# Small Day 5 > Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God. ### Opening Prayer: *Lord, give me the ability to persist through tedium, to survive without the oxygen of recognition, praise, and stroking, and to do some good things every day which are seen only by You. (Sacred Space: the Prayer Book 2010 by Jesuit Communication Centre)* #### Psalm for the Week: Psalm 131 #### John the Baptist Prepares the Way #### 1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.[a] *2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,[b]“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,who will prepare your way,3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare[c] the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’”* *4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”* #### Scripture for the Day: Luke 18:9-17 #### The Pharisee and the Tax Collector *9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed[a] thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”* *Let the Children Come to Me* *15 Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 17 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”* #### Reading for Reflection: *Faithfulness is consecration in overalls. It is the steady acceptance and performance of the common duty and immediate task without any reference to personal preferences…* ​ *The fruits of the Spirit get less and less showy as we go on. Faithfulness means continuing quietly with the job we have been given, in the situation we have been placed; not yielding to the restless desire for change. It means tending the lamp quietly for God without wondering how much longer it has got to go on. (Fruits of the Spirit by Evelyn Underhill)* *And our yearning to become lost in God only intensifies our tears over the thought of leaving this life, Christian existence is a joyful nonsense. In a culture of self-realization, the Christian’s call is to renounce self; in the face of noise, silence is the preference; in a world of competition, the Christian’s declaration is that the winners will be losers and the losers winners; in a culture whose economy is intent on consumption, the Christian insists on simplicity; in a culture structured by possessions, the Christian insists upon a high standard of life; and at every point, the Christian exposes the emptiness of fullness for the sake of the gospel’s fullness of emptiness. (The Art of Spiritual Direction by W. Paul Jones)* #### Reflection and Listening: silent and written #### Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself #### Song for the Week: Winter Snow *Could've come like a mighty storm* *With all the strength of a hurricane* *You could've come like a forest fire* *With the power of heaven in Your flame* *But You came like a winter snow* *Quiet and soft and slow* *Falling from the sky in the night* *To the earth below* *You could've swept in like a tidal wave* *Or an ocean to ravish our hearts* *You could have come through like a roaring flood* *To wipe away the things we've scarred* *But You came like a winter snow* *You were quiet You were soft and slow* *Falling from the sky in the night* *To the earth below* *Oh, no, Your voice wasn't in a bush burning* *No, Your voice wasn't in a rushing wind* *It was still* *It was small* *It was hidden* *You came like a winter snow* *Quiet and soft and slow* *Falling from the sky in the night* *To the earth below* *Falling* *To the earth below* *You came falling From the sky in the night* ### Closing Prayer: *Lord, High and Holy, Meek and Lowly,* *Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live* *in the depths but see thee in the heights; hemmed in* *by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.* *Let me learn by paradox* *that the way down is the way up,* *that to be low is to be high,* *that the broken heart is the healed heart,* *that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit* *that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,* *that to have nothing is to possess all,* *that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,* *that to give is to receive,* *that the valley is the place of vision.* *Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from the deepest* *wells. And the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars* *shine;* *Let me find thy light in my darkness,* *thy life in my death,* *thy joy in my sorrow,* *thy grace in my sin,* *thy riches in my poverty,* *thy glory in my valley.* *(The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions ed. by Arthur Bennett)*