Ordinary Time

Pause

Time may seem in short supply for you today. You hardly can take a moment to set aside for quiet and thoughtful meditation.

Take the chance, though, that God who is outside time and space can meet you in eternal ways even now.

Slow the pace of your heart in the hope of a meeting with the eternal.

Listen

Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.Ā I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you."...Ā 

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.Ā The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage.Ā I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.Ā I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.Ā Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure....Ā 

You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 16:1-2, 5-9, 11

Think

Forever is a long, long time. Forever is, most would agree, pretty much impossible to imagine.

When we say something like, “That took forever!” we don’t mean it literally, of course. That would be ridiculous. What we intend to communicate is that what we just experienced was so boring or frightening or whatever that time seemed to stand still. It seemed the thing would never end.

When the psalmist writes of “pleasant places,” he means that the eternal pleasures of God can be known immediately in the now. It’s kind of nice, isn’t it, to know that we can feel in any given moment the presence of a God who understands what forever is.

Nick Foster

Pray

Eternal God, help me to live always in the moment, grateful for what you provide and open always to the experience of forever in your presence. Amen.

Go

Today holdsĀ promiseĀ of joy
And timeless moments of wonder.

The day may alsoĀ contain disappointment
And just-get-through-them hours.

WithinĀ each moment
The God of yesterdays
And tomorrows
OffersĀ pleasuresĀ that are timeless,
The promise of forevermore.