Norma Miller - Scripture - Psalm 139:23-24

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Norma Miller - Scripture - Proverbs 22:6

Train a child in the way
he should go
and when he is old
he will not turn from it.

Norma Miller & Paul Ritzmann - Scripture - John 3:16-17

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son
that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world
but that the world through him might be saved.

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Pauline Arnold - Scripture - Isaiah 49:15b-16

I will not forget you!
I have engraved you
On the palm of my hands.

Rosanna McFadden - Scripture - John 1:1

In the beginning was the Word,
and the word was with God,
and the Word was God.

Rosanna McFadden - Scripture - 2 Corinthians 4:5,7

We proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus sake… But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.

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Jan Birr & Judy DePue - Scripture - Matthew 6:25-34

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or what you will drink,
or about your body, what you will wear.
Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not of more value than they?
And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?
And why do you worry about clothing.

Consider the lilies of the field, 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,
will he not much more clothe you - you of little faith?

Therefore do not worry, saying "What will we eat?" or "What will we wear?"
For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things;
and and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as well.
So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own.
Today's trouble is enough for today.

Jesus instructions about worry have been very helpful to me through the years,
as I seem to be one who worries a lot and needs the comfort these words bring. (Jan Birr)

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Betty Kelsey

Prayer of St Irenaeus (2nd Century)

It is not you who shapes God,
It is God who shapes you.
If then you are the work of God,
Await the hand of the artist
Who does all things in due season.
Offer him your heart, soft and tractable
And keep the form
in which the artist formed you.
Let your clay be moist,
Lest you grow hard
And lose the imprint of his fingers.

Resurrection (breathe in) will be now (breathe out).
--Rumi Breath Prayer

"Spirit of the Living God, present with me now,
enter my mind, body and spirit, and heal me of
all that harms me."
--from Iona Community service of laying on of hands

"Behold, I never withdraw my arms
from my work."
--Julian of Norwich

"May I become hollow like the reed,
so you may play your melody through me."
--Psalm 119 from "Psalms for Praying"

God speaks in RIDDLES
because we use certainties as weapons.
God speaks in PARADOX
to lead us to mystery.
God speaks in SILENCE
because words cannot contain infinity.
- Jane Pope, Shalem Associate 2005

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Marjorie Kirkdorffer, Don Gordon, Paulajean Ritzmann, Bill & Rosemary Pletcher - Scripture - Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.

Even through I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil;
for you are with me; your rod and your staff - they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.

Marjorie Kirkdorffer - Scripture - Psalm 91

The Lord is my refuge and my fortress, in him will I trust.

Bruce Barwick - Scripture - Proverbs 1:2-7

That men may know wisdom and instruction, understand words of insight, receive instruction in wise dealing, righteousness, justice, and equity: that prudence may be given to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth-the wise man also may hear and increase in learning, and the man of understanding, acquire skill, to understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddles.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Myron Miller

GOD IS LOVE

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David Bibbee - Prayer - The Road Not Taken - A Prayer by Thomas Merton

My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.

I do not know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that
I think I am following your will does not mean I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have this desire in all that I am doing.

I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this,
you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Marilee Gilliland - Scripture - Psalm 121

I will lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip - He who watches over you will not slumber;
The Lord is your shade at your right hand,
the sun will not harm youby day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all harm - he will watch over you life.

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Janet Berkebile, Bill & Rosemary Pletcher - Scripture - Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
And his courts with praise;
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations

Janet Berkebile - Hymnal: a worship book #580

"No storm can shake my inmost calm,
while to that Rock I'm clinging.
Since Love is Lord of heaven and earth,
how can I keep from singing?"

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