“Who Is There Like You?” by Melanie Rigney (@melanierigney)

“Who Is There Like You?” by Melanie Rigney

Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance; Who does not persist in anger forever, but delights rather in clemency, and will again have compassion on us, treading underfoot our guilt? (Micah 7:18-19)

Lord, show us your mercy and love. (Psalm 85:8a)

And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” (Matthew 12:49-50)

Piety

Lord I lift Your name on high
Lord, I love to sing Your praises
I’m so glad You’re in my life
I’m so glad You came to save us

(“Lord I Lift Your Name on High,” written by Rick Doyle Founds)

Study

I started writing devotions/reflections with no formal training. In fact, I’ve never had a religion, theology, or even a philosophy course. I will modestly say I seem to have gotten relatively good at devotions writing, but you’d expect that after having done thousands of them. It all started with Your Daily Tripod and my friend Tony, who took a chance on me.

This past week, I read something I’d never considered before: that the more successful devotions start with finding a scripture verse, then writing the reflection, not writing the reflection, and then searching for a companion verse. It made a lot of sense, really; that way, God is directing you to find the experience or analysis to go with scripture. It puts God first.

Putting God first includes all four practices associated with the Lord’s Prayer: adoration, contrition, thanksgiving, and supplication. For me, the best way to do the first is to go to an adoration chapel, and just gaze and adore at the exposed Eucharist, no mental or verbal prayer beyond that. I haven’t been to adoration since March and given I’m in a couple of high-risk health categories, don’t expect to go soon.

But adoration is really what today’s readings are all about—that the Lord is merciful and full of love; that what matters to God is our obedience, not our family connections or lack thereof; and that no one forgives and embraces us as fully and completely.

As I read the verses, my mind went back to an American Baptist conference center a lifetime ago, where I first heard “Lord I Lift Your Name on High.” Even though I was not practicing any faith at that time, even I recognized the words, the actions (“from the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky”), and the joy on the participants’ faces as pure prayer, and joined right in. So, this week, I found the linked video, cranked it up, sang along and dug and reached and adored, and felt a lot more loved than I have in some time.

Lord, I love You. I adore You. I am awed by Your greatness. Lord, today and every day let me lift Your name on high.

Action

Oh, come, let us adore Him. You choose the method.

Image credit: Fotorech on Pixabay: https://pixabay.com/photos/sky-freedom-happiness-relieved-2667455/