Thursday, August 26, 2021
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray with Psalm 90 whose selected verses for today present three brilliant images for our prayer.
The image of an eternal God, who spins time like the threads of a dream:
You turn us back to the dust and say,
Psalm 90: 3-5
“Go back, O child of earth.”
For a thousand years in your sight
are like yesterday when it is past
and like a watch in the night.
You sweep us away like a dream;
we fade away suddenly like the grass.
The image of us, ordering our days on the great abacus of Grace:
So teach us to number our days aright
Psalm 90:12-13
that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.
Return, O Lord;
how long will you tarry?
The image of God, each morning answering our prayer, and we weaving that delicate gift, like fine lace, into the handiwork of our lives
Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
Psalm 90:14,17
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
And may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours;
prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper our fragile handiwork!
These images converge to remind us that time, from our perspective, is brief. But, with God, there is no “time”. God has breathed us forth, a song without end, into an eternal melody of love and joy.
The psalmist prays to honor that indescribable gift of life by making something beautiful of it in the time allotted.
We pray for that too, and are invited to reflect on Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians in our first reading. This prayer captures what Paul believes to be something beautiful for God:
Now may God our Creator, and our Lord Jesus
1 Thessalonians: 3:11-13
direct our way to you,
and may the Lord make you increase
and abound in love for one another and for all,
just as we have for you,
so as to strengthen your hearts,
to be blameless in holiness before our God and Creator
at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. Amen.
Prose: Something Beautiful for God – Mother Teresa
What I can do, you cannot.
What you can do, I cannot.
But together we can do
something beautiful for God.
Yes, you must live life beautifully
and not allow the spirit of the world
that makes gods out of power, riches, and pleasure
make you to forget that
you have been created for greater things
– to love and to be loved.
Music: Psalm 90 – Marty Goetz
Lavish Mercy 