Is it ever a quiet day in New Jersey? Or, for that matter, in the rest of the Nation? We just seem to be bombarded with constant news. Between the war in Ukraine, rising Covid variant infection rates constant political infighting, and, now, a purloined draft of what will likely be a court decision that will bring even further polarization, some of us may long for quieter days.
The world, of course, just never stops moving. Each day just seems to bring something news we must try to understand. There are times for all of us when we feel that we do not understand everything around us. Increasingly frustrated, we just want to withdraw.
But withdraw totally we cannot. We can withdraw, as did Jesus, when he just had to get his head together, as modern parlance would put it. He withdrew to pray. Prayer isn’t just asking God for this or that. Sometimes it’s just listening to the deep within ourselves, the place where we find God.
Prayer for the Day
Like the Psalmist, we cry in frustration and distress, O God,
And like the Psalmist, we await unfolding events;
Unsure of what comes next, we struggle to understand the world,
As if what we call understanding will be of help to us.
Grant us, O God, a deeper comprehension of not just the world
But of the reality of your Spirit in our lives.
In the name of the One who shares that reality,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Anxiety is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but doesn’t get you very far.
- Jodi Picoult, American novelist
There are times when all anxiety and stated toll are becalmed in the infinite leisure and repose of nature.
- Henry David Thoreau, American essayist (1817-1862)
Answer me when I call, O God of my right!
You gave me room when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer.
Psalm 4: 1