Lectionary readings (Click the links to see the readings): Song of the Three Young Men 2,11-20 | Psalm 25.3-9 | Matthew 18.21-35

1985
II

A gracious Sabbath stood here while they stood
Who gave our rest a haven.
Now fallen, they are given
To labor and distress.
These times we know much evil, little good
To steady us in faith
And comfort when our losses press
Hard on us, and we choose,
In panic or despair or both,
To keep what we will lose.

For we are fallen like the trees, our peace
Broken, and so we must
Love where we cannot trust,
Trust where we cannot know,
And must await the wayward-coming grace
That joins living and dead,
Taking us where we would not go—
Into the boundless dark.
When what was made has been unmade
The Maker comes to His work.

—Wendell Berry. A timbered choir: the Sabbath poems 1979-1997. New York, Counterpoint, 1998.

Prayer

Eternal God, you have made all things good for us and you have made us for your glory. Sanctify our bodies and souls, our thoughts and intentions, our words and actions. Let our bodies be servants of our minds. Let body, soul and spirit serve Jesus Christ; so may we do all things for your glory here and be partakers of your glory hereafter.

Sheep on Berry's farm.

Arvo Pärt. Für Alina (1976).