Monday, April 27, 2020
Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. Acts 3:1
Rituals are important. Morning rituals revolving around prayer and coffee, lunchtime walks, watching the 10 pm news, these are all a part of my typical day. One day of missing these routines isn’t a problem, but missing them for several days makes it difficult to differentiate one day from the other.
If you’ve ever spent times sick in bed or in a hospital you know that the days start to run together.
Isn’t that what is happening to us right now? Our rituals have been forced to change, but it is still possible to order our days.
Peter and John had their worlds turned upside down Jesus’ death, resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit. They were fully empowered by the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead – and yet the continued to follow the rituals of their youth. Daily prayer at 3 pm.
Rituals order our days. They point us toward what’s really important in our lives.
So –here’s my question – what routines are ordering your lives today? We know that faith is formed by routines of reading Scripture, prayer and being in community with the people of God.
I pray that you will find time – every day – to read Scripture – perhaps the verse that is posted in the River of Hope page each morning. Beginning the day with God’s word of love, hope and mercy helps to orient us and the words we hear throughout the rest of the day.
Find time to pray every day. Praying helps us place our fears and our joys in God’s hands, remembering that there is precious little we actually can control – but nothing is outside of God’s care.
And remember to be in community. That is challenging right now, but there are creative ways to make it happen – like this – devotions on Facebook! Like worshiping virtually in community on Sunday – bad sound and all – and joining tomorrow evening with Beer and Hymns.
All of those creative ways helps keep us physically distanced, but socially, and spiritually connected!
May we order our days and our thoughts so that each moment helps us grow closer to each other – and to the God who loves us more than we know!
Prayer:
Loving God,
We thank you for the gift of this day and each day. Help us to order each of our days so that we might grow in our faith and be equipped to go out and transform lives in your name.
Amen.
