# Ordinary Day 5 > Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart 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* *(I who have died am alive again today, and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay great happening illimitably earth)* *how should tasting touching hearing seeing breathing any--lifted from the no of all nothing--human merely being doubt unimaginable You?* *(now the ears of my ears awake and now the eyes of my eyes are opened)* #### 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: Luke 1:5-25 #### Birth of John the Baptist Foretold *5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,[a] of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.* *8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”* *18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” 21 And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22 And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. 23 And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.* *24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”* #### Reading for Reflection: A Tree Full of Angels by Macrina Wiederkehr *Spiritual life seems to be about seeing and harvesting. Seeing the holy in the ordinary! Harvesting angels out of what appears to be the crumbs of daily existence! Spending your days in the fast lane of life impairs the quality of your seeing. If you want to see to the depths, you will need to slow down. You live in a world of theophanies. Holiness comes wrapped in the ordinary. There are burning bushes all around you. Every tree is full of angels. Hidden beauty is waiting in every crumb. Life wants to lead you from crumbs to angels, but this can happen only if you are willing to unwrap the ordinary by staying with it long enough to harvest its treasure.* #### Reflection and Listening: silent and written #### Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself #### Song for the Week: Take My Life and Let It Be *Take my life, and let it be* *Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;* *Take my moments and my days,* *Let them flow in ceaseless praise,* *Let them flow in ceaseless praise.* *Take my hands, and let them move* *At the impulse of Thy love;* *Take my feet and let them be* *Swift and beautiful for Thee,* *Swift and beautiful for Thee.* *Take my voice, and let me sing* *Always, only, for my King;* *Take my lips, and let them be* *Filled with messages from Thee,* *Filled with messages from Thee.* *Take my silver and my gold;* *Not a mite would I withhold;* *Take my intellect, and use* *Every power as Thou shalt choose,* *Every power as Thou shalt choose.* *Take my will, and make it Thine;* *It shall be no longer mine.* *Take my heart; it is Thine own;* *It shall be Thy royal throne,* *It shall be Thy royal throne.* *Take my love; my Lord, I pour* *At Thy feet its treasure-store.* *Take myself, and I will be* *Ever, only, all for Thee,* *Ever, only, all for Thee.* ### 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)