Pondering for Friday, January 27, 2023

Daily Office Readings for Friday of the 3^rd Week of Epiphany: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 40 and  54; Evening, Psalm 51;
Isaiah 50:1-11; Galatians. 3:15to 22; Mark 6:47to56

“The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.  Morning by morning he wakens— wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.”  (Isaiah 50:4)

I truly feel that the pastor-teacher gift is one that God has given to me.  However, I know that to teach one has to first know and do.  People who have taught me actually lived what they taught. I too have lived many of life’s experiences, the good and the bad.

As I do my Daily Office, my morning prayers, I get a sense of Isaiah’s words where he says, “Morning by morning he wakens— wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.” As I hear God I ponder what really speaks to me and then I share it as in teaching with this blog.

This daily practice is life changing. I have learned to respect the Sabbath now and look forward to my Sabbath reflective time.  This blog itself is another of many modifications in my life where God has, and is, acting in my life. I exercise daily, I have re-enrolled in piano class again and much more. I share all this as I use my life as a teaching tool and an example of how God is always with us, coaching us to be in union with God for the benefit of our communities.

Having the tongue of a teacher is fine but must be lived as well. If you are weary, I pray my words and the sharing of my life is sustaining for you. Even as I get older, God keeps me active. We should remember where we have been, but always look ahead to where we are going. Just as I teach, I also submit to being taught. We all need each other and God who wakens our ear to listen as those who are taught.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine.

 “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done” (Genesis 2:1 and 2). So, for this evening and tomorrow day my friends, Shabbat Shalom. 

What is Shabbat? Intro to the Jewish Sabbath – YouTube

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John