I pray for the wisdom to take a rational and tolerant attitude toward whatever troubles I must face today.  (One Day at a Time in Al-Anon, 15 January)

Lord, thank You for the ties to friends and family that weave me together with loved ones far away.  (Gail Thorell Schilling, Daily Guideposts, 29 July 2004)

Do not let me forget my illness.  (Food For Thought, 10 July)

Please take me the rest of the way ... (Dorothy Minchin-Comm, Glimpses of God, 11 June)

Restore me to a sane and reasonable way of thinking so I can deal with my family relationships with love and understanding.  (One Day at a Time in Al-Anon, 6 July)

Today, Lord, I will take a break from solving world problems.  (Mary Sue Taylor, Prayer for Daybreak and Day's End, Vol. II, p. 315)

Good Shepherd, preserve me from my all-too-human tendencies to depression, fear, and despair.  (Dorothy Minchin-Comm, Glimpses of God, 29 June)

God make me entirely ready for the removal of my faults, that I may receive light on my problems and their true causes.  (One Day at a Time in Al-Anon, 20 Jun)

Please don't let me be stupid again today.  (Dorothy Minchin-Comm, Glimpses of God, 30 Jun)

I thank you for hearing my prayers, and I ask You to manifest Your glory in my life.  (Christ in Our Home, Day 53)

Our Heavenly Father, You have put us into this world in the midst of troubles.  You have also given us assurance that You are our refuge and our strength and our very present help in time of trouble.  Therefore, by following Your guidance and by living with You, we can become experts in the handling of troubles.  And for this we give thanks through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.
(Norman Vincent Peale, Positive Thinking for Every Day of the Year, 18 Feb)

For blessings, known and unknown, remembered and forgotten, I give Thee thanks.

Creator of all gifts, I praise You for the mind You have given me.  Let me do nothing to impair its function in any way.  Show me, Lord, how to improve it daily.  (Dorothy Minchin-Comm, Glimpses of God, 26 Dec)

Something to Think About

It's okay to make a mistake.  Just don't make a career out of reviewing it.  (Barry L., Yesterday's Tomorrows, p. 137)

O Lord, be gracious to me. (Psalm 41)

Book Recommendations

I just finished reading two self-help books which are written to be read one page at a time during an entire year. I have read and enjoyed other books by the same authors.  I'd like to recommend both of these books.  The one by Karen Casey would be particularly useful to anyone about to retire or already retired.

Daily Meditations - Keepers of the Wisdom - Reflections from Lives Well Lived, by Karen Casey, published by Hazelden, Order No. 5553, ISBN 1-56838-117-4, copyright 1996

Meditations for Living in Balance - Daily Solutions For People Who Do Too Much, by Anne Wilson Schaef, published by HarperSanFrancisco, ISBN 0-06-251643-4, copyright 2000

 

Valentine's Day

Today, by Your Holy Spirit, please keep out hearts alive and strong so that our lives may be a reflection of Your will.  (after Garrie F. Williams, Welcome, Holy Spirit, 20 January)

Father, I follow You trustingly into this day... (Patricia Houck Sprinkle, Daily Guideposts, 20 May 1985)

Forsake me not, O Lord.  Hold me up, and I shall be safe.  (Charles H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, 25 May a.m.)

In death as life be Thou my guide.  (Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676) in the Hymn - Jesus, Thy Boundless Love to Me)

Lord, let me look at my own faults before I criticize another today.  (Linda Nuekrug, Daily Guideposts, 5 Feb 2005)

... face the proposition that either God is everything or else He is nothing.  God either is, or He isn't!  (Alcoholic Anonymous, p. 53)

Lord, keep me ever mindful, I can't hear You, if I'm talking.  (Richard E. Henthorn, 11 Feb 2006)

Flood my heart with forgiveness, loving God, so that I may walk in peace with my fellow beings.  (Mary Sue Taylor, Prayer for Daybreak and Day's End, p. 171)

Make in my heart a quiet place, and come and dwell within.  (John Oxenham, hymn)

Help me treat my body as Your temple.  (The Upper Room Disciplines, 15 Jan 2000)

The Wedding Cake Exchange

Wedding Cake Exchange

Today I wanted to refresh my memory about something I'd read in the June 30th entry in How Can I Live by Kay Arthur.  On this day, Mrs. Arthur writes about exchanging cake at the wedding party.  For a full account of entering into a covenant begin reading with the June 1st entry.  On that day she begin writing about covenants and the elaborate steps that entering into a covenant entailed in Biblical days.  There are strong similarities between the ritual of the Holy Communion and the steps followed in an ordinary covenant.  This is because the Communion represents the New Covenant between God and his people. The June 30th entry in the book outlines the history of exchanging bread as part of the covenant ceremony.

Here's what Kay Arthur wrote about the covenant meal.

After all these things had taken place, they sat down to partake of a covenant meal.  At this meal they took bread, broke it, and then placed it into the mouth of their covenant partner with these words, "You are eating me."  Then a cup of wine was offered to the covenant partner along with the words, "This is my blood; you are drinking me."  Often, unless of course they were Jews, they mingled drops of their own blood in with the wine.

Does all this ring a familiar sound?  Remember the little ceremony at the wedding reception, remember wondering if you should order the photographer's ridiculous shot of you with your mouth wide open while your mate fed you a piece of wedding cake?  Did you ever wonder where that custom came from?  Now you know.  Isn't it beautiful!  It is a picture of giving yourself to another -- unconditionally, totally, eternally.

An unqualified committal of oneself to another, this, beloved, is covenant.  This is salvation.  They are one and the same.  This is what God means when He says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved..." (Acts 16:31).  It means to give yourself to Christ unconditionally, without qualification; to cease from your independent living; to become one with Christ, bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh.

Oh, there is so much more to share with you on covenant.  There are so many rich, precious gems that will so graciously adorn your salvation as their facets brilliantly reflect the light of Truth. ...

Now you know why I object to seeing any bridal couple mash cake in each other's faces.  It reflects ignorance of  long-standing covenant customs and disrespect for each other and for the marriage covenant which the bridal couple have just made.  Please give serious consideration to what Kay Arthur wrote if you are planning to exchange wedding cake as part of your wedding ceremony.  (Richard E. Henthorn, 6 Feb 2006)

Keep me from causing harm to myself or others.  (Melody Beattie, 52 Weeks of Conscious Contact, Week 11, Day 7)

May I be sensitive to the needs around me and respond appropriately.  (after Moravian Daily Texts - 2000, 3 January)

Lord, thank You for being there to lean on when I launch out into the unknown.  (Daily Guideposts, 22 Jan 2005)

May the gospel be more to me than mere words.  (adapted from Moravian Daily Texts - 24 Jan 2001)

Lord, help me to not be a captive of my fears.  (Phyllis Hobe, Daily Guideposts, 21 Jan 2005)