With all the noise in the world, do you hear the voice of God? Your calendar tells you what to do, but do you remember who you are? Being comes before doing. This is a call to put first things first. Return to the Lord with this daily pattern of prayer and devotion. Set aside this time as a sanctuary. Find a space free of distraction and follow this pattern.
Invocation
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Invitation
O Lord, your scars are your trophies, proof of your unfailing love for me. I am haunted by the guilt of my past, the sins of my present, and my fear of the future. Lord, at the cross you said, “It is finished.” So I stop my worry. I rest in you. You have done it all. Amen.
Confession
“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Lord, forgive my fugitive ways. I turn and run from you. Forgive my criminal acts of hypocrisy and self-righteousness. Forgive my violations of arrogance and selfishness. Forgive me for denying you, ignoring you, and disregarding you. I am the one at fault. I have no other help but to turn my face to you and plead, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Word: John 17:20-21
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
Meditation: Love and Sharing
Today’s meditation is written by Koleen Barnes.
In 1990 Christopher McCandless, a recent college graduate, began a solo journey with no real destination, other than to find himself. Over the next two years he zig-zagged across the United States, meeting a few friends along the way and scribbling short sentences into a journal every few days. After many months, and arguably several bad decisions due to inexperience, he lost his life alone in the deep Alaskan wilderness.
Many people are drawn to McCandless’s travels, told in the book Into the Wild by John Krakauer, as a cautionary tale of an educated young person lacking common sense who paid the ultimate price, while others are drawn to his travels and relate to his desire to disconnect from an unfulfilling world and find something deeper within nature, or within himself. I am drawn to his story because of some of his final words which he carved into an old piece of wood, “Happiness is only real when shared.”
This is something that stuck with me long before March of 2020, but the past 18 months have given it new staying power. I was fortunate enough to continue to work through the pandemic and also spend our quarantine period with my husband, so I wasn’t alone. As the days and weeks melded together, it wasn’t necessarily events that I missed, but just the noise of other people. I wanted to share what I was feeling with those around me. I was craving that shared experience with my friends and family, and even strangers.
Honestly, you can replace the word ‘happiness’ with any emotion you can think of. Love, loss, grief, sorrow, anticipation, anxiety, elation, you name it—is only real when shared. Part of the beauty of the world is being able to experience something, then look to the person next to you who has experienced it too and share an unspoken intimacy of mutual knowing. To me, that is what it is all about.
From day one, God tells Adam that it is not good for man to be alone, so he creates Eve. God gave Adam and Eve a job in the garden. They were instructed to take care of the earth, and I think that instruction trickles down to us and includes taking care of each other.
Lord, I pray that you keep me from the desire to isolate myself. I pray that you surround me with people who help make me better. I ask that you keep reminding me that joy is found in others.
Benediction
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Heb. 13:20-21)