MEDITATION:
| Written by Douglas John Hall, a contemporary professor of theology at McGill University. This is an excerpt from his book “Imaging God.” |
| For whatever the actual state of the empirical church, we know that in the sphere human beings are beckoned into new relationships with one another and that this beckoning is more than a command; it is gospel. We can begin there, and thus also in the larger community beyond this sphere of explicit faith, to turn toward one another. The face of forgiveness, acceptance, and love that has been shown using the compassionate countenance of the God of Golgotha can be reflected in the faces that we show to one another. We can also begin there – and thus beyond the bounds of this fellowship as well – to live out of a trust that overcomes the ancient addiction to suspicion that infects our race. We can begin there—and thus also in the larger community of humankind—to seek and find intimations of the commonality that is our de facto status as creatures, though we resist it strenuously and take refuge in the illusion of self-sufficiency. We can begin there—and thus find the necessary support for the same praxis within the life of the world—to defy the barriers to peace and justice that arise when human beings are conditioned to regard other human beings as “the enemy,” or to think them less than full human. |
PRAYER:
Written by Kathleen Norris, a contemporary American poet and essayist.
Bless us, Lord, as we seek Christ in the lowly mangers of this world, bless us, as we seek to honor the mystery of the Incarnation in our midst, remembering always that you made us, and all humanity in your divine image. Help us to gladly welcome today and all days, your Wisdom, your Power, your Emmanuel, your Prince of Peace. Amen.
Pathways Press.com 
Leave a Reply