I lift up my eyes to the one who dwells in the heavens. I lift up my eyes as Abraham lifted his when he wanted to see the eternal promise and seed. I lift up my eyes to count the stars of heaven, believing that you are a generous God. Like Isaiah, I raise my eyes to contemplate the power of the Most High. Like Nebuchadnezzar, I lift up my eyes to you. Then my mind is restored and I can bless the Lord of heaven, the Most High.
Before a stinking grave, I lift up my eyes to the Lord of everlasting life. Like Jesus, I lift up my eyes, asking that all people know the true God. When I meet a mute or deaf person, I lift up my eyes to the Lord of heaven. When I need bread and fish, with a thankful heart I raise my eyes.
Like Stephen, I bow down on my knees. Then I lift up my eyes to see heaven open up in the midst of a bloody age. On the fields of Samaria, I raise my eyes to see a great harvest in which Arabs and Jews are saved. I lift up my eyes to be transformed and to become a divine tool for changing the oppressor and for helping the oppressed and the poor.
Like the eyes of servants looking towards their masters and maids towards their ladies, so my eyes will be lifted up to God, seeking mercy and compassion. Today I will not look backward like the wife of Lot. I will not stare blindly like the servant of Elisha who did not see the angels of God. Unlike Asaph, I will not look at the strength of evildoers. But like John at Patmos, I will turn towards the voice that speaks to me, in order to behold your greatness. O God who lives in the heavens, I lift up my eyes to you.
To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us.
Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt. Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.
O God, bless those who have no homes. Bless those who have to live away from home in lodgings and boarding-houses and hotels. Bless those who have been left alone, and who are solitary now. Bless those who are searching or waiting for a house. Specially bless young couples who have to live in furnished rooms, or with relatives, and who have never had the chance to be alone together and to have a home of their own. Bless those who keep house for other people, and who have no house of their own. Bless old people who are coming to the end in some institution which is very comfortable but which is still not home. Help us who have the blessing of a good home to keep an open heart and an open door to those less fortunate than ourselves. This we ask for your love’s sake. Amen.
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
Hagia Sofia, Istanbul, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, via Flickr
Come, O true Light!
Come, O eternal life! Come, O hidden mystery! Come, O indescribable treasure! Come, O powerful one, who always creates and re-creates and transforms by your will alone!
Come, you whom my wretched soul has desired and does desire! Come, you who alone go to the lonely for as you see I am lonely! Come, you who have separated me from everything and made me solitary in this world! Come, you who have become yourself desire in me, who have made me desire you, the absolutely inaccessible one!
Yea, O Master, just as you remembered me, when I was in the world and, in the midst of my ignorance, you chose me and separated me from this world and set me before your glorious face, so now keep me interiorly, by your dwelling within me, forever upright, resolute; that by perpetually seeing you, I, the corpse, may live; that by possessing you, I, the beggar, may always be rich, richer than kings; that by eating you and by drinking you, by putting you on at each moment, I go from delight to delight in inexpressible blessings.
Symeon the New Theologian 949–1022 Byzantine Orthodox monk source _______________________
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
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When have you experienced the presence and love of God most powerfully?
Remember some of those times in prayer and praise.
O Lord, I cry out to you on the day of my distress. It is a day that is full of challenges and limitations. On this day, I discover that I cannot handle all of my problems. My resources and experience are not enough. I have tried. I decided to change things, but I did not prevail. I truly need a saviour.
There is no saviour better than you. You are the greatest and most compassionate saviour. Therefore, I will not invest my efforts and energy in recruiting the resources that people use to address their problems. Instead, I will start with something unique and come to you. Some trust in guns and tanks, but we trust in the name of the Lord. In my distress, my life will be different; my thoughts, feelings, and decisions will be different; for I shall come to you and trust in you. I shall trust from the bottom of my heart that the outcome with you is very different.
You alone are God and we are the children of the blessing. Our King is not deaf or harsh or impotent. I thank you because you have entered into the day of distress and turned it into a day of supplication. You have blessed me in the midst of my distress and consequently my inner soul has recognized that you are trustworthy. I surrender my life into the hands of the one who can calm waves and dry tears.
May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings. May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the Lord grant all your requests.
Now this I know: The Lord gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. Lord, give victory to the king! Answer us when we call!
Lord, You who live outside of time, and reside in the imperishable moment, we ask Your blessing this New Year’s Day upon Your gift to us of time
Bless our clocks and watches, You who kindly direct us to observe the passing of minutes and hours. May they make us aware of the miracle of each second of life we experience.
May these, our ticking servants help us not to miss that which is important, while You keep us from machine-like routine. May we ever be free from being clock watchers and instead become those who journey through time.
Bless our calendars, these ordered lists of days, weeks and months, of holidays, holydays, fasts and feasts— all our special days of remembering. May these servants, our calendars,
once reserved for the royal few, for magi and pyramid priests,
now grace our homes and our lives.
May they remind us of birthdays and other gift-days, as they teach us the secret that all life is meant for celebration and contemplation.
Bless, Lord, this new year, each of its 365 days and nights. Bless us with new moons and full moons. Bless us with happy seasons and a long life.
Grant to us, Lord, the new year’s gift of a year of love. Amen.
Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.
We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth, not knowing who will spend it. And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you.
The Lord is king! He is robed in majesty. Indeed, the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength. The world stands firm and cannot be shaken. Your throne, O Lord, has stood from time immemorial. You yourself are from the everlasting past. The floods have risen up, O Lord. The floods have roared like thunder; the floods have lifted their pounding waves. But mightier than the violent raging of the seas, mightier than the breakers on the shore— the Lord above is mightier than these! Your royal laws cannot be changed. Your reign, O Lord, is holy forever and ever.
