27th. June. 2020. Daily Devotion.
June 2020 A Candle in the Window Peter Millar
Words to encourage us in tough times. ionacottage@hotmail.com
The gossamer covering:
Recently I re-read these words of Vladamir Shatalov from his book ‘The Home Planet.’ They lift the mind and provide us with a new perspective, and a greater desire to do all we can in our short lifetime to help heal our amazing planet. Shatalov, born in 1927, is a former Soviet cosmonaut who flew three space missions of the Soyuz programme. All together he spent almost 10 days in space. Do share these prophetic words with others who are concerned about the future of our precious planet –our glorious Mother Earth.
“When we look into the sky it seems to us to be endless. We think without consideration about the boundless ocean of air, and then you sit aboard a spacecraft, you tear away from Earth and within ten minutes you have been carried straight out of the layer of air, and beyond there is nothing! Beyond the air there is only emptiness, coldness, darkness. The ‘boundless’ blue sky, the ocean which gives us breath and protects us from the endless black and death, is but an infinitesimally thin film. How dangerous it is to threaten even the smallest part of the gossamer covering, this conserver of life.”
An observation by the late John O’Donohue:
One of the great fruits of suffering is compassion. When you have felt and experienced pain, it refines the harshness that may be in you. Tolstoy said that our great duty as humans was to sow the seed of compassion in each other’s hearts. This happens in friendship. If you are in pain and your friend knows pain, you feel the kinship and understanding that can really shelter you. Understanding is one of the few shelters that are capable of standing in the suffering place. In one Buddhist temple I visited, I discovered a Buddha with hundreds of hands and in each hand there was an eye. He was given this gift of many hands and many eyes to help everyone who was suffering, is suffering. This Buddha is a beautiful image of compassion which has strength, wisdom and enlightenment within it
And part an old Celtic prayer:
This morning, I will kindle the fire upon my hearth,
before the holy angels who stand about my path.
God, a love-flame kindle in my heart to neighbours all,
from the lowliest thing on earth
to the Name this is highest of all. Amen.
Recently we had a sermon about compassion. Here are some more Biblical verses on the same theme:
“Though the mountains be shaken
and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
nor my covenant of peace be removed,”
says the Lord, who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:10
Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget, I will not forget you!
See,I have engraved you on
the palms of my hands,
your walls are ever before me.
Isaiah 49: 15-16
Be kind and compassionate to one another,
forgiving each other,
just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32
Loving God,
If we are ill, strengthen us.
If we are tired, fortify our spirits.
If we are anxious, help us to consider the lilies of the field and the birds of the air.
Help us not to stockpile treasures from supermarkets in the barns of our larders.
Don’t let fear cause us to overlook the needs of others more vulnerable than ourselves.
Fix our eyes on your story and our hearts on your grace.
Help us always to hold fast to the good,
See the good in others,
And remember there is just one world, one hope,
One everlasting love, with baskets of bread for everyone.
In Jesus we make our prayer,
The one who suffered, died and was raised to new life,
In whom we trust these days and all days, Amen.
The Revd Barbara Glasson, President of the Methodist Conference
Prayer of Resolve
I bind myself to you this day, oh Christ, in your truth and in your sacrifice. I give to you my anxiety and my fear, my depression and my doubt, for you have promised to take them if we only ask; and I take upon myself your burden, for it is light and your way is gentle. May I keep this in my heart and mind all this day.
Amen.
