Daily Devotions
Meditation, Prayers, and Assorted Stuff for April 23, 2020
Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey, “Fulfilling a Mission”
When we live our lives as missions, we become aware that there is a home from which we are sent and to which we have to return. We start thinking about ourselves as people who are in a faraway country to bring a message or work on a project, but only for a certain amount of time. When the message has been delivered and the project is finished, we want to return home to give an account of our mission and to rest from our labors.
One of the most important spiritual disciplines is to develop the knowledge that the years of our lives are years “on a mission.”
Elizabeth (Lisa) Ecks of Sacramento, California wrote this prayer for the National Association of Catholic Chaplains.
For Peace and Fortitude in Worry
In this age of anxiety and stress, we ask for your Presence to be made clearly amongst us.
Be with us as we confront illnesses that leave many of us in a state of worry for our families, our friends, our colleagues, our communities, our nation and our world.
As hospitals and health care providers seek to continue the healing ministry of You, may they have fortitude for the road ahead, knowing that you are walking this journey with them with your mighty Hand. Remind them of both their strength and Your strength.
We ask for Your comfort upon those who have already lost loved ones during the time of viruses. And, may healing be upon those who are physically suffering and spiritually suffering through this season.
May the wilderness of this time & the uncertainty we may feel, strengthen our resolve to lean on your word, abide in your presence, and be guided by your enduring and powerful Spirit.
You have been with us in every age and will remain a refuge — to take solace, to recollect our thoughts, to remember that all things of this world are fleeting, and this too shall pass.
Let us recall the calming of the storm by your Hand. Let us today and tomorrow and the days ahead lean on Your fortitude, and resolve to care for each other and support each other each through this difficult journey before us in our lives both collectively and individually.
Amidst the darkness, the confusion and the storm of worry, may your Presence be made abundantly revealed so that Your light, Your hand, and Your strength, gives us steadiness, refuge, clarity of purpose, and hope. Amen.
Back to Wiley Miller and Non-Sequitur…
Today’s links!
If you’re getting a bit tired of the same old takeout food, you might want to head to New York and this restaurant, selling $800 make-your-own sushi boxes.
Behold, Betty the Weather Cat.
Yesterday we had squirrel photography; today, learn the story of a man making custom-built squirrel picnic tables.
Of course, just now, Disney World is shut down like almost everything else. Those hankering for the Disney experience, though, can head on over to this YouTube page that features 360º virtual rides on many of the most famous Disney attractions.
Here’s a special treat, the world-wide cast of the Carole King musical Beautiful singing, “You’ve Got a Friend.”
So do we all…in Jesus as well as in each other. Remember that!
Stay safe and stay well!