Maybe not your choice for a possible 2028 nominee but the FBI asking questions?
Then there’s the continuing assault on God by opening public lands to assaults from the fossil fuel industry, not to mention attempts to stop using wind power to heat and cool our homes and businesses. Daunting, isn’t it? Time to take a deep breath and feel God’s presence in our lives before we face the rest of the day.
Prayer for the Day
On a late spring morning, we search for signs of your grace, O God,
But the world around us causes us to despair;
Trying to take heart, we seek respite in the sound of a bird,
But even life around us often does not calm our hearts.
Embrace us into the center of your Being, O Holy One,
So that we feel your Presence in our daily journey.
In the name of the One who opens us to you,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
For grace to be grace, it must give us things we didn't know we needed and take us places where we didn't know we didn't want to go. As we stumble through the crazily altered landscape of our lives, we find that God is enjoying our attention as never before.
Kathleen Norris, from Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life
I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.
J B Priestley, British novelist (1894-1984)
Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
Even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.
Psalm 139: 7-10