Tag Archives: blessed

An Ash Wednesday Prayer

14 Wednesday Feb 2018

Posted by in Prayers

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God of all creation,
you are gracious and merciful, slow to anger,
and you abound in steadfast love.

Today as I enter the closet of my heart,
I discover a lifetime of memories stored there –
some I would prefer to forget and leave behind,
others that remind me how truly blessed I am.

Today I hear again your invitation to renewal –
I hear it with every fiber of my being,
having been created in your image,
formed of the dust of your earth,
enlivened by the breath of your spirit,
established in the strength of your grace!

In these forty days of Lent, it is my heart’s desire
to surrender old harmful habits that yield nothing,
and to take up new holy habits that lead to life.

May this Lenten journey return me to a place of trust,
where my fear is conquered by your holy unshakable love,
where I am healed and made whole in the aliveness of life,
where doing justice,
and loving mercy,
and walking humbly with you,
are the ways of being that matter most.

 Hands2a

Copyright (c) 2012 Mark Lloyd Richardson

Filled with Songs like the Sea

31 Saturday Mar 2012

Posted by in Prayers, Reflections

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On Palm Sunday, a portion of Psalm 118 is read during worship. For all that God has done in the past, all that God is doing in the present, and all that God will do in the future, the psalmist gives thanks and praise!

It’s very possible that in Jesus’ final Passover celebration with his followers, they sang this psalm in accordance with Jewish tradition. They joined their voices to history’s choir to lift up God’s faithfulness in the past and their confidence in God’s help in the future.

On Palm Sunday, we hear the crowds echo the words of the psalmist: “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord” (Ps. 118:26; Mark 11:9-10). And we hear also Jesus echoing this same psalm, reminding the people that the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone (Ps. 118:22, Mark 12:10). The triumphal procession with palms spread across the road eventually leads to another road, a road of suffering.

God’s enduring love is revealed in the life and death of Jesus, who is the Passover lamb for us in our journey toward freedom. The Christian faith is a “way of life” more than a belief system. Christ initiates a new community in which all are welcome and transformed by grace!

Gary Wilburn says the Christian life is …
“a way of being human in an inhumane world,
of living in love not hate,
of faith not fear,
of hope not despair,
of forgiveness not revenge”
[The God I Don’t Believe In (Stamford, CT: Progressive Pub, 2008), 70].

So we gather in worship, and with the psalmist we say, “O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!”

Here is a Jewish Passover Prayer that expresses beautifully our thanksgiving to God:

Even if our mouths were filled with songs like the sea, our tongues with joy like its mighty waves, our lips with praise like the breadth of the sky, if our eyes shone like the sun and the moon, and our hands were spread out like the eagles of heaven, if our feet were as swift as the hind, we should still be incapable of thanking you adequately for one thousandth of all the love you have shown us. Amen.

Words (c) 2012, Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photos (c) 2012, Dallis Day Richardson

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An Untroubled Heart

29 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by in Reflections

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“Do not let your hearts be troubled.” ~ Jesus

From a Christian point of view, your heart is who you are as a child of God. It not only reflects your affections and your intentions; your heart is the core of the person you are, and are becoming, in the light of God’s grace!

Jesus speaks of having an untroubled heart even as he himself prepares to face the very troubling consequences of a world wracked by hatred, intolerance and violence.

After a lifetime of doing my feeble best to follow Jesus, I still find it difficult to get my mind around his absence of fear and worry as he stared the prospect of death in the face.

Some of my fellow Christ-followers would ease my mind by easy talk of Jesus’ divinity. Our spiritual tradition, though, always keeps Jesus’ divinity in tension with his humanity.

Jesus’ humanity is evident throughout the gospels as he wept with those who were suffering. Jesus felt compassion for all who were hungry, whether for food or justice. Jesus became angry with people who were so focused on appearing pious they had lost track of their inward spiritual compass. Jesus condemned the taken-for-granted bigotry in the world – the sexism, racism, and classism masquerading as holiness.

Jesus was a human being whose divinity was expressed through a deep and abiding communion with God, whom he addressed as “Abba,” a term of familial intimacy.

Jesus was at peace with the path of his earthly life because he knew that all of life is ultimately blessed and encircled by God’s steadfast love, now and for all eternity.

Jesus invites his followers, then and now, “Believe in God, believe also in me” (see John 14:1-7) ~ an invitation to be in relationship with the Divine. Jesus assures his followers that this act of trusting God is the way to discover a “dwelling place” with God – a place of refuge, safety, and peace!

As we approach Holy Week, and consider the meaning of Jesus’ life and death, spend a few moments recalling Jesus’ untroubled heart, and let his words of peace roll over you like streams of living water ~ “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”

You are a beloved child of God. You have a place in the circle of God’s care. Your life, and all the life you see around you, is held within the abiding and steadfast love of God!

 

Words (c) 2012 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photo (c) 2012 Dallis Day Richardson, Yosemite

An Ash Wednesday Prayer

22 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by in Prayers

≈ 10 Comments

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God of all creation,
you are gracious and merciful, slow to anger,
and you abound in steadfast love.

Today as I enter the closet of my heart,
I discover a lifetime of memories stored there –
some I would prefer to forget and leave behind,
others that remind me how truly blessed I am.

Today I hear again your invitation to renewal –
I hear it with every fiber of my being,
having been created in your image,
formed of the dust of your earth,
enlivened by the breath of your spirit,
established in the strength of your grace!

In these forty days of Lent, it is my heart’s desire
to surrender old harmful habits that yield nothing,
and to take up new holy habits that lead to life.

May this Lenten journey return me to a place of trust,
where my fear is conquered by your holy unshakable love,
where I am healed and made whole in the aliveness of life,
where doing justice,
and loving mercy,
and walking humbly with you,
are the ways of being that matter most.