#lectionprayer

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Praise the Poet

God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. – Genesis 1:31 Praise the Poet, Breath and Wind and Word,who movement on the waters stirred up lightand night and land and sea, stars and planet whirlingon the cosmographic page. Praise the Poet, summoning the earth to green abundance,summoning the seas to swarm with…

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Flexible Hope

“But filled with the Holy Spirit, he [Stephen] gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” – Acts of the Apostles 7:55 I wonder about Stephen, what he knewwhen he was brought before the council ofthe priests. Did he expect they’d hear him out?Or see the door as gateway to his grave? Oh what a fool he was to speak the wordshe did if he had hope they’d…

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Stones

“Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.'” – John 11:39 The first stones were the threats,the stones they reached for when you said,“The Father and I are one.” They calledit blasphemy, and well, it would beif it weren’t true. Given the risk of stones, which thrown,break bones,…

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Seven Rejections

“Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, ‘The LORD has not chosen any of these.'” – 1 Samuel 16:10 Eliab, no.Abinadab: rejected, too.Perhaps Shammah? Well, no. Not he.Four more paraded past their fatherand the prophet and ofthose seven sons you chose, O God, Not one. I wonder if they knew.I wonder if they guessed,since all seemed to have heardthat king and…

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Over Coffee

“Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people…” – John 4:28 I can’t remember whentheology so stimulated meI left my water jar behindto tell my neighbors what I’d learned. But then I cast my mindupon these Monday mornings with a friendwhen our thoughts range so farand our hands clasp the coffee cups before us. She left the water jar, while Iwould finish…

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Knotted

“For this reason the promise depends on faith, in order that it may rest on grace, so that it may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (who is the father of all of us, as it is written, ‘I have made you the father of many nations’), in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and…

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Angels Hovering 'Round

“Then the devil left [Jesus], and suddenly angels came and waited on him.” – Matthew 4:11 He challenged you, Jesus.Summon the angels! They won’t let you fall.You won’t have a bruise on your heel,Nor a strike from a snake. You said no. No to bread.No to flight. No to glory(that fails to transcendall the kingdoms of earth). Then he left. And who came?Yes, the angels. The angels.They were…

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Transfigured by the Mountaintop

“Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became bright as light.” – Matthew 17:1-2 Bright with light, walking with the prophets, hailedby holy voice that stunned the cloudsand silenced even Simon Peter:Jesus the Beloved Son of…

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