Tuesday’s Reflection

LEARNING TO CARE — to feel compassion and responsibility — is the deep soul unfolding through which God’s realm, God’s will, becomes increasingly manifested on earth.

- Flora Slosson Wuellner
Miracle: When Christ Touches Our Deepest Need

From p. 13 of Miracle by Flora Slosson Wuellner. Copyright © 2008 by the author. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Scripture Reading

God spoke to Moses, “Go! Get down there! Your people … brought up from the land of Egypt have fallen to pieces. In no time at all they’ve turned away from the way I commanded them.”

- Exodus 32:7, THE MESSAGE

This Week …

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for all children, especially those who feel unloved. Leave your prayer at the Prayer Wall.

Tips for Your Spirit:

Lectio Divina, or divine reading, is one of the most central and ancient practices of Christian prayer. Try lectio divina in your meditation time this week. Check it out.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember John Woolman (October 7).

Lectionary Readings:

Exodus 32:1-14 Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23 Philippians 4:1-9 Matthew 22:1-14

Monday’s Reflection

A RELUCTANCE TO ADMIT our weaknesses has several painful consequences. On the one hand, we often find ourselves living a lie. We hide behind masks of competence and self-sufficiency and pretend we are OK. We become actors in the drama of our lives, playing roles far removed from who we really are. People around us, especially those nearest and dearest to us, feel we have put up a barrier and that they cannot reach us or get close to us. This can isolate us from real contact and openness with others. Always pretending to have it together makes for lonely living, which can be very painful indeed.

- Trevor Hudson
One Day at a Time: Discovering the Freedom of 12-Step Spirituality

From pp. 7-8 of One Day at a Time by Trevor Hudson. Copyright © 2007 by the author. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Scripture Reading

When God said that he would destroy his people, his chosen servant, Moses, stood up against God and kept his anger from destroying them.

- Psalm 106:23, GNT

This Week …

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for all children, especially those who feel unloved. Leave your prayer at the Prayer Wall.

Tips for Your Spirit:

Lectio Divina, or divine reading, is one of the most central and ancient practices of Christian prayer. Try lectio divina in your meditation time this week. Check it out.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember John Woolman (October 7).

Lectionary Readings:

Exodus 32:1-14 Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23 Philippians 4:1-9 Matthew 22:1-14

Sunday’s Reflection

GRACIOUS LORD, God of truth and grace and love: grant me to praise you, bless you, and worship you through all I think and say and do; for only you, O Christ, with the Holy Spirit, fully radiate the glory of God the Father throughout all ages. Amen.

- Paul Wesley Chilcote
A Life-Shaping Prayer: 52 Meditations in the Wesleyan Spirit

From p. 29 of A Life-Shaping Prayer: 52 Meditations in the Wesleyan Spirit by Paul Wesley Chilcote. Copyright © 2008 by the author. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Scripture Reading

The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.

- Psalm 19:1, NRSV

This Week …

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for the sacraments and those who receive them. Leave your prayer at the Prayer Wall.

Tips for Your Spirit:

Walking the labyrinth is an ancient Christian prayer method in which the person praying walks meditatively through a patterned area. Read The Labyrinth: Praying Psalm 139.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember Jerome (September 30).

Lectionary Readings:

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 Psalm 19 Philippians 3:4b-14 Matthew 21:33-46

Saturday’s Reflection

THE GOAL OF SPIRITUAL LIFE and leadership
is to help God form the spiritual communities
that are manifestations of the church on earth.

- Daniel Wolpert
Leading a Life with God: The Practice of Spiritual Leadership

From p. 38 of Leading a Life with God: The Practice of Spiritual Leadership by Daniel Wolpert. Copyright © 2006 by the author. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Scripture Reading

Paul wrote: I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward–to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.

- Philippians 3:14, THE MESSAGE

This Week …

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for the sacraments and those who receive them. Leave your prayer at the Prayer Wall.

Tips for Your Spirit:

Walking the labyrinth is an ancient Christian prayer method in which the person praying walks meditatively through a patterned area. Read The Labyrinth: Praying Psalm 139.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember Jerome (September 30).

Lectionary Readings:

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 Psalm 19 Philippians 3:4b-14 Matthew 21:33-46

Friday’s Reflection

THE IMAGINATION is not somehow divorced from reason or the intellect: it’s one of the primary ways we learn. … It’s not the opposite of reason or logical analysis, as many people think, but is, rather, reason’s intuitive sister. … It includes the ability to “see” what isn’t physically present but this inner sight is a way of knowing and understanding in its own right. It arrives at knowledge by a different path than logical reasoning, but the result is still knowledge.

- Sarah Arthur
The God-Hungry Imagination: The Art of Storytelling for Postmodern Youth Ministry

From p. 47 of The God-Hungry Imagination by Sarah Arthur. Copyright © 2007 by the author. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Scripture Reading

Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”

- Matthew 21:43, NIV

This Week …

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for the sacraments and those who receive them. Leave your prayer at the Prayer Wall.

Walking the labyrinth is an ancient Christian prayer method in which the person praying walks meditatively through a patterned area. Read The Labyrinth: Praying Psalm 139.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember Jerome (September 30).

Lectionary Readings:

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 Psalm 19 Philippians 3:4b-14 Matthew 21:33-46

Thursday’s Reflection

FEAR KILLS A MIND and soul by slowly obliterating the visions we hold for our lives. That we should not fall prey to fear is a constant theme in the scriptures. God does not want us to succumb to the chilling and killing aspects of fear; God encourages people not to be afraid of the circumstances in which they find themselves. It seems that one of God’s favorite themes is “Do not be afraid” or “Do not fear.” Perhaps God repeats this theme so often because we so often fear circumstances that confront us in our lives and ministries.

- Norman Shawchuck
A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God

From pp. 185-186 of A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God by Norman Shawchuck and Rueben P. Job. Copyright © 2003 by the authors. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Scripture Reading

Moses said, “Don’t be afraid; God has only come to test you and make you keep on obeying him, so that you will not sin.”

- Exodus 20:20, GNT

This Week …

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for the sacraments and those who receive them. Leave your prayer at the Prayer Wall.

Walking the labyrinth is an ancient Christian prayer method in which the person praying walks meditatively through a patterned area. Read The Labyrinth: Praying Psalm 139.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember Jerome (September 30).

Lectionary Readings:

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 Psalm 19 Philippians 3:4b-14 Matthew 21:33-46

Wednesday’s Reflection

THE GOSPELS, inspired by God and written by human hands, are a gift to each of us. We needn’t be learned theologians — or even read their work — to explore the messages contained in the Gospels. Through study, reflection, and prayer anybody can find Jesus’ message.

- Christopher Maricle
The Jesus Priorities: 8 Essential Habits

From p. 14 of The Jesus Priorities by Christopher Maricle. Copyright © 2007 by the author. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Scripture Reading

Paul wrote: The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash–along with everything else I used to take credit for.

- Philippians 3:7, THE MESSAGE

This Week …

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for the sacraments and those who receive them. Leave your prayer at the Prayer Wall.

Walking the labyrinth is an ancient Christian prayer method in which the person praying walks meditatively through a patterned area. Read The Labyrinth: Praying Psalm 139.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember Jerome (September 30).

Lectionary Readings:

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 Psalm 19 Philippians 3:4b-14 Matthew 21:33-46

Tuesday’s Reflection

PROBABLY OUR JOURNEY of forgiveness will be impossible unless we realize we cannot do it alone. We are not the source of our healing. Truly the kingdom of God is within us as Jesus told us. But that kingdom is God’s presence, and we need God’s help to experience that inner glory.

As with any deep healing and release, the empowered mercy of God within and around us is ours to claim. We must face the facts: we are vulnerable (woundable); we have been hurt; we need to name our hurt and our deep needs as clearly and fully as we can. Little can change until we have faced where we actually are.

- Flora Slosson Wuellner
Forgiveness, the Passionate Journey

From Forgiveness, the Passionate Journey by Flora Slosson Wuellner. Copyright © 2001 by the author. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Scripture Reading

The Lord says, “Do not use my name for evil purposes, for I, the Lord your God, will punish anyone who misuses my name.”

- Exodus 20:7, GNT

This Week …

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for the sacraments and those who receive them. Leave your prayer at the Prayer Wall.

Walking the labyrinth is an ancient Christian prayer method in which the person praying walks meditatively through a patterned area. Read The Labyrinth: Praying Psalm 139.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember Jerome (September 30).

Lectionary Readings:

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 Psalm 19 Philippians 3:4b-14 Matthew 21:33-46

Monday’s Reflection

IN DESERT dryness, a struggle for life,
survival in a barren land.
God speaks against the desert of dishonor,
of ritual and rule and rote, with no Spirit.
And God speaks for true worship and life flourishing –-
with justice pervasive as splashing mountain waters,
with righteousness flowing as neverending streams.

- Roberta Porter
Alive Now

From p. 64 of Alive Now, July/August 2004, “Out of the Wilderness” by Roberta Porter. Copyright © 2004 by The Upper Room. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this magazine.

Today’s Scripture Reading

God spoke, and these were his words, “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves. Worship no god but me.”

- Exodus 20:1-3, GNT

This Week …

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for the sacraments and those who receive them. Leave your prayer at the Prayer Wall.

Walking the labyrinth is an ancient Christian prayer method in which the person praying walks meditatively through a patterned area. Read The Labyrinth: Praying Psalm 139.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember Jerome (September 30).

Lectionary Readings:

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 Psalm 19 Philippians 3:4b-14 Matthew 21:33-46

Sunday’s Reflection

ABBA, help me stay deeply conscious of your compassionate love for people. Teach me to treat strangers no differently than family and to see all your children with compassionate eyes. Grant me the courage to do what is within my power to do. Amen.

- Christopher Maricle
The Jesus Priorities: 8 Essential Habits

From p. 34 of The Jesus Priorities: 8 Essential Habits by Christopher Maricle. Copyright © 2007 by the author. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Scripture Reading

Your life in Christ makes you strong, and his love comforts you. You have fellowship with the Spirit, and you have kindness and compassion for one another.

- Philippians 2:1, GNT

This Week …

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for persons with whom we disagree. Leave your prayer at the Prayer Wall.

Tips for Your Spirit:

Centering Prayer is a type of prayer that goes deeper than verbal communication. Try a Centering Prayer exercise.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember Leoba (September 28).

Lectionary Readings:

Exodus 17:1-7 Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16 Philippians 2:1-13 Matthew 21:23-32