Focus

Slow your breathing and become aware of the taking in and letting out of your breath. Focus on putting things aside so you will be open to what God is saying to you today.

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Read

Psalm 65 (NRSV)

Praise is due to you,
O God, in Zion;
and to you shall vows be performed,
O you who answer prayer!
To you all flesh shall come.
When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us,
you forgive our transgressions.
Happy are those whom you choose and bring near
to live in your courts.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
your holy temple.

By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas.
By your strength you established the mountains;
you are girded with might.
You silence the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples.
Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.

You visit the earth and water it,
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide the people with grain,
for so you have prepared it.
You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.

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Reflect

Psalm 65 is a hymn in which the people of Israel thank God for the annual agricultural harvest. (See verses 9-13.) This psalm, and others like it, reminds us of the centrality of gratitude in the life of faith. Thanksgiving makes faith grow as sunshine and rain combine to produce an abundant harvest.

This past summer I was privileged to serve as an instructor in the Program of Alternate Studies (PAS) summer session, which met at Bethel University in McKenzie, Tennessee. I remain particularly thankful for that experience. It was a great blessing to live in community for a week with ministerial candidates from across the United States and several other countries. It was moving to hear their call stories, learn about their families, congregations, and presbyteries, and to witness their devotion and dedication to God’s mission in and through the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. It was an equal blessing to spend time with Dr. Mike Qualls, Director of PAS, and the instructors.

The psalmist wrote of God, “You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it…. You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth” (verses 9-10). There was not a lot of rain in McKenzie this past summer. But there were abundant “showers of blessing.” I am certain that God will continue to use the PAS to bless the ministry and growth of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Cumberland Presbyterians everywhere can be grateful to God for this program and its ongoing contribution to the harvest that is coming.

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Pray

Gracious God, thank you for your call in the lives of persons called Cumberland Presbyterians. Hear our prayers of thanksgiving for the Program of Alternate Studies. We humbly ask that you continue to bless the program for your great purposes. We pray in the name of our faithful teacher, Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Go with God.