Tag-Archive for » Holy in the Daily «

It doesn’t take much to change someone’s day for the better.

I don’t remember where I first heard this tale, but the story is told of a blind man sitting on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet and a sign that read: “I am blind, please help.”

A creative publicist was walking by and stopped to observe. He saw that the blind man had only a few coins in his hat. He dropped in more coins and, without asking for permission, took the sign and rewrote it.

He returned the sign to the blind man and left. That afternoon the publicist came back to the blind man and noticed that his hat was full of bills and coins.

The blind man recognized his footsteps and asked if it was he who had rewritten his sign and wanted to know what he had written on it.

The publicist responded: “Nothing that was not true. I just wrote the message a little differently.” He smiled and went on his way.

The new sign read: “Today is spring and I cannot see it.”

How can you infuse a little of the Holy into someone’s world today?

In Him together, Susan Gaddis

Celtic Christians lived an intertwined life of work and prayer, knitting the two together in such a way that the work of the day became the prayer of life.

In her book, The Celtic Way of Prayer, Esther De Waal explains the Celtic practice of work and prayer. “… there was no separation of praying and living; praying and working flow into each other, so that life is to be punctuated by prayer, become prayer.”

Morning hygiene happened slowly and in the name of the Trinity as each palmful of water was splashed upon the face.

The palmful of the God of Life,
The palmful of the Christ of Love,
The palmful of the Spirit of Peace,
  Triune
  Of grace.
 

The task of making the bed became a time of prayer as seen in this Irish prayer, one of many collected in 1906 by Douglas Hyde.

I make this bed
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
In the name of the night we were conceived,
In the name of the night we were born,
In the name of the day we were baptized,
In the name of each night, each day,
Each angel that is in the heavens.
 

Alistair MacLean recorded this prayer in Hebridean Altars for days when our work load seems overwhelming or dull.

Even though the day be laden
and my task dreary
and my strength small,
a song keeps singing
in my heart.
For I know that I am Thine.
I am part of Thee.
Thou art kin to me,
and all my times
are in Thy hand.
 

And finally, this prayer from Hebridean Altars:

Seven times a day, as I work upon this hungry farm, I say to Thee, “Lord, why am I here? What is there here to stir my gifts to growth? What great things can I do for others—I who am captive to this dreary toil?” And seven times a day Thou answerest, “I cannot do without thee. Once did My Son live thy life, and by His faithfulness did show My mind, My kindness, and My truth to men. But now He is come to My side, and thou must take His place.”
 

What comes out of your heart and mouth as you work your way through your day?

In Him Together, Susan Gaddis

What’s the latest God gossip? That’s one question you never hear voiced around the water cooler at work! Yet, God keeps a journal of all the things we talk about concerning him.

One of the heavenly scribes jots our name and our God gossip down in God’s Book of Remembrance. “Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name” (Malachi 3:16 NIV).

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I wince when I think about that journal:

  • Is there much written next to my name?
  • What did I say?
  • Did it sound like I even knew what I was talking about?
  • Dang, if I knew he was taking notes, I would have said more!
 

Thankfully the bad gossip doesn’t end up in God’s journal. He only writes down the good stuff—the stuff of grace. Funny how much our mouth contributes to the Holy in our daily. “My mouth shall recount your mighty acts and saving deeds all day long; though I cannot know the number of them” (Psalm 71:15).

What’s your God gossip today? What has God been up to that you have heard about, and how much of that information have you passed on to others?

In Him together, Susan Gaddis

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