“The longing for home is a foretaste of heaven. My longing for home prompted me to think of the sacrifice Jesus made when he came to earth. How he must have yearned for all he left behind!” (I know the feeling. I only think of home two times: night and day!)
—Wendy Marshall, quoted in the January 28, 2012
entry in the Upper Room daily devotional
Since this is Ash Wednesday, the traditional beginning of the season of Lent observed in many mainline Christian churches, I thought I would share portions of three recent entries from the Forward Day by Day daily devotional on the subjects of home, Christian service, and the psalms, especially Psalm 119.
Except for some deleted paragraphs, all of these entries are reproduced just as they appeared in the original versions and are used by permission of the publisher. I hope these entries speak to you during this Lenten season as much as they did to me.
“Abide” and “Home”
“Home is that place where you belong, where you fit in, where you are at ease, where you are fully yourself.”
—Jimmy Peacock
This first entry is reminiscent of quotes and definitions of home from my previous blog posts such as the one above. Other than the quoted scripture in the following entry, italics were inserted by me for emphasis.
SATURDAY, January 5
John 15:1-16. Abide in me.
The verb “abide” suggests a long-term situation. When we abide somewhere or with someone, we’re not just passing through. We don’t abide in a hotel room, an elevator, or a parking space. The noun form of the word, “abode,” brings to mind images of home, where we belong, where we can relax and be ourselves.
Home is the backdrop of our lives, an atmosphere that we breathe in and out. Home surrounds and defines us. It is a place we don’t have to think about all the time, affording us the security and freedom to think about other things.
Christ invites us to make our home in him, to allow him to surround and define us, to condition all we say or do, hallowing every moment. He will be with us as a familiar place to abide—a backdrop, an atmosphere enfolding and embracing us.
Copyright 2012 Forward Movement (www.forwardmovement.org). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Note: To read my previous entries “Quotes about Home I and II” from September 19 and 26, 2012, click here and here.
The Lord’s Use of “Stumbling Blocks”
“We must remember that the disciples were intensely human. [With us as with them] God has to hit mighty licks with crooked sticks.”
—Anonymous Southern Baptist preacher
In this second entry from Forward Day by Day, the italics for emphasis (except for mine in the final paragraph) were part of the original quotation.
FRIDAY, January 18
Matthew 16:13-19. I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
Following Peter’s confession that Jesus was the Christ—Peter was the first to say it—Jesus said Peter was the rock on which he would build his church. . .
I . . . doubt he was thinking of Peter’s faith, which wasn’t enough to make Peter a reliable friend later on. I don’t know what Jesus was thinking, but just five verses later, Jesus said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me.” So Peter was both the rock on which Jesus would build his church and a stumbling block to Jesus.
Jesus builds his church on a stumbling block, an obstacle, a problem. That rings true. Everybody I’ve ever known in church—and I’ve known lots of church people—is a stumbling block, an obstacle, a problem, at least now and then. For reasons unimaginable to me, Jesus seems to prefer to achieve his purposes using the wrong people in the wrong jobs at the wrong time in the wrong place. I’m glad he does, because that’s what lets me in.
Copyright 2012 Forward Movement (www.forwardmovement.org). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Note: This final paragraph applies particularly to me, especially in regard to my thirty-plus years of exile from my native Arkansas home and my labor as a copyeditor for religious publications, a role for which I had no formal education or training in theology, the Bible, journalism, English, Hebrew, Greek, editing, etc., or even typing except with two fingers (as I still do). To read more about this subject, visit my August 24, 2011, post titled “My Mother’s Bible” and my February 1, 2013, post titled “About Copyeditors.”
Reading the Psalms, Especially Psalm 119
“This is the Psalm (Psalm 119) I have often had recourse to, when I could find no spirit of prayer in my own heart, and at length the fire was kindled and I could pray.”
—Rev. H. Venn from Charles Bridges on Psalm 119,
quoted in Wikipedia entry for Psalm 119
Finally, to sum up the subject of Ash Wednesday, Lent, and daily Bible reading (which I still do in the same French Bible I used to translate French and English more than thirty years ago), here is a portion of a recent entry from Forward Day by Day about the psalms, especially Psalm 119, the longest psalm in the Bible. Except for the quoted portion of Psalm 119, the italics for emphasis are mine with my inserted words in brackets.
WEDNESDAY, February 6
Psalm 119:73-96. Your law is my delight . . . I will never forget your commandments, because by them you give me life.
“Seventy-six Trombones” isn’t the tune for Psalm 119. But this psalm is like 176 trumpets—176 verses that “trumpet” the power of God’s life-giving word, sometimes muted as the psalmist endures difficulty. [I identify with the psalmist because like him and like Peter I also have a tendency to falter in faith during difficult times!] But since this psalm is long, I often choose others. . .
I was saddened when someone said he easily skips the psalms [in his daily Bible readings], yet realized that I sometimes avoid Psalm 119 [because of its length]. Since this psalm is divided into sections, I’ve decided to add a section to my readings every day during Lent and travel through the psalm twice before Easter. My journey starts . . . on Ash Wednesday, and I’d welcome your company.
Copyright 2013 Forward Movement (www.forwardmovement.org). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Note: By following the suggested scripture lessons in both the Upper Room (Methodist) daily devotional and in the Forward Day by Day (Episcopal) daily devotional, over time I am able to cover much of the Bible in my daily reading—including the psalms. (For more on this subject see my earlier post titled “My Mother’s Bible.”) In fact, by holding my French Bible sideways, it is easy to identify the book of Psalms in it because that section is darker and more frayed than the rest of the Bible due to constant use and continuous wear. But besides the book of Psalms, like this writer I intend to add a section of Psalm 119 to my daily scripture readings during Lent, and I would suggest that you do likewise.
“Home is that place where you belong, where you fit in, where you are at ease, where you are fully yourself.”
—Jimmy Peacock
Good observation and well worth remembering.
Joe
Jimmy, I enjoyed your blog, and I’m glad He lets me in, too. I especially like your quote about home, “Home is that place where you belong, where you fit in, where you are at ease, where you are fully yourself.” It describes the way I feel. I am most impressed by your knowledge of the Bible. ~Juanise Stockdale
[...] Note: The subjects of religion and politics will be examined in future posts of collected and composed quotations and excerpts. As an “Orthodox, Sacramental, Evangelical Baptiscopalian Methodist” my own spiritual journey and perspective can be examined by visiting my previous blog posts such as 1. “My Religious Conversion” 2. “Life Is Reg’lar/My Mother’s Bible” 3. “A Summary of My Personal Spirituality and Pilgrimage” 4. “Occupation in Exile, Deliverance in Time” 5. “A Baptist Pastor in an Episcopal Christmas Service” 6. “About Copyeditors: God’s Noble Bereans” 7. “Ash Wednesday: Home, Stumbling Blocks, and Psalm 119” [...]