O God, who hast so greatly loved us,
And mercifully redeemed us;
Give us grace that in everything
We may yield ourselves,
Our wills and our works,
A continual thank offering unto thee,
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN
--Westminster Divines---

The Water of Life

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Revelation 22:2

I have been thinking this week about water, and Jesus’ image of living water found in the gospel of John’s story about the woman at the well. Jesus, thirsty from his travels, sat at a well, talked to a woman, and promised her living water. As Debra said in her meditation last week, we humans are thirsty for that living water - the water of God’s touch, God’s presence, the sight of God at work in our own lives.

I was reminded of this at a lecture Monday that Biblical Scholar N.T. Wright gave at St. Mary’s Seminary. He referred to the scripture cited above from Revelation, and spoke about the water of life, along which lives the tree of life, the leaves of which are for the healing of the nations. We as Christians not only receive the living water from God through prayer, meditation, and study; we are also dispensers of it, giving it out to those who come our way. We become like the woman at the well, holding out our water jars of living water; or perhaps a better image is that we are the ones who lead the way to the river of life, so that those who are thirsty can drink from the Source themselves.

In order to be one who receives and offers living water, we must ourselves be filled. Again and again I am reminded of how empty I am without the infilling of God’s Spirit through prayer and meditation. If I do not take time to fill my own receptacle, I have very little of God’s living water to offer. Again and again I am reminded as well of how easy it is to be too busy to take the necessary time to be filled. I seek Sabbath, as we all seek it.

Sabbath is a representation of God’s living water. It’s a reminder of the times in the wilderness when God provided water where there was none. It’s a reminder that we are only human, and that we need time to refuel, both physically and spiritually.

Seek times of Sabbath this week - the small daily stepping out of Chronos time and into God’s time that happens in prayer; and the greater Sabbath of time for quiet, reflection, and family. Turn off the TV. Stop the paperwork. Observe the world around you. Take a deep breath, and seek the living water. It is waiting for you.

Whatever is foreseen in joy
Must be lived out from day to day.
Vision held open in the dark
By our ten thousand days of work.
Harvest will fill the barn; for that
The hand must ache, the face must sweat.

And yet no leaf or grain is filled
By work of ours; the field is tilled
And left to grace. That we may reap,
Great work is done while we’re asleep.

When we work well, a Sabbath mood
Rests on our day, and finds it good.
--Wendell Berry--

Debra’s Midweek Meditation
You Are Light
"For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light.
Live as children of the light."
Eph 5:8

Sometimes illumination comes at me from all sides. The past two days were just such examples of light and light in abundance.

Listening to words born in prayer and inspiration on Monday night and all day Tuesday gave me a new sense of calling in my own life and some hope for the world, as well.

N.T. Wright was the featured speaker at St. Mary’s Seminary and he spoke about the Bible and tomorrow’s world, tomorrow’s church and tomorrow’s Christian.

He reminded us that the light, which comes from God, is meant to come through us for the world.

We could think of ourselves as windows of Grace. The Spirit shines through us to the darkness in the world.

As we practice looking for light in prayer and worship our windows become more and more transparent.

The other incident of illumination happened just before I sat down to write this meditation. We had a photographer come this afternoon to take some pictures of the Stations of the Cross out in the field for the newspaper.

The bright afternoon was windy and the blue sky filled with traces of clouds moving rapidly as if looking for home.

The scene, lit with winter sunshine, was both familiar and new. Looking with others at the tender images of Christ’s final journey gave new meaning to darkness and light-shadow and illumination.

Winter light cuts away edges and paints a picture of stark reality.
Seeing the stations lit in the clear rays of afternoon gave me a new sense of the beauty that is inherent in this particular walk of passion.

Sometimes we are blind to the full range of beauty and light that God is making available. There is a deeper light visible when our eyes and perceptions are tutored by Grace.

You are light-
Both to see with and to shed light for others-
Live as children of Light.

Blessings,
Debra

Daily Morning Prayer:
http://www.episcopalchurchingarrettcounty.org/churchonthewebpage.htm

This Week at St. James:

Saturday: 8:30 Daughters of the King Retreat
Sunday: 10:15 Blender: THINK PINK!; 11:45 Inquirer’s Class; 4-6 Confirmation
Monday: 10:00 CS Lewis Book Study; 7:00 pm Women’s Contemplative Prayer
Tuesday: 6:00 pm Bishop Search Walk-About at All Saints, Frederick.

Prayers Etc.

David; Arabella; Brittany; Lori
Owen; Jennifer; Rob; Nancy K.
The Browning Family; Bill D.; Mary S.
Susan L.; Elizabeth; Vicky; Dawn
Joe; Oliver; Charlie M.; Matt S.
Mary B.; Anne P.; Alan; Larry

For Laura our Seminarian, and Lyle her husband.
For those who are deployed and their families.
For peace in the Middle East.

You, O Eternal Trinity, are a deep sea
Into which, the more I enter,
The more I find,
And the more I find,
The more I seek.
O abyss,
O eternal Godhead,
O sea profound,
What more could you give me than yourself?
--St. Catherine of Sienna--

In Closing:

Maker of all things, God most high,
Great ruler of the starry sky,
Who, robbing day with beauteous light,
Hast clothed in soft repose the night,

That sleep may wearied limbs restore,
And fit for toil and use moce more,
May gently soothe the careworn breast,
And lull our anxious griefs to rest.

We thank thee for the day that’s gone;
We pray thee for the night come one;
O help us sinners as we raise
To thee our votive hymn of praise.

From every carnal passion free
O may our hearts repose in thee!
Nor envious fiend, with harmful snare,
Our rest with sinful terrors share.

Christ with the Father ever one,
Spirit! The Father and the Son,
God over all, the mighty sway,
Shield us, great Trinity, we pray.
Transliteration
--Ambrose of Milan---

Pax et Bonum,
Loree+

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