29th. July. 2021.Daily Devotion.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfilment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. Ephesians 1:3-10
More from Peter Millar:
A compassionate life:
I personally did not know Dr Averil Stedeford in the UK who has died at 89, but recently read a tribute to her life written by her grandson Martin Rolph. This short piece is based on some of his words. I found Averil’s life inspiring because for me she represented, with thousands of others across the world, that life-long personal commitment to link our active faith or humanism to the actual, often complex and painful issues of our world, and to the joys and sorrows of our shared human condition. It is this important linking which resides at the heart of a great international and visionary movement such as the Iona Community. The daughter of a Methodist minister she was a psychiatrist, poet, writer and environmentalist. As a psychiatrist she felt that propelled by her Christian faith she could make best use of her skills by working with the dying and became one of the first psychiatrists to work in a hospice setting. She distilled her many years of hospice work in a book Facing Death (1984) and the second edition (1994) included some of her poetry, perhaps unusual in a medical text. For many years she explored the relationship between religion and death and the control of life and death. Throughout her life she wrote poetry, often exploring grief, loss and death such as in her collection Long Way Down (2017). But she also wrote positive, purposeful poetry, which she used to bring awareness to causes such as fair trade and environmentalism. Her own home was as green as possible, and after a pioneering retrofit her home’s carbon footprint was reduced by 78%. For this she won an Ethical Award in 2006.
The human race is to be seen as one great network of tissue which quivers in every part when one part is shaken, like a spider’s web if touched.
Words for today by the novelist Thomas Hardy (1840-1928).
No man is an island. John Donne (1572-1631) metaphysical poet and priest.
Two Prayers for Christian Unity
Eternal Father, we praise you for sending your Son to be one of us and to save us.
Look upon your people with mercy, for we are divided in so many ways, and give us the Spirit of Jesus to make us one in love. We ask this gift, loving Father,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ, at your Last Supper you prayed to the Father that all should be one. Send your Holy Spirit upon all who bear your name and seek to serve you. Strengthen our faith in you and lead us to love one another in humility. May we who have been reborn in one baptism be united in one faith under one Shepherd. Amen.
Coronavirus Prayer
Lord, you stood outside the tomb and wept. Lord, you stood in the midst of the city and wept tears for the mourning, the broken, the hopeless, the lost. Were they silent tears, falling from your eyes and your broken heart? Lord of compassion, we ask that you would you weep with those who weep, comfort the mourning, put together the broken, bring peace to the hopeless, and find the lost. Lord of comfort, strength, love and victory, reveal your grace. in Jesus’ name, Amen