## **Ordinary Day 1** > Come to stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your heart and mind to be still before God > ### Opening Prayer: I thank you God for most this amazing day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and the blue true dream of a sky; and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes (now the ears of my ears awake and now the eyes of my eyes are opened) e. e. cummings #### Psalm for the Week: Psalm 98 *Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. 2 The Lord has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. 3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.* *4 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! 5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody! 6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!* *7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it! 8 Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together 9 before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.* #### Scripture for the Day: 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 #### Treasure in Jars of Clay *7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.* *13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, ìI believed, and so I spoke,î we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.* *16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self[a] is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.* #### Reflection: Barefoot by Rachel G. Hackenberg *May I walk in this day as though with bare feet:* *more attuned to the hard earth and to the extravagance of my daily comforts,* *more inclined to splash playfully in puddles than to avoid them,* *more sensitive to the toe-stubbing-stones that we so casually toss into one others' paths,* *slowed down by necessity of caution to be more mindful of spirit and direction,* *deliberately risking the softening of calluses to sense more fully the mystery of holy ground.* #### Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself ### Closing Prayer: Our Father, help us to see you today in all that we come into contact with, knowing that you use ordinary things to give us an extraordinary sense of your presence in our lives. In the name of Jesus. Amen. (JLB)