Who Needs Words?. Richard Littledale
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when you touch bread.
~ Anon ~
Time for God
Jesus sat down, and when his disciples had gathered round him, he began to address them.
~ Matthew 5:1 ~
Prayer for Reflection
I sit down, Lord,
to watch television,
to write a letter,
to mend clothes,
to rest my feet,
to listen to music,
to read the paper,
to shut my eyes and forget.
You sit down, Lord
to wait for me
to be ready for you.
Help me, among the other things
for which I sit,
to remember you
waiting for me.
Prayer on Today’s Theme
I think of those who will chase the clock today,
as if there were no tomorrow;
and those who will watch the clock today
as if the best were lost in yesterday.
And I think of children keen to speak
whose parents have no time to listen;
and troubled people with a story to tell
which nobody wants to hear;
and those who see time as the enemy
of their ambition,
their ability,
their complexion.
Teach us, God of eternity,
to be kind to time,
so that time can be kind to us.
Mary and Martha
Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things . . .
~ Luke 10:41 ~
You know me, Lord, so well.
I have seen the depressing sinkful of dishes, and heard the laughter from the sitting room
Where the TV is; and I have wondered how I got landed with all this to do. Again . . .
And sometimes, I’ve said so. Vociferously.
And I have done the dishes in a quiet house, and my mind has fled
To some happy or sad thought, but something real, something urgent
That the rhythmic swish of the dishcloth in my hand has set free.
And I have started, as the water from the still-running tap
Spills out of the bowl, or jumped when, in my hand,
The cup runs over.
You know me, Lord, so well.
Sometimes I am Martha, with my worthy agenda and my sense of being taken for granted;
My hectoring sense of all that needs done, that no one is doing, that drives me to ginger up and chivvy along.
The humdrum has to be got through first.
Then comes the good stuff . . .
And sometimes it is given to me to be Mary.
To be grasped by a moment when eternity strikes down into time,
And time must yield.
Then the humdrum is charged with meaning, and not just the meaning of its own flat demands.
For you, Christ, are here. Now.
Help me to grasp your presence. Now.
To ‘Be still, and know that I am God . . .’ Now.
Maybe the dishes can wait . . .
Prayer Activity
Sit quietly, and look at your surroundings. Just stop completely. Marvel at the fact that it’s all there. Accept it as it is. Then, in a way that seems appropriate to you – greet the presence of Christ in this reality.
‘I am among you as one who Serves’
~ Luke 22:27 ~
Prayer for Reflection
Lord Jesus,
all my intuition tells me that I, like Peter, don’t want you to wash my feet;
I would rather wash yours.
Like Martha, I would feel happier doing something for you;
than think of you doing something for me.
But how can I know how to serve
unless I have been served?
How can I know how to love
unless I have been shown love?
How can I share the Gospel
unless I have let you tell me what it is all about?
Prayer on Today’s Theme
A blessing today on the servants.
A blessing on those who cook and clean, and clear up, and change babies, and wash clothes, and make tea, and sing whiles.
A blessing on those who tend ungrateful relatives, and listen to bores,
and re-mend what has been torn again, and repeat the wisdom
which one day their children will remember and cherish.
A blessing today on all your domestic servants, Lord, who go down on their knees in the company of Jesus.
Bless to me the thing
on which is set my mind,
bless to me the thing
on which is set my love,
bless to me the thing
on which is set my hope;
O thou King of kings,
bless thou to me mine eye.
~ Gaelic Traditional ~
Women around Jesus
Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him.
~ Matthew 27:55 ~
Lord Jesus, when you walked the earth you didn’t just call men;
you called women too and encouraged them to follow and learn from you.
Let us ponder for a moment on these women:
women who followed and provided for you.
They were fortunate, given an unusual opportunity to leave their homes and follow their Messiah, to walk and talk with you.
You made them the centre of attention, Jew or Gentile,
you healed them, had compassion for them,