Ordinary Time

Pause

Our eyes can fool us. We are each captive to our own way of seeing things, struggling to see the world from any perspective but our own.

Sometimes we look away, afraid of what we might see or afraid of what it might mean to see things differently than we usually do.

Wisdom shines a light on what we look at, and God is the source of that illumination. Be prepared now to see things more clearly.

Listen

The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.

All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your faithful shall bless you. They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom, and tell of your power, to make known to all people your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds.

The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down.

Psalm 145:8–14

Think

I think the psalms are beautiful. I love hearing the words and the rhythm. But, because they are not stories, I have a harder time knowing what the psalms are saying. Take today’s psalm for example. I read it several times, a couple of times silently and then a couple of times out loud. At first I thought it was all about God. Then, when I was reading out loud to hear the words the psalmist meant to be spoken, I discovered that this psalm is about God AND it is about us, too!

We are “your works.” We shall give thanks.
We are “your faithful.” We shall bless God.
We are the “they” the psalmist writes about.

We shall speak the glory of God’s kingdom and tell of God’s power. We are the ones to make known to all people God’s mighty deeds and the glorious splendors of God’s kingdom.

Ruth Perkins Lee

Pray

God, thanks for all the different ways you speak to me, especially the ones that surprise me. Give me the words to say about you to others. Amen.

Go

May you have new eyes to see this very day a world that is not exactly all that you thought.

May God give you new wisdom to understand the things that God would have you to know.

And may all this result in a new humility that makes you a more effective witness to God’s mysterious works.