.
When entering a Church, there is a comforting sense that within this sacred space,
every prayer, every word ever uttered and offered within their walls can still be felt.
every prayer, every word ever uttered and offered within their walls can still be felt.
As Wayne Muller describes in his thoughful book, "Sabbath ~ Restoring The Sacred Rhythm of Rest"
"They (our prayers) roam the air, they live in the wind, they carry our hearts to heaven."
~ AN OLD HASIDIC POEM ~
Take special care to guard your tongue
before the morning prayer,
Even greeting your fellow man we are told
Can be harmful at that early hour.
A person who wakes up in the morning
is like a new creation.
Begin your day with unkind words...
Even though you may later turn to prayer,
You have not been true to your creation.
All of your words each day
Are related to each other ...
All of them are rooted
In the first words you speak.
SABBATH
is finding a time of rest, renewal & delight in the midst of our busy, often hectic lives.
Again, quoting Wayne Muller, "When we live without listening to the timing of things,when we live and work in twenty four hour shifts without rest, we are on war time,mobilized for battle."
"Yes, we are strong and capable people, we can work wit0out stopping, faster and faster, electric lights making artificial day so the whole machine can labour without ceasing. But remember: No living thing lives like this. There are greater rhythms, seasons and hormonal cycles and sunsets and moonrises and great movements of seas and stars. We are part of a creation story, subject to its
laws and rhythms. ( Wayne Muller - Sabbath - Restoring The Sacred Rhythm of Rest)
A VISION OF GOD'S JUSTICE
~ Psalm 82 ~
Give justice to the weak and the orphan;
maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.
Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
God has taken his place in the divine counsel;
in the midst of the gods he holds judgement.
How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked?
Saint Monica - Saint Augustine's Mother & Patron Saint of Mothers
The Psalmist's hard-hitting words, writing as he did over 3,000 years ago, evokes a great yet disturbing vision of Almighty God presiding over the heavenly court. A word of judgement is pronounced upon unjust rulers and judges. Almighty God, as the Great King, is perceived as
Judge of all the earth and whose "first love" is justice for all people, and not just a highly
favoured few. God therefore judges the nations and measures their righteousness.
The Psalmist paints a picture of the rulers and judges of the nations gathered before the Great King for each to give an account of their administration of justice. They were called by God and appointed by God to protect the weak, poor and powerless against all who would exploit or oppress them.
They have neither knowledge or understanding, they simply walk around in darkness. However, those appointed and given power to administer God's justice among the nations, and who ought to have shared in God's wisdom, are utterly devoid of true understanding of the length, breadth and demands of God's "first love" justice. The "good guys" have become the "bad guys" and the "perceived "bad guys" have now become the "good guys". Justice is so easily perverted as those in positions of power start to feather their own nest. Injustice turns God's plans upside down, and God in turn puts in place measures to turn God's world right-side up. God justice turns the world right side up.
Give justice to the weak and the orphan;
maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.
Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
God has taken his place in the divine counsel;
in the midst of the gods he holds judgement.
How long will you judge unjustly,
and show partiality to wicked?
Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
for all creation belongs to you.
As I reflect upon these ancients words of the Psalmists, and think about the article I read recently in Time magazine where the Trump administration is going to use an old army base that was once a Japanese interment camp in World War 2 to house migrant children. Fort Sill will be used as a "temporary emergency influx center" to help ease the burden on government as it prepares to house a record number of children even though it already operates 168 facilities and programs in 23 states.
Health and Human Services said in a statement that it has taken about 40,900 children into custody through April 30. That’s a 57% increase from last year, which is a rate on-pace to surpass the record figures in 2016, when 59,171 minors were taken into custody.
The influx of migrants, mainly from Central America, is straining an already exhausted system, U.S. officials say. Several children have died while in U.S. custody since last year.
*
Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them,
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
~ AN OLD HASIDIC POEM ~
Take special care to guard your tongue
before the morning prayer,
Even greeting your fellow man we are told
Can be harmful at that early hour.
A person who wakes up in the morning
is like a new creation.
Begin your day with unkind words...
Even though you may later turn to prayer,
You have not been true to your creation.
All of your words each day
Are related to each other ...
All of them are rooted
In the first words you speak.
SABBATH
is finding a time of rest, renewal & delight in the midst of our busy, often hectic lives.
Again, quoting Wayne Muller, "When we live without listening to the timing of things,when we live and work in twenty four hour shifts without rest, we are on war time,mobilized for battle."
"Yes, we are strong and capable people, we can work wit0out stopping, faster and faster, electric lights making artificial day so the whole machine can labour without ceasing. But remember: No living thing lives like this. There are greater rhythms, seasons and hormonal cycles and sunsets and moonrises and great movements of seas and stars. We are part of a creation story, subject to its
laws and rhythms. ( Wayne Muller - Sabbath - Restoring The Sacred Rhythm of Rest)
A VISION OF GOD'S JUSTICE
~ Psalm 82 ~
Give justice to the weak and the orphan;
maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.
Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
God has taken his place in the divine counsel;
in the midst of the gods he holds judgement.
How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked?
The Psalmist's hard-hitting words, writing as he did over 3,000 years ago, evokes a great yet disturbing vision of Almighty God presiding over the heavenly court. A word of judgement is pronounced upon unjust rulers and judges. Almighty God, as the Great King, is perceived as
Judge of all the earth and whose "first love" is justice for all people, and not just a highly
favoured few. God therefore judges the nations and measures their righteousness.
The Psalmist paints a picture of the rulers and judges of the nations gathered before the Great King for each to give an account of their administration of justice. They were called by God and appointed by God to protect the weak, poor and powerless against all who would exploit or oppress them.
They have neither knowledge or understanding, they simply walk around in darkness. However, those appointed and given power to administer God's justice among the nations, and who ought to have shared in God's wisdom, are utterly devoid of true understanding of the length, breadth and demands of God's "first love" justice. The "good guys" have become the "bad guys" and the "perceived "bad guys" have now become the "good guys". Justice is so easily perverted as those in positions of power start to feather their own nest. Injustice turns God's plans upside down, and God in turn puts in place measures to turn God's world right-side up. God justice turns the world right side up.
Give justice to the weak and the orphan;
maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.
Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
God has taken his place in the divine counsel;
in the midst of the gods he holds judgement.
How long will you judge unjustly,
and show partiality to wicked?
Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
for all creation belongs to you.
As I reflect upon these ancients words of the Psalmists, and think about the article I read recently in Time magazine where the Trump administration is going to use an old army base that was once a Japanese interment camp in World War 2 to house migrant children. Fort Sill will be used as a "temporary emergency influx center" to help ease the burden on government as it prepares to house a record number of children even though it already operates 168 facilities and programs in 23 states.
Health and Human Services said in a statement that it has taken about 40,900 children into custody through April 30. That’s a 57% increase from last year, which is a rate on-pace to surpass the record figures in 2016, when 59,171 minors were taken into custody.
The influx of migrants, mainly from Central America, is straining an already exhausted system, U.S. officials say. Several children have died while in U.S. custody since last year.
*
Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them,
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
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