Merton: chilling faith

Saturday, December 10, 2011
    Commemoration of Thomas Merton, Monk, Spiritual Writer, 1968
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them.”
    —Luke 6:32 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Do not be too quick to condemn the man who no longer believes in God: for it is perhaps your own coldness and avarice and mediocrity and materialism and sensuality and selfishness that have killed his faith.
    ... Thomas Merton (1915-1968), Seeds of Contemplation, London: Hollis & Carter, 1949, New Directions. 1949, p. 105 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, forbid that I should lead another astray. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Schaeffer: pilot plant

Friday, December 9, 2011
Meditation:
    Is Christ divided?
    —1 Corinthians 1:13 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Church ought to be a “pilot plant” where men can see in our congregations and missions a substantial healing of all the divisions, the alienations which man’s rebellion has produced.
    ... Francis A. Schaeffer (1912-1984), Pollution and the Death of Man [1970], reprint, Good News Publishers, 1992, p. 80 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You healing presence is uniting the body. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Coverdale: The blessed son of God only

Thursday, December 8, 2011
Meditation:
    Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.
    —Psalm 85:10 (NIV)
Quotation:
The blessed son of God only
In a crib full poor did lie;
With our poor flesh and our poor blood
Was clothed that everlasting good

The Lord Christ Jesu, God’s son dear,
Was a guest and a stranger here;
Us for to bring from misery,
That we might live eternally.

All this did he for us freely,
For to declare his great mercy;
All Christendom be merry therefore,
And give him thanks for evermore.
    ... Miles Coverdale (ca.1488-1568), Ancient English Christmas Carols, 1400-1700, Edith Rickert, New York: Duffield & Co., 1915, p. 192-193 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Thank You, Lord, for coming to us.

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Ambrose: true repentance

Wednesday, December 7, 2011
    Feast of Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, Teacher, 397
Meditation:
    What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!
    —Romans 6:21 (NIV)
Quotation:
    True repentance is to cease from sin.
    ... St. Ambrose of Milan (Aurelius Ambrosius) (339-397), attributed
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me the heart to flee from sin. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Law: true devotion

Tuesday, December 6, 2011
    Feast of Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, c.326
Meditation:
    Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.”
    Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
    —Luke 9:61-62 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If therefore we desire to live unto God, it is necessary to bring our whole life under this law, to make His glory the sole rule and measure of our acting in every employment of life. For there is no other true devotion, but this of living devoted to God in the common business of our lives.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life [1728], London: Methuen, 1899, p. 59 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your will is my sole law. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Newbigin: the story for us

Monday, December 5, 2011
Meditation:
    And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
    —Hebrews 3:18-19 (NIV)
Quotation:
    History is to be understood as the patient wrestling of God with a stupid, deluded, and rebellious people—stupid and rebellious precisely because they insist on seeing themselves as the center of the story.
    ... Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998), Truth and Authority in Modernity, Gracewing Publishing, 1996, p. 38-39 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, help me to cast away my unbelief. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bonhoeffer: Advent

Sunday, December 4, 2011
    Advent II
    Commemoration of Nicholas Ferrar, Deacon, Founder of the Little Gidding Community, 1637
Meditation:
    “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
    —Luke 2:14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Advent is a time of waiting. Our whole life, however, is Advent—that is, a time of waiting for the ultimate, for the time when there will be a new heaven and a new earth, when all people are brothers and sisters and one rejoices in the words of the angels: “On earth peace to those on whom God’s favor rests.” Learn to wait, because he has promised to come. “I stand at the door...” We however call to him: “Yes, come soon, Lord Jesus!”
    ... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), A Testament to Freedom: the essential writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Geffrey B. Kelly, F. Burton Nelson, eds., HarperCollins, 1995, p. 186 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant Your people patience to await Your return. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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