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Tag Archives: fortress

Kickstart

12 Friday Apr 2019

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fortress, kickstart, Lord, praise, prayer, refuge, rock, salvation, stength, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Some mornings there is no reason for the joy or distress we feel upon waking up to the day. Nothing on the calendar is more than a mild challenge, no ache is greater than the normal twinge of aging, no residuals of a delightful or disturbing dream can be named. Some of us do, however, act as the weather directs: sunny or gray depending…

It’s good to have a few “fall-back” kickstarts just in case we need something to get going. Prayer helps, and certain quick reminders from the psalms do just fine most days. Today provides one such example. I recommend saying it aloud and then keeping it written in a convenient place for any gloomy day.

I love you, O Lord, my strength, O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer. My God, my rock of refuge, my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold! Praised be the Lord, I exclaim, and I am safe from my enemies.

Everyday Blessings

28 Friday Sep 2018

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fortress, God's presence, psalm 144, shield, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust

anowlrockOn my bedroom windowsill I have a rock that I found on the shore of Skaneateles Lake    during a retreat many years ago. It really looks like a miniature mountain and on an outcropping sits a tiny statue of an owl looking out. The composition is a sign to me of God’s strong, wise and ever-watchful presence, a metaphor like that of today’s psalm that sings: Blessed is the Lord, my rock, my fortress, my stronghold, my deliverer, my shield in whom I trust. (PS 144:1-2).

It’s good to have symbols and metaphors that keep us steady in our faith and help us to trust in the everyday, don’t you think? Where do you find such support?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love Is the Answer

12 Saturday Aug 2017

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faith, fortress, heart, love, rock, St. Clare, St. Francis of Assisi, strength, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

ahearthandThere are so many ways to say it – and so many reasons to consider it. The point to make every day really is that love is at the heart of every solution, every relationship…every success in life. It was what fueled Sts. Francis and Clare (see yesterday’s post) and today, the message in the readings couldn’t be clearer.

You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest. Bind them to your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead…(DT 6:4-13)

I love you, O Lord, my strength, O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer! (PS 18:2-3)

Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. (MT 17:20)

I’ve never seen a mountain move because of a show of power. The impetus – the fuel – of such an undertaking has to be love. And it starts with the simple things, so let’s get moving! A new day – a new chance for loving has dawned.

 

 

 

 

 

A Quiet Moment

31 Tuesday Mar 2015

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fortress, Jerusalem, Jesus, psalm 71, refuge, rock, strength, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wondrous deeds

fortressThis morning I imagine Jesus sitting outside in the quiet of the morning at the house of his friends reciting the Psalm for the day (71) that he has known from his youth. The familiar words surely give him courage and comfort as he moves closer to what lies ahead for him in Jerusalem. I read it and join myself to him in the prayer.

In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. In your justice rescue me, and deliver me; incline your ear to me, and save me. Be my rock of refuge, a stronghold to give me safety, for you are my rock and my fortress. O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked. For you are my hope, O Lord; my trust, O God, from my youth. On you I depend from birth; from my mother’s womb you are my strength. My mouth shall declare your justice, day by day your salvation. O God, you have taught me from my youth, and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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