Be Thou my vision

Monday, May 25, 2026
    Feast of the Venerable Bede, Priest, Monk of Jarrow, Historian, 735
    Commemoration of Aldhelm, Abbot of Mamsbury, Bishop of Sherborne, 709
Meditation:
    But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.
    —James 3:17 (ESV)
Quotation:
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save what Thou art:
Thou my best thought, by day or by night;
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son,
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Riches I need not, nor man’s empty praise;
Thou mine inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all!
    ... Anonymous, medieval Irish hymn, Eriu, Journal of the School of Irish Learning, v. 2-3, Kuno Meyer, John Strachan, Dublin: School of Irish Learning, 1905, p.90 (see the book)
    See also Jas. 3:17; Isa. 6:9-10; 9:2; 60:1-2; 61:1-3; John 1:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I see by Your light!

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Phillips: God's Living Spirit

Sunday, May 24, 2026
    Pentecost
    Feast of John and Charles Wesley, Priests, Poets, Teachers, 1791 & 1788
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
    —Acts 1:8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Every time we say, ‘I believe in the Holy Spirit,’ we mean that we believe that there is a living God able and willing to enter human personality, and change it.
    ... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), Plain Christianity, London: Macmillan, 1954, p. 70 (see the book)
    See also Acts 1:8; Ps. 51:10; Acts 2:4; Rom. 5:5; 8:13-14; 12:2; 1 Cor. 2:12; Col. 3:9-10
Quiet time reflection:
    Spirit of God, conform me to Your will. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Newton: preparation for joy

Saturday, May 23, 2026
    Commemoration of Petroc, Abbot of Padstow, 6th century
Meditation:
    So to keep me from being too elated by the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from being too elated.
    —2 Corinthians 12:7 (ESV)
Quotation:
    God often takes a course for accomplishing His purposes directly contrary to what our narrow views would prescribe. He ... brings a death upon our feelings, wishes and prospects when He is about to give us the desire of our hearts.
    ... John Newton (1725-1807), in a letter, 1777, The Works of the Rev. John Newton, v. I, New York: Williams and Whiting, 1810, p. 593-594 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 12:7-9; Rom. 8:13-14; Eph. 2:14-16; Col. 3:3-4; 1 Pet. 1:17-19; Rev. 2:10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I rest in the hope of joy. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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O'Donovan: shared life

Friday, May 22, 2026
Meditation:
    ... But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
    —1 Corinthians 12:24-27 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Within the life of the church, the paths of the single and the married should not be allowed to diverge. The shared life of the Christian community must become a context in which the differing gifts can be used for each other. There is much still to be learned about this. Are the homes of married Christians an added support for the single? Is the availability of the single Christian put at the disposal of his married friends, for “babysitting” duties and the like? And what is true of the mutual support of married and single needs to be true in a wider way of the care exercised by the married and the single for each other, so that nobody’s home life becomes completely cut off from support and help.
    ... Oliver O’Donovan (b. 1945), “Marriage and the Family”, in The Changing World, Bruce Kaye, ed., vol. 3 of Obeying Christ in a Changing World, John Stott, gen. ed., 3 vol., London: Fountain, 1977, p. 105 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 12:24-27; Rom. 12:4-8; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:11-13; Col. 1:24
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, draw Your people together. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Redwood: the cause of evil

Thursday, May 21, 2026
    Feast of Commemoration of Helena, Protector of the Faith, 330
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”
    —Matthew 10:41-42 (ESV)
Quotation:
    [Christ] tells us plainly, and without any qualifications, that we are involved in a war in which there is no room for neutrals. Yet people attempt to evade His statement.
    Generally speaking, these are the very people who are the quickest in laying the blame upon God for all the sorrow and sin in the world. They argue that He could prevent it. They excuse their own do-nothing attitude by making of evil’s apparent predominance a ground for doubt of His loving purpose. It never seems to occur to them to look for the cause in mankind.
    ... Hugh Redwood (1883-1963), Live Coals, New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1935, p. 120 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 10:41-42; 12:30; 26:3-4; Mark 9:40-42; Acts 23:6; Eph. 1:4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me a servant’s heart, that I may add a little good to the world’s evil. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Hanson: denominational blinders

Wednesday, May 20, 2026
Meditation:
    Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.
    —Philippians 1:27-28 (ESV)
Quotation:
    To us, our denomination is a source of pride: we feel an intimate link with our fellow church-member in Fiji, and we think how wonderful it is that we belong to a communion which spans the entire globe. We do not normally reflect that this sense of solidarity is very often gained at the expense of the unity which we ought to be experiencing with our fellow-Christian next door who belongs to a different denomination.
    ... Anthony T. Hanson (1916-1991), The Church of the Servant, London: SCM Press, 1962, p. 120 (see the book)
    See also Phil. 1:27-28; Matt. 23:8; John 17:20,21; 1 Pet. 3:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, open my eyes to the needs and opportunities for witness and fellowship that are nearby. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Adams: Eternal Lord, how faint and small

Tuesday, May 19, 2026
    Feast of Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, 988
Meditation:
O LORD, you have searched me
    and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
    you know it completely, O LORD.
    —Psalm 139:1-4 (NIV)
Quotation:
Eternal Lord, how faint and small
Our greatest, strongest thoughts must seem
To Thee, who overseest all,
And leads us through Life’s shallow stream.

How tangled are our straightest ways;
How dimly flares our brightest star;
How earthbound is our highest praise
To Thee, who sees us as we are.

Our feet are slow where Thine are fast;
Thy kiss of grace meets lips of stone;
And we admit Thy love at last
To hearts that have none of their own.
    ... Robert MacColl Adams (1913-1985)
    See also Ps. 139:1-4; Matt. 22:36-37; Eph. 2:1-2; Rom. 5:5; 1 John 4:19
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, spread Your love within my heart.

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