April 22, 2006

I. Readings
Psalms 23, 92, 114
Exodus 13:17-14:4
2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10
Mark 12:18-27

II. Selections
Psalms 23:1-3a
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul.

Exodus 14:3
" ...Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, 'They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has closed in on them.' ..." [ God to Moses]

2 Corinthians 5:4
For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our burden, because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

Mark 12:24
Jesus said to [ the Sadducees], "Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God? ..."

III. Meditation: To know your power
Is not this the reason
we are wrong,
that we know
neither the scriptures
nor your power?

You do not leave us
aimlessly to wander
in the land
until the wilderness
closes in on us.

You are our shepherd;
we shall not want.
You make us lie down in green pastures;
you lead us beside still waters;
you restore our soul.

Inside the tent of our mortality
we groan under our burden,
eager for you to remove this tent,
and with a new, larger one replace it,
that life with you may swallow up mortality.