Lent Seven "Get up and Walk"

If I was a nightingale I would sing like a nightingale; if a swan, like a swan.  But since I am a rational creature my role is to praise God.    Epictetus, Discourses, 2nd Century.

Were we designed to praise and honour the Creator?  What do people do who do not know the Creator in this way?  We marvel at the beauty of creation.  We marvel at the experience of love.  We marvel that there is something to live for.

Habakkuk Chapter Three

I hear what you are saying. I know that you what you have done is amazing. But in this time of our great need, remember what you did for us in the past. And in your anger against our failings, remember mercy. 

I see the Creator moving across the desert. The whole earth is lifting up arms in praise. The Creator comes in the brilliance of the rising sun. Rays flash across the sky. The enormity of the Creator’s power is hidden. Pestilence sweeps the earth. It shakes and trembles. Permanent mountains of certainty and shattered. They tumble into nothing. I see people suffering; in terror. Are you angry and displeased? 

Your actions bring salvation. You split dry land and rivers pour forth. Your anger is against wickedness and injustice. Those intent on destroying Israel fall victim to their own weapons. I am trembling inside. My legs are giving way beneath me. I am waiting patiently for the day when justice will come to our land. 

Even though all the flowers on the fruit trees fail, and no grapes appear on the vine; the cattle in the fields die; and our barns have nothing to show; yet I will rejoice in my Creator, and be joyful in my saviour. 

The Creator is my strength. The Creator keeps my feet from slipping, and makes me as sure-footed as a deer, scaling rocky crags.

PRAYER:  From the moment I awake, I praise you, to the going down of the sun.  I even praise you in my dreams.