General Chat

Thank you Cynthia and John.

Emma :-)

Thank you for that prayer about St Mary this morning, Cynthia.

Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them mine enemies

(Psalm 139 verses 21-22)

I am finding these verses (which traditionally are reflected on during a Celtic week of prayer) to be exceptionally difficult. They seem to fly in the face of what Jesus taught - love thine enemies, or God won't love you basically.

I think it is an example of how much more advanced Christian worship became after Jesus. Jesus made finding the entrance to heaven that much easier than it was in the days of his ancestor King David. But very much more is expected of us today, particularly as regards agape (that selfless love that demands and expects nothing in return). :-)

Good morning friends. I see that some interesting discussions were going on well into the night! :-)




As the Christian faith embraces different denominations - according to culture or preference - I thought it would be good to look at prayers from some of the traditions other than Anglican and Methodist.

The prayer for today is one of the most famous prayers used by our brothers and sisters of the Roman Catholic church: it is the foundation to the Rosary, and is based on two passages from St. Luke's gospel.



The Hail Mary Prayer

Hail Mary, full of grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners,
Now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.


With those words echoing in my mind, I wish you all a very good day Cx :-)

Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God; depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.

For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.

Psalm 139 vs 19-20. The wicked here mentioned by King David are those who do not mention God in any fearful manner, those that call to God but not in any reverent way, those who are careless about their eternal souls.

Yes I see the connection John, thank you.

Psalm 139 verses 17-18 (New Living Translation)........ slightly different.

17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!

18 I cannot even count them
they outnumber the grains of sand!
and when I wake up,
you are still with me!!

There is a link,kandj. This psalm 139 has 24 verses.

And it is meditated and prayed over. Psalm 139 ties the 12 portions (morning and evening of every day but Sunday) together. Each day corresponds to a theme valued by the Iona Community. The structure of each day is the same, but the prayers and focus are different.

Each day starts with a time of quiet meditation, thanksgiving, the Lord's Prayer, and a reading.

A Celtic blessing and Psalm......... a joyful support for today.

Thank you Cynthia and John.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.

Psalm 139:17-18

New International Version (NIV)

Love that Celtic Blessing thank you.

Emma :-)

Good morning my friends :-)

Something brief for today......


May you have -
Walls for the wind
And a roof for the rain,
And drinks bedside the fire
Laughter to cheer you
And those you love near you,
And all that your heart may desire

- Celtic Blessing


Hope everyone is okay........Cx :-)

Amen to that Emma

I came across this awhile back and as with what has and
is going on in the world thought I would share it with you all.

Lord God, your own Son was delivered into the hands of the
wicked, yet he prayed for his persecutors and overcame hatred
with the blood of the Cross. Relive the sufferings of the innocent
victims of war, grant them peace of mind, healing of body, and
a renewed faith in your protection and care.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.

Emma :-)

Wow, Cynthia. Those are tough verses to read. Particularly the last.

One old sage said to me that there are only two things certain in this life - death and the judgment. We can avoid neither eventually.

I think I look forward to both (though worried about the process of dying, and hope it is not my lot to have debilitating or mind wasting final illnesses). But so important to keep loving, keep helping and keep praying and reading to make that election as sure as possible. :-)

Good morning everyone - very quiet here at the moment. :-(



A thought for today......


Is It Any Wonder?

Is it any wonder
That the world is filled with pain,
When man sets aside its beauty,
For his own material gain?

Is it any wonder
That lovers' hearts grow dim,
When they do not hold in honor,
The love that's found within?

Is it any wonder
That the homeless often fail,
When they're forced out of house and home
To seek another trail?

Is it any wonder
That nature falls to ruin and rubble,
Because we drain it thoughtlessly,
Allowing it to crumble?

Is it any wonder
That children go astray,
Because we did not take the time,
To show them the proper way?

Is it any wonder
That evil's strong and bold,
When we can't see any goodness,
And we let our hearts grow cold?

Is it any wonder
Racism thrives, my friend,
When we cannot see the person,
Just the color of his skin?

Is it any wonder
That friendships die and fade,
When we forget the reasons,
Why they first were made?

Is it any wonder
Our world has been polluted,
When we allow our industries,
To strip it and permute it?

Is it any wonder
There's so much grief and sorrow,
That we don't even seem to care,
What will take place tomorrow?

Is it any wonder
We see no value in our brothers,
And we hold ourselves too far above,
The many needs of others?

Is it any wonder
Our world is like it is,
When all we do is grumble,
And no action do we give?

Is it any wonder
We wait in fear of Judgement Day,
When we do the things we do,
Then forget the way to pray?

~ Author Unknown ~


I do hope everyone is okay....... Cx :-)

Cynthia


<3

Good morning :-)

That was very interesting indeed kandj - I once heard a bishop say that he didn't believe in 'co'-incidences, he believed in 'God'-instances......I think I know what he means :-)


For today:


God Gave Man The Earth

The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof ...

He gave it to man as a gift of His love

So all men might live as He hoped they would,

Sharing together all things that were good.

But man only destroyed the good earth of God.

He polluted the air and ravished the sod,

He cut down the forests with ruthless disdain.

And the earth's natural beauty he perverted for gain.

And now in an age filled with violent dissent,

Man finds he's imprisoned in his own discontent.

He has taken the earth that God placed in his care

And built his own hell without being aware

That the future we face was fashioned by man,

Who in ignorance resisted God's beautiful plan;

And what God created to be paradise

Became by man's lust and perversion and vice.

A cauldron of chaos in a fog of pollution

To which man can find no cure or solution.

How far man will go to complete his destruction

Is beyond a computer's robot deduction.

~ Helen Steiner Rice ~


Wishing you all, a very good day Cx :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcEZvzsNpEg

One of my very favourite hymns - Charles Homer Gabriel.

John, yet another toe-tapping hymn, thank you for the link.

Cynthia, all new words today. Thank you for your ongoing postings.

Earlier this morning I had previously read psalm 40. Verse 2 says:-

He lifted me out of the pit of despair,
out of the mud and the mire,
He set my feet on solid ground
and steadied me as I walked along................. coincidence or what??

Good morning - kandj, we actually sang that hymn on Sunday. I think it was chosen because of the licensing of our two new Lay Readers :-)


I like Sydney Carter's hymns too John :-)



Something a little bit different for today....rather thought provoking :


THE PIT

A man fell into a pit and couldn't get himself out.

A SUBJECTIVE person came along and said:
"I feel for you, down there."


An OBJECTIVE person came along and said:
"It's logical that someone would fall down there."


A PHARISEE said:
"Only bad people fall into a pit."


A MATHEMATICIAN calculated
how he fell into the pit.


A NEWS REPORTER wanted
the exclusive story on his pit.


A FUNDAMENTALIST said:
"You deserve your pit."


An I.R.S. AGENT asked
if he was paying taxes on the pit.


A SELF-PITYING person said:
"You haven't seen anything until you've seen MY PIT!"


A CHARISMATIC said:
"Just confess that you're not in a pit."


An OPTIMIST said:
"Things could be worse."


A PESSIMIST said:
"Things will get worse!"


JESUS, seeing the man,
Took him by the hand, and
LIFTED HIM OUT of the pit!


~ Author Unknown ~



Have a good day everyone...Cx :-)

kandj

I love that song/hymn too. Needs to be sung at a brisk pace. Very popular amongst younger people.

Written by Sydney Carter, who died fairly recently and was quite a character. His nickname was Polly (no idea why) but he wrote some very catchy tunes. Adapted from an old Shaker hymn, Lord of the Dance was probably most famous:

http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/s/sydney_carter/lord_of_the_dance.html