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The Forward Day by Day Meditation for July 19, 2021
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!
MONDAY, July 19 Macrina of Caesarea
Psalm 41:9 Even my best friend, whom I trusted, who broke bread with me, has lifted up his heel and turned against me.
David plays the lyre for Saul whenever the evil spirit torments him, and for a while, this gives Saul peace. In fact, only a few short chapters before today’s reading, it is noted that Saul loves David greatly, and he is so close to Saul’s family that Saul’s son Jonathan loves him as his own soul.
Today, however, Saul is out to kill David. He stumbles into the dark cave where David and his men are hiding, and in Saul’s most vulnerable moment, David chooses to have mercy on him. David cuts Saul’s garment to prove how easy it would have been to kill him, but even this act causes feelings of repentance.
Jesus, too, is betrayed by a close friend, a man with whom Jesus had broken bread.
It’s painful to be betrayed by someone close to us, but we are not alone. We’ve been given examples of how to show mercy in spite of our pain.
MOVING FORWARD: When you are betrayed, do you show mercy or anger? How can you act more like David in these situations?
PRAY for the Diocese of Dornakal (India)
Today the Church remembers Macrina, Monastic and Teacher, 379.
Ps 41, 52 * 44 | 1 Samuel 24:1-22 | Acts 13:44-52 | Mark 4:1-20
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