Green: the false dichotomy

Saturday, April 11, 2015
    Commemoration of George Augustus Selwyn, first Bishop of New Zealand, 1878
Meditation:
    Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.
    He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.
    —Mark 3:4-5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We suffer today from a false distinction between the secular and the sacred, the physical and the spiritual. The Christian church has sometimes behaved as though only the spiritual element in man was the subject of God’s concern. The actions of Jesus as recorded in the Gospels give the lie to this, and show that God’s salvation concerns the whole man (Mark 3:4). Indeed the word [salvation] is used most frequently in the Gospels with reference to the healing of disease.
    ... Michael Green (b. 1930), The Meaning of Salvation, Regent College Publishing, 2000, p. 112 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 8:25; 14:30,36; Mark 3:4-5; 6:56; 10:52; Luke 8:36; 17:19
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, all my time and work belongs to You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Law: the desire for salvation

Friday, April 10, 2015
    Feast of William Law, Priest, Mystic, 1761
    Commemoration of William of Ockham, Franciscan Friar, Philosopher, Teacher, 1347
    Commemoration of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Priest, Scientist, Visionary, 1955
Meditation:
Like as the hart desireth the waterbrooks:
    so longeth my soul after thee, O God.
My soul is athirst for God, yea, even for the living God:
    when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?
    —Psalm 42:1-2 (BCP)
Quotation:
    O plain, and easy, and simple way of salvation, wanting no subtleties of art or science, no borrowed learning, no refinements of reason, but all done by the simple natural motion of every heart, that truly longs after God. For no sooner is the finite desire of the creature in motion towards God, but the infinite desire of God is united with it, co-operates with it. And in this united desire of God, and the creature, is the salvation and life of the soul brought forth.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), The Spirit of Prayer [1749], London: E. Justins for Ogles, Duncan, and Cochran, 1816, p. 47 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 42:1-2; 63:1; 84:2; 143:6-7; John 6:37-39; 7:37; Rev. 22:1-2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, my heart longs to be united with You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bonhoeffer: the reason for prayer

Thursday, April 9, 2015
    Feast of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Teacher, Martyr, 1945
Meditation:
    Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
    —Hebrews 4:16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We pray to God because we believe in him through Jesus Christ; that is to say, our prayer can never be an entreaty to God, for we have no need to come before him in that way. We are privileged to know that he knows our needs before we ask him. This is what gives Christian prayer its boundless confidence and its joyous certainty. It matters little what form of prayer we adopt or how many words we use, what matters is the faith which lays hold on God and touches the heart of the Father who knew us long before we came to him.
    ... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), The Cost of Discipleship, Simon and Schuster, 1959, p. 163 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 4:16; Matt. 6:32; Jer. 1:5; 2 Cor. 3:4; Eph. 3:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, my confidence is in You alone. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Lewis: waking up to the Presence

Wednesday, April 8, 2015
    Commemoration of William Augustus Muhlenberg of New York, Priest, 1877
Meditation:
    Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
    —Hebrews 13:2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito. And the incognito is not always hard to penetrate. The real labor is to remember, to attend. In fact, to come awake. Still more, to remain awake.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, New York: Harcourt Brace and World, 1964, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2002, p. 75 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 13:2; Isa. 58:6-7; Matt. 25:40; Rom. 12:13; Gal. 6:9; Tit. 1:8; 2 Thess. 3:13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, keep me alert to Your presence. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Phillips: one of us

Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Meditation:
    So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.
    —1 Corinthians 4:1 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is we who are Christians who hold the secret behind the façade [of Christmas], but it was never meant to be a secret; on the contrary, from the beginning it was meant to be ‘good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people’. By thought, by prayer, by every tried and untried means let us do all that we possibly can to make known that astonishing mystery, which is also an historical fact, that God became one of us that we might become like Him.
    ... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), God With Us: a Message for Christmas, London: Epworth Press, 1957, p. 13 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 4:1; Luke 2:10; Rom. 16:25-26; 1 Cor. 2:7-8; Eph. 3:2-6,9-10; Col. 1:25-27; 2:2-3; 1 Tim. 3:16; 1 John 3:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, assist me to proclaim Your mercy. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Michelangelo: Eternal Lord! eased of a cumbrous load

Monday, April 6, 2015
    Commemoration of Albrecht Dürer, artist, 1528, and Michelangelo Buonarrotti, artist, spiritual writer, 1564
Meditation:
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High
    shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress:
    my God; in him will I trust.
    —Psalm 91:1-2 (KJV)
Quotation:
Eternal Lord! eased of a cumbrous load,
And loosened from the world, I turn to Thee;
Shun, like a shattered bark, the storm, and flee
To thy protection for a safe abode.
The crowns of thorns, hands pierced upon the tree,
The meek, benign, and lacerated face,
To a sincere repentance promised grace,
To the sad soul give hope of pardon free.
With justice mark not Thou, O Light divine,
My fault, nor hear it with thy sacred ear;
Neither put forth that way thy arm severe;
Wash with thy blood my sins; thereto incline
More readily the more my years require
Help, and forgiveness speedy and entire.
    ... Michelangelo Buonarrotti (1475-1564), translated by William Wordsworth in The Complete Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, William Wordsworth, Philadelphia: Troutman & Hayes, 1851, p. 326 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 46:1; 51:2-3,10,17; 62:7-8; 91:1-2; Matt. 27:28-29; Eph. 1:7-8; Heb. 6:18; 1 John 2:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your word make me secure. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Davis: the victory of God

Sunday, April 5, 2015
    Easter
Meditation:
Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
    and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
    and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
After the suffering of his soul,
    he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
    and he will bear their iniquities.
    —Isaiah 53:10-11 (NIV)
Quotation:
    In the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, we see God’s decisive victory not only over death but over all God’s other enemies as well. In that one climactic event, we see the certainty that someday, in the kingdom of God, there will be no more violence, war, jealousy, or death... These forces are still alive and at work in the world, but because of the victory that God won at Easter, their doom is certain. One day death will die.
    ... Stephen T. Davis, Risen Indeed, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1993, p. 200-201 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 53:10-11; Hos. 13:14; Rom. 6:9; 1 Cor. 15:53-54; 1 Thess. 4:14; Rev. 21:4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are the Light of the world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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