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.
TUESDAY, October 26 (Alfred the Great)
Psalm 48. Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised; in the city of our God is his holy hill.
In every land there are holy places, places of pilgrimage, places which people have visited to encounter God. It is part of our religious instinct to set places aside for God. There are dangers in this—people can assume that God shuns the other parts, outside the shrines. But there are elements of truth too. We need to be reminded. We aren’t always aware of holy things. We forget God, or take God for granted. Or, like fools, we say, “How shall God perceive it; is there knowledge in the Most High?” No, we need to be reminded. So we have shrines, churches, crucifixes. They bring certain facts to mind.
To the Jew who first sang this psalm, the holy hill was where God dwelt. For me it may be the spire of some village church which for centuries has pointed its finger to the heavens. I shall never forget standing outside the Kremlin in Moscow, with the tower near the gate surmounted by the hammer and sickle that could be lit up at night. Beside it and above it, in inexorable courage, towered the spires of the churches with their crosses on top, dominating the city and pointing a reminder to all who saw with eyes to see that this God is our God for ever and ever. (1967)
PRAY for the Diocese of Isial-Ngwa South (Province of Niger Delta, Nigeria)
Ps 45 * 47, 48; Ecclesiasticus 24:1-12; Revelation 11:14-19; Luke 11:27-36
View the daily Lectionary Readings at Satucket.com.
Or view the Bible passages at Biblegateway.com.
A Meditation for Pentecost
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