Daily Office - Discovering the Rhythm of Sabbath Pt. 4*

1) Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
 
2) Scripture Reading—John 15:4-6
            “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
            “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”
 
3) Devotional
When we are busier than what God requires, we do violence to ourselves:      
There is a pervasive form of contemporary violence . . . activism and overwork. The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to violence . . . It kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.”
—Thomas Merton

And in doing violence to ourselves, we are unable to love others in and through the love of Christ.
 
 
4) Question to Consider
How might you be busier than God requires?  Are there other "vines" other than the True Vine that you are connected to?

5) Prayer
Father, I know how often I am carried away by too many concerns and demands and projects.  I have felt the violence to my soul.  Deliver me from this whirlwind around me and in me.  Heal my tired, weary spirit, allowing the wisdom that comes from rest in you to flow deep within me.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)

* from "Begin the Journey from the Daily Office" by Pete Scazzero

Daily Office - Discovering the Rhythm of Sabbath Pt. 3*

1) Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)

2) Scripture Reading—1 Kings 19:11-12
The Lord said “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake, came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

3) Devotional
When God appeared to Elijah after his flight from Jezebel and suicidal depression, he told him to stand and wait for the presence of the Lord to pass by. God did not appear in the ways he had showed up in the past. God was not in the wind (as with Job), an earthquake (as in Mount Sinai with the giving of the Ten Commandments), or fire (as in the burning bush with Moses). God finally revealed himself to Elijah in “a sound of sheer silence.” (See 1 Kings 19:12). The translation of God coming “in a still, small voice” does not capture the original Hebrew but what could the translators do? How do you hear silence?

The silence after the chaos, for Elijah and for us, is full of the presence of God. God speaks to Elijah out of the silence.

God invites you, too, to stand and wait like Elijah. Why? He also wants to speak to you out of the “sound of sheer silence.”

4) Question to Consider
When can you set aside some time for extended, uninterrupted silence to hear God?  Will you do that today?

5) Prayer
LORD, you know how difficult it is for me to be in silence before you. It feels, at times, almost impossible with the demands and noise all around me. I invite you to lead me to a quiet, silent place before you, to a place where I can hear you as Elijah did. In Jesus’ name, amen.

* from "Begin the Journey with The Daily Office" by Pete Scazzero