Varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 

I Cor. 12: 4-7

Varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 

I Cor. 12: 4-7

8 January ~ Epiphany ~ Companions matter

With whom are you traveling?  With whom are you associating?  With whom are you spending your time?  It matters.  Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked.  Happy are they who do not walk with those who do nothing but gripe and complain.  Happy are they who do not linger with "energy vampires"(hat-tip to Jon Gordon for that term).  Keep your positive energy, keep your spirits high.  The journey is long, the pilgrimage to see the Lord is also best spent if you allow God to be with you along the way.  Happy are we if we keep counsel with the good, if we plant ourselves by streams of living water, if we allow good fruit to be produced in our lives.  Prosperity and happiness, true prosperity and true happiness will be with us if we stick to the good.

Psalm 1

1Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of

the wicked, *

nor lingered in the way of sinners,

nor sat in the seats of the scornful!

2Their delight is in the law of the LORD, *

and they meditate on his law day and night.

3They are like trees planted by streams of water,

bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; *

everything they do shall prosper.

Glorify the Lord!

Canticle 12 A Song of Creation Song of the Three Young Men, 35-65
Benedicite, omnia opera Domini

Invocation

Glorify the Lord, all you works of the Lord,*
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

In the firmament of his power, glorify the Lord,*
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

I The Cosmic Order

Glorify the Lord, you angels and all powers of the Lord,*
O heavens and all waters above the heavens.

Sun and moon and stars of the sky, glorify the Lord,*
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, every shower of rain and fall of dew,*
all winds and fire and heat.

Winter and Summer, glorify the Lord,*
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O chill and cold,*
drops of dew and flakes of snow.

Frost and cold, ice and sleet, glorify the Lord,*
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O nights and days,*
O shining light and enfolding dark.

Storm clouds and thunderbolts, glorify the Lord,*
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

II The Earth and its Creatures

Let the earth glorify the Lord,*
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O mountains and hills,
and all that grows upon the earth,*
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O springs of water, seas, and streams,*
O whales and all that move in the waters.

All birds of the air, glorify the Lord,*
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O beasts of the wild,*
and all you flocks and herds.

O men and women everywhere, glorify the Lord,*
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

III The People of God

Let the people of God glorify the Lord,*
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O priests and servants of the Lord,*
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O spirits and souls of the righteous,*
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

You that are holy and humble of heart, glorify the Lord,*
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Doxology

Let us glorify the Lord: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;*
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

In the firmament of his power, glorify the Lord,*
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Be praised, my Lord! ~ Feast of St. Francis

"Be praised, my Lord, through all Your creatures,
especially through my lord Brother Sun,
who brings the day; and You give light through him.
And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor!
Of You, Most High, he bears the likeness..."

~Saint Francis of Assisi!

Pleiades and Orion, Amos 5:8

Seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning, and darkens the day into night; who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the surface of the earth: The Lord is his name.


Amos 5:8


Some people find the Bible to be a boring book, it can seem so old (and odd), it can seem to be addressing things of a bygone era that has not much relevance to today...on the other hand, I think that one of the real mistakes is to think that the Bible is entirely made up of one thing alone.  Have you read Amos recently?  Have you read Amos at all? I encourage you to take a look, and before you do, do a bit of background - heck, read the wikipedia page on Amos, or any brief introduction.  Even better, take a look at the VTS (Virginia Theological Seminary) "Bible Brief" on Amos, which you can find HERE.  Amos is an unlikely prophet, a "nonprofessional" prophet who has much to say about the political and social structures of his time.  He is willing to "call a spade a spade," in all sorts of ways.  Beyond all this, there is great beauty in this prophetic book of the Bible, as evidenced by the above quote.

Seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion, 

and turns deep darkness into the morning, and darkens the day into night; 

who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the surface of the earth: 

The Lord is his name.

It may sound old fashioned, it may sound crazy, but we would do well to pick up the Bible and read!  And, check out Amos!


In the name of Christ and the Lord who made the Pleades and Orion,


~The Rev. Peter M. Carey  

From where is my help to come, reflection on Psalm 121

from this morning's Daily Office of morning prayer

Psalm 121 Levavi oculos 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills; * from where is my help to come? 2 My help comes from the LORD, * the maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved * and he who watches over you will not fall asleep. 4 Behold, he who keeps watch over Israel * shall neither slumber nor sleep; 5 The LORD himself watches over you; * the LORD is your shade at your right hand, 6 So that the sun shall not strike you by day, * nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; * it is he who shall keep you safe. 8 The LORD shall watch over your going out and your coming in, * from this time forth for evermore.

The psalmist sings this song of goodness and mercy of God, from whom our help comes. Of course, we know that there are times when God's presence can seem less than present, when we long for God's embrace and cannot sense it. However, I believe that we must cultivate our attention to the ways that God is breaking in to our everyday world - and more than that, it is only us that perceive that God is breaking in, for he is already there! [of course] The psalmist wonders for a moment from where help will come, but in lifting ones eyes to the hills, the psalmist remembers God, and remembers that God has done good things, that God has been there on the journey and sings this song of praise and glory for the Lord who watches over us, who is the shade between us and the sun, and is the warmth that we feel at night.

In order to build this awareness, we need to build up our practice of turning to God, of remembering God's help and God's presence in our lives day to day. We are not alone in this universe, and this is not a cold planet flipping through the reaches of the solar system, this universe is charged with the Spirit of God, and God's handiwork is all around us. Cultivating awareness of the gifts that God has given to us, and cultivating mindfulness will allow us to embrace the psalmist's prayerful song.

The Lord shall watch over your

going out and your coming in,

from this time forth forevermore.

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

God's house of gladness, Psalm 122:1

I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord." Psalm 122:1

This short line from Psalm 122 is often used during Morning Prayer as an opening sentence, to bring the people to worship and to signal the start of the prayer service. I used it often when I was a chaplain at an Episcopal School, leading worship each day of the week to begin the day. To begin the day affirming that we are "glad," that we have a deep sense of gladness, of deep and rooted gratitude is a rich way to begin the day. Gladness, I suppose, is something like happiness, but it is less fleeting, richer, and deeper. It is common, these days, to tend toward the quick fix, the breezy statement, and the shallow. However, I believe that the richness of the Christian tradition offers us a depth and a rootedness that is sorely needed in our time.

The Psalm has this wonderful affirmation, this nearly-imperative statement of "let us go to the house of the Lord" which offers us gladness, and is an enthusiastic call to us, an invitation to come and see and to taste and see what the Lord has done and has given. Of course, we don't need to go to any particular "house" to go to God, for God is with us at all times, and is nearer to our heart than we can imagine, and knows us inside and out. While we don't need to go anywhere to be with God, the image of God's house, points us to God's Kingdom, to the way of life that God calls us to live, the "place" that God has prepared for us, where we experience gladness of heart and mind and soul. We don't need to go on a pilgrimage across the world (though that is a wonderful thing to do), we don't even need to leave the chair where we are sitting. The gladness is there for us, is here for us.

"I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord!"

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey