Daily Bread April 05

A Sacred Encounter
Katie Harmon-McLaughlin of Sacramento, CA, USA


On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples
    a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
    of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.
 And he will destroy on this mountain
    the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
    the sheet that is spread over all nations;
    he will swallow up death forever.
Then the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces,
    and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
    for the LORD has spoken. -Isaiah 25:6-8

Being faithful to the unknowable God:
A holy paradox

Is this why we struggle to trust?
Impatient as we wait on mystery, unquantifiable,
Efficiency tempts with dreams of success.

And we wonder why it feels
Like we’ve lost our soul.

The unknowable God appears in fire
That does not consume and
We do not understand.

Who are you?
What are we supposed to see?
What does all this mean?

We want a plan, a map, a guide
And receive instead a strange command-
Take off your shoes.

And somehow
That is the only strategy
We need.

We are with
I AM
And the very ground
Upon which we stand
Is holy.

What more do we need?
Everything we are to live
Begins with this encounter.

Prayer Phrase

“Every breath is a resurrection” (Gregory Orr).

Spiritual Practice

Breath of Life

Take a few moments right now to breathe. Simply observe each inhale and exhale. Pay attention to how it feels in your body. Notice the rise and fall of your chest. Notice how you breathe even when you aren’t thinking about it, how your body instinctively knows how to keep you alive without your thought or effort. In this moment, you are alive. Receive this awareness as an expression of divine grace. In joy or despair, loss or celebration, your body continues breathing. How is your breath a resurrection this day?

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

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