Today’s Reflection
Truth be told, we continued most of our regular youth activities at church. But I came to see them as subversive acts, vehicles that I hotwired to smuggle Christ into culture. It’s not that God needed me to do that; Christ still enters the world without a shred of help from me. But it is also true that God loves an invitation; given an inch, God takes the mile, rushing into the world through any crack we pry open for the Holy Spirit. I tried mightily (if haltingly) to get my own practices of prayer in order so that I could honor with real depth the prayer requests of these young people. I found excuses—lunch at McDonald’s, hammering nails during a service project, long walks of consolation—to ask youth about their prayers and about what they thought God was up to in their life. Every single teenager willingly talked.
—Kenda Creasy Dean, Ron Foster, & Megan Dewald, The Godbearing Life, Revised Edition (Upper Room Books, 2023)
Today’s Question
When have you noticed God entering a “crack” in your or someone else’s life? Join the conversation.
Today’s Scripture
And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
—Acts 13:52 (NRSV)
Prayer for the Week
I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low by thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.
—A Covenant Prayer in the Wesleyan Tradition
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room.
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Lectionary Readings
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
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3 Comments
A friend is joining me at church tomorrow for worship and lunch immediately after at church.
Several families who attended our free Thanksgiving meal have returned to attend church services.
Today will be a busy day with Megan. We have many errands to run, including picking up the tax returns from the accountant. This morning h couldn’t remember how to pick out his clean clothes or even where his clean clothes were kept.
There is lots of evidence of God invading cracks in my life, when I was so very unaware. And now He flows like a river. How grateful I am.
Today was quite an enjoyable day. The sun was out warmly. My friend and I had a lovely time at the show and an early dinner. I got home in time to get a walk in before it got dark.
Tomorrow is pretty busy as well – but, again, full of good things. Church and then the cancer support group. A late afternoon tennis match, against the club with whom I played last year and made it to playoffs. It will be good to see some of the ladies again. Although some of the team members are vacationing together in Florida.
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