Focus

Experience silence in the midst of your busy day. Take some time to relax into a time to be with God.

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Read

Psalm 15 (NRSV)

O LORD, who may abide in your tent?
Who may dwell on your holy hill?

Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right,
and speak the truth from their heart;
who do not slander with their tongue,
and do no evil to their friends,
nor take up a reproach against their neighbors;
in whose eyes the wicked are despised,
but who honor those who fear the LORD;
who stand by their oath even to their hurt;
who do not lend money at interest,
and do not take a bribe against the innocent.

Those who do these things shall never be moved.

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Reflect

At a very early age I was taught that there were certain things that I was not supposed to do in church (at least at that time and in that place). Don’t run in the church. Don’t talk or play during church. These rules were second only to the Ten Commandments. The “don’t” about playing was powerfully reinforced to me by a means quite common in the 1950s. Following an evening revival service, during which my friend and I had a raucous battle with plastic dinosaurs on the front pew, I received a firm paddling when I got home.

Psalm 15 is something like the flip side of that scenario. It is concerned with what to do (and by implication what not to do) in life outside the sanctuary. The psalm, which enumerates things that would make one “worship worthy,” is often called an entrance liturgy. The poet draws tight the connection between life and liturgy. Doing right, speaking truthfully, and acting generously toward others are the expectations of one who would enter sacred places to worship. For the psalmist, life and liturgy are intertwined.

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Pray

Remind us, God, that the sanctuary is not the only place where our faith matters. Help us not to forget that the office, the grocery, the school, the home, and all the other places where we work and play are where “being Christian” really counts. Amen.

Go with God.