Psalm 8

For Saturday, September 25, and Sunday, September 26, 2021

Scripture, quotes, guided meditation

Psalm 8
O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouths of babes and infants

you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,

to silence the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are women and men that you are mindful of them,

and the children of women, that you care for them?

Yet you have made them a little lower than God,

and crowned them with glory and honor.

You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;

you have put all things under their feet,
all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,

whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Sister Ilia Delio, scientist, scholar, and Franciscan, speaks passionately about love:

“Everything that exists speaks of God, reflects that love energy of God. But God is more than anything that exists. God is always the more of our lives. We can’t contain God. If we try to control God, that’s not God; God always spills over our lives. So, God is our future. If we’re longing for something we desire, it’s that spilled-over love of our lives that’s pulling us onward, that’s luring us into something new. But we don’t trust this God [of implanted desire] often. We were pretty sure that God’s there, [and] we’re here, and we just need to keep [on] the straight and narrow path. . . .

What Francis [of Assisi] recognized is God is in every direction. That you might arrive, you might not arrive. You might arrive late; you might arrive early. It’s not the arrival that counts. It’s God! It’s not the direction that counts. It’s just being there, trusting that you will be going where God wants you. In other words, God is with us. Every step of the way is God-empowered love energy. But we tend to break down and start controlling things: “If I go this way, I’m going to get lost. Well, what if it’s wrong? What will happen to me?” Well, what will happen to you? Something will happen. But guess what? Something’s going to happen whether or not you go; that’s the whole point of life. So, it’s all about love.

So, it’s not like we’ve got this, “Here’s God; here’s us. God’s just waiting till we get our act together and then we’ll all be well.” That’s a boring God; that’s not even God. God is alive. God is love. Love is pulling us on to do new things and we need to trust the power of God in our lives to do new things. . . . We need to unwire ourselves to recognize that the God of Jesus Christ is, you might say, the power beneath our feet, the depth of the beauty of everything that exists, and the future into which we are moving. . . .

Every one of us is written in the heart of God from all eternity, born into the stars, born, you might say, into the galaxies, born on this earth in small forms, developing and coming to explicit form in our lives, given a name. It’s a fantastic mystery of love.”

Ilia Delio, CONSPIRE 2014: A Benevolent Universe, (Center for Action & Contemplation)

“You are a new creation every day, changing moment by moment.

God is ever creating us, moment by moment.  We are continually growing, changing, evolving, becoming more of who we truly were made to be.  We are new creations each and every day!  Like a tree or plant outside our windows, it may look generally the same, but the truth is it has changed…  God is always moving through us, in us, and among us. Let us take the time to thank God for the gift of our lives and for drawing us closer, moment by moment.”
Maria G. Cressler
Executive Director, Ignatius House, Atlanta, GA

MEDITATION

During the quiet time, you might want to illustrate this saying and or meditate on becoming a new creation, moment by moment.  God not only creates and re-creates the cosmos, but God also shapes and re-shapes us continually.

Relaxation talk (Relax from your toes up, breathing in and being surrounded by God’s light, love, strength, and healing power three times. Hand over to God any  burdens, cares and worries for right now. Let go of the things of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, so that we might encounter God in God’s eternal NOW.

Then imagine a favorite place, real, imaginary, present or past, using all five senses in meditation.  What can you see, hear, feel, smell, taste?

Then invite a “Dear One” or a “Divine One” to sit with you in this place.  It could be a loved one, living or passed; it could be one aspect of God – Mother God, Father God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Sister Spirit – whoever feels easy to speak with.

Pour out your heart’s longing for becoming a new creation.  That deep longing is probably from God.  Then listen and notice the response of the person with you.  What words, phrases, memories, pictures arise in your mind?  Notice any gestures or the expression on that person’s face.  What comes forward about your new creation?  Remember that there is no wrong way to spend this quiet time.  Whatever comes – even if it is simply resting quietly before God – is your gift for this meeting.

If you feel so moved, you could illustrate the following saying in any way you’d like.

You are

a new creation

 every day,

changing moment

 by moment.