# Balance Day 7 > Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God. > ### Opening Prayer: *Dear Jesus, During this day help me quiet all the thoughts that fill my head—where I must go, whom I must see, and what I must do. In their place, give me a sense of your order, your peace, and your time. Help me to understand that you are in control, and I can trust you with my day. Help me to realize that nothing on my to-do list is important if it is not what you want me to do. I give all my tasks to you and trust you to bring order to them. In these moments, dear Jesus, come to me, be with me, and free me from the tyranny of “to do.” (Quiet Spaces by Patricia F. Wilson)* #### Psalm for the Week: Psalm 127 #### Unless the Lord Builds the House #### A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. *127 Unless the Lord builds the house,those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. 2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. 3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children[a] of one's youth. 5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.[b]* #### Scripture for the Day: Hebrews 10:19-26 #### The Full Assurance of Faith *19 Therefore, brothers,[a] since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.* *26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,* #### Reading for Reflection: *Only by taking our life apart from time to time and examining it carefully, and then putting it back together thoughtfully and prayerfully, only then can we have some measure of confidence that we are living the life that we were meant to lead.* *“Only he who obeys a rhythm that is superior to his own,” wrote Kazantzakis, “is free.”* ​ *The superior rhythm is the one that was made by God and whispered into us at the time that we were whispered into being. It is a rhythm that is based on the light and darkness of the day itself. It is a rhythm that supports all of our lives—prayer, rest, community and work. (A Good Life by Robert Benson)* *What I am looking for is some sort of balance in my life—a balance “so delicate, so risky, so creative”, as Maria Boulding puts it, that she likens it to a bird in flight, a dancer in motion. One of the favorite words in the Rule of St. Benedict is “run”, St. Benedict tells me to run to Christ. If I stop for a moment and consider what is being asked of me here, and what is involved in the act of running, I think of how when I run I place first one foot and then the other on the ground, that I let go of my balance for a second and then immediately recover it again. It is risky, this matter of running. By daring to lose my balance I keep it. (Living with Contradiction by Esther de Waal)* #### Reflection and Listening: silent and written #### Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself #### Song for the Week: Be the Center *Jesus, be the center,* *Be my source, be my light, Jesus* *Jesus, be the center,* *Be my hope, be my song, Jesus* *Be the fire in my heart, be the wind in these sails* *Be the reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus* *Jesus, be my vision,* *Be my path, be my guide, Jesus.* *Be the fire in my heart, be the wind in these sails* *Be the reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus* ### Closing Prayer *You have taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence we shall be strengthened. By Your Spirit lift us to Your Presence where we may be still and know that You are God. (from The Book of Common Prayer adapted in Living Prayer by Robert Benson)*