What Are You Reading?
It feels like Lent. It feels like we are in the wilderness where Jesus was tempted by the devil. I’ve been reading more… for information, for entertainment, for reassurance, and for what I hope is reality. I read the news-papers, The New York Times online, our congregation’s Lenten devotional, and I’m also reading A Different Kind of Fast: Feeding Our True Hungers in Lent; Sacred Journeys: A Woman’s Book of Daily Prayer; and Psalms for Praying.
I love that Jesus used scripture as a defense against the deceiver. I wonder if Jesus also needed to be reminded of the nature of God? Sometimes I hold the book of psalms to my heart so the words can soak into me. Psalm 26 is what’s speaking to me this week. The psalmist prayed, “I would choose the path that leads back Home, trusting in Your love without reserve. I choose the path of peace and wholeness.”
This picture is of the lost sheep for Sunday’s worship theme, “Everything in Between Lost and Found”. What I’m reading tells me that when we are lost, there is a Good Shepherd always searching for us.
In faith, Marylee
Psalm 26
Speak on my behalf, O Beloved,
for I would choose the path
that leads back Home,
trusting in Your love
without reserve.
May my heart be as Your heart;
May my mind be as Your mind.
May Your steadfast love guide me
As I live according to Your Will,
You O Counselor, are my strength
and my guide; so
I choose the path of peace
and wholeness.
I walk with friends of integrity,
and associate with those
who live in truth;
I love the company of faith-filled
people,
and count myself among those
who make Your Word their own.
Cleanse my heart in innocence
that I might childlike be,
Singing songs of thanksgiving
and proclaiming the
Beloved’s way.
O Loving Presence, I cherish Your
dwelling place, my heart;
O, that I might radiate Love Divine.
Keep me always in Your presence,
Ever-ready to praise Your name.
Make me holy, complete in You,
Write my name among the saints.
For I choose the path of peace
and wholeness;
The Counselor is my strength
and my guide.
Standing with equanimity in heaven’s
blessed company,
I shall know Love and Peace
beyond the world’s understanding.
Blessed are You, O my Beloved!
In faith, Marylee