Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of Easter Week: Year 1
Morning, Psalms 97 and 99; Evening, Psalm 115;
Micah 7:7 to 15; Acts 3:1 to 10 or 1st Corinthians 15:(29)30 to 41; John 15:1 to 11
“But as for me, I will look to the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.” (Micah 7:7)
So for the second day we read from yet another prophet the instruction to wait for the Lord our God. I don’t think we (in particular, Americans), wait very well. I don’t think we like the perceived “nothingness” of it. As I listen to the news on the television or even the commercials, there is a non-stop barrage of noise coming at me. There is no break. It is sometimes hard to fully digest what was just said, or offered, and to discern where one subject stopped, and the next began.
We don’t wait for each other in conversation either. Listening coaches will tell us not to be thinking about a “one-up” response while pretending to be listing to the speaker. Deep down, we don’t want to listen. Unfortunately, this practice of not listening will be made manifest in our diminishing relationship with God.
We have developed the bad habit of “noise now.” If who we are pretending to listen to, is not making noise, we will fill the gap with our own generated noise. We have been doing this with neighbors for so long the practice has unfortunately influenced our prayers. But Isaiah yesterday, and Micah today, instruct us to “wait” for the Lord. At the heart of waiting is patience. Patience is developed in the bosom where there should be care and concern for the speaker, be that speaker your child, your spouse, your parent, your brother or sister, your neighbor, or your God.
The care and concern in the bosom of patience is also the stuff of love. Waiting therefore, is indicative of the capacity we have to love God, and to love our fellow human beings, (in that order). To be able to wait is the demonstrated control we have to resist the non-stop barrage of noise. Remember that it is from nothingness that God created all that is. Let’s have small breaks between topics. Let’s wait with loving care for one another when in conversation. This loving care helps us to wait for one another, and more importantly, to wait for God. Two prophets can’t be wrong. Let us heed their words.
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine and Russia and our schools.
As we listen to what the Spirit of God 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
onewhoponders 