Above: The Parliament Buildings in Ottawa on February 4, 1916
Image in the Public Domain
Image Source = The New York Times, February 13, 1916
Partners of God
MARCH 1, 2022
APRIL 1, 2022
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The Collect:
Creator God, you prepare a new way in the wilderness,
and your grace waters our desert.
Open our hearts to be transformed by the new thing you are doing,
that our lives may proclaim the extravagance of your love
given to all through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 29
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The Assigned Readings:
Isaiah 43:1-7 (Thursday)
Isaiah 43:8-15 (Friday)
Psalm 126 (Both Days)
Philippians 2:19-24 (Thursday)
Philippians 2:25-3:1 (Friday)
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When the LORD restored Zion
it was as though we were dreaming.
We could not speak for laughing,
we could only utter cries of joy.
Then the saying arose among the nations,
“The LORD has done something great with these people.”
The LORD has done something great with us;
we were delighted.
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Restore us again, Lord,
as streams refresh the dry south.
Those who sow in tears
will reap with shouts of joy.
Whoever weeps as he walks along his furrow
carrying a handful of seed
will surely come here in joy
carrying his sheaves of corn.
–Psalm 126, Harry Mowvley, The Psalms Introduced and Newly Translated for Today’s Readers (1989)
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Psalm 126 probably dates to the post-exilic period, which did not live up to its billing elsewhere in the Bible. The text indicates both thanksgiving to God and awareness that circumstances could be better.
That description applies well to contemporary circumstances, both collective and individual, does it not? Yes, we have a plethora of reasons for gratitude to God, but we also have a host of problems. Other people created many of them, but we must live with them. The fact that we live in societal settings means that what we do affects others and that what others do affects us. We pay for many of the mistakes of other people, therefore. Sometimes we pay for the errors of our ancestors, whose legacies are not entirely positive. I can trace some of the positive and negative influences on my life as far back as two of my great-grandfathers, for example.
On the positive side, God calls us to care for and about each other. God has modeled this commandment frequently, in instances from the Bible and elsewhere, from antiquity to the present day. We read one example of it in Isaiah 43:1-15, a prophecy of the end of the Babylonian Exile. We find an example of the imprisoned St. Paul the Apostle expressing his concern for the church at Philippi, a congregation he had founded, and announcing the impending arrival of two of his fellow workers in Christ.
Yes, we have reasons for concern as well as for gratitude to God, but this reality does not excuse inaction when positive action is justified. We human beings are supposed to support each other in positive pursuits, as God defines them. If we do this, we will improve some of the circumstances over which we have justifiable concerns. If we do this, we will act as partners of God, who is always the senior partner.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 4, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THOMAS COTTERILL, ENGLISH PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, AND LITURGIST
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN CALABRIA, FOUNDER OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE POOR SERVANTS AND THE POOR WOMEN SERVANTS OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE
THE FEAST OF JOSEPH MOHR, AUSTRIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2015/12/04/partners-of-god/
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LENTEN AND EASTER DEVOTIONS 
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