Fire in the Soul. Richard L. Morgan

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СКАЧАТЬ NOT JUST A LONGER LIFE

      Lord, despite our extended years, as we enter a new century with even greater possibilities of reaching 120 years of age, there is a lurking, haunting fear that length of days cannot satisfy the hunger of our souls. We have the means to live longer, but do we have any meaning to live for? Will we fulfill the words of the writer, “Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come, and the years draw near when you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them’ ”(Eccles. 12:1)? Will these extended years bring sadness and suffering, regret and ruin? Or will we live fully to the end of our days, lost in wonder, love, and praise? Amen.

       GOD OF SURPRISES

      God of surprises, when I think that being old is a drag on my life, you surprise me in the love of family and friends who nurture me by their attention. God of surprises, just when I am ready to believe I am useless and of little worth anymore, the mailman brings a good word, the telephone rings and someone wants me to help. God of surprises you are ever with us, just as you surprised those two on the Emmaus road, who thought you were a stranger. As our days go by and our strength weakens, keep surprising us. When our patience fails and life seems dull, keep surprising us . . . until that day when we leave this world and receive the greatest surprise of all! Amen.

       GOD CALLS AGAIN

      Dear Lord, it seems that all through life you keep asking us to listen for your call, and now as we put down one call, we pick up another. We thank you for the “call”that comes in the later years, as surely as you called Abraham at age seventy-five. It is a call to new beginnings, a seemingly endless journey of faith. Help us to reinvent who we are and what we are to do as ongoing servants of the God who is always calling us. We know that when we retire we feel disconnected from the power and status of our working life. We also miss our work companions. Now they are gone with only lingering memories. Help us not to waste our time, but to fill it as we enjoy you, our neighbors, and the world around us. Help us ever to “press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus”(Phil. 3:14). Amen.

       PRAYER OF A SAINT

      Teach us, good Lord,

      to serve you as you deserve;

      to give and not to count the cost;

      to fight and not to heed the wounds;

      to toil and not to seek for rest;

      to labor and not to ask for any reward,

      except that of knowing that we do your will;

      through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

      —Saint Ignatius of Loyola, 1491-1556

       TEN YEARS LATER

      Lord, it is ten years since I “retired”and faced this unknown journey with much fear and trembling. I know my friends told me that retirement is when work no longer interferes with life, but I scarcely believed that. Now, I do. It has been ten good years of new directions, renewed energy, and exciting adventures. I really do have the new freedom to be who I am and not what the work role demands. I have the joy of finding ways to serve others and repay my debt to the world. And most of all I am myself . . . at last! Amen.

       NEW BEGINNINGS

      This time of retirement can be a new beginning, O Lord of the Journey. On the first day of time you began your mighty act of creation by calling life out of nothing. On the first day of the week you called Jesus from the tomb and the world began again. This is the first day of the rest of my life. Help me to live as one for whom life is not ending, like a door slammed in my face; but as one for whom life is beginning, as a door opening before me. Give me grace to forget what is behind and to press on to what lies ahead. Amen.

       THE PEACE ONLY YOU GIVE

      You are not found, O mysterious God, in the shattering noise of the earthquake, or in the raging fire, or in the blustery winds of nature, but in the still, small voice. Why am I so preoccupied with being busy? I confess I am still a slave to the work ethic, each day measured by what I do. But I am saved by grace, not by works. I am liberated from clocks and calendars, with precious time for my soul. But I still want to be in the thick of things, and so I fail to find your presence in the thickets of life. All you really ask is that I be someone. Help me in these autumn days to find that creative balance between vital involvement and quiet rest. May Christ say to me, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”(Matt. 11:28, KJV). Amen.

II.

       MOVING TO DEEPER CONTEMPLATION

      I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit.

      —Ephesians 3:16

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