Thursday, January 26, 2023
Memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus, bishops
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Praying with family
God, who does not lie, promised the hope of eternal life before time began and revealed his word by the command of God our savio, to Titus, my true child in our common faith. Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our savior.
I may never get enough sleep. As the snow fell, so did I, back to sleep once, twice, three times. At night I sleep two or three hours and awaken several times. There is no one here in Urbana with me most of the time, and when I wake up I make a lot of noise. Gradually the noise changes to prayer, prayer that I wouldn’t want to share with others because it’s mostly bellowing and shouting. I make quite a din before I settle down. Call it Primal Prayer.
Good morning, Lord! Thank you, Jesus! Rescue me, Holy Spirit! I will not be afraid! Our Father who art in heaven!
I guess I’m trying to wake up and shake myself out of my discomfort and sleepiness. When I’m noisy I don’t miss so much the sounds and company of others. And I want to remind myself that God does not lie. God listens to all my noise and in the middle touches me, and then I rest. In all my loneliness, pain, impatience and incompleteness God’s promise of the hope of eternal life stands strong. Not only for Titus, but for me.
Because of your sincere faith I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God you have through the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. So bear your share of hardship with the strength that comes from God.
Not only for Timothy, but for me.
Not only for me, but for you. God does not play favorites.
I drove through Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri before arriving in Illinois. And in Illinois I felt welcomed and surrounded by my family. We talked awhile, ate food, and prayed together. We don’t always do this praying together, but this time we did. Jack and Aly joined Chris and Melissa, who surrounded me. I drove down the road to Mary Kay and Jim’s house, where we looked through a great scrapbook, one of many that Mom made over the last thirty years of her life. And we prayed together over that scrapbook.
I kept on driving down the road to Lincoln and met John at Mom’s house. (It’s John’s house now, of course … one of these days I’ll stop using the old words) We talked about money and loaded a thirty-volume, forty-year old Encyclopedia Britannica set into my car, a gift for my friend Mike who has dreamed of owning a Britannica for many years. And we prayed together, over the books and the house and our partnership as brothers and friends.
It doesn’t get any better than this. But then I also prayed together with Marc, and with Andi, and with Margaret, in person and over the online distance. And it doesn’t get any better than that, either. The togetherness I feel with all of them doesn’t end when we say Amen. They are all with me now.
So I don’t need to make so much clatter when I wake up, pretending that I’m not alone. Because I’m not.
Announce his salvation, day after day. The Lord is king. The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, and still more.
(2 Timothy 1, Psalm 96, Psalm 119, Mark 4)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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