Daily Devotions

Meditation, Prayers, and Assorted Stuff for June 9, 2020

Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey, “Empowered to Pray”

Prayer is the gift of the Spirit. Often we wonder how to pray, when to pray, and what to pray. We can become very concerned about methods and techniques of prayer. But finally it is not we who pray but the Spirit who prays in us.

Paul says, “The Spirit … comes to help us in our weakness, for, when we do not know how to pray properly, then the Spirit personally makes our petitions for us in groans that cannot be put into words; and he who can see into all hearts knows what the Spirit means because the prayers that the Spirit makes for God’s holy people are always in accordance with the mind of God” (Romans 8:2627 ). These words explain why the Spirit is called the Consoler.

I think it’s time for a favorite prayer of mine by Michael Quoist, “The Bald Head.”

For an hour it was before my eyes, during the whole lecture. That was a fine dome, Lord, polished, shining, girdled with a horseshoe of hair carefully arranged and sternly held to the pattern prescribed. The lecture bored me: I had time to think, and I thought, Lord, that you knew this dome well. It hasn’t been out of your sight for years, and every day you say “yes” when old Mother Nature asks permission to take a few hairs more from the rapidly clearing field. You said it in your Gospel: “not one hair of your head falls without my permission.” It’s true, Lord, that you are always thinking of us. It’s true, from the beginning of time, before we existed, even before the world existed, you have been dreaming of me, thinking of me, loving me. And it’s true that your Love created me, not on an assembly-line, but unique, the first one so made, and the last, indispensable to humanity. It’s true, Lord, that you have conceived for my life a unique destiny. It’s true that you have an eternal plan for me alone, a wonderful plan that you have always cherished in your heart, as parents think over the smallest details in the life of their little one still unborn. It’s true that, always bending over me, you guide me to bring your plan about, light on my path and strength for my soul. It’s true that you are saddened when I stray or run away, But that you hasten to pick me up if I stumble or fall. Lord, you who make bald heads, but above all beautiful lives, You, the divine Attentive One, the divine Patient One, the divine Present One, See that at no time I forget your presence. I don’t ask you to bless what I myself have decided to do, But give me the grace to discover and to live what you have dreamed for me. Lord, living in your grace, let me share a little, through the attention I give to others, your loving care for us. Let me, on my knees, adore in them the mystery of your creative love. Let me respect your idea of them without trying to impose my own. May I allow them to follow the path that you have marked out for them without trying to take them along mine.

May I realize that they are indispensable to the world, and that I can’t do without the least among them. May I never tire of looking at them and of enriching myself with the treasures you have entrusted to them. Help me to praise you in their journeying, to find you in their lives. Grant that not an instant of their existence go by, Not a hair of their heads fall, by me, as by you, unheeded. Amen.

Dad Jokes:

I just watched a documentary about beavers. It was the best dam program I’ve ever seen.

What kind of shoes does a thief wear? (Sneakers)

Why did they make round balls of hay illegal in Wisconsin? (Because the cows weren’t getting a square meal)

Today’s links!

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/bald-jesus-fresco-rsovci-cave-churchContinuing the theme set by Michael Quoist’s prayer…behold, a fresco of a bald Jesus. Who knew?

https://people.com/human-interest/14-year-old-chicago-girl-earns-her-masters-degree/ Read the story of a 14-year old young woman from Chicago who just received her Master’s degree.

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/The Caregiver Shelter Fund provides free housing in condos for medical workers.

 https://www.inspiremore.com/wieliczka-salt-mine/Catch a glimpse of the wonders inside the Wieliczka Salt Mine, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=28&v=HD4sbcNZNZI&feature=emb_logoListen as singer Kane Brown absolutely nails a performance of “Stand By Me.” While we’re at it, here’s an eclectic mix of Canadian musical artists singing, “Lean On Me.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=athd5_CW_z0

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