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Mid-Week Devotion – Wednesday, 22Nd April 2020 [UCA Congregations of AML, Drysdale, Lara, Portarlington, & St

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Mid-Week Devotion – Wednesday, 22Nd April 2020 [UCA Congregations of AML, Drysdale, Lara, Portarlington, & St Mid-Week Devotion – Wednesday, 22nd April 2020 [UCA congregations of AML, Drysdale, Lara, Portarlington, & St. Leonards] Welcome/Greetings Opening Prayer Jesus said: Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.’ With thankful hearts and minds we praise your holy name o God. Amen. Text: Psalm 116: 1-4, 12-19 (The Message Version) I love GOD because he listened to me, listened as I begged for mercy. He listened so intently as I laid out my case before him. Death stared me in the face, hell was hard on my heels. Up against it, I didn’t know which way to turn; then I called out to GOD for help: “Please, GOD!” I cried out. “Save my life!” What can I give back to GOD for the blessings he’s poured out on me? I’ll lift high the cup of salvation—a toast to GOD! I’ll pray in the name of GOD; I’ll complete what I promised GOD I’d do, and I’ll do it together with his people. When they arrive at the gates of death, GOD welcomes those who love him. Oh, GOD, here I am, your servant, your faithful servant: set me free for your service! I’m ready to offer the thanksgiving sacrifice and pray in the name of GOD. I’ll complete what I promised GOD I’d do, and I’ll do it in company with his people, In the place of worship, in GOD’s house, in Jerusalem, GOD’s city. Hallelujah! Reflection Howard Wallace suggests that Psalm 116 begins with praising the Lord, then naming the troubles experienced by the psalmist and ends with praise and thanksgiving. The Psalmist is experiencing a near death situation. Death is referred to as a time and space of anguish and distress and life is a deep struggle either through illness, social segregation, or a challenge to faith. It is the absence of the blessings of the Lord. What is experienced and then acknowledged by the Psalmist (as an individual) has also experienced and acknowledged by his people and community: to praise the Lord, to name our struggles and suffering, and to give thanks to the Lord. The Psalm ends with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord. Poems by Rumi I died as a mineral and became a plant I died as a plant and rose to animal I died as animal and I was man Why should I fear? When was I less by dying? Yet once more I shall die as man, to soar With angels bless’d; but even from angelhood I must pass on: all except God doth perish. When I have sacrificed my angel-soar, I shall become what no mind e’er conceived. Oh, let me not exist! For non-existence Proclaims in organ tones, Him we shall return. Rumi Christian, Jew, Muslim, Shaman, Zoroastrian, Stone, Mountain, River, each has a secret way of being with the mystery, unique and not to be judged. Rumi This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honourably. He may be clearing you out For some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond. The image of a 97-year-old who survived the Coronavirus. Meditation: Take a moment to reflect on how it might have felt for this 97year old woman and her family, and also the medical staff and volunteers, when she was released from hospital after she was successfully treated for the coronavirus. The Parable of Trees . found amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls ‘I will praise you, Oh Lord, for you Have put me by a source of stream on the dry ground, by the babbling springs on the parched land, by the waters that irrigate Your luxuriant garden – a grove of pine together with fir and box - which you plant for Your glory. These are the Trees of Life, set beside a secret spring, concealed among all the Well-Watered Trees. One day the Trees of Life will put forth a shoot which will become the Everlasting Plant, for they take root Before they grow and extend their roots towards the stream. And the Plant will open its stem to the living Waters; it will become an everlasting source (of blessing). All the wild creatures will graze among its stem; all the birds will nest in its broughs. But now all the Well-Watered Trees tower over it, for they grow as soon as they are planted; but their roots do not extend towards the stream. And the trees that will one day put forth the Holy shoot of the Plant of truth – These trees are hidden away; Their secret is sealed, it is not valued, it is not known.’ Prayer: Freed O Christ, you take upon yourself all our burdens so that, freed of all that weighs us down, we can constantly begin anew to walk, with lightened step from worry towards trusting, from the shadows towards the clear flowing waters, from our own will towards the vision of the coming Kingdom. And then we know, though we hardly dared hope so, that you offer to make every human being a reflection of your face. Amen. [By Brother Roger – Famous Prayers: A Treasury of Christian Prayers through the Centuries compiled by Veronica Zundel] Blessing Acknowledgment: • Psalm 116: 1-4, 12-19 (The Message Version) • Commentary on Psalms by Howard Wallace online resources • Google image: 97year old woman who was cure of coronavirus • The Parable of Trees . found amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls • Poems from Rumi’s collection – Rumi was a mystic and Sufi poet Like other mystic and Sufi poets of Persian literature, Rumi's poetry speaks of love which infuses the world. Rumi's teachings also express the tenets summarized in the Quranic verse which Shams-e Tabrizi cited as the essence of prophetic guidance: "Know that ‘There is no god but He,’ and ask forgiveness for your sin" (Q. 47:19). In the interpretation attributed to Shams, the first part of the verse commands the humanity to seek knowledge of tawhid (oneness of God), while the second instructs them to negate their own existence. In Rumi's terms, tawhid is lived most fully through love, with the connection being made explicit in his verse that describes love as "that flame which, when it blazes up, burns away everything except the Everlasting Beloved."[55] Rumi's longing and desire to attain this ideal is evident in the following poem from his book the Masnavi: re the first poem above “I died as a mineral…” • Prepared by Rev Sani Vaeluaga & Rev Temukisa Amituana’i-Vaeluaga .
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