The Forward Day by Day Archives
We've published links to the last few weeks' Forward Day by Day Meditations below. You can search for past meditations (from June 2012 and later), and filter them by keyword if you wish, using the search form.
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MONDAY, November 30 Saint Andrew
Some of the most profound experiences I have had of God have been in class discussions or the words of medieval mystics or sitting by hospital beds. But when I try to imagine the presence of God, these aren’t the moments that come to my mind.The truly bre....
- Here we are, crossing the threshold of Advent—a season designated for holy waiting. We mark the time until Jesus’ birth with study, prayer, fasting, and acts of charity. We keep awake, trimming the wicks in our lamps and making sure to bring extra oil.
....
SATURDAY, November 28 Kamehameha and Emma of Hawaii
As we slide toward Advent, the lectionary throws us into the midst of the apocalyptic. Much like our time in Revelation earlier this month, the imagery heralding the Coming of the Lord can be both frightening and strange.In our reading from Zechariah, we s....
- Frank Wade, a professor of preaching and an Episcopal priest, encourages his students to be as creative as possible in imagining the characters that we don’t get to hear in the Bible. What if there was a girl in another village who couldn’t quite manage the “yes” that Mary offered to God’s....
- From the Archives: February 24, 1956
The thought this week has been to develop the idea that true prayer starts with, and is always, the sense of being in God’s presence. First, we think about God. We think only of the Being of God. We quie....
WEDNESDAY, November 25 James Otis Sargent Huntington
Before I ever knew what a sycamore tree looked like, I could tell you that a wee little man climbed one and ended up having dinner with Jesus. You may have learned the story in the same song I did. And now, perhaps the song is stuck in your head as well!The....
TUESDAY, November 24 [Catherine, Barbara, and Margaret]
You are God’s temple.Read the words again—allow them to wash over you and soak into every fiber of your being. What do you feel? Relief? Disbelief? Pride? Other feelings—maybe several? Take a long, good look at yourself. Admire God’s Holy Spirit dw....
MONDAY, November 23 Clement of Rome
When the psalmist puts Israel’s sin in such explicit terms, it seems pretty silly that people would exchange their relationship with God to worship a baby bull. Usually when we find ourselves worshiping false idols, exchanging our own glory isn’t so obvious.SUNDAY, November 22 Last Sunday After Pentecost
When it comes down to it, none of us can be reduced to being either a sheep or a goat, though it sure is tempting to try.I believe that Jesus searches out every last sheep in each of our lives and communities, searching for us like lost coins, lighting lamp....
SATURDAY, November 21 [Mechthilde and Gertrude]
We’ve likely all heard awful sermons on this parable—and some of them were preached by me. These sermons share a complete failure to show any charity toward the Pharisee and an extreme lifting up of humility, almost to the point of idolatry.Humility is....
Everything I know about metallurgy was taught to me during Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood or some similar children’s show. The image that is clear in my mind is of a black iron cup full of boiling metal that looked like lava being poured from one container into another using a pair of giant tongs. ....THURSDAY, November 19 Elizabeth of Hungary
From the Archives: December 22, 1955Perhaps some of us have lost our hearts, our ability to love. But God can give them back to us. God plans that each one of us should be a complete person, with good health, intelligence, and wholesome emot....
WEDNESDAY, November 18 Hilda of Whitby
We don’t know for sure who the author of James was, though there is plenty of scholarly speculation. I suspect he wasn’t much fun to know. This person was an excellent arbiter of what was best for the burgeoning Christian community but probably a bit too righteous and preachy in day-to-day deali....TUESDAY, November 17 Hugh of Lincoln
The word gossip sounds strange: It conjures something Puritan and shame-ridden, or a nosey sitcom neighbor who operates the town grapevine. I doubt that any of us thinks of ourselves as a gossip, especially when gossip has become a 24-hour, multimedia facet of the entertainment industry. ....MONDAY, November 16 Margaret of Scotland
What vivid scenes this parable paints for us, and not the least of all of Hades—with chasms and torments and a spectators’ gallery. The rich man, probably feeling thirst for the first time ever, calls out to Father Abraham, begging the assistance of a beggar he scorned in life. When the rich man....SUNDAY, November 15 24 Pentecost
What do you think the breastplate of faith and love looks like?I imagine it hovering over us like the remembrance of a warm embrace from someone loved but seen no longer. Maybe the love of this breastplate makes us feel lighter, like the weight of a wrong ....
SATURDAY, November 14 The Consecration of Samuel Seabury
This verse from Luke sticks with me, always. I’m not sure where along the path of my childhood I first heard it, but the attendant conviction that a person could go directly from using the office printer for personal copies to devouring widows’ houses is branded on my consciousness. And there is....In ancient times, the first fruits of the fields were given as a tithe—the finest and choicest produce was delivered as a tribute to God and for the sustenance of those who served in the temple. If you garden, you know that the first harvest is usually the prettiest. By the end of the season, the ....THURSDAY, November 12 Charles of Simeon
From the Archives: December 5, 1955Before we learn to read, we begin to get ideas about God. Our parents and friends, our teachers and neighbors are painting little pictures in our minds.
One very h....
WEDNESDAY, November 11 Martin of Tours
A local homeless man froze to death on a cold winter night, huddled in a parking garage. Our community rose up and declared that this would not happen again. A group of churches and synagogues collaborated to provide dinners and a safe place to sleep for all who needed it.
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