# Between day 6 > Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God. ### Opening Prayer: *O Lord, our God, so much of this life is lived in between; between the now and the not yet, between arriving and departing, between birth and death and rebirth, between growing up and growing old, between questions and answers. Help us not to live only for some distant day when the in between will be no more, but help us to step into the mystery of that sacred space here and now—knowing that it will be a place of genuine change and true transformation. (JLB)* #### Psalm for the Week: Psalm 46 #### God Is Our Fortress #### To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth.[a] A Song. *46 God is our refuge and strength, a very present[b] help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;God will help her when morning dawns.6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.7 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah8 Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth.9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire.10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah* #### Scripture for the Day: Psalm 84:1-12 #### My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith.[a] A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. *84 How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!2 My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord;my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.3 Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young,at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah* *5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.[b]6 As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools.7 They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah9 Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed!* *10 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.* *12 O Lord of hosts,blessed is the one who trusts in you!* #### Reading for Reflection: *Waiting is not a very popular attitude. Waiting is not something that people think about with great sympathy. In fact, most people consider waiting a waste of time. Perhaps this is because the culture in which we live is basically saying, “Get going! Do something! Show you are able to make a difference! Don’t just sit there and wait!” For many people, waiting is an awful desert between where they are and where they want to go. And people do not like such a place. They want to get out of it by doing something. (A Spirituality of Waiting by Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Weavings Reader)* #### Reflection and Listening: silent and written #### Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself #### Song for the Week: Cleft of the Mountain *I will run to the cleft of the mountain and wait for You* *Will you come and meet with me?* *I will wait in the cleft of the mountain for You to pass by* *Will you come and meet with me?* *Oh, what a joy it would be* *Just for a moment to lay at the feet of the Lord* *Oh more than anything that’s what I long for* *Oh, what a change it would bring* *Just to look deep in the face of the King Who gave all* *You gave everything so You could meet with me* *Will You meet with me?* ### Closing Prayer: *Lord Jesus, Help me to trust you fully in the midst of this life that seems so chaotic and unsure at times. Give me, this day, a firm place to set my feet as I walk toward you through this ever-changing world. Amen. (JLB)*