Day 32

Put false ways far from me;

and graciously teach me your law. Psalm 119:29

God of truth, even if it is painful, open my eyes that I might see what is real and what is not real. Amen.

Day 31

People go out to their work

and to their labor until the evening. Psalm 104:23

Creator God, remind me each day that I am your cocreator in fashioning a world of love and justice. Amen.

Day 30

May there be abundance of grain in the land;

may it wave on the tops of the mountains;

may its fruit be like Lebanon;

and may people blossom in the cities

like the grass of the field. Psalm 72:16

Sustaining God, let me be content and confident, trusting in the “summertime truth” that there is enough for all of us to thrive if all of us share. Amen.

Day 29

He leads the humble in what is right,

and teaches the humble his way Psalm 25:9

God of the seasons, thank you for the promise of spring that can come at any time. Amen.

Day 28

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,

I fear no evil;

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff--

they comfort me. Psalm 23:4

God of nature, in the cold of winter let me trust the coming warmth of the spring. Amen.

Day 27

Lord, let me know my end,

and what is the measure of my days;

let me know how fleeting my life is. Psalm 39:4

God of all comfort, open my eyes to see death as you see death. Amen.

Day 26

The eyes of all look to you,

and you give them their food in due season.

You open your hand, satisfying the deisre of every living thing. Psalm 145:15-16

God of life and death, may I have the wisdom to go with the flow of the seasons of my life. Amen.

Day 25

I commune with my heart in the night;

I meditate and search my spirit. Psalm 77:6

Holy One, may I be disciplined today in balancing my outer work with inner work. Amen.

Day 24

Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,

for in you I put my trust.

Teach me the way I should go,

for to you I lift up my soul. Psalm 143:8

Guiding God, “teach me the way I should go,” and I will know better how to lead and how to follow. Amen.

Day 23

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;

my eye wastes away from grief,

my soul and body also.

For my life is spent with sorrow,

and my ears with sighing;

my strength fails because of my misery,

and my bones waste away. Psalm 31:9-10

Loving God, as much as I can, I am going to acknowledge and own the truth about myself and simply be who I am. Amen.

Day 22

I kept my faith, even when I said,

“I am greatly afflicted.” Psalm 116:10

God of all newness, if I run into a closed door, let me find the yes hidden in the no. Amen.

Day 21

Be still and know that I Am God! Psalm 46:10a

Sustaining God, you who created me in your own image, may I reflect your image in all of my relationships. Amen.

Day 20

While I kept silence, my body wasted away

through my groaning all day long. . . .

Then I acknowledged my sin to you,

and I did not hide my iniquity. Psalm 32:3, 5

Forgiving God, I will not hide my liabilities, limits, trespasses, and shadow from myself or from you. Amen.

Day 19

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

you discern my thoughts from far away.

You search out my path and my lying down,

and are acquainted with all my ways. Psalm 139:1-3

Loving God, I will listen to my life; may I be fearless and honest in my listening. Amen.

Day 18

For it was you who formed my inward parts;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

that I know very well . . . .

In your book were written

all the days that were formed for me,

when none of them as yet existed. Psalm 139:13-14, 16b

Holy One, may I do nothing today that violates my true self. Amen.

Day 17

I commune with my heart in the night;

I meditate and search my spirit. Psalm 77:6

God of silence and song, today I will be fully present to myself and fully present as myself to others. Amen.

Day 16

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars that you have established;

what are human beings that you are mindful of them,

mortals that you care for them?

Yet you have made them a little lower than God,

and crowned them with glory and honor. Psalm 8:3-5

God of life, as I move through each day, may my choices reflect a deep reverence for life. Amen.

Day 15

As a deer longs for flowing streams,

so my soul longs for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God,

for the living God. Psalm 42:1-2a

Creator God, my soul longs for you’ let the longing of my soul be satisfied. Amen.

Day 14

Good and upright is the Lord;

therefore he instructs sinners in the way.

He leads the humble in what is right

and teaches the humble his way. Psalm 25:8-9

Creator God, I will listen as well as I can to the inner voice you created within me. Amen.

Day 13

“How very good and pleasant it is

when kindred live together in unity! . . .

For there the Lord ordained his blessing,

Life forevermore. Psalm 133:1, 3b

Loving God, May I balance my needs for solitude and community, taking time to be alone and time to be together. Amen.

Day 12

Who are they that fear the Lord?

He will teach them the way that they should choose. Psalm 25:12

Holy One, following your word---I will seek in all that I do to choose life. Amen.

Day 11

O Lord, all my longing is known to you;

my sighing is not hidden from you.

My heart throbs, my strength fails me;

as for the light of my eyes--it also has gone from me. Psalm 38:9-10

Guiding God, grant that my life will express greater harmony between who I am and what I do. Amen.

Day 10

For God alone my soul waits in silence. Psalm 62:1a

Holy One, let me be still and know that you are God. Amen.

Day 9

Teach me your way, O Lord,

that I may walk in your truth;

give me an undivided heart to revere your name. Psalm 86:11

Gracious God, you made me, love and value me; grant me grace and courage to be me. Amen.

Day 8

Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;

you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.

You visit the earth and water it,

you greatly enrich it;

the river of God is full of water;

you provide the people with grain,

for so you have prepared it. Psalm 65:8-9

Holy God grant me to live with such trust in your care that I am free to care for others. Amen.

Day 7

For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

he is to be revered above all gods.

For all the gods of the peoples are idols,

but the Lord made the heavens. Psalm 96:4-5

Ever-faithful, ever-loving God, let me live with no God but you. Amen.

Day 6

You cause the grass to grow for the cattle,

and plants for people to use,

to bring forth food from the earth,

and wine to gladden the human heart,

oil to make the face shine,

and bread to strengthen the human heart. Psalm 104:14-15

Holy God, let me rejoice in simple things, in ordinary things, in the goods of the Spirit and the goods of the earth. Amen.

Day 5

I have not hidden your saving help within my heart.

I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;

I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness

from the great congregation. Psalm 40:10

Loving God, let me love and be loved today with the same freedom and abundance with which you love. Amen.

Day 4

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!

All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

They feast on the abundance of your house,

and you give them drink from the river of your delights.

For with you is the fountain of life;

in your light we see light. Psalm 36:7-9

Gracious God, you have created a world where there is enough for everybody, let me never want more than enough until everyone has enough. Amen.

Day 3

Happy are those who consider the poor;

the Lord deliver them in the day of trouble. Psalm 41:1

Healing God, help me to find my health in seeking the health of others. Amen

Day 2

Are you a star thrower?

Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good’

according to your abundant mercy, turn to me Psalm 69:16

Holy God, let me be so open to your mercy that it through me to others. Amen.

Day 1

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,

and the light around me become night,”

even the darkness is not dark to you;

the night is as bright as the day,

for darkness is as light to you. Psalm 139:11-12

A contradiction literally means speaking against something. It identifies an inconsistency. It means that two opposing things cannot be true at the same time.

A paradox is a seeming contradiction. While it may seem that the ideas are opposite and cannot be true at the same time they actually are.

Ever loving and ever-present God, let me find you and follow you in both light and shadow. Amen.