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Forward Movement is an official, non-profit agency of the Episcopal Church whose mission is to create compelling content for Christian living. Since 1935 we have published the quarterly devotional Forward Day by Day, as well as pamphlets, booklets, and books that encourage and nourish people in their lives of prayer and faith.

Forward Day By Day FRIDAY, March 19 Saint Joseph
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FRIDAY, March 19 Saint Joseph

Psalm 89:1-29. The heavens bear witness to your wonders, O LORD, and to your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.

I recall as a child gazing up at the Milky Way one night. I sensed the wonder and grandeur of God, surrounded by heavenly beings who praised and served him. Years later, after lots of education, I still marveled at the Milky Way, but I wasn't so sure about God, and the thought of heavenly beings had come to seem a bit foolish.

Children may be on to something. They don't assume as much as adults do. Adults want verification before they believe; they assume if something is real, they must be able to find it, measure it, and analyze it. This eliminates fairies, guardian angels, the devil, and God. What a dull universe! Children, on the other hand, believe in things invisible and unknowable. Their universe includes mystery and wonder.

Joseph and Mary responded to a reality invisible and unknowable. By startling choice and miraculous design, this reality assumed an additional nature and so became visible and known. An "assembly of the holy ones" also appeared, in a field. A star is said to have borne witness to the event. When you hear the story, if you don't quite get it, ask a child. (2001)

PRAY for the Diocese of British Columbia (British Columbia and the Yukon, Canada)

Ps 89:1-29 or 89:1-4, 26-29; 2 Samuel 7:4, 8-16; Romans 4:13-18; Luke 2:41-52

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The Clash of the Titans

Mar 19, 2010 at 7:38 am

Written by Steve Doutt,

This meditation illuminates a topic we were discussing last night in our Lenten study on gentleness, and the wisdom born of gentleness. The wisdom from above tells us to believe. Earthly wisdom, on the other hand, is unspiritual and will lead us to feel foolish as the writer indicated. (cf. James 3:13-1smilies/cool.gif
troublesome emoticons

Mar 19, 2010 at 7:42 am

Written by Steve Doutt,

Does anybody know how to get my ending punctuation marks to not produce an emoticon. The above reference is James 3:13-18. smilies/smiley.gif
emoticons

Mar 19, 2010 at 11:08 am

Written by Dottie,

Steve,

In general, to avoid unintentional emoticons requires that you put a space between any two punctuation marks.

: ) shouldn't produce a smile; removing the space smilies/smiley.gif will.

Since there is a wide variety of combinations that will produce various emoticons, it's best to simply separate any two punctuation marks.

Beware, also, of a colon or semi-colon followed by the letter P - it is a face with the tongue sticking out. smilies/tongue.gif Best to always put a space after either of those. It's annoying to those of us who prefer proper grammar and punctuation, but it has become a requirement in our tech/text world.

Fortunately, this particular comment area allows you to preview your comments and scan for any emoticons that may slip through before you post.

Hope this helps,

Dottie

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