A Daily Spiritual Seed: February 2014

Friday, February 28, 2014

Weekend Edition - A Daily Spiritual Seed

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Contents:
- Book/Resource of the Week
- Weekend Readings
- Spiritual Guidance
- Saint of the Week
- Affiliate Web Sites
- Theology Note of the Week
- Discussion Board
- Joke of the Week
- Advertising and Archives
- Subscribe/Unsubscribe links. Attributions.

- - -

Lenten Study Series

Topic: God and I: Exploring the connections between God, Self and Ego (spiritual theology)
Learning Process: 9 written conferences; private discussion forum for participants; video conferences.
See http://shalomplace.com/inetmin/GodandI for more information and registration options.

Book/Resource of the Week

Prayers from Chautauqua, by Joan Brown Campbell. The Pilgrim Press, 2013.
- http://www.amazon.com/dp/0829819851/?tag=christianspiritu

Sister Joan Chittister gives the forward for this book of prayers and encourages the readers to take to heart the many themes of prayer of supplication and praise to God.

This book is a spiritual treasure for persons of every denomination, culture, and way of life. Campbell seems to touch the feelings and desires of every heart of humankind. She has themes of peace-making, world-healing, and just plain everyday living. Her writing exhibits beauty, religion, and a deep sense of spirituality. It seems that Campbell has insight into the most intricate sentiments of the human heart, and she offers prayers that fit these sentiments.

Message of 2-28-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Message of the Day

Our union with God—his presence with us, in which our aloneness is banished and the meaning and full purpose of human existence is realized—consists chiefly in a conversational relationship with God while we are each consistently and deeply engaged as his friend and collaborater in the affairs of the kingdom of the heavens.
... Dallas Willard (1935-2013), "Hearing God"

(. . . "a conversational relationship with God" . . . "as his friend" . . . today.)

Message of 2-27-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Message of the Day

Make sure that you let God’s grace work in your souls by accepting whatever He gives you, and giving Him whatever He takes from you. True holiness consists in doing God’s will with a smile.
- Mother Teresa of Calcutta, (1910-1997), "A Gift for God: Prayers and Meditations"

(Be of good cheer this day. It is a choice we can make, to some extent.)

Message of 2-26-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Message of the Day

A man’s personality actuates and quickens his whole body. If anyone said it was unsuitable for the man’s power to be in the toe, he would be thought silly, because, while granting that a man penetrates and actuates the whole of his body, he denied his presence in the part. Similarly, no one who admits the presence of the Word of God in the universe as a whole should think it unsuitable for a single human body to be by Him actuated and enlightened.
- St. Athanasius (293-373), "The Incarnation of the Word of God" [4th century]

(Christ fills the universe and all its parts [Eph. 1:23] -- you being one such. Let this awareness stay with you this day.)

Message of 2-25-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Message of the Day

He, who begins by loving Christianity, better than truth, will proceed by loving his own sect or church better than Christianity, and end in loving himself better than all.
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), "Aids to Reflection"

(What stirs in you as you read this? What is revealed to you about yourself in the stirring?)

Message of 2-24-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Message of the Day

The Present is the point at which Time touches Eternity. Of the present moment, and of it only, humans have an experience analogous to the experience which [God] has of reality as a whole; in it alone, freedom and actuality are offered them. He would therefore have them continually concerned either with Eternity (which means being concerned with Him) or with the Present—either meditating on their eternal union with, or separation from, Himself; or else obeying the present voice of conscience, bearing the present cross, receiving the present grace, giving thanks for the present pleasure.
- C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), "The Screwtape Letters"

(Be here now in love this day.)

Weekend Edition - A Daily Spiritual Seed

Book/Resource of the Week

Only Love Can Save Us: Letters, Homilies and Talks of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (now Pope Francis). Our Sunday Visitor, 2013.
- http://www.amazon.com/dp/161278741X/?tag=christianspiritu

Here are one hundred fifty pages of inspirational reading from the pen of the present Pope Francis, written when he was Cardinal in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is no surprise that his main theme is his consistent love for the poor and joy in Christ as he covers these topics: marriage, prayer, faith, education, evangelization, the elderly, the homeless, vocations, and more. His tone gives the impression that he is speaking directly to his readers. His interest in the topics he chose for this book is a portend of his attitudes as Pope.

In a homily on the “Te Deum” in May, 2012, he said, “Only the commandment of love, in all its simplicity—steady, humble, unassuming, but firm in conviction and in commitment to others –can save us.” In August of 2011, he wrote, “Love neither discriminates nor relativizes because it is open to friendship. Friends accept each other as they are and tell each other the truth. It is also communitarian in nature. It impels individuals to accompany, to align themselves with, and to work next to their fellow citizens. It is the basis for social friendship and respect for differences.” In September of 2008, Cardinal Bergoglio wrote, “Establishing love is a work of skillful craftsmanship, the work of patient people, people who do their utmost to listen, to bring people together. This skillful work is carried out peacefully and wonderfully by creators of love. “

Message of 2-21-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Message of the Day

From my years’ experience I can unhesitatingly say that the Cross bears those who bear the Cross
... Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889-1929)

(The only thing worse than having a cross is resisting it. Invite God to be with and guide your in your struggles and hardships this day.)

Message of 2-20-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Message of the Day

Let God operate in thee; hand the work over to Him and do not disquiet thyself as to whether or no He is working with nature or above nature, for His are both nature and grace.
- Meister Eckhart (1260-1327), Works of Meister Eckhart

("Let God operate in thee . . .")

Message of 2-19-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Message of the Day

The cause of [the cessation of the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost] was not, ... “because there was no more occasion for them,” because all the world was become Christians... The real cause was, “the love of many,” almost of all Christians, so called, was “waxed cold.” The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ, than the other heathens. The Son of man, when he came to examine his church, could hardly “find faith upon earth.” This was the real cause, why the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church; because the Christians were turned heathens again, and had only a dead form left.
- John Wesley (1703-1791), Sermons on Several Occasions, v. II

(Do you think Wesley's critique is still relevant today? How can you fan into flame the gifts of the Spirit in your life?)

Message of 2-18-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Message of the Day

". . . whilst you shut yourself up in patience, meekness, humility, and resignation to God, you are in the very arms of Christ, your whole heart is His dwelling-place, and He lives and works in you as certainly as He lived in, and governed that body and soul, which He took from the Virgin Mary."
- William Law (1686-1761), The Spirit of Love [1752-4]

(We [you] are the body of Christ. Let Him live and work in you this day.)

Lenten Study Series

Topic: God and I: Exploring the connections between God, Self and Ego (spiritual theology)
Learning Process: 9 written conferences; private discussion forum for participants; video conferences.
See http://shalomplace.com/inetmin/GodandI for more information and registration options.

Message of 2-17-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Message of the Day

One way to recollect the mind easily in the time of prayer, and preserve it more in tranquility, is not to let it wander too far at other times. You should keep it strictly in the Presence of God; and, being accustomed to think of Him often, you will find it easy to keep your mind calm in the time of prayer, or at least to recall it from its wanderings.
- Brother Lawrence (c.1605-1691), The Practice of the Presence of God.

(Taking responsibility for the thoughts we give consent to is one of the most difficult practices, and most essential.)

Weekend Edition - A Daily Spiritual Seed

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Contents:
- Book/Resource of the Week
- Weekend Readings
- Spiritual Guidance
- Saint of the Week
- Affiliate Web Sites
- Theology Note of the Week
- Discussion Board
- Joke of the Week
- Advertising and Archives
- Subscribe/Unsubscribe links. Attributions.

- - -

Book/Resource of the Week

A Travel Guide to Heaven, by Anthony DeStefano. Doubleday, 2006.
- http://www.amazon.com/dp/0385509898/?tag=christianspiritu

This is about all you ever wanted to know about that place of beauty, excitement, challenges, fun, and pure delight, namely HEAVEN. The author provides Scripture quotations to substantiate his thoughts about celebrating all the way to Heaven and thereafter. He contends that heaven is more than fluttering angel wings, harps, and haloes. DeStefano draws on a great sense of logic, fun, and adventure to produce this book of hope and promise.

You may not believe every word that DeStefano writes but you will draw inspiration from the journey he describes. In his flight plan he offers a welcome and describes the luxury accommodations suited for one’s new body. He tells about the fellow travelers who will be one’s next door neighbors in the great beyond. The author bids his readers reflect on the “eterni-ness “ of everyones’s stay.

Message of 2-14-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Message of the Day

Throughout the world, in nation after nation, men and women have died for their Christian faith. The very least we can do is live for our faith.
- Anonymous

(How might you live your faith more fully this day?)

Message of 2-13-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Message of the Day

Prayer is not a matter of getting what we want the most. Prayer is a matter of giving ourselves to God and learning His laws, so that He can do through us what He wants the most.
- Agnes Sanford

(Pray the grace to be an instrument of God's love this day.)

Message of 2-12-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Message of the Day

Our problem is that we assume prayer is something to master the way we master algebra or auto mechanics. That puts us in the "on-top" position, where we are competent and in control. But when praying, we come "underneath," where we calmly and deliberately surrender control and become incompetent... The truth of the matter is, we all come to prayer with a tangled mass of motives altruistic and selfish, merciful and hateful, loving and bitter. Frankly, this side of eternity we will never unravel the good from the bad, the pure from the impure. God is big enough to receive us with all our mixture. That is what grace means, and not only are we saved by it, we live by it as well. And we pray by it.
- Richard J. Foster

(Pray as you pray.)

Message of 2-11-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Message of the Day

When God works in us, the will, being changed and sweetly breathed upon by the Spirit of God, desire and acts, not from compulsion, but responsively.
- Martin Luther

(". . . for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Phil. 2:13)

Message of 2-10-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Message of the Day

The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion, but, on the contrary, of its liberality and humanity. It is shorter to state the things forbidden than the things permitted: precisely because most things are permitted, and only a few things are forbidden.
- Gilbert Keith G. K. Chesterton

("Sin not, and do as you wish," goes an old saying. Enjoy the freedom of a child of God this day.)

Weekend Edition - A Daily Spiritual Seed

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Contents:
- Book/Resource of the Week
- Weekend Readings
- Spiritual Guidance
- Saint of the Week
- Affiliate Web Sites
- Theology Note of the Week
- Discussion Board
- Joke of the Week
- Advertising and Archives
- Subscribe/Unsubscribe links. Attributions.

- - -

Book/Resource of the Week

Grave Injustice: Unearthing Wrongful Executions, by Richard A. Stack. Potomac Books, 2013.
- http://www.amazon.com/dp/1612341624/?tag=christianspiritu

It is most probably true that United States has executed a number of innocent persons. This author aims to expose the main defects in the capital punishment system in vogue in the States by showing that the death penalty is carried out by flawed humans, and that this irreversible punishment has no place in an imperfect system. By naming the case of Troy Davis who spent twenty years in prison and was then executed for a crime he most likely did not commit, sets the stage for introducing many others whose fate was similar. Stack puts a human face on the tragedy of capital punishment.

Message of 2-7-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Message of the Day

I have learned that much of my spiritual progress does not come directly from God, but through my ability to humble myself and hear Him speak through imperfect people. In fact, I have discovered that it pleases Him to hide His manifold wisdom in a variety of people and denominational perspectives. I know that the more I humble myself to others, the broader my understanding of God has actually become.
- Francis Frangipane

(Be open to God communicating with you through other people and creation this day.)

Message of 2-6-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Message of the Day

How do you convince a world that God is alive? By His aliveness in your life, by His work in producing reality in your experience.
- Howard G. Hendricks

(Be fully alive in God this day.)

Message of 2-4-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Message of the Day

Make it a rule, and pray to God to help you to keep it, never, if possible, to lie down at night without being able to say: "I have made one human being at least a little wiser, or a little happier, or at least a little better this day."
- Charles Kingsley

(A good resolution for today.)

2 SM 18:9-10, 14B, 24-25A, 30-19:3; PS 86:1-2, 3-4, 5-6; MK 5:21-43

R. Listen, Lord, and answer me.

Incline your ear, O LORD; answer me,
for I am afflicted and poor.
Keep my life, for I am devoted to you;
save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God.

Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for to you I call all the day.
Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.
Hearken, O LORD, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my pleading.

Reflection on the Scriptures
- http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html

There are not too many biblical stories that bring out the raw emotions of the people involved more than today’s first reading. David is the great king of Israel. However, like many of us, he made mistakes with his children. A number of mistakes with Absalom led to a life that spiraled out of control. Eventually, Absalom led a rebellion against his own father. What a difficult position for David to be in. He loved his son and wanted him to live so that there could be reconciliation between them but he was not prepared to give up the kingdom. So, he sent Joab, the commander of his armies, to battle against the rebels but gave him strict orders to spare Absalom’s life. Joab defeated the rebel armies but proved to be untrustworthy. He explicitly disobeyed the king’s order and personally killed a defenseless Absalom. What a beautiful but heart wrenching picture of a father weeping for his son. “My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, Absalom, my son, my son!” That is truly “a man after God’s own heart.” If only I had died instead of you. . .

David trusted Joab and he failed David in one of the most important episodes of his life. Jairus trusted Jesus and saw Death flee from the presence of He who is Life. The heading for Psalm 86 is “A prayer of David.” We do not know when in his life he prayed this prayer. We only know that, by now, he knows what Jairus knew. He knew that it makes a difference where you place your trust. He declares: You are my God. I trust in you.

- by George Butterfield

Spiritual Reading

Selected Quotes from St. John of the Cross on the Journey of the Soul to God by Contemplation - from Living Flame of Love
- http://www.amazon.com/dp/1602064296/?tag=christianspiritu

Stanza 1. #6. This soul is so near to God that it is transformed in the ﬂames of love, wherein Father, Son and Holy Spirit communicate Themselves to it. The effect of the living ﬂames is to make the soul live spiritually in God, and experience the life of God.

#8. Love is ever throwing out sparks; the effect is to wound, that it may enkindle with love and cause delight.

- compiled by James and Tyra Arraj

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Amazon Gift Cards: Good for any occasion.
- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00067L6TQ/?tag=christianspiritu

- - - -

Please support this ministry with a tax-deductible donation.
- http://heartlandspirituality.org/support.html

_________________________________________________

    * Web Archive: http://www.aweber.com/z/article/?dailyseed
    * RSS:   http://www.aweber.com/z/rss/?dailyseed
    * To subscribe by email: http://heartlandspirituality.org/dailyseed.html
    * Blog subscription (includes comment options): http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com/

Monday, February 3, 2014

Message of 2-5-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Message of the Day

Dare to love and to be a real friend. The love you give and receive is a reality that will lead you closer and closer to God as well as those whom God has given you to love.
- Henri J. M. Nouwen

(Sometimes it's good to remember that the core practice is love. Let this your focus today.)

Message of 2-3-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Message of the Day

Character is not built by battling and excitement alone. The harvest is not ripened by the thunderous forces of nature, but by the secret silent invisible forces. So the best qualities of our spiritual lives are matured by quietness, silence and commonplace.
- A. P. Gouthey

(Only in silence can we discover our deeper thoughts and feelings, and sense that still small voice of the Spirit. Reduce the unnecessary noise in your life. Make silence a priority.)

Friday, February 28, 2014

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Monday, February 24, 2014

Friday, February 21, 2014

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Monday, February 17, 2014

Friday, February 14, 2014

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Monday, February 10, 2014

Friday, February 7, 2014

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Monday, February 3, 2014