Daily Devotions and Podcasts

READING 1 Thessalonians 4:10-12 And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. WORDS OF HOPE I remember a time when much of life was spent working with one’s hands. My mom sewed many of my clothes when I was little; she knit for charity; and, she made nearly all our meals from scratch…except for bread. My dad made the bread. He also tended a large vegetable garden that yielded most of the fresh produce that my family consumed. My recollection, nearly sixty years later, is that those were much simpler times. But how can that be with all those daily “chores?’” Many people today will tell you that they don’t have time to cook a basic meal, let alone cook every day and make homemade bread. Knitting and sewing have become hobbies, primarily for those with disposable income, rather than skills for everyday life. And growing our own food is out of the question for many due to space and cost. The example that my parents gave to me as a child has stuck with me. Today, the majority of my family’s meals are homemade. We make fresh bread and yogurt each week. Like my mom did, I knit. (Sadly, I do not sew my own clothes, but I do occasionally make quilts.). And gardening at our house is a family affair. Admittedly, I enjoy these things, both the process and the final products, but the benefits are far more than a final product. In the above letter to the Thessalonians, Paul says, “make it your ambition to lead a quiet life.” He follows this with, “you should mind your own business and work with your hands.” What I realized as an adult is that spending time working with my hands provides me with a great deal of quiet time, time that I can be in prayer and in communion with God. Minutes spent kneading bread, sewing a button on a shirt, even washing dishes by hand, provide moments that don’t require critical thinking skills but rather just being present to the task at hand. These are moments that occur multiple time each day, moments that we are invited to slow down and be quiet. What a gift, should we choose to accept it. This daily gift of quiet made possible through working with our hands does make a simpler life, and a life where we have more time and space for God. PRAYER Loving God, bless my hands. Help me to feel your presence in all that they touch and all that they do. I pray that the work of my hands leads me to that place of quiet where I can hear your voice and feel your touch. Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Kris Baker Order of St. Francis and St. Clare

SCRIPTURE  1 Thessalonians 4:10-12 And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. WORDS OF HOPE I remember a time when much of life was spent working with one’s hands. My mom sewed many of my clothes when I was little; she knit for charity; and, she made nearly all our meals from scratch…except for bread. My dad made the bread. He also tended a large vegetable garden that yielded most of the fresh produce that my family consumed. My recollection, nearly sixty years later, is that those were much simpler times. But how can that be with all those daily “chores?’” Many people today will tell you that they don’t have time to cook a basic meal, let alone cook every day and make homemade bread. Knitting and sewing have become hobbies, primarily for those with disposable income, rather than skills for everyday life. And growing our own food is out of the question for many due to space and cost. The example that my parents gave to me as a child has stuck with me. Today, the majority of my family’s meals are homemade. We make fresh bread and yogurt each week. Like my mom did, I knit. (Sadly, I do not sew my own clothes, but I do occasionally make quilts.) And gardening at our house is a family affair. Admittedly, I enjoy these things, both the process and the final products, but the benefits are far more than a final product. In the above letter to the Thessalonians, Paul says, “make it your ambition to lead a quiet life.” He follows this with, “you should mind your own business and work with your hands.” What I realized as an adult is that spending time working with my hands provides me with a great deal of quiet time, time that I can be in prayer and in communion with God. Minutes spent kneading bread, sewing a button on a shirt, even washing dishes by hand, provide moments that don’t require critical thinking skills but rather just being present to the task at hand. These are moments that occur multiple times each day, moments that we are invited to slow down and be quiet. What a gift, should we choose to accept it. This daily gift of quiet made possible through working with our hands does make a simpler life, and a life where we have more time and space for God. PRAYER Loving God, bless my hands. Help me to feel your presence in all that they touch and all that they do. I pray that the work of my hands leads me to that place of quiet where I can hear your voice and feel your touch. Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Kris Baker Order of St. Francis and St. Clare