The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!” – Lamentations 3:22-24
Friday morning, walking down toward the roundabout end of Main Street, I almost veered off to walk in a different direction, but Max tugged at his leash in response to some scent he caught on the bridge, so we continued on and over.
That’s when I caught a glimmer of color in the east. So we paused to take in the scene and I was arrested by the subtlety and the nuance of the colors. It wasn’t the dramatic splash of crimson red or a stunning wash of Carolina Blue but instead silver and gray and pale blues and dusty tones of charcoal and misty white and rose with water the texture of mercury.
So we looked downstream too, toward the train bridge and the serenity of the scene spoke to me like a prayer.
I think it was the mist, the slightly hazy absence of clear focus and the absolute quiet that gave the entire walk more the sense of prayer than exercise. I believe that God gifts us with early morning serenity in order to set the coming day into context.
Contrast this with waking up to television news… or talk radio… or scanning through a series of disturbing news articles on some phone app.
God’s invitation to the new day is an opportunity to place our focus, our thoughts, our intentions and our trust in Jesus. I can’t help but think of the idea of “launch trajectory” and the importance of setting ourselves on a true path. Is it any wonder that so many people seem to be angry all day when they neglect to turn their eyes upon Jesus?
Thank you, graceful and merciful Lord, for your invitation to turn to the light, every day. Thank you for offering me a positive alternative to all the acrimony and negativity that stands against your way. Thank you for the Good News of your love.
May we all live into your truth, gracious God, and join you in your initiatives of grace, mercy, peace, goodness, justice, light, encouragement, redemption and healing. We want to follow your way of promise and love, not the dashed hopes and sad bitterness of this world. Amen! – DEREK
