Underhill: the consequences of the curse

Sunday, October 12, 2025
    Commemoration of Wilfrid, Abbot of Ripon, Bishop of York, Missionary, 709
    Commemoration of Elizabeth Fry, Prison Reformer, 1845
Meditation:
    For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
    —Romans 8:20-22 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The life of this planet, and especially its human life, is a life in which something has gone wrong, and badly wrong. Every time we see an unhappy face, an unhealthy body, hear a bitter or despairing word, we are reminded of that. The occasional dazzling flashes of pure beauty, pure goodness, pure love which show us what God wants and what He is, only throw into more vivid relief the horror of cruelty, greed, oppression, hatred, ugliness.
    ... Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), Evelyn Underhill: Essential Writings, Orbis Books, 2003, p. 37 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 8:20-22; Gen. 3:16-19; 5:29; Ps. 127:2; Eccl. 2:17; Isa. 24:5-6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are the only source of light. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Lewis: God's glory

Saturday, October 11, 2025
    Commemoration of Ethelburga, Abbess of Barking, 675
Meditation:
Who is this King of glory?
    The LORD strong and mighty,
    the LORD mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O you gates;
    lift them up, you ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
Who is he, this King of glory?
    The LORD Almighty—
    he is the King of glory.
    —Psalm 24:8-10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word “darkness” on the walls of his cell. But God wills our good, and our good is to love Him (with that responsive love proper to creatures) and to love Him we must know Him: and if we know Him, we shall in fact fall on our faces.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), The Problem of Pain, New York: Macmillan, 1944, p. 41 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 24:8-10; Gen. 17:1-4; Lev. 9:24; 1 Kings 18:38-39; Ps. 19:1; 29:2-4; 57:11; 72:18-19; 96:3-4; 113:4; Dan. 7:13-14; Luke 2:14; 5:12; John 13:31-32; 17:1; Phil. 2:9-11; Rev. 4:11; 21:23
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, a glimpse of You takes all power from me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Whately: the circle of unmeaning

Friday, October 10, 2025
    Feast of Paulinus, Bishop of York, Missionary, 644
Meditation:
Taste and see that the LORD is good;
    blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
    —Psalm 34:8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If [one] attaches no meaning to the words “good,” and “just,” and “right,” except that such is the divine command, then, to say that God is good, and his commands just, is only saying in a circuitous way, that He is what He is, and that what He wills He wills; which might equally be said of any Being in the universe...
    And any one would be equally involved in a vicious circle, who, while he held [this] theory, should refer to the pure and elevated moral tone of the New Testament as an internal evidence (and in reality it is a very strong one) to prove that it could not be the unaided work of ignorant, half-crazy Jewish peasants and fishermen. For, if all our moral notions are entirely derived from that book, to say that the morality of the book is correct, is merely to say that it is what it is.
    ... Richard Whately (1787-1863), Dr. Paley’s Works: A Lecture Delivered by Richard Whately, London: John W. Parker and Son, 1859, p. 27-28 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 34:8; Jer. 31:14; Matt. 7:11; Luke 1:53; Phil. 4:8; Tit. 3:4-7; 2 Thess. 1:11; Jas. 1:17; 1 John 4:7-10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your truth is absolute. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bloesch: confronting evil

Thursday, October 9, 2025
    Commemoration of Denys, Bishop of Paris, & his Companions, Martyrs, 258
    Commemoration of Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln, Philosopher, Scientist, 1253
Meditation:
You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil;
    with you the wicked cannot dwell.
The arrogant cannot stand in your presence;
    you hate all who do wrong.
    —Psalm 5:4-5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Evil is not God’s will but that we are brought into contact with evil is his will. He uses evil to bring evil to nought. God is not the direct cause of evil, but he is the cause of the overthrow of evil. This means that in our prayer life we should not meekly submit to evil but instead boldly lay hold of the power of God to combat evil and overcome it.
    ... Donald G. Bloesch (1928-2010), The Struggle of Prayer, Harper & Row, 1980, p. 33 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 5:4; Luke 6:27-30; Rom. 12:21; 1 Pet. 3:9,17; Jas. 1:13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, strengthen me to overcome evil. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Gossip: how like Christ

Wednesday, October 8, 2025
Meditation:
    To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
    —1 Peter 2:21 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I well remember Dr. [Robert] Rainy flinging out a challenge at our communion table: “Do you believe your faith? ... Do you believe a day is coming, really coming, when you will stand before the throne of God, and the angels will whisper together and say, ‘How like Christ he is!’” That is not easy to believe. And yet not to believe it is blasphemy. For that, not less than that, is what Christ promises. And what Christ promises comes true.
    ... A. J. Gossip (1873-1954), From the Edge of the Crowd, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1924, p. 12 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 2:21; Lev. 21:8; Matt. 20:26-28; John 13:13-17; 15:4; Rom. 8:9-11; 1 Cor. 11:1; 15:48-49; 2 Cor. 5:17,21; Eph. 4:22-24; 5:1-2; Col. 1:27; 1 John 2:6; 4:4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we who are weak may rely on You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Foster: dependence upon God

Tuesday, October 7, 2025
Meditation:
For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
    —Psalm 139:13-14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We are dependent upon God for even our sense of worth as individuals. Our uniqueness and dignity are rooted in our creation in the image of God. Our value is not tied to wealth, status, accomplishments, or position. It is a gift. Obviously, this wonderful truth flies in the face of the modern technology to define people by what they produce or what they have.
    The terrible reality of the Fall was... a repudiation of our dependence upon God.
    ... Richard J. Foster (b. 1942), Freedom of Simplicity, HarperCollins, 1989, p. 19 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 139:13-14; Gen. 1:26-27; 3:6-7; Isa. 40:31; John 14:6; 15:5; Eph. 2:8-9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have searched me and provided everything for me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tyndale: He is with us

Monday, October 6, 2025
    Feast of William Tyndale, Translator of the Scriptures, Martyr, 1536
Meditation:
The LORD is my light and my salvation—
    whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
    of whom shall I be afraid?
    —Psalm 27:1 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Christ is with us until the world’s end. Let his little flock be bold therefore. For if God be on our side, what matter maketh it who be against us.
    ... William Tyndale (1492?-1536), “The Obedience of a Christen Man”, preface [1528], Doctrinal Treatises and Introductions, Cambridge: The University Press, 1848, p. 135 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 27:1; 118:6; Matt. 28:20; John 10:28-29; Rom. 8:31; 1 John 4:4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are always at my side. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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