# Dying Day 4 > Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God. ### Opening Prayer: *You, O Christ, are my wealth. All those things I thought I couldn't live without "dissolve" in a glance from you. They are nothing when considered in the larger light of your intimate presence. How difficult it has been to come to this moment! The moment of letting go! I, who have learned so well to hoard, grasp, clutch, and control! Now I want only to be grasped by you. All my possessions are empty when they become obstacles to my union with you. O Glance of God, prepare my heart for the Great Surrender. Enable me to surrender my ego self so that I may put on Christ. Then I will begin enjoying heaven on earth. Amen. (Abide by Macrina Wiederkehr)* #### Psalm for the Week: Psalm 49 #### Why Should I Fear in Times of Trouble? #### To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. *49 Hear this, all peoples!Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,2 both low and high,rich and poor together!3 My mouth shall speak wisdom;the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.4 I will incline my ear to a proverb;I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.* *5 Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,6 those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches?7 Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life,8 for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice,9 that he should live on forever and never see the pit.* *10 For he sees that even the wise die;the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others.11 Their graves are their homes forever,[a] their dwelling places to all generations, though they called lands by their own names.12 Man in his pomp will not remain;he is like the beasts that perish.* *13 This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;yet after them people approve of their boasts.[b] Selah14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;death shall be their shepherd,* *and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,for he will receive me. Selah* *16 Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,when the glory of his house increases.* *17 For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him.* *18 For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed —and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—19 his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,who will never again see light.20 Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.* #### Scripture for the Day: John 12:20-36 #### Some Greeks Seek Jesus *20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.* *The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up* *27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. 34 So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” 35 So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”* #### Reading for Reflection: *When I am able to approach the Word of God expecting some kind of conversion, I experience a little death. The Hebrew people believed that one could not see the face of God and live. In light of that belief perhaps the dying I experience should delight me. When I am confronted with God’s Word, I am sometimes able to recognize that some change is needed in my life. Ordinarily I name this piece of growth transformation. Of course, the other side of transformation is that until I am able to integrate the change into my life, with a certain acceptance, it feels more like death. (Abide by Macrina Wiederkehr)* #### Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself #### Song for the Week: Alas and Did My Savior Bleed *Alas and did my savior bleed* *And did my Sovereign die?* *Would He devote that sacred head* *For sinners such as I?* *Was it for sins that I have done* *He suffered on the tree?* *Amazing pity! Grace unknown!* *And love beyond degree!* *Well might the sun in darkness hide* *And shut His glory in* *When Christ, the great Redeemer died* *For man the creature's sin.* *Thus might I hide my blushing face* *While His dear cross appears,* *Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,* *And melt mine eyes to tears.* *But drops of grief can ne'er repay* *The debt of love I owe:* *Here, Lord, I give myself away* *'Tis all that I can do.* ### Closing Prayer: *Dear God,* *Please untie the knots that are in my mind my heart and my life. Remove the have nots, the can nots, and the do nots I have in my mind. Erase the will nots, may nots, the might nots that may find a home in my heart. Release me from the would nots could nots and should nots that obstruct my life. And most of all, remove from my mind my heart and my life, the am nots that I have allowed to hold me back especially the thought that I am not good enough. Amen. (Author unknown)*