October 29, 2012
Year B
Psalms 41, 52,
44; Ezra 5:1-17; Revelation 11:1-14; Luke 11:14-26
Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is he who considers and dignifies the weak and the poor.
You are like a green olive tree in the house of the Lord.
Yes, Yes, Yes!
You guarded those who rebuilt your temple.
You will guard those who witness in your name.
Even more blessed, happy, fortunate, to be envied are those who hear your word and guard it with their lives!
Psalms 38,
119:25-48; Song of Songs 8:5-14; Revelation 8:1-13; Luke 10:17-24
Did anyone ever
tell you if you just prayed hard enough you would be healed? Did someone whisper
you must not have enough faith? Did your friends remind you how you should just
get over yourself? Did a doctor ever suggest it was all in your head? Did you
ever think God must be extraordinarily angry with you? Did you ever meet a “dark
night of the soul?”
Listen and watch. Then
start the video again, and listen with your eyes closed. Then listen one more
time and read the following as you listen:
25-32
I’m feeling terrible—I couldn’t feel
worse!
Get me on my feet again. You promised, remember?
When I told my story, you responded;
train me well in your deep wisdom.
Help me understand these things inside and out so I can ponder your
miracle-wonders.
My sad life’s dilapidated, a falling-down barn;
build me up again by your Word.
Barricade the road that goes Nowhere;
grace me with your clear revelation.
I choose the true road to Somewhere,
I post your road signs at every curve and corner.
I grasp and cling to whatever you tell me; God, don’t let me down!
I’ll run the course you lay out for me
if you’ll just show me how.
33-40
God, teach me lessons for living
so I can stay the course.
Give me insight so I can do what you tell me—
my whole life one long, obedient response.
Guide me down the road of your commandments;
I love traveling this freeway!
Give me a bent for your words of wisdom,
and not for piling up loot.
Divert my eyes from toys and trinkets,
invigorate me on the pilgrim way.
Affirm your promises to me—
promises made to all who fear you.
Deflect the harsh words of my critics—
but what you say is always so good.
See how hungry I am for your counsel;
preserve my life through your righteous ways!
41-48
Let your love, God, shape my life
with salvation, exactly as you promised;
Then I’ll be able to stand up to mockery
because I trusted your Word.
Don’t ever deprive me of truth, not ever—
your commandments are what I depend on.
Oh, I’ll guard with my life what you’ve revealed to me,
guard it now, guard it ever;
And I’ll stride freely through wide open spaces
as I look for your truth and your wisdom;
Then I’ll tell the world what I find,
speak out boldly in public, unembarrassed.
I cherish your commandments—oh, how I love them!—
relishing every fragment of your counsel.
Psalm 119:25-48 (MSG)
Then another Angel,
carrying a gold censer, came and stood at the Altar. He was given a great
quantity of incense so that he could offer up the prayers of all the holy
people of God on the Golden Altar before the Throne. Smoke billowed up from the
incense-laced prayers of the holy ones, rose before God from the hand of the
Angel.
Revelation 8:3-4
(NIV)
21 At
that very moment, Jesus overflowed with joy from the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise
you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you’ve hidden these things from
the wise and intelligent and shown them to babies. Indeed, Father, this brings
you happiness.22 My Father has handed all things over to me. No one knows who the Son
is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom
the Son wants to reveal him.”23 Turning to the disciples, he said privately, “Happy are the eyes that see what you see.24 I assure
you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see and hear what you hear,
but they didn’t.”Luke 10:21-24 (CEB)
Lord, let me walk
through the dark night of the soul, knowing the Light of the World, He who
flung the stars into space, who made the lesser light of the moon, will guide
me through the shadows and the dark places. I praise you that you have kept my
heart safe and quiet. Keep me malleable so I, like you, may be filled with love and the
Holy Spirit and sing your praise. So be it. Amen.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 Daily Readings from the Book of Common Prayer
(Revised) Year B
Psalms 26, 28, 36, 39
Song of Songs 5:2-6:3 (Substituted for the Apocryphal
Reading)
Revelation 7:9-17
Luke 10:1-16
When
I cannot stand it anymore, I retreat to sacred places. There, I lay before your
mercy seat. If I am so tired I cannot lift my hands, I raise my heart in thanks
for Him who teaches me to walk in Truth
When
my feet can no longer bring me, my heart leaps and jumps and skips to take me
to a place where I can worship my Strength and my Shield for the Lord is my
Salvation. He Redeems and is Merciful.
When
my tongue no longer forms syllables or words and my voice no longer creates
sound, my heart will shout for joy. It will sing my thanks for You. How
priceless is your Love for me.
When
my eyes no longer see, my heart will rush to the deepest seas and find You
there. My heart will soar above the highest mountains and find You there, for
You are Abundant and full of Light.
When
my body is so heavy, so stiff, no longer moves, my heart will take refuge and
fly in the shadow of your wings. Your Faithfulness is great, and You hear my
cry and bring me Hope
When
the darkness presses in and I am nothing but my pain, Christ comes to me. He whispers
to my heart. In my imperfection, my heart seeks Him who is perfection and He
can be found in Solitude.
When
I am at the end of my rope, the end of my self, the Holy Spirit groans for my
heavy heart. My heart’s desire is Christ alone. My heart climbs two steps
forward, one step back to a place where I can hear the angels sing
When
I have nothing but time stretching out before me, my heart finds a moment of
Spiritual Beauty where my soul is cleansed of darkness. Out of His Abundant
Salvation comes Spiritual Fullness.
When
I learn to be still, in the stillness my heart is healed, and I feel the
nearness of the Kingdom of God. My heart longs to walk in the Garden. For there,
the Hand that flung the stars in space will hold my heart.
When I cross over Jordan, the Hand that bore the nails for
all my sins will Heal my broken body. The Hand that stilled the waters, will
wipe away the last tears my eyes will ever shed.
Psalms 25, 9, 15
Song of Songs 4:1-5:1 (replacement for Apocryphal reading)
Revelation 7:1-8
Luke 9:51-62
What I learned today:
I have named my enemy: Chronic Pain. The one place agony cannot touch
is my soul (or heart) the place where Christ resides.
I can hide my soul from the pain by choosing to rejoice wholeheartedly rather than grumble and complain. Grousing and complaining will allow
the enemy through the gates.
I do not have to meet the pain. God takes care of my enemy. I can expect and be
full of confidence that God has it covered, so I can put down my sword.
He just expects me to trust and wait in anticipation. (Well, that
is not so easy now is it!! But wait, He tells me how…)
While I am waiting, my role is to be sure to keep my heart pliable and
teachable. I must not let pain - the enemy - harden my heart. I must not let
pain - the enemy - make me selfish and self-centered. I must not let pain – the
enemy – change my focus.
When I choose to worship God with all my heart and soul I am not focusing on
the pain.
When I choose to pay attention to the ways God is working in my life, I am not
paying attention to the changes pain is making in my body.
When I choose to remember and share what God is doing in my life today, I look outward,
not inward. I can choose the pen over the sword!
I pick up my pen and write to tell someone to look for God, not out
there somewhere, but right here in the midst of the pain. One can wade through
the stagnant places. One can muck through the grime. One can revisit the way it
was before the pain. One can bathe in the flowing fountain of Living Water. God
can wash one's soul, and let the blood of Jesus describe the past.
I can stay in the present knowing God sees me as beautiful. God
sees me as perfect and perfected. Because of Jesus, my walk is blameless. I may
enter the holy of holies. Because of the Holy Spirit I may dwell there, in the
high places, instead of leaping into a pit of despair.
I will choose to make a vow, and follow the oath even when it
hurts the worst, by speaking the Truth from my heart to yours. Live in The
Truth that allows one to tell abundantly of the joyful place where one lives
while God is out there, dealing with the enemy – pain.
Was I chosen to live in pain? Does it matter? The only flaw in me
is choosing to wallow in my pain. If I choose instead to let God worry about
the pain, He seals my heart.
I can talk and write from the abundance of His mercy. As Jesus
did, I cry out to God in my Gethsemane of pain, and I know that the cost is
paid. God will hear my cry. In His mercy, I can feel the touch of the Spirit
moving gently around my pain, honoring those who walk beside me. In His mercy,
he provides abundantly.
When I seek God in the pain, God provides protection. God provides
opportunities to sow the seed of righteousness. God provides a home away from
the isolation and selfishness. God provides hope and expectation. God provides protection.
God provides a wealth of ink for my pen.
The RSDSA would like to make you aware of a petition currently before the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that requests labeling changes for opioid analgesics (narcotic pain medications). Since many individuals with CRPS rely on opioids as part of their medication regimen, we wanted to bring this petition to your attention.
The petition, submitted by Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing (PROP), requests three specific changes to opioid analgesic labels:
1- That they no longer be prescribed for "moderate" noncancer pain, but only for "severe" noncancer pain
2- That the maximum allowable dosage per day be equivalent to 100 mg of morphine for noncancer pain
3- That this medication can only be used for a maximum duration of 90 DAYS.
What this petition appears to mandate is a "one size fits all" prescribing mentality which DOES NOT benefit the chronic pain patients in general and CRPS patients in particular.
The RSDSA has chosen to oppose the PROP petition on behalf of you, our members. On Wednesday, October 10th, The RSDSA sent this opposition letter to the FDA. Cick Here to read RSDSA letter .
For those of you who would like to send your own individual response regarding PROP to the FDA, we encourage you to stress the specific details that your medication enables you to do that without it you would be unable to do. We suggest you use the following language to keep the message clear: My name is _______. As a person who suffers with the chronic and yet incurable pain of CRPS, I ask the FDA to deny the PROP petition. I use opioids as prescribed by my physician allowing me to function better and partake in life in ways I would be unable to do without this prescribed care. To send your comments to the FDA click here. The category to use for your response is Individual Consumer.
Your immediate action to this issue will make a difference. To read the PROP petition,
You are like a green olive tree in the house of the Lord.
