Daily Devotions

The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.” And he left them, and getting into the boat again, he went across to the other side. Mark 8:11-13

So there is the old joke: Two Pharisees notice Jesus walking across the water and one says to the other, “Look at that. He can’t even swim.”

Jesus is right. There isn’t a sign in the world that can help anyone see that which they refuse to look at. There isn’t enough evidence in the world to convince anyone of that which they refuse to accept.

“The Pharisees came and began to argue with him…”

We’re walking through Mark in these devotions at the same time as the impeachment investigation drones on in the House of Representatives. What is absolutely crystal clear to one side seems utterly preposterous to the other. Talking heads and talking points argue incessantly. Rejecting the message, they attack the messenger. People keep talking. Few are listening. No one seems to hear.

The ultimate sign that Jesus will demonstrate to the world will be his resurrection from the dead. But that can only come on the other side of the cross of his crucifixion. There is no easier way. There is no shortcut. No work around. No loophole. There is a price to be paid and Jesus will pay it.

Still, there will be Pharisees who will remain absolutely steadfastly convinced that Jesus was a charlatan all along, that the resurrection is a fanciful tale, and still they will wait, looking for the messiah – who will shower them with the earthly blessings that they want and think they deserve – that will never come.

But some will see Jesus for who he is. Nicodemus will come around. Saul will become Paul. And they will follow Jesus. Not because of what they get out of him, but because he brings them into a life that makes sense, a life that is grounded in the love of God for all people. Then those who follow Jesus will become themselves signs of who Jesus was and is and will be forever.

This moment ends with Jesus getting into a boat and heading across the water. He walks away. He doesn’t argue and wrestle to convince anyone to trust him, believe in him, or follow him.

The door is wide open. The welcome is warm. But no one is forced to follow Jesus. No one is forced to see what they are blind to, or hear what they refuse to listen to. Jesus’ love is not, and will never be, coercive.

Signs, by the way, are never the point. They are only markers letting you know that you’re heading in the right direction. I realize that, through all the generations, countless people have wanted a “sign” so that they might believe. They don’t realize that believing in signs is idolatry.

The right direction isn’t about acquiring enough evidence, it is about humbly surrendering to the truth, then paying the price that entails.

Let us pray: Dear Lord, whether we like it or not, we argue about so many things, seeking something other than the truth. Like those Pharisees who sought to test you, we also fall victim to the desire to turn you into a manageable, understandable, controllable, god. But you will have none of that and for that we are grateful. In that, you protect us from ourselves. May your love be the only sign we need. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

In those days when there was again a great crowd without anything to eat, he called his disciples and said to them, “I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way—and some of them have come from a great distance.”

His disciples replied, “How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?” He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.”

Then he ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute; and they distributed them to the crowd. They had also a few small fish; and after blessing them, he ordered that these too should be distributed. They ate and were filled; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full.

Now there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha. Mark 8:1-10

You don’t have to spend much time in a congregation before you notice an interesting dynamic. If you try something new, and it works, people will immediately say “We have to do this again.” So you do. Maybe it works again. Likely it doesn’t. But that never stops you from trying again. And again.

This is the second of the mass feeding stories in Mark. As I said before, the feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle story that appears in all four gospels. Mark (and Matthew) record this second go around with 4000 people. Why? Here is what I found on restlesspilgrim.net (thank you, restlesspilgrim.net):

The feeding of the 4,000 is important because of where it took place. The feeding of the 5,000 took place near Bethsaida, close to the Sea of Galilee. In contrast, the feeding of the 4,000 took place in the region of the Gerasenes, in the region around the Decapolis.

Okay, so the two miracles took place in different regions, so what? It’s important because the first region was Jewish (5,000) and the second region was Gentile (4,000). There are some numerical clues in the text which also point to this distinction (numbers in the Bible are rarely accidental)…

1. Feeding of the 5,000

In this miracle, Jesus takes five loves and feeds five thousand, which is reminiscent of the five books of the Jewish Law (Genesis, Exodus, …). Not only that, but when everyone had finished eating, twelve baskets of left-overs were collected, which was probably alluding to the twelve tribes of Israel.

2. Feeding of the 4,000

In this second miracle, seven loaves are used and seven baskets are collected. The number seven is symbolic of completeness (i.e. not just Jews but Gentiles too) and the number seven is evocative of the seven days of creation when God created all humanity.

So, what is the significance of two feedings of the multitudes? Both miracles show the provision of the Lord, His love for all His people, both Jew and Gentile. In these miracles He feeds them with miraculous bread, in preparation for the day when they would be fed sacramentally by His very own Body and Blood in the Eucharist.

Let us pray: Gracious Lord, in every age, people are hungry. We are hungry for the food which sustains us, the hope which encourages us, the community which supports us, and the love that gives our lives meaning and purpose. You find us, you feed us, that we might follow you in all things. Thank you for giving us what we need. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him.

He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.

Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.” Mark 7:31-37

This text immediately brought to mind for me two very different memories. The first brought me back to my childhood and how cruel we could be to kids who looked or talked “different.” As cruel as it was, we weren’t above picking on such kids or making fun of them. It was then, and is always, despicable. I imagine that deaf man got more than a little bit of that along the way in his lifetime.

Sitting with those memories, the soundtrack in my mind started playing U2’s song, “When Love Comes to Town”:

When love comes to town I’m gonna jump that train.

When love comes to town I’m gonna catch that flame.

Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down

But I did what I did before love came to town.

Everything changes when love comes to town. Love gives us new ears to hear. New eyes to see. New tongues to talk. Love opens the world to us. Love changes the world.

Jesus received the deaf man. It is the sort of thing that Jesus repeatedly does. But he isn’t doing it for himself. He isn’t on a promotional tour. He isn’t hawking a book. He isn’t running for office. He isn’t encouraging the cult of celebrity. He helps people.

So quietly, privately, personally, Jesus touches a hurting man and he is healed.

That is what can happen when love comes to town.

Let us pray: Dear Lord, people can be so cruel to one another, even to the point of picking on people who live with very difficult physical challenges. Forgive us for anything like that that we have done along the way. Thank you for the hopefulness and the grace in this story of a man restored. Restore us. Open our eyes, our ears, our lips, that we might see and tell the story of your love. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin.

She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. Mark 7:24-30

This is always a troubling text for me. At first glance (and at every subsequent glance), it seems to be contrary to everything that we have seen and heard from Jesus to this point.

We’ve already seen him in action in Gentile territory. Tyre is a coastal city in the province of Syria, the ancestral home of the Phoenicians. Jesus does good stuff in Gentile cities.

We’ve already seen him heal Gentiles, both men and women. He has already healed both children and adults. He has proven himself an equal opportunity blesser.

So what is going on in this story? There is no way to twist it or read it without Jesus coming across as an arrogant “my tribe is the best” Jew (nothing particularly against Jews in that line – you can fill in the blank with any team you want and make the same point.) He is both demeaning and disrespectful to a poor woman who only comes to Jesus because her daughter is suffering.

I don’t know what to do with this text. Except for maybe one thing….

What if Jesus said his lines with a smile on his face and a chuckle in his voice? What if the quickness of her wit in return was invited by the gentleness in Jesus’ tone? Because I make up that if Jesus would have been sharp and dismissive she might have retreated with her request.

We can’t hear tone of voice when we read such stories. That is the limitation of written material, regardless of the clarity of qualifying adjectives and adverbs. So we’re left with context and our own imaginations.

My imagination is that Mark tells us this story PRECISELY so that we react against it. Because our reaction is an internal remember that what Jesus said was, in fact, horribly dismissive, disrespectful, and arrogant – which means that we know full well, from the top of our heads to the tips of our toes – that it is always wrong to speak to others in a dismissive, disrespectful, and arrogant matter.

The story ends with Jesus applauding the woman’s courage and willingness to speak up, even to challenge, Jesus. The story ends with a healed daughter.  Hopefully we all learned a little something along the way.

Let us pray: Dear Jesus, our tongues can be so cutting in how we talk with and about other people. Sticks and stones are one thing but words really can hurt us. In our thoughts and our actions, help us treat all people as we ourselves want to be treated. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”

When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. He said to them, “Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)

And he said, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” Mark 7:14-23

“You can’t judge a book by its cover.” When did you hear that for the first time? You can’t remember, can you? It is just another of those basic tidbits of knowledge that we all received as we were growing up. We can rank it right up there with things like George Washington saying “I cannot tell a lie.”

The one thing that we all know about “you can’t tell a book by its cover” is that it isn’t referring to books and their covers. It is instead about judging a person – gently or harshly – based on their appearance or other easily observable characteristics. We can’t tell about a person’s insides by looking at their outsides.

That is one point that Jesus is making here as he teaches the crowds. In that he is attacking the innate exclusivity that comes with tribal thinking. That always sounds something like “our team is good and every other team is bad” regardless of the character of our team. We’re good because we…ARE.

The other point has to do with, as Jesus puts it, “whatever goes into a person from the outside.” All Jews knew exactly what he meant. Since the earliest days of Leviticus, dietary laws were part of what contributed to their tribal exclusivity. It was another entry on the long list of stuff that “makes us better” than anyone else. I’m better than you because I don’t eat bacon. Really? Yet that was taken with utter seriousness. Even to the point of doubling up on kitchen utensils so the stuff you’re cooking doesn’t touch anything else inappropriately.

That line – thus he declared all foods clean – would have been revolutionary to his Jewish listeners. (Personally I would be OK if liver stayed unclean.)

We recognize some of this. Any of us who spent any time in one of the “holiness” churches on the way up knew there was a long list of evil things that we could put into our mouths, our eyes, or our ears. Everything from rock and roll to raunchy movies, from cigarettes to sex, from drugs and alcohol to dancing and playing cards, all made the list of naughty no-no’s. People still did that stuff. They just didn’t admit to it or tried hard not to get caught.

What is all of that about? Conformity to the expectations of the tribe. Fitting in.

Now look at the list of evils that Jesus points out – fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly.

What are they about? They are a list of the sort of things that damages, even destroys, our relationships with other people. We don’t just hurt ourselves with them, we seriously hurt other people. We break the bonds of human community. NOTHING on this list has to do with tribal exclusivity. Everything has to do with God’s concern for wholeness for all.

Let us pray: Gracious Lord, from team colors to skin colors, it feels like dividing people into groups is so natural for us that it feels right. But we realize that dividing is only the first step toward conquering. Help us to see the us-ness of human community and to act accordingly, out of love, toward ourselves and others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Then Jesus said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban’ (that is, an offering to God)— then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother, thus making void the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this.” Mark 7:9-13

One time I was talking to a lawyer friend of mine when he told me about his experience of taking the test to be admitted to the bar. He gave me the example of a complicated multiple choice question where he was supposed to pick “which of the following answers is the least wrong.” It turns out that those are really helpful real world questions because that is how it often works in the real world. Lawyers need to be able to argue both sides of disputes well.

Which is why, though it appears cynical to say, we don’t have a “justice” system in the United States, we have a “legal” system. We have an adversarial system where the goal is to win (gain the best outcome for our client) rather than a judicial system where the goal is justice. Given the sinfulness of human nature, that might be the best we can do.

That is the nature of laws functioning as boundaries on human behavior. The rules might be very clear cut but the application gets fuzzy. Think about the extraordinarily complex rules of a relatively simple game like golf. Or all of the judgment calls a baseball umpire makes or football referees make in the course of a game. In the real world, it is seldom as simple as just follow the rules.

Is it cynical or realistic to recognize that “all rules are made to be broken” or “for every law there is a loophole”?

Jesus directs these words to the Pharisees and scribes. The scribes were the lawyers, the experts in the law. The Pharisees were the parish pastors who applied the laws to the lives of the people. These were positions of great public trust. No doubt the expectations of the people were that the Pharisees and scribes knew what they were talking about. That they were honest. That they were fair. That their interpretations of the law fell into line with God’s will. Such trust is easily abused.

Central to our conception of justice is the idea that “no one is above the law.” Regardless of a person’s identity or position, no one can recklessly or intentionally break the law and get away with it. But, when you are the person with the power to interpret the law, it is much easier to twist things to your own benefit. Which is exactly what the Pharisees did when it came to their interpretation of the law concerning the care of one’s elderly parents.

God’s law is clear – take care of your parents. God is always going to side with the least powerful, the marginalized, those most in need of care. But the Pharisees twisted that to their own benefit. And, most insidiously, used God’s own rule to justify themselves.

Beware of those in positions of power who twist the rules for their own benefit, who act like they are above the law. Because those most likely to be hurt are those who are least likely to be able to defend themselves.

Let us pray: Gracious Lord, guide us always to do what it right in our lives because it is the right thing to do. Help us see where we seek to justify ourselves at the expense of others, at the expense of the truth. Keep us ever mindful of the consequences of the choices we make, that we play within the rules, always for the common good. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.)

So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’

You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” Mark 7:1-8

In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees were the Moral Majority reform party within Judaism. They were the religious leaders in the villages of Israel. They were into spiritual and social purity, following the letter of the law. They also taught that the oral tradition was a trustworthy guide to all matters of faith. They accepted the history books, the wisdom literature, and the prophets as God’s word.

The Pharisees believed in a very active and present spiritual world. They taught about angels, demons, and the devil. They believed that all people would be resurrected to face a final judgment that would send them either to Abraham’s bosom in heaven, or down to the eternal punishment of hell, all based on the person’s holiness, purity, and fidelity to the faith.

All of that looks pretty familiar to aspects of the Christian faith. There are corners of Christianity that emphasize things like angels and demons. And there certainly are corners of the faith that teach strict religious, social, and behavioral holiness and purity.

This morning I am pretty skeptical about all of that. Clearly it seems that peer pressure, human manipulation, and cultural conformity are built-in features of human spirituality – and that is not a good thing.

This isn’t a modern creation. It didn’t begin in Jesus’ day. It stretched back at least as far as Isaiah. It is actually as old as creation itself. We always think we can do God one better. God gives us freedom. That isn’t good enough for us so we start to define what freedom means. Very quickly we come to realize again that we’re not that good at social engineering. We create monsters. We no longer see people as people but only people as pawns.

When religion becomes our religion then we are just worshipping ourselves.

Let us pray: Gracious Lord, forgive us for all the ways we major in minors. All the ways we judge ourselves and others and thereby set ourselves apart. Help us see through, that we might more clearly see you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.)

So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’

You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” Mark 7:1-8

In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees were the Moral Majority reform party within Judaism. They were the religious leaders in the villages of Israel. They were into spiritual and social purity, following the letter of the law. They also taught that the oral tradition was a trustworthy guide to all matters of faith. They accepted the history books, the wisdom literature, and the prophets as God’s word.

The Pharisees believed in a very active and present spiritual world. They taught about angels, demons, and the devil. They believed that all people would be resurrected to face a final judgment that would send them either to Abraham’s bosom in heaven, or down to the eternal punishment of hell, all based on the person’s holiness, purity, and fidelity to the faith.

All of that looks pretty familiar to aspects of the Christian faith. There are corners of Christianity that emphasize things like angels and demons. And there certainly are corners of the faith that teach strict religious, social, and behavioral holiness and purity.

This morning I am pretty skeptical about all of that. Clearly it seems that peer pressure, human manipulation, and cultural conformity are built-in features of human spirituality – and that is not a good thing.

This isn’t a modern creation. It didn’t begin in Jesus’ day. It stretched back at least as far as Isaiah. It is actually as old as creation itself. We always think we can do God one better. God gives us freedom. That isn’t good enough for us so we start to define what freedom means. Very quickly we come to realize again that we’re not that good at social engineering. We create monsters. We no longer see people as people but only people as pawns.

When religion becomes our religion then we are just worshipping ourselves.

Let us pray: Gracious Lord, forgive us for all the ways we major in minors. All the ways we judge ourselves and others and thereby set ourselves apart. Help us see through, that we might more clearly see you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.

And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed. Mark 6:53-56

Do you want to know what I see when I imagine this text in my mind? I see a world full of desperate people. Hurting people. Despairing people. And, in that, the world back then looks a whole lot like the world today. If we have the eyes to see.

Jesus had the eyes to see.

Wherever he went, the crowds followed. But these weren’t like the crowds of crazed teenagers chasing down Elvis or the Beatles. These weren’t like the crowds of people filling football stadiums or political rallies. So don’t think for a minute that these crowds were all about the cult of celebrity. They weren’t there to be thrilled or entertained or manipulated or used.

Imagine a father and mother discovering that their child is unconscious in the back yard. They pick her up, rush to the car, and speed to the hospital for help. Now imagine a traffic jam with parents and children all rushing to the same hospital at once. Mark wants us to appreciate that this was the nature of the crowds following Jesus.

The cult of celebrity wasn’t something new to the Roman world which occupied Israel. Leaders constantly tried to out-do whoever had gone before with bigger and more spectacular parades, with evermore horrific violent games. Raw meat to the multitudes. And always, the crowds turned out in force.

The crowds turned out for Jesus too. He saw them. Wherever he went. And in his wake he left people whole.

Let us pray: Gracious Lord, often it is so hard to see the brokenness in people. Sometimes because they hide it. Sometimes because we simply can’t or won’t see. Your love heals us from the inside out. Fill us with that love today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray.

When evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. When he saw that they were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the sea. He intended to pass them by. But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out; for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Then he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased.

And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. Mark 6:45-52

The crowd was fed. The disciples dispatched. Jesus was alone. He took some time to pray.

It is kind of a cyclical thing but people occasionally pay a lot of attention to prayer. Sadly, most of those times appear immediately after the senseless tragedies with little beyond “thoughts and prayers.” I sometimes wonder if, after people say that, they do it?

Sometimes articles appear in newspapers and magazines about the health benefits of mindfulness and meditation. Cortisol is the hormone our body naturally makes and releases when we are under stress. Too much cortisol, the effect of too much stress, is not a good thing. It causes anxiety and depression, disrupts our concentration, troubles our sleep, and even causes weight gain. The simple practice of setting aside time for quiet, for prayer, for mindful breathing, can literally help our body to settle down.

I like to define prayer as “what we do when we are consciously aware of the presence of God.” In that, the words we use, or even the thoughts we think, don’t matter as much as the heightened awareness that we’re not alone. That we’re not accidents. That there is a purpose to our lives and a power holding us together.

Following Jesus means following him to those moments when we too find a place to be quiet, to be attentive, to bring all of who and what we are into the presence of God. He did that. We ought to as well. For our own good.

But you can’t live on the top of a mountain. It is beautiful up there but it isn’t a place to say. Life awaits. So Jesus came down from the mountain and walked into a storm. I think it usually works like that. Your prayers won’t stop the storms any more than storms can stop your prayers. But there is something about heading into a storm strengthened by prayer that puts the storm in its proper place.

Jesus looked out and saw his disciples struggling in their boat so he went to them. I don’t want to get caught up in the math about that one – I’m just going to move into my day with the image of a boatload of frightened disciples, overwhelmed, as they have often been in their lives, by the storms they well recognize, shocked by the inexplicable appearance of Jesus.

The curious phrase is “he intended to pass them by.” I’m reminded in that of the wisdom of a parent letting their child learn by doing rather than constantly rescuing them.

Seeing Jesus, they were terrified. Sometimes the help we need scares us at first. But the words of Jesus stilled the storm in the air and the storms in the hearts of his clueless disciples: “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Let us pray: Dear Lord, thank you for breath. Thank you for time. Thank you for giving us the power to slow down, to turn our thoughts toward you, to remember who we are and Whose we are. Walk to us in the storms of our lives. Hear our cries. Settle our hearts. In Jesus’ name. Amen.