Running With Mark 44

 

Day Forty-Four – February 10, 2020  

Read:

Psalm 122

 My spirit soared when a Voice

                        spoke to me:

            “Come, come to the Heart

                        of Love!”

How long I had stood within the

                        house of fear

            yearning to enter the gates

                        of Love!

 

The New Jerusalem, the Holy City,

            is bound firmly together;

All who seek the Heart of Love,

            those who have faced their fears,

Enter the gates in peace and with

                        great joy,

            singing songs of thanksgiving.

There, in harmony with the cosmos,

            the community gathers united

                        in love.

 

Pray for the peace of the world!

            May all nations prosper as one!

May peace reign among all peoples,

            and integrity dwell within

                        every heart!

Then will friends and neighbors, and

                        former enemies as well,

            cry out, “Peace be within you!”

For the good of the universe and

            in gratitude to the Beloved,

Let us serve the Holy One,

                        of all nations

                        with glad hearts.

 

From Psalms for Praying © 2007 Nan C. Merrill

Continuum International Publishing Group

www.PsalmsForPraying.com

 

Jerusalem was the site of the first temple and referred to as the “holy city”.   In Matthew 23:37 Jesus lamented over Jerusalem saying, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”
 
 

The image of Jesus as mother hen is a tender one.  How Jesus longs to gather all of God’s children under her wing, but we are unwilling.  Yet Jesus will over and over again in the gospels, set his sights on Jerusalem, knowing what was in store for him there.

 

What does it mean to you that Christ would choose to go to Jerusalem?

 

How does the image of Jesus as a mother hen speak to you?

 

Music:

The Holy City sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Made to Worship by Chris Tomlin

 

Prayer Focus:

Pray to God as a mother hen covering you with wings of love and grace.

 

Grace and peace,
Pastor Karen Bruins