Psalm 58
Saint Clare of Assisi Saving a Child from a Wolf
by Giovanni di Paolo, 1455
What you hold, may you [always] hold,
What you do, may you [always] do and never abandon.
But with swift pace, light step,
unswerving feet,
so that even you steps stir up no dust,
may you go forward
securely, joyfully, and swiftly,
on the path of prudent happiness,
not believing anything,
not agreeing with anything
that would dissuade you from this resolution
Saint Clare of Assisi Saving a Child from a Wolf
by Giovanni di Paolo, 1455
What you hold, may you [always] hold,
What you do, may you [always] do and never abandon.
But with swift pace, light step,
unswerving feet,
so that even you steps stir up no dust,
may you go forward
securely, joyfully, and swiftly,
on the path of prudent happiness,
not believing anything,
not agreeing with anything
that would dissuade you from this resolution
or that would place a stumbling block for you on the way,
so that you may offer your vows to the Most High
in the pursuit of that perfection
to which the Spirit of the Lord has called you.
----Saint Clare of Assisi
Rizpah had no control over her life
much less her sons,
who were put to death for the war crimes
of their father.
In her grief
she demanded dignity for
the bones of her loved ones.
She camped where the
bloodied bodies lay,
fighting off birds and wild beasts.
Finally the king noticed
and ordered the remains buried.1
A lonely woman in her own household
now desolate in a wilderness of woes,
she defended her sons in death
when she could not in life;
risking her own.
In this world where divisions
are constantly being drawn by man,
God reminds us that we are interconnected,
and our actions effect others--
concentric circle after concentric circle
in this pool of life.
so that you may offer your vows to the Most High
in the pursuit of that perfection
to which the Spirit of the Lord has called you.
----Saint Clare of Assisi
Rizpah had no control over her life
much less her sons,
who were put to death for the war crimes
of their father.
In her grief
she demanded dignity for
the bones of her loved ones.
She camped where the
bloodied bodies lay,
fighting off birds and wild beasts.
Finally the king noticed
and ordered the remains buried.1
A lonely woman in her own household
now desolate in a wilderness of woes,
she defended her sons in death
when she could not in life;
risking her own.
In this world where divisions
are constantly being drawn by man,
God reminds us that we are interconnected,
and our actions effect others--
concentric circle after concentric circle
in this pool of life.
Who holds the scales of justice?
Who weighs the balance between good and evil?
If God sees fit, he will strike down
a murderer like Paul and change his ways.
Then by grace show that same man
the presence of His Son's Resurrected Body.2
If God sees fit,
He can command Phillip to
go to one town, explain the scripture,
baptize that person,
and then, snatch Philip up
to place him in another town.3
If God sees fit he can speak through an ass4
while humans speak asinine things
and commit heinous crimes.
We look around this world
and see the amount of evil and destruction
and then it enters our our household.
Our whys get louder.
We question the what ifs
and what wrongs
of the past.
In Christ,
we begin to recognize the voice of God
and hold firm in the hope of Him.5
Though we can't see Him,
we know He sees us,6
whether from a distance or close-up
we still wonder.
Why we must suffer
unemployment, disease, death.
What's worse is in these times
we recognize how little control of our lives we have.
Our mind mocks us as the neighbors
did to Jesus on the cross.7
Jesus, who did all according to the Father;
who had the power to save others,
did not save himself.
But three days later,
He was resurrected
giving us a glimpse of the goodness
that is beyond the
miserable fraction of time
compared to an eternity in heavenly realms.
When I thought, "My foot was slipping",
Your steadfast love
O Lord held me up.
When the cares of my heart
were many,
Your consolations cheer my soul.8
We hold fast, oh Lord
to Your unlimited Love!
With Saint Clare
may we go forward
securely, joyfully, swiftly
on the path of prudent happiness,
not believing anything would
dissuade us from this resolution.
In the pure joy of Your Love
we bound and leap
to the pursuit of that perfection
which draws us ever closer to Your Light!
12 Samuel 21: 8 The king took the two sons of Rizpah daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite; 9 he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they impaled them on the mountain before the Lord. The seven of them perished together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, at the beginning of barley harvest. 10 Then Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it on a rock for herself, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell on them from the heavens; she did not allow the birds of the air to come on the bodies by day, or the wild animals by night. 11 When David was told what Rizpah daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done, 12 David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the people of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hung them up, on the day the Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa. 13 He brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan; and they gathered the bones of those who had been impaled. 14 They buried the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of his father Kish; they did all that the king commanded. After that, God heeded supplications for the land.
2 1 Corinthians 15:3 For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.
3 Acts 8:26 Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a wilderness road.) 27 So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to this chariot and join it." 30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" 31 He replied, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 32 Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this: "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth." 34 The eunuch asked Philip, "About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" 35 Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?" 37 38 He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
4 Numbers 22: 22 God's anger was kindled because he was going, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the road as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 The donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand; so the donkey turned off the road, and went into the field; andBalaam struck the donkey, to turn it back onto the road. 24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side. 25 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it scraped against the wall, and scraped Balaam's foot against the wall; so he struck it again. 26 Then the angel of the Lord went ahead, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam; and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. 28 Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and it said to Balaam, "What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?" 29 Balaam said to the donkey, "Because you have made a fool of me! I wish I had a sword in my hand! I would kill you right now!" 30 But the donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your donkey, which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I been in the habit of treating you this way?" And he said, "No." 31 Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed down, falling on his face. 32 The angel of the Lord said to him, "Why have you struck your donkey these three times? I have come out as an adversary, because your way is perverse before me. 33 The donkey saw me, and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let it live." 34 Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, "I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now therefore, if it is displeasing to you, I will return home."
5 Hebrews 3: 6 Christ, however, was faithful over God's house as a son, and we are his house if we hold firm the confidence and the pride that belong to hope. 7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, "Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, as on the day of testing in the wilderness,
6 Job 23:1 Then Job answered: 2 "Today also my complaint is bitter; his hand is heavy despite my groaning. 3 Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his dwelling! 4 I would lay my case before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. 5 I would learn what he would answer me, and understand what he would say to me. 6 Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No; but he would give heed to me. 7 There an upright person could reason with him, and I should be acquitted forever by my judge. 8 "If I go forward, he is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive him; 9 on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him; I turn to the right, but I cannot see him. 10 But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I shall come out like gold. 11 My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside. 12 I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured in my bosom the words of his mouth. 13 But he stands alone and who can dissuade him? What he desires, that he does.
7 Mark 15: 25 It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The inscription of the charge against him read, "The King of the Jews." 27 And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. e28 f29 Those who passed by derided g him, shaking their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!" 31 In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Messiah, h the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe." Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.
8 Psalm 94:17 If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. 18 When I thought, "My foot is slipping," your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. 19 When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.
TIP:
Enter the amount, and click "Tip" to submit!
Miguela Holt y Roybal
jlsathre
J.P. Hart
PeelingAnOrange
Brazen Princess
Oryoki Bowl
Salon.com
Comments
and our actions effect others--
concentric circle after concentric circle
in this pool of life."
Indeed, Anne. Indeed. This is one of your best. I have read it a dozen times and each time I find more meaning hidden in it. I am not sure, but I believe because it has happened to me, that at times when we are pressed the most we do our best work. We have to dig down for our best thoughts and intentions, if for no other reason than to avoid spiraling into the darkness and out of His light -- and ultimately in so doing we come close to the core that holds us together; to the values that anchor our reality. You are doing that. I am proud of you.
Monte
Monte, Your words of encouragement truly bless me. If I cannot dig deep in my times of trial then I am nothing if not a hypocrite! We put ourselves out there and then we are immediately tested aren't we?? And those tests come at us from every angle even(and more often than not) from our loved ones. But in Him if we do stand and hold fast we will perservere and be made stronger. Be Blessed!