Getting it right.

I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.
 –Frederick Douglass


Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was a Black American orator, social reformer, abolitionist, writer and statesman. He was a firm believer in the equality of all people, whether black, female, Native American or even recent immigrant. This week, in recognition of both Douglass and Black History Month, pause and meditate on his words.

I would unite with anybody to do right, and with nobody to do wrong.

Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.

One and God make a majority.

A battle lost or won is easily described, understood, and appreciated, but the moral growth of a great nation requires reflection, as well as observation, to appreciate it.

The soul that is within me no man can degrade.

We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and the future.

I was not more than thirteen years old, when in my loneliness and destitution I longed for someone to whom I could go as a father and protector. The preaching of a white Methodist minister, named Hanson, was the means of causing me to feel that in God, I had such a friend.



Monday Stand in front of a mirror today and try to really look through God’s eyes. What do you see? Genesis 1:26-27

Tuesday Take those “God eyes” out in the world with you. Really look at the people you meet. What do you see? Matthew 5:11

Wednesday This week at the grocery store, pick up something extra. Donate, anonymously if possible, to a local food bank. Pray for those receiving it. Galatians 4:17-18

Thursday Pause today and remember a time when you felt bullied or oppressed. Allow yourself to really feel the old pain. Pray for the one who hurt you. Philemon 17

Friday Now remember a time when perhaps you could have been seen as a bully. Forgive yourself—and pray for forgiveness. Hebrews 1:3

Saturday Look again at yourself in the mirror. Do you see yourself any differently today? Pray that you are as gentle and loving with yourself as you seek to be with others. 2 John 4-6

Sunday Come together in worship with a heart open to the Almighty. Open yourself to the Spirit’s loving acceptance. Be proud to follow the Christ, yet humble in doing so. Psalm 37:1-6


The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous. 
–Frederick Douglass

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Spiritual dehydration

  Inside myself is a place where I live all alone, and that is where I renew my springs that never dry up. –Pearl S. Buck   The past two years (at least) have been exhausting, haven’t they? We had a pandemic that physically left us anxious and afraid. Our churches, where we go for nourishment, were closed or online longer than we wanted—and even now, we are careful. Politically, we have been divided against one another, and those wounds are still bleeding in many cases. We need to take care of ourselves. And it’s never been more difficult. What to do? How do I make time in our busy schedules—for me ? The simple answer: Whatever it takes. Remember when we would fly to a vacation destination? How the flight attendant would remind us that if the cabin loses pressure, the oxygen masks would drop down out of the ceiling? And that before we offer to help anyone else, we need to have our own masks in place ? Good advice for life in general. Today: Pause. Take inventory ...
Read more

What are you waiting for?

  The waiting is the hardest part. –Tom Petty   We spend a lot of time waiting. Waiting for the coffee to finish dripping. Waiting for the light to turn green. Waiting for the next available agent. It’s inevitable, really. We cannot always be first, and if we aren’t first, we’ll have to wait. But I think the more important thing is to ask yourself: How am I at waiting? Do I find myself getting anxious and fidgety? Am I worrying about things not going the way I really need them to go? Is my attitude rubbing off on people around me? The best way to wait is not to worry where we are in line, or gripe about wasted time. The best way to wait—is to be right there , in the moment of waiting. The disciples waited in fear; we wait in hope. Why not use this waiting time to pray? Welcome God’s presence into your heart. Ask God to bring you into the moment. Inquire what God would ask of you in this moment . Thank God for wisdom, patience, humor. . . . Take a d-e...
Read more

Don't be afraid.

Living is a great deal more than simply not dying. It is carrying out a mission, committing oneself to fashion some meaning that will attain eternity. –Leonardo Boff When asked, “What are you afraid of?” we offer a myriad of answers: snakes, spiders, flying in an airplane. But when pressed, many people, believers and non-believers alike, will admit that the one thing they fear most, at the core of their being, is death. Most of us enjoy having control over our lives, and frankly, we have very little control over, or way of knowing, how or when our earthly journey will end. And we have even fewer concrete answers about what will happen next. We have the profession of our faith and the occasional “crossing-over” story—but. No wonder death is near the top of that list. But sometimes, as I look around, it seems like people are less fearful about dying—and more afraid of living. Really cutting loose and enjoying our time together as human beings privileged to live in God’s am...
Read more