June 5, 2020

Daily Devotions


Meditation, Prayers, and Assorted Stuff for June 5, 2020

Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey, “God’s Breath Given to Us”

Being the living Christ today means being filled with the same Spirit that filled Jesus. Jesus and his Father are breathing the same breath, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the intimate communion that makes Jesus and his Father one. Jesus says, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (John 14:10) and “The Father and I are one” (John 10:30). It is this unity that Jesus wants to give us. That is the gift of his Holy Spirit.
Living a spiritual life, therefore, means living in the same communion with the Father as Jesus did, and thus making God present in the world.

Our prayer today comes from Walter Rauschenbusch, one of the founders of the Social Gospel movement in the early years of the twentieth century.

A Prayer for Kingdom of God

CHRIST, thou hast bidden us pray for the coming of thy Father’s kingdom, in which his righteous will shall be done on earth. We have treasured thy words, but we have forgotten their meaning, and thy great hope has grown dim in thy Church. Make us determined to live by truth and not by lies, to found our common life on the eternal foundations of righteousness and love, and no longer to prop the tottering house of wrong by legalized cruelty and force. Help us to make the welfare of all the supreme law of our land, that so our commonwealth may be built strong and secure on the love of all its citizens. Cast down the throne of Mammon who ever grinds human life, and set up thy throne, O Christ, for thou didst die that all might live. Show thy erring children at last the way from the City of Destruction to the City of Love, and fulfil the longings of the prophets of humanity. Our Master, once more we make thy faith our prayer: “Thy kingdom come! Thy will be done on earth! ” Amen.

As Christians, we cannot condone violence, bloodshed, and looting, nor can we support a system that relegates someone to second class citizenship because of the color of his or her skin. Here’s the last of our weeklong look at Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” written in August 1963.

We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation because the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with the destiny of America. Before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of
Jefferson scratched across the pages of history the majestic word of the Declaration of Independence, we were here. For more than two centuries our foreparents labored here without wages; they made cotton king; and they built the homes of their masters in the midst of brutal injustice and shameful humiliation—and yet out of a bottomless vitality our people continue to thrive and develop. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.

Dad Jokes

Without geometry, life is pointless.


A steak pun is a rare medium well done.


Why can’t bicycles stand on their own? (They’re two tired.)


My daughter used to swallow coins all the time as a kid. I’ve definitely seen some change in her.

Today’s links! 

Ihttps://www.foodandwine.com/news/1000-year-old-mill-reopens-flour-demandf you’re into baking, you know that the COVID quarantine has seen the supplies you need become scarce—so scarce, in fact, that a 1,000 year old flour mill has been called back into service.


https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-02/with-the-public-locked-out-stuffed-animals-are-riding-san-diego-roller-coaster-every-dayThe Giant Dipper roller coaster at Belmont Park in San Diego’s Mission Beach was closed to the public in mid-March, but the 95-year-old ride still has to run several times a day to keep its machinery from tightening up for lack of use. Take a look at who’s enjoying a spin on it now.


https://www.inspiremore.com/21-we-rate-dogs-tweets/Matt Nelson’s popular Twitter feed, “We Rate Dogs” has been doling out pet rankings for the past few years. Yet every so often, someone sends in a photo that doesn’t quite meet the criteria.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5krFNUMQHIListen to Wynton Marsalis, Eric Clapton, and Taj Mahal (the singer, not the building
� � � �) give their rendition of, “Just A Closer Walk with Thee.”


 What do you do if you’re a professional cellist and you’re locked down in quarantine? If you’re Sarah Ginsberg, you record the “Imperial March” from Star Wars on your cello—eight times.

******************************************************* Sunday worship at 9 AM, with “Doughnut room” time starting at 8:30 AM. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/815064120, Meeting ID: 815 064 120 Dial in to participate at +1 312 626 6799.

****************************************************************** Foyer painting project resumes Monday. Watch for details!

Stay safe and stay well! 

Bob