Good morning…
This Maundy-Thursday morning, we meditate on the gentle gifts given by our Lord.
“Meditation is like taking a little time to sit on a park bench,” writes my friend, 93-year-old Christian mystic, Betty Skinner, “touching your old Friend’s hand, feeling the warm sunshine together, gazing at the new blooms that have unfolded overnight, listening for what He might be moved to say, occasionally sharing your hopes and your tears, being together in the peaceful quiet. It is so simple and so lovely. When you enter into the silence, you hear your Friend say what you couldn’t hear before: ‘Fear not. I love you. I love you. I created you. I will never leave you. I will work everything together for your good in My time.'”
“What one gift will you offer back?” Betty wonders now. “Will it be ten minutes of sitting in a quiet place simply to express your gratitude for the blessings you have been given? What one fear thought will you let go of today? Will you perhaps offer this prayer to express your deep love and honor for your Heavenly Friend?”
- “Dearest Holy One, as I quiet my soul now and enter its sanctuary with You, I pray that Your Spirit will come upon me and blow over me. Bring me to the foot of the cross, to the nailed feet, the gift of Your son, and there in its shadow, in unspeakable gratitude, enable me to see with Your eyes, hear with Your ears, and love with Your heart. Teach me by faith, to know You without seeing You, by hope, to possess You without feeling Your presence, and by love, to desire You above all desires. Clothe me with Your compassion, kindness, humility, and love, so that others might feel the slightest brush of Your garment as I pass by. I ask these prayers in Your name and always to Your glory, that many, many people might be blessed. Amen.” (Kitty Crenshaw and Dr. Cathy Snapp’s The Hidden Life Awakened, 188-189).
When I remember You on my bed, I meditate and thoughtfully focus on You in the night watches, for You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings [where I am always protected] I sing for joy (Psalm 63:6-7, AMP).
…Sue…
