""Holy One, may I have the grace to pray and meditate on behalf of my community of faith. May we learn patience, compassion, tolerance, empathy and gentleness. May we abstain from anger, anxiety, compulsive behaviour, discouragement, self-centeredness, greed, and pride. May we know and follow Jesus more closely, seeking justice, loving kindness and walking humbly."
Deuteronomy 32:1-7
Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak;
let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
2 May my teaching drop like the rain,
my speech condense like the dew;
like gentle rain on grass,
like showers on new growth.
3 For I will proclaim the name of the Lord;
ascribe greatness to our God!
4 The Rock, his work is perfect,
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God, without deceit,
just and upright is he;
5 yet his degenerate children have dealt falsely with him,*
a perverse and crooked generation.
6 Do you thus repay the Lord,
O foolish and senseless people?
Is not he your father, who created you,
who made you and established you?
7 Remember the days of old,
consider the years long past;
ask your father, and he will inform you;
your elders, and they will tell you.
1) "...may my teaching drop like rain;" "... speech condense like the dew;" "..gentle rain on grass;" "...showers on growth;" "...ascribe greatness to God!" "...perfect... just... upright;" "...degenerate children;" "dealt falsely with him;" "...a perverse and crooked generation;" "...O foolish and senseless people;" "...he... created you... made you... established you;"
2) "Degenerate children" who "dealt falsely," "a perverse and crooked generation," a "foolish and senseless people" resonates deeply with me today as violence breaks out around the world. More terrorist attacks in Europe, the USA bombing Syria at an outrageous expense, North Korea, I've heard, has declared war with the USA. "O foolish and senseless people!!!" I'm not feeling the empathy the author of this passage is feeling, though I prefer the author's approach. The author writes, "may my teachings drop like the rain... like showers on new growth." I want words to thunder and crash, "Perverse and crooked generation, stop this!" "Foolish and senseless people, put the weapons down!" But I expect letting "speech condense like the dew," would be more effective. Its hard to escape the dew in the early morning. It gets in and on and saturates everything. There is little way to guard from it. It just appears literally out of thin air. It doesn't come from any particular source and there is no denying it. But it is slow, and comes at its own appointed time, once a day, and only in certain seasons.
3) What is the invitation in all this? to pay attention to the dew. I do not need to be the source, it is already out there. Kind and gentle speech is in the world, I can add kind and gentle words to it.
"Holy One, let you words condense on us like so much dew, like gentle rain on grass. May we trust that you create, you made, you established and you will maintain and renew. May we consider the years long past and trust in your abiding provision."
Breathprayer: "Teaching... like gentle rain on grass."
Dear Rev David. This is the teaching, Jesus' teaching, I can really learn from. Like gentle, misty rain seemingly permeating through to your bones, His teaching also soaks right through too when we are open to it. Now, when I feel the gentle rain I will think of His teachings and open my heart more to them. Walking through the rain is much better than cramming from a book.
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