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!
Mark 6:1-13. And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them.
My field education rector preached on this passage a year ago, and I was spellbound by his ending. He asked, “If Jesus came to All Saints, would he be able to do deeds of power?” Then the rector got even more personal, asking, “If Jesus came to you, would he be able to deeds of power?”
Oh, how I hope so. I’m not sure how to have the faith that allows Jesus to perform deeds of power, but I can see what kind of behavior does. It is hopeful, brave actions that seem to open the way for Jesus to work; and it is arrogant, fear-based behavior that seems to block the way.
Lord, teach us not to fear the change you bring. Teach us to reach out to touch your garment.
Tuesday's meditation incorrectly attributed the quote "There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us" to Nelson Mandela. Mandela was quoting Marianne Williamson from her book Return to Love. We apologize for this oversight.
PRAY for the Diocese of Peterborough (Canterbury, England)
Today the Church remembers William Reed Huntington, Priest, 1909.
Ps 55 * 138, 139:1-17(18-23); 2 Samuel 1:1-16; Acts 15:22-35