May 7, 2023
Fill my mind with elevation and grandeur at
the thought of a Being
with whom one day is as a thousand years,
and a thousand years as one day,
A mighty God, who, amidst the lapse of worlds,
and the revolutions of empires,
feels no variableness,
but is glorious in immortality.
May I rejoice that, while men die, the Lord lives;
that, while all creatures are broken reeds,
empty cisterns,
fading flowers,
withering grass,
he is the Rock of Ages, the Fountain
of living waters.
Turn my heart from vanity,
from dissatisfactions,
from uncertainties of the present state,
to an eternal interest in Christ.
Let me remember that life is short and
unforeseen,
and is only an opportunity for usefulness;
Give me a holy avarice to redeem the time,
to awake at every call to charity and piety,
so that I may feed the hungry,
clothe the naked,
instruct the ignorant,
reclaim the vicious,
forgive the offender,
diffuse the gospel,
show neighbourly love to all.
Let me live a life of self-distrust,
dependence on thyself,
mortification,
crucifixion,
prayer.
The Infinite and the Finite - The Valley of Vision
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This is a prayer to help us see God at a more appropriate scale.
We worship the living God who, with a word, breathed the universe into existence. His unfathomable power upholds everything from the smallest atoms to the orbits of planets and galaxies. Cosmic battles between celestial and demonic beings are raging around and among us at every moment. But sometimes it seems the modern church misses all of this as it stares at itself in the mirror, pondering what God can give us and how we can “live our best life now.” Reject this consumerist, self-centered worldview; instead, stand in awe of the infinite majesty of our God, and ask how you can serve. Read scripture and look to the old saints for inspiration. Go to nature and allow the splendor of creation to soak in. But don’t let our modern culture diminish God to a “life coach” or a vending machine for blessings.