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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

WHEN THE HOLY ONE reaches out to us as pilgrim travelers and bids us to join the dance, it is an invitation to live with the knowledge we are never alone. The One Who Loves Us accompanies us through life, wanting nothing more than for us to be whole. This Lover waits patiently for us to release our preoccupations with the things that dim our awareness of an ever-present love. Letting go of those things that cloud our vision, we experience an encounter with Sacred Love. These encounters ignite our passion for life, kindle the flame of creativity within, and invite us into a loving relationship with the Divine Creator.

—Karla M. Kincannon, Creativity and Divine Surprise: Finding the Place of Your Resurrection (Upper Room Books, 2005)

Today's Question

What do you need to let go of today in order to encounter Sacred Love?

Today's Scripture

“As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.”
—Colossians 3:12 (NRSV)

Prayer for the Week

Holy One, help me discover my God-given creativity and find the sacred in each God-given moment.
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room or share it in the comment section.

Something More

Which Advent study is right for you this year? Take our Advent quiz to find out.

Lectionary Readings

(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)

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

Sponsored by The Upper Room. Copyright © 2019 | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

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Today's Reflection

[I HAVE] COME to understand that the heart of Jesus’ invitation to love is an invitation to compassion—to live compassionately. We’ll soon explore this notion at some length, but for now it’s important to note that in the Christian scriptures and in Christian history, love is defined largely in terms of compassion. That’s a relief to me. I confess I’ve never found it easy to define love. It’s so very big. I can call it agape or say it’s some complex mash-up of romantic, platonic, and unconditional stuff, but in the end, a precise definition of love eludes me. Love simply covers too much territory.

Compassion, though, gives me a handle on the massive umbrella that is love. According to Christian understandings, compassion refers to the concrete ways love (divine and human) is expressed. Compassion grounds love in the world we know.

—Andrew Dreitcer, Living Compassion: Loving Like Jesus (Upper Room Books, 2017)

Today's Question

What does "living compassionately" mean to you?  

Today's Scripture

"As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience."
—Colossians 3:12 (NRSV)

Prayer for the Week

Lord, make me an instrument of your compassion.
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room or share it in the comment section.

Something More

Reverend Junius B. Dotson was preaching at a funeral when suddenly he realized he wasn’t going to make it through the service. The next thing he knew, he was in an ambulance on the way to the ER, where he was diagnosed with extreme exhaustion. Read more about his Soul Reset.

Lectionary Readings

(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)

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

Sponsored by The Upper Room. Copyright © 2019 | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

9 Comments | Join the Conversation.