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New every morning is your love, great God of light, and all day long you are working for good in the world. Stir up in us desire to serve you, to live peacefully with our neighbors and all your creation, and to devote each day to your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

"A Liturgy for Morning Prayer," Upper Room Worshipbook

Used by permission from the Book of Common Worship, © 2018 Westminster John Knox Press. All rights reserved. This prayer appears in “A Liturgy for Morning Prayer” in Upper Room Worshipbook.

 

Today’s Reflection

I believe the parable of the good Samaritan speaks to me in a new and different way. The priest and the Levite, who passed by the wounded man in the story, represent the part of me that attempts to pass by my emotional and spiritual needs. All my life, I have been so devoted to caring for others that I have often neglected my own needs. Loving my old soul means having compassion for my frail and feeble state. It’s time to be good to myself, accepting my frailty, forgiving myself for wrongs I have done to others and the foolish choices I made in my life.

—Richard L. Morgan, Light of Setting Suns: Reflecting on Realities and Mysteries at Ninety Years of Life (Upper Room Books, 2020)

Today’s Question

When have you treated your older self with compassion? Join the conversation.

Today’s Scripture

But a Samaritan while traveling came upon [the wounded man who had been left for dead], and when he saw him he was moved with compassion. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, treating them with oil and wine.
—Luke 10:33-34 (NRSV)

Prayer for the Week

Lord of love, grant me courage to accept my trials, learn to
endure them with patience, and realize that such courage
and faith create character. Amen.
Prayer by Richard L. Morgan
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room.

Something More

What does it mean to live a contemplative life? In Everyday Contemplative, Roger Owens challenges readers to expand their definition of contemplative living to encompass all ways of seeking to be more open, available, and responsive to God. Learn more here.

Lectionary Readings

(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)

Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.

4 Comments

  • Julie Posted November 11, 2022 9:35 am

    This is difficult for me. I tend to be hard on my body, mistreating it. I do many things to care for it also and have gotten better at resting when it is badly needed.
    Yesterday was very busy. The caregiver support group was very relaxing and informative. I learned that all of h’s money and my money that is only in my name would be spent down to pay for nursing home care for h before Medicare would begin to pay! I apparently have a long road ahead in order to protect our assests. The easiest would be to divorce and have me get all of the assets but I know better than to think h would agree to that. Also he has reneged on selling the car and so I am going to try to use the POA to do it. Megan’s dad is still in the hospital but it is thought he will be released today. He had a heart attack and that is why they operated.
    Prayers for Ally, David, Jill, Lou, and Robert.

  • robert moeller Posted November 11, 2022 1:40 pm

    Prayers are always needed! Thank goodness that they are always possible. it’s been since the 7th that I responded to the NEM family. Heart attacks, falls, car and boat sales, dealing with h, finances,
    cat health, changing weather, family home from FL, school work, former students, cancer and mental health support groups, and safety at school are all in my prayers for my NEM family. Thankful for your prayers. Worship planning is going well, CCUMC s getting pastoral help, church decorating for Advent is in the works, a church council meeting is coming. Thankful for great Veteran’s Day activities, a beaver pond walk with my friend Russ, and free coffee and a muffin at a local cafe. A fantastic photo of a 1956 summer train from Bretton Woods to NYC and DC. Bretton Woods is not far from me, Erich skis there. The AMBASSADOR, journal of the Central Vermont Railway Historical Society, proof is forthcoming. Tomorrow a trip to Peabody (Peebadee in New England dialect) and Burlington MA for German and Korean food tomorrow. Our appetite for those foods flares up now and then. Thank You, Lord for the blessings of the day and Your ever presence.

    • Julie Posted November 11, 2022 1:42 pm

      Thank you for your service Robert.

  • Ally Posted November 11, 2022 10:59 pm

    I don’t think I have done a good job of treating myself with compassion. I assume guilt when I am not guilty. I worry a lot. There is a lot going on in our lives right now. I am too exhausted mentally to go into it all. We covet your prayers. Know that all my friends here are in my prayers. Blessings to all.

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