This week as we gathered in person around the Presence of Christ to listen and pray, we arrived with a sense of giddy laughter. Not only were we relaxed to be with one another in this sacred time, there was a sense of ease in coming home to be with God in prayer. Most of us did not begin our journey into a living relationship with God, with a sense of ease and permission to be ourselves.
Yet as we experience the radical welcome of God, we find ourselves making ourselves more and more at home in God’s love. We begin to discover that the door to God’s dwelling place inside of us is always open.
May there be grace to receive God’s fresh welcome of you today, just as you are.
May the conversation in this secret place, with or without words, nourish your heart, your mind, your body, your soul.
May goodness follow you, all the days of your life, as you dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Psalm 26 (NRSV)
Vindicate me, O Lord,
for I have walked in my integrity,
and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
Prove me, O Lord, and try me;
test my heart and mind.
For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
and I walk in faithfulness to you.
I do not sit with the worthless,
nor do I consort with hypocrites;
I hate the company of evildoers,
and will not sit with the wicked.
I wash my hands in innocence,
and go around your altar, O Lord,
singing aloud a song of thanksgiving,
and telling all your wondrous deeds.
O Lord, I love the house in which you dwell,
and the place where your glory abides.
Do not sweep me away with sinners,
nor my life with the bloodthirsty,
those in whose hands are evil devices,
and whose right hands are full of bribes.
But as for me, I walk in my integrity;
redeem me, and be gracious to me.
My foot stands on level ground;
in the great congregation I will bless the Lord.
For Reflection and Prayer:
Was there a word, phrase or image which caught your attention you as you listened to or slowly read the text? Quietly savor this in your heart.
Notice any felt sense that seems to emerge as you linger with this passage. It might come as a bodily feeling, emotion, metaphor, picture, gesture or sound. See if you can describe it and simply be with it with patient curiosity. Be open to whatever more might emerge.
Perhaps you might want to draw, color or journal your conversation.
As the time of prayer comes to a close, share some quiet moments with Jesus, simply resting safely in his presence.