Remaining In Zion: Advent Daybook, 7
Take a few deep breaths, settle your body, mind, and heart into a quiet space, and let’s begin with prayer.
Opening prayer: Heavenly Father, make me more like Jesus and more like the true self you’ve created as I savor your loving presence today. Please guide my thoughts and impressions with your Holy Spirit. Amen.
Look: Shema - Letters cut from the Koran, 2014, Meg Hitchcock - Source | h/t: Art & Theology
Deuteronomy 6:4ff.: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord.”
Listen: Mt. Zion, Cageless Birds, feat. Jonathan David Helser - Lyrics | Spotify | YouTube
Read: Psalm 20-21, 110, 116-117; Isaiah 4:2-6; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Luke 21:5-19
Excerpts:
"O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the child of your serving girl. You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, all you nations! Extol him, all you peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!"
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"On that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel. Whoever is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, once the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over its places of assembly a cloud by day and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night. Indeed, over all the glory there will be a canopy. It will serve as a pavilion, a shade by day from the heat and a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain."
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"For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
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“When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”
They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray, for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them.
“When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified, for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.”
- Psalm 116:16-117:2, Isaiah 4:2-6; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18; Luke 21:5-9 (NRSVUE)
Pray & Do: Selah pause
On Saturdays during Advent, we'll spend about 15 minutes practicing a devotional exercise known as an examen. The Examen is a spiritual discipline of prayer first modeled by St. Ignatius of Loyola. The prayer practice has remained a dynamic, deeply-meaningful way to develop our capacity to hear God and our hearts.
Start with silence. Take some time to be silent, without any noise or distraction, to pause and calmly think about the first few days of Lent. I’ve come to call this time a selah pause.
The Hebrew word selah (see-lah) is repeated throughout the Psalms. The definition of this word is probably a musical reference, calling for a break in the singing of the Psalm. The Amplified Bible (AMP) adds the explanatory phrase "pause, and calmly think of that!" each time the word selah shows up in the Psalms.
There’s no need to strive for profound insight during this time. Just be still. If you begin to sense thoughts or feelings bubbling up in the quiet, notice them without trying to analyze them. You might breathe a simple prayer each time you're tempted to become distracted. For example, when you feel distracted or anxious breathe in “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God” and exhale “have mercy on me the sinner.” Another option is to echo the psalmist: "Selah, pause and calmly think of that.”
After about 5 minutes of silence, pray through the questions listed here:
Ask God for light. I want to look at my week with God’s eyes, not merely my own.
Give thanks. The week I’ve just lived is a gift from God. I give thanks.
Review the week. I calmly think back on the week just completed, trusting the Holy Spirit to help me recall whatever’s helpful. I notice the places I felt most connected to the love of God and others.
Notice places you distanced yourself from God. I acknowledge what I’ve done or left undone that made it difficult for me to connect with the love of God and others. I pay special attention to areas I notice unresolved grief.
Look forward to the week to come. I ask God where I need help and a greater connection with love for the coming week. I ask for the grace to honestly bring my complaint, petition, and resolve to stay present to God in lament this Lent.
Trust God as your Heavenly Father to be present with you through Christ and by his Spirit. End your time with a simple prayer or chorus. Go about your day and into the weekend with peace.
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*Sunday Scripture readings are taken from Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary. Daily Scripture readings are taken from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and include both Morning and Evening Psalms (Year 1).