Daily Prayer: a resource of Forward Movement

The Forward Day by Day Meditation for March 4, 2017

We post a Forward Day by Day Meditation for every day of the year - and we invite you to consider them and talk about them here. If you'd like to comment, please register for an account at Facebook. By checking the "Post to Facebook" box when commenting, you'll be able to find and quickly link back to this page from your Facebook account. You can also find the past week's Meditations in the box at right (or below, for mobile users), or search for previous entries on the Archives page.

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SATURDAY, March 4

Psalm 42:1 As the deer longs for the water-brooks, so longs my soul for you, O God.

Between the deer and the flowing stream, there is longing; between the soul and God, there is longing. The longing about which the psalmist writes is more than just a want, need, or desire—it is focused around the deeper aspect of longing as remembrance. This kind of longing is not just the recollections of past events but also the embodiment of an ache that calls us forward, moving us toward refreshment and renewal, redemption and revival.

Longing is our ache for the Other, and we hear it in our hearts when “deep calls to deep.”

Most of us likely understand or have been told that Lent is a penitential season. We give something up, take on a new discipline, work to change our ways. None of this is wrong. But what if Lent is more than that? What if it is a season of longing and the real work of Lent is to help us feel the ache of separation and experience the longing for reunion?

MOVING FORWARD: Take an extra bottle of water with you the next time you leave your house. Offer it (and a smile, kind word, or prayer) to someone who may need refreshment.

PRAY for the Diocese of Mara (Tanzania)

Ps 30, 32 * 42, 43 | Deuteronomy 7:17-26 | Titus 3:1-15 | John 1:43-51