Daily Devotions
Meditation for March 21, 2020 Henri Nowen, Bread for the Journey
Are we friends with ourselves? Do we love who we are? These are important questions because we cannot develop good friendships with others unless we have befriended ourselves.
How then do we befriend ourselves? We have to start by acknowledging the truth of ourselves. We are beautiful but also limited, rich but also poor, generous but also worried about our security. Yet beyond all that we are people with souls, sparks of the divine. To acknowledge the truth of ourselves is to claim the sacredness of our being, without fully understanding it. Our deepest being escapes our own mental or emotional grasp. But when we trust that our souls are embraced by a loving God, we can befriend ourselves and reach out to others in loving relationships.
I’d also like to share this hymn by Carol Winfrey Gillette that we sang at the close of our last worship service. I think it makes a fine prayer, too.
God whose will is health and wholeness, hear your people as we pray: Many now are facing illness; more face sickness every day. As we lift our song toward heaven, may we use the gifts you give— science, justice, and compassion—to help others safely live.
Jesus taught that your commandments call for us to use the mind. May we use the gifts of science to seek health for humankind. Bless the ones who work for healing; bless the ones who seek to be Builders of a health care system that protects society.
Loving God, we ask your blessing on the sick and those they love, And we pray for those now grieving as they lift their cries above. There is trouble all around us; illness causes pain and fear. Give compassion, love and kindness as we serve your people here.
Remember whose and who you are, and stay safe!