The Upper Room Daily Reflections
– Monday, 30 December 2013 “Holy Absence”
Today’s
Reflection:
BUT THERE IS THIS too. Respite. Rest. Letting the desert be the
desert, without feeling compelled to bulldoze our way through it.
I think of a long stretch when I found myself in a soul struggle
that had caught me entirely by surprise. Consumed by the wrestling and working
and searching, I felt exhausted. After a time, my spiritual director, Maru,
gave me this phrase: holy absence.
There are times, she said, sometimes seasons, for removing
ourselves from the struggle. Time for sabbath. Time for rest.
BLESSING
Even in the desert,
even in the wilderness,
sabbath comes.
May you keep it.
Light the candles,
say the prayers:
Welcome, sabbath.
Welcome, rest.
Enter in
and be our guest.(Jan L. Richardson-In the Sanctuary of Women)
From page 134 of In the Sanctuary of Women: A Companion for
Reflection & Prayer by Jan L. Richardson. Copyright © 2010 by Jan L.
Richardson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books.
http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question:
Have you ever experienced holy absence?
Today’s Scripture:
See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north, and
gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the
lame, those with child and those in labor, together; a great company, they
shall return here.(Jeremiah 31:8, NRSV)
This Week: pray for new beginnings.
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The folks at Upper Room Ministries wish a merry Christmas and a
happy New Year.
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This week we remember: This week we remember: Simeon Stylites
January 05
One of the more fascinating saints in history, St. Simeon was
legendary for his self-inflicted punishments. He is said to have constricted
his waist with a rope so tightly that he almost died. He was tireless in his
pursuit of virtue and faith. He once tied himself to a rope at the top of a
mountain and abstained from food every Lent. But his most famous
accomplishment, indeed what he is named for, is dwelling on top a six-foot-wide
pillar for thirty-seven years. This pillar went from nine feet high, to eighteen,
to thirty-three, and finally ended up at fifty-four feet high when Simeon died
on it at the age of sixty-nine in AD 459.
Why is St. Simeon Stylites a Sage? While he was enduring these
punishments, multitudes flocked to see him, and to hear his wisdom. While on
his pillar, he preached twice a day to the crowds below. He urged those
listening to pray and pursue goodness and righteousness, but did not suggest
that anyone follow his own means of pursuit. Simeon built his pillar to get
away from the temptations of the world, but nevertheless used his wisdom and
insight to help those who sought his guidance.
If St. Simon had taken the Spiritual Types Test, he probably
would have been a Sage. His feast day is January 5
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Lectionary Readings
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
Jeremiah 31: 7 For thus says the Lord:
Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
and raise shouts for
the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
“Save, O Lord, your
people,
the remnant of
Israel.”
8 See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north,
and gather them from
the farthest parts of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame,
those with child and
those in labor, together;
a great company, they
shall return here.
9 With weeping they shall come,
and with
consolations[a] I will lead them back,
I will let them walk by brooks of water,
in a straight path in
which they shall not stumble;
for I have become a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my
firstborn.
10 Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
and declare it in the
coastlands far away;
say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him,
and will keep him as a
shepherd a flock.”
11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob,
and has redeemed him
from hands too strong for him.
12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
and they shall be
radiant over the goodness of the Lord,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and over the young of
the flock and the herd;
their life shall become like a watered garden,
and they shall never
languish again.
13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and
the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will comfort them,
and give them gladness for sorrow.
14 I will give the priests their fill of fatness,
and my people shall be
satisfied with my bounty,
says the Lord.
Footnotes:
a. Jeremiah 31:9 Gk Compare Vg Tg: Heb supplications
Psalm 147: 12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O
Zion!
13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
he blesses your
children within you.
14 He grants peace[a] within your borders;
he fills you with the
finest of wheat.
15 He sends out his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool;
he scatters frost like
ashes.
17 He hurls down hail like crumbs—
who can stand before
his cold?
18 He sends out his word, and melts them;
he makes his wind
blow, and the waters flow.
19 He declares his word to Jacob,
his statutes and
ordinances to Israel.
20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
they do not know his
ordinances.
Praise the Lord!
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 147:14 Or prosperity
Ephesians 1: Spiritual Blessings in Christ
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
4 just as he chose us in Christ[a] before the foundation of the world to be
holy and blameless before him in love. 5 He destined us for adoption as his
children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to
the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our
trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 8 that he lavished on us. With
all wisdom and insight 9 he has made known to us the mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, 10 as a plan for
the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and
things on earth. 11 In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance,[b] having
been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things
according to his counsel and will, 12 so that we, who were the first to set our
hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also,
when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had
believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; 14
this[c] is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people,
to the praise of his glory.
Footnotes:
a. Ephesians 1:4 Gk in him
b. Ephesians 1:11 Or been made a heritage
c. Ephesians 1:14 Other ancient authorities read who
John The Word Became Flesh
1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into
being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come
into being 4 in him was life,[a] and the life was the light of all people. 5
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came
as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8
He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true
light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.[b]
10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through
him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own,[c] and his
own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in
his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of
blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have
seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son,[d] full of grace and
truth. 15 (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said,
‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) 16 From
his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was
given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has
ever seen God. It is God the only Son,[e] who is close to the Father’s
heart,[f] who has made him known.
Footnotes:
a. John 1:4 Or 3 through him. And without him not one thing came
into being that has come into being. 4 In him was life
b. John 1:9 Or He was the true light that enlightens everyone
coming into the world
c. John 1:11 Or to his own home
d. John 1:14 Or the Father’s only Son
e. John 1:18 Other ancient authorities read It is an only Son,
God, or It is the only Son
f. John 1:18 Gk bosom
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