It be great if you'd travel with me through
the first part of this prayer post.
You'll find it just before this prayer post.
I don't know how to move the posts around...
Alright...alrightalright.
Bear with me…
The last prayer post lead us through a prayer, I hope.
Let’s process. Ah man, I wish you and I were face to face right now. I’d love to see your face while you talk with me...pray with me...while we hug each other…
Whoa...just dawned on me...you might not want to be face to face with me!
WARNING ~ tangent
I started with ‘bare with me’ but googled the question, “is it bare with me or bear with me.” answer: Bear with me is requesting patience and Bare with me is asking to get naked. I thought, “Well, I am asking the other person to ‘strip’ The Word with me…"
Then I thought, “Just donned on me” would be kinda cool. Like “Now, let’s get dressed, again”…”get real,” kinda notion…
Alright...alrightalright.
The last prayer post lead us through a prayer, I hope,
incorporating two of my “Top Ten” prayer questions Jesus presents in the Gospels:
“How do you read it?"
~ Luke 10: 26
"What are you thinking in your heart?"
~ Luke 5: 22
I actually typed "How I read" the passage I asked you to read and for someone to read to you. I opted NOT to include, “You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!" ~ Genesis 3: 11.
I am so sorry...Honestly, I don’t want to be dishonest. I wanted us to loose our selves from the tradition of Original Sin being Disobedience and look at something else especially on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.
Alright...alrightalright.
This is "What I am thinking in my heart."
God is Love.
God is all forgiving.
So, God looked for Adam and Eve...calling out to them,
“Where are you?”
God is all knowing.
Yet, God looked for Adam and Eve...calling out to them,
“Where are you?”
Adam and Eve were hiding from God…
I pray I will run to God for help when I sin.
Could hiding from God in our nakedness,
in the times we just don’t know what to do,
in our vulnerability,
in our sinfulness
be Original Sin?
God asked another question,
“Who told you that you were naked?”
Adam blamed Eve…
I pray I will always accept responsibility for my own sin.
I pray I will always be accountable in my own sin.
God asked another question,
“Why did you do such a thing?”
Eve blamed the serpent…
I pray I will always accept responsibility for my own sin.
I pray I will always be accountable in my own sin.
Could blaming another for our nakedness,
for the times we just don’t know what to do,
for the times we find ourselves vulnerable,
for the times we see our sinfulness
be Original Sin?
Paul tells us through his letter to the Ephesians
on this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception,
as he
chose us
in him,
before the foundation of the world,
to be holy and
without blemish
before him.
God chose us to be holy and without blemish before him.
I pray I just won’t hide from God...regardless.
I pray I will accept God’s invitation to be holy before God...regardless.
How many times do we hear our Triune God tell us
“Peace.”
“Don’t be afraid.”
“I am always with you.”
“Come to me.”
Isaiah tells us what Emmanuel is all about…
I am the LORD, your God,
who grasp your right hand;
It is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I will help you.”
~ Isaiah 41: 13
The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain,
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the LORD, will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will open up rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the broad valleys;
I will turn the desert into a marshland,
and the dry ground into springs of water.
I will plant in the desert the cedar,
acacia, myrtle, and olive;
I will set in the wasteland the cypress,
together with the plane tree and the pine.
~ Isaiah 31: 17-19
Mary knew this when the Gabriel came to her.
The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be…?”
~ Luke 1: 26-34
Mary didn’t hide among the trees
although she was greatly troubled by what was said.
Mary didn’t cower behind the trees
although she was greatly troubled by what was said.
Instead, Mary thought about it.
Instead, Mary brought her own prayer question,
“How can this be?”
Instead, Mary accepted,
“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
~ Luke 1: 38
This is the fullness of the Immaculate Conception for me.
Mary stands before our Triune God always.
Mary accepts the kingdom of God within her always.
Mary nourishes a complete relationship with our Triune God always.
Something in Mary impressed Joseph so much he didn’t abandon her
...he didn’t blame her.
When Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband,
since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
~ Matthew 1: 18-19
This is the fullness of the Immaculate Conception for me.
Another recognizes that Mary stands before our Triune God always.
that Mary accepts the kingdom of God within her always.
that Mary nourishes a complete relationship with our Triune God always.
Peace.
this might make more sense if you read the first part first...
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