Thursday, November 1, 2018

All Souls



 For Friday, November 2nd


Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide 
the family inheritance with me.’ But
 he said to him, ‘Friend, who set
 me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’ And he said to them, ‘Take 
care! Be on your guard against all 
kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’ Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought
 to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” 
Then he said, “I will do this: I will
 pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my
 grain and my goods. And I will say
 to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be
 merry.” But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded
 of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So it is with those who 
store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’
 He said to his disciples, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you 
will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the 
body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have 
neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you 
than the birds! And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 
If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even 
Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the 
grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much
 more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not keep striving for what you are 
to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the
 world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 
Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Luke
12:13-31

All Souls

Consider the ravens and the magpies
they greet us in the morning with noise
laughing at our human high anxiety
they know they are blessed and loved.

We are here on earth for but a short season
we watch helpless as the light fades away
burdened with hopes, dreams and fears
we worry that our lives will be nothing.

The days are darkening and colder
we huddle in our warm houses and fear
that we cannot stem the tide of hate
nor store up enough to survive.

We must take to the wing again
greeting the morning with our songs
laughing at our selfish and greedy ways
making every moment a sweet prayer.

God is always with us and within us
working the miracles we ignore
God is lighting the fires of new days
making the world turn to be reborn.


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