Every moment, every day, You are with me. Your Power and Might amaze me!
Every moment, every day, You guide me. Your hand guides me in all things.
Every moment, every day, Your Holy Spirit envelops me. Leading me to where I need to be.
I am Your humble servant. Remove all obstacles that keep me from knowing you wholly and completely. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
The First Four Days of Lent
Ash Wednesday
Lord, it feels like we are embarking
on a Lenten journey together, you and I.
The beautiful words in the today’s prayer talk about
the “quiet remembrance of our need for redemption.”
That feels like what I am looking for -
or what you are looking for in me.
I want to remember how much I need you in my life
and how much my life needs redemption.
I want to remember it clearly and
in the background of my day today
and all through Lent.
On this special day, Ash Wednesday,
may my small sacrifices in fasting be a way to clear away
the clutter in my life to see you more clearly.
May my longing for meat and other food,
help me to focus my life today more outside myself.
Let me be aware of those who are in so much more suffering than I am
and may I be aware of them as the brothers and sisters you have placed in my life.
Lord, I know there is darkness
within me and around me.
Bless these days with your Word.
Let your Light shine in the darkness.
Help me long for that Light
until we celebrate it at the Vigil six weeks from now.
And most of all Lord,
help me to honor this day with the ashes
on my forehead.
They help me remember where I have come from
and where I am going.
May I acknowledge to you my sins
and my deep need for your
loving forgiveness and grace.
I pray that this Lenten season
will make me so much more aware
of how much I need your healing in my life.
James 1: 2-8
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. 7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
I don’t need coddling, but I sure could use guidance. I don’t need sympathy, but I sure could use understanding. I don’t need sympathy, but I sure could use a showing of patience. Should a person stay in a job if they are made to feel stupid and inferior. What are the options in this economically depraved world.
This sermon speaks right to me.
[Howard Klein] asks what can be done about the cozy relationship between politicians and those they regulate and it’s one of the fundamental problems in our democracy. The amount of money in politics is institutionalizing this corruption on a level we haven’t seen before in the modern era. I certainly don’t have the answer although many smart people are pondering the problem.
One thing I do know. Citizen engagement is absolutely necessary if we care about having a democracy. The only thing a politician cares about more than having enough money is having enough votes. They obsessively follow their local news and pay close attention to any shifts among their constituents. It’s far more powerful than we recognize.
Money will always be in politics to some extent. It’s like water — it always finds an outlet. But the dam has burst at the moment and the only thing that can possibly counteract it in the short term is hardcore voter involvement in the process. You decide how to best to do that, whether it’s the Occupy movement or writing letters to your congressman or supporting some of the good guys or targeting the bad guys. It’s all good and it’s all necessary. This flood of money isn’t going to stop any time soon.
