Strangthen us, O Lord, by thy grace, that in thy might we may overcome all spiritual enemies, and with pure hearts serve thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
- Amen
(Rite 1 – Traditional)
The readings for today:
- Esther (Apocrypha) 14:1-6, 12-14
- Psalm 138
- Matthew 7:7-12
Bless us, O God, in this holy season, in which our hearts seek thy help and healing; and so purify us by your discipline that we may grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
- Amen
(Rite 1 – Traditional)
The readings for today:
- Jonah 3:1-10
- Psalm 51: 11-18
- Luke 11: 29-32
Tags: discipline, healing, Lent, prayer
Almighty and everylasting God, mercifully increase in us thy gifts of holy discipline, in almsgiving, prayer, and fasting; that our lives may be directed to the fulfilling of thy most gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
- Amen
(Rite 1 – Traditional)
The readings for today:
- Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18
- Psalm 19-7-14
- Matthew: 25:31-46
The question came up in Rev Scott Gunn’s blog Seven Whole Days as to whether Valentine’s day is overly-commercialized.
Actually to read his entry, there is no doubt that it is!
I loved the post so much (actually his blog is one of my favorite reads for making my brain cells ponder the great Questions in life! It’s like my own private Yeshiva!) that I wrote a fairly lengthy reply, which I’ll re-post here.
Is St. Valentine’s Day overly commercialized? Take it from a retired marketer – yes!!
Are there lessons to be learned if we can simply turn slightly to one side and see the question from just a few degrees variance? In typing out my reply to the question, I found very large lessons for myself, my friends, those whom I care for, and those who care for me.
I hope there’s a grain of sense for you in this one. Expressing our love is so easy. Yet it’s the most difficult thing (next to, probably, saying “Good bye”) that we ever have to do. After writing many services for the dissolution of relationships, commemorations of divorce and separation, and the “death” of Family, his writing haunted me with how much I miss each day by not expressing yet another layer of prayer by simply saying “I love you” to another human being!
————— clip here——————
I certainly agree with you on the Marketing Dinks over-use of Valentine’s Day, particularly after I was once “required” (during wartime, they call this “duress”!) to do a massive email marketing campaign in honor of “Sweetest Day.” (it’s the Third Sunday in October.) S.D. is a Great Idea Turned Hallmark.
Valentines day (along with its first cousin The Eve of All Saints) has become gold rush days for greeting card retailers, teddy bear manufacturers, and dentists.
But suppose we turn to the right about 5 degrees and look at the picture again: there, Valentines Day has more in common with Ash Wednesday than with National Gorge on Cheap Chocolate Day.
Ash Wednesday is that one day a year that we get to (quite literally) fall on our face in the dirt and give a deep and meaningful meditation on the words “heartily sorry” and “humbly repent.” As my Dad says in his Bible-waving, finger-pointing sermons, Ash Wednesday is the one day the year when we get to “approach the throne of grace” on our knees, open our hearts and start one of the most contemplative and difficult seasons in our Liturgial year. We start it all out with “I am sorry. Because…”
What follows then is a punch list that is VERY difficult to count, yet count we must! This is the spiritual equivalent of “No pain, no gain.”
Valentines Day: think the same thing and turn it on its side as the one day a year (with or without the Teddy Bears and chocolate roses!) we get to stop, consider every love, every like, every “talking to” in our lives, remember them (Dad would say “Raise them up!), and actually break our Amurricun social taboos and say:
“You know… I really love you!”
If we have a “lick of sense” we add “Because…”
If we’re old enough and have seen enought highways and honky-tonks, then we do NOT say “Even though….”
In a perfect world, The Maker gets that from us every day, in our prayers. Especially the sighs coming from those secret places in our hearts. Too bad that the folks around us – the ones who sustain us, keep us going, keep us ALIVE… they probably live with our assumption of “Well…You know.”
Valentine’s Day: Once a year, the majority of us get to fall on our faces, quite literally in the dirt and say “Oh my GOD! I love you because….”
And by doing so, we tell that person, and we tell God as well!
Of course, the downside is that far too many of us wait for a holiday to say what we mean, both to those we love here, and the Maker who we love, all above, around, and in us.
One of my favorite preachers who unfortunately inspired me to become “God’s Troublemaker” years later, used to grin at the end of the main Easter service and say “OK folks! See most of you at Christmas!”
He was saying that as a joke, but then how many of us throw ourselves to the ground daily, and with truth in our voices rise up that we are HEARTILY sorry for what awful jerks we really are.
And how many of us, take just one day a year to break through too many bad assumptions to say “OMG! I just plain-out slap-dab LOVE you!”
Don’t be wasting time waiting for a card, or a special day, or an event, or a husband, or a wife, or a Significant Whomever to express the love in your heart! Remember that in your soul, the cup of love is as bottomless as an ice tea glass in a good southern restaurant! The more love you pour out… the more it gets refilled. Don’t waste a single drop!
Keep the faith!
I woke this morning in a nice Psalm 23 mood.
This is my favorite version of the song put to music. The hymn tune is “Resignation.” Even in the secret places of our hearts – even in the far-away dreams of our souls, and even in Sweard, Alaska! – there, too, are the green pastures, the still waters, and the mercy that will follow us all the days of our lives.
Keep the faith!
My Shepherd Will Supply My Need
based on Psalm 23
(Hymn tune: Resignation)
My Shepherd will supply my need:
Jehovah is His Name;
In pastures fresh He makes me feed,
Beside the living stream.
He brings my wandering spirit back
When I forsake His ways,
And leads me, for His mercy’s sake,
In paths of truth and grace. 2. When I walk through the shades of death,
Thy presence is my stay;
A word of Thy supporting breath
Drives all my fears away.
Thy hand, in sight of all my foes,
Doth still my table spread;
My cup with blessings overflows,
Thine oil anoints my head.
3. The sure provisions of my God
Attend me all my days;
O may Thy house be my abode,
And all my work be praise!
There would I find a settled rest,
While others go and come;
No more a stranger, nor a guest,
But like a child at home.
Tags: Bells, Cello, Psalm 23, Resignation, Watts
