September 15, 2007

I. Readings
Psalms 98, 104, 138
1 Kings 18:41-19:8
Philippians 3:17-4:7
Matthew 3:13-17

II. Selections
Psalm 104:24
O LORD, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.

1 Kings 19:4
But [ Elijah] himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: "It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors."

Philippians 4:6
Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Matthew 3:16
And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.

III. Meditation: In the wilderness

In the wilderness, shaded by a broom tree,
Elijah rested and asked you to take his life.
In the wilderness, rising from River Jordan,
Jesus saw your Spirit descending like a dove.

How manifold are your works,
how great the wisdom by which
you made them and all creation.

We thank you, Creator God, for all your works.
When we come to you in prayer and supplication,
when in the wilderness we know Elijah's anguish,
send to us your Spirit, as you sent it once to Jesus.