Sun, 06 Feb 2022 17:53:34 -0800WeeblyThu, 08 Jan 2015 20:11:56 GMThttps://www.robertsfourthwatch.com/thoughts-and-prayers/focus-luke-3Lord, I admire John the Baptizer’s focus on his deep calling.

And, for that matter, I admire yours, of course.

You had it at the age of twelve when you snuck off to the Temple and traded interpretations with the scholars.

You certainly had it in the wilderness with the Satan whispering in your ear.

And you thrilled me with it when you stood up in your first sermon and declared that the world’s freedom had at last come in you.

So often that laser focus eludes me. I lose focus all the time.

This would have been true at any point in history, but it certainly is true now in this information age.

So much important news in which to drown. So much trivia in which to float away. So much access. So much.

Lord, help me.

Help me, good Lord, to focus on what is beautiful and true.

Help me, good Lord, to focus on who I am in you.

Amen.

]]>Sat, 03 Jan 2015 03:33:39 GMThttps://www.robertsfourthwatch.com/thoughts-and-prayers/care-luke-2Lord, when your parents took you to the Temple as a baby you were powerless, vulnerable, and small.

But Mary and Joseph held you. As overwhelmed as they must have been, still they held you close and safe. They did the best they could by the law of God. They brought their hopes and prayers and pigeons. And you.

At the Temple you were lifted and blessed by the old, confident hands of Simeon and Anna. They were faithful strangers who had their every cell focused on God, tuned to the fulfillment of God’s promises of deliverance.

What the four of them all had in common was they knew they weren’t at the center of the story. You were. And this they knew as well.

By their care, O Lord, your life grew. You flourished and made the world new.

Lord, whether I feel old or young, confident or concerned, help me stay focused on you.

And by such care may your renewal of the world continue. May your life flourish within others and within me.

Amen.      

]]>Fri, 02 Jan 2015 02:41:35 GMThttps://www.robertsfourthwatch.com/thoughts-and-prayers/pushed-around-luke-2Lord, the story of your birth begins with you being pushed around.

The Emperor Caesar Augustus decides it's time to count his people and his money, and that forces your pregnant mother Mary to travel to Joseph's hometown to file the proper paperwork.


Did she go into early labor from the stress?


How much sleep did Joseph lose because he was worried about Mary?


They were pushed around and so you, O Lord, were pushed around because you were with them.


You still walk within those who are pushed around by the world. 


In this new year help me to remember that. 


Amen.
 ]]>