Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of Proper 29: Year 1
Morning, Psalm 119:145 to 176; Evening, Psalm 128, 129 and 130;
Obadiah 15 to 21; 1st Peter 2:1 to 10; Matthew 19:23 to 30:
“Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1st Peter 2:4 and 5)
I don’t agree with all of Peter’s thinking but the words from this passage I really like. We are living spiritual stones. Peter shows a difference between those of us who believe in God and God’s love as made manifest through our Lord Jesus, and those who don’t. The latter tend to lose sight of the sacredness of human life. As believers we are chosen and precious in God’s sight. It seems the more we reflect and ponder about the mystery and majesty of God, and being thankful for it, the more we are rejected by the ever diminishing norms of our mortal society.
As I write this we are reeling from yet another senseless mass killing. This time it took place at a Christmas Parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Why? Why do people do evil deeds? What didn’t happen in such a person’s life that would have made him be a better person? However, let me say that bad things happening to a person, or good things not happening, is no excuse for bad behavior.
Time spent in prayer and giving Thanks to God for the fact that we exist, and the lives of those we love, will go up as spiritual sacrifices to God and are acceptable through our Savior Jesus Christ. This Thanksgiving, those of us who believe in the love of God and live a life of love, have so much to be thankful for. So do those who don’t believe but they don’t know it.
I am so sorry for the untimely deaths and lives taken through evil acts. My heart and prayers go out to the families and loved ones who are grieved by sinful acts. All of us have a responsibility to watch each other. There is no one out there who is not our business. The path to a holy priesthood is paved through accountability. This accountability is true for us and for our neighbors. We are in fact our brother’s and sister’s keeper. We must hold ourselves in prayer asking God for hints at how we can improve the way we live together and value life, all life.
As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love, to serve, and to teach, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
onewhoponders 