Coming Clean

Brother Lawrence wrote the book Practicing the Presence of God, and he was a dishwasher in a monastery. I thought of that when I was washing dishes this morning. I was washing a measuring cup that we had used for cat food, but now don't need it for that purpose. In thinking that I will now have people things in it, I thought I might need to wash it a couple more times first.


And just then I heard a voice say "When it's clean, it's clean. It doesn't matter how dirty it was for so long."


That's like our lives. Many feel that we have to do a certain length of suffering and regret before we can be priviledged to enjoy the blessings of God. We have been dirty for so long. It doesn't matter...


When it's clean, it's clean.

Africa's Heart

Praying and contemplating through this today in the prayer room.

Lord what is your heart for Africa? What is on the people's heart and mind? What are their needs? How do they need care? How do I pray? How do I help? What do I do?

A chorus was sung for a long time as I was thinking all of this: "for your words alone, they restore my soul"

This has become my simple prayer today: "God let your word go out into the land of Africa, that she may be restored."