Please Note

You are viewing the old version of the Forward Movement prayer site, which is no longer updated. It is possible that content may not reflect the latest updates, and may contain errors.

Daily Prayer: a resource of Forward Movement

The Forward Day by Day Meditation for May 16, 2022

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, you can log in to Disqus with your Facebook, Twitter, or Google account; just click "Login," or the appropriate logo below. Or, you can sign up for a Disqus account; just use the entry form below, or click the "D" logo to start the process. You can 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. You can also listen to the Forward Day by Day podcast anywhere you find podcasts!

Please note: you won't be able to use the Comment feature unless you enable Javascript in your browser. In general, your overall experience on the Daily Prayer site will be greatly enhanced if you enable Javascript.

MONDAY, May 16

Psalm 56:6 They band together; they lie in wait; they spy upon my footsteps; because they seek my life.

My older brother’s wife was a psychiatrist who did a great deal of work with Vietnam veterans suffering from PTSD. From her, I learned that the part of the brain that controls emotions is much faster than the analytical part of the brain. Our emotions commit us to action long before we even begin to understand that there might be choices.

One day she took a therapy group for a meditation walk across the park-like VA hospital grounds. As they quietly walked, attempting to meditate, she studied the group. None of them had known each other before the session, but they were spread out in perfect jungle patrol formation. In such a formation, the spacing decreases the chance that an initial attack will hit everyone and enables the soldiers to cover each other as they fight to safety.

Long after their wartime service was over, these veterans were still walking through life expecting an enemy at any moment.

MOVING FORWARD: Read Ephesians 6:11-17 and consider how putting on the full armor of God prepares you to make spiritual instead of emotional decisions.

PRAY for the Diocese of Liverpool (England)

Ps 56, 57, [58] * 64, 65 | Leviticus 16:1-19 | 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 | Matthew 6:1-6,16-18