Daily Devotions and Podcasts
Prayer: Lord, help me to see You in every part of my day, even in the places I least expect. Open my eyes to Your presence in the ordinary and the extraordinary moments of life. Amen.
The Cathedral of Hope Devotion Ministry began as an answer to Progressive Christians who wanted to start their days with a little insight, observation, or wisdom about the Christian faith from their own point of view. Conservative internet devotions were abundant, but there was not much out there for liberal thinkers. The need was clear.
Being a large church, we had a generous amount of writing talent available and also a large number of congregants with theological training who were not on the pulpit. In the early days of the ministry, most of the writing was done by the clergy, but gradually the majority of the writers emerged from those lay volunteers.
That dynamic is still in place as new authors are always joining in to keep the ideas fresh. It’s a fitting structure for any center of progressive thought. This particular Body of Christ has many voices and each one has a unique and important story to tell.
SCRIPTURE ļ»æ Song of Solomon 2:11-12 See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. WORDS OF HOPE How amazing is the arrival of Spring! Sometimes in Texas, it slips up on us. But this year we kept having several days of cold, even freezing weather almost up until the official beginning of Spring! I am blessed to volunteer at one of the most beautiful places to spend time in Spring (as confirmed by Southern Living magazine). Dallas Arboretum plants 500,000 bulbs of Tulips, Daffodils and Hyacinth in such a way that they pop up weekly starting as soon as it is near Spring. And when the bulbs are spent, the amazing Azaleas start their amazing show of how amazing God’s beautiful Earth can be! I feel close to God every time I walk through the awesome 66 acres of the Arboretum! I am blessed to give tours of the DeGolyer home - the family who made the first 44 acres of the Arboretum their retirement home in 1940! I feel like the scripture above was written for such a time as Spring in Texas and the beauty of the gardens. Last month we broadened our horizons by doing a photo shoot for a beautiful high school senior young lady at Ft Worth Botanical Garden. I was amazed at their many arches heavy with Wisteria! The smell was incredible! I am so blessed to be able to see such amazing places that show me the most beautiful handiwork of God. How much must God loves us to shower us with so much beauty! As I drive from place to place this time of year, I am also blessed to see the Texas State flower- the spectacular Bluebonnet! It is such joy to see them growing on the roadside! One of my best friends likes to be a co-creator with God. She spends a lot of her spare time with her hands in God's soil. She refuses to let me call it dirt! She nurtures plants and grows flowers and herbs. She even brings plants back to life after it appears I have murdered them! She has a magic touch with plants! She prays as she has her hands in God's precious soil. She is my biggest prayer supporter! I hope you are blessed to get to see lovely flowers, even if it is a lone Iris or Rose in a garden near you or Bluebonnets along the roadside. AND I hope as you see flowers, you are conscious of the graciousness of God for allowing us to have such wonderful visions of nature to be a blessing in our life. PRAYER God of all good gifts, today we praise you for the glory of plants that bloom in such amazing beauty that makes our world such a wonderful place to live. DEVOTION AUTHOR Jan Nunn CoH Volunteer
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Words of Hope Podcast
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SCRIPTURE ļ»æ Song of Solomon 2:11-12 See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. WORDS OF HOPE How amazing is the arrival of Spring! Sometimes in Texas, it slips up on us. But this year we kept having several days of cold, even freezing weather almost up until the official beginning of Spring! I am blessed to volunteer at one of the most beautiful places to spend time in Spring (as confirmed by Southern Living magazine). Dallas Arboretum plants 500,000 bulbs of Tulips, Daffodils and Hyacinth in such a way that they pop up weekly starting as soon as it is near Spring. And when the bulbs are spent, the amazing Azaleas start their amazing show of how amazing God’s beautiful Earth can be! I feel close to God every time I walk through the awesome 66 acres of the Arboretum! I am blessed to give tours of the DeGolyer home - the family who made the first 44 acres of the Arboretum their retirement home in 1940! I feel like the scripture above was written for such a time as Spring in Texas and the beauty of the gardens. Last month we broadened our horizons by doing a photo shoot for a beautiful high school senior young lady at Ft Worth Botanical Garden. I was amazed at their many arches heavy with Wisteria! The smell was incredible! I am so blessed to be able to see such amazing places that show me the most beautiful handiwork of God. How much must God loves us to shower us with so much beauty! As I drive from place to place this time of year, I am also blessed to see the Texas State flower- the spectacular Bluebonnet! It is such joy to see them growing on the roadside! One of my best friends likes to be a co-creator with God. She spends a lot of her spare time with her hands in God's soil. She refuses to let me call it dirt! She nurtures plants and grows flowers and herbs. She even brings plants back to life after it appears I have murdered them! She has a magic touch with plants! She prays as she has her hands in God's precious soil. She is my biggest prayer supporter! I hope you are blessed to get to see lovely flowers, even if it is a lone Iris or Rose in a garden near you or Bluebonnets along the roadside. AND I hope as you see flowers, you are conscious of the graciousness of God for allowing us to have such wonderful visions of nature to be a blessing in our life. PRAYER God of all good gifts, today we praise you for the glory of plants that bloom in such amazing beauty that makes our world such a wonderful place to live. DEVOTION AUTHOR Jan Nunn CoH Volunteer
SCRIPTURE ļ»æ Psalm 22:1; Matthew 27:46; and Mark 15:34 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? WORDS OF HOPE From the hardwood of the cross, Jesus recites the first line from Psalm 22: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? At the most immediate level, Jesus expresses profound human suffering. It’s abandonment, pain, and isolation. He experiences the depths of human despair, not just physical agony but spiritual desolation. Throughout history and even up to today, in places where conflict, hunger, and displacement overlap, Jesus makes the experience of despair and desolation his own. When Jesus cries out the opening line of Psalm 22, he is not only expressing his suffering—he is standing in solidarity with all who feel forsaken. In Sudan, Jesus bears company with those where civil war has displaced millions, famine is emerging and people are cut off from stability, food, and safety. In Gaza, Jesus shares the plight of those where 80% of the infrastructure is damaged and widespread food insecurity continues. On the streets of the wealthiest country on Earth, Jesus makes the experience his own with the 770,000 persons are in shelters or are unsheltered in the United States each night and in homes where 1 in 5 children are not properly nourished. In the Middle East, Jesus enters into the suffering of tens of millions at risk of hunger due to escalating war. In Lebanon, he stands with the 800,000 people forced from their homes, seeking shelter and safety. Reading Psalm 22 beyond verse 1, we read that the psalm begins in despair but moves toward trust and vindication, even joy. Simply saying the words of verse 1, those witnessing the crucifixion see Jesus pointing beyond suffering to ultimate deliverance. What appears as defeat is actually a part of God’s redemptive plan. This first verse of Psalm 22 holds together honesty and hope. It doesn’t sanitize suffering but anchors it within the larger story of trust and redemption. As you go to the cross on this Good Friday, witness not just the suffering of Christ on the cross, but bear witness to all those with whom Jesus is standing in solidarity. And know that Jesus is holding together both the depth of despair and the stubborn hope of faith. PRAYER Let us pray, from the liturgy of Good Friday in the Episcopal Book of Common prayer: Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Thomas Riggs
SCRIPTURE ļ»æ 1 Corinthians 11, 23b-25 On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it he said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me,” In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and God’s people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it.” WORDS OF HOPE I’m sure that this passage, or a variation of these words, are among the most familiar excerpts of Scripture you hear every week when you participate in the breaking of bread. These words are the Apostle Paul’s which he recorded for all time as he served Holy Communion to his followers in Corinth. On this Maundy Thursday, we remember the establishment of that tradition in the event we now call The Last Supper. As the days of Holy Week come to an end, most people realize that Good Friday does not refer to a “good” event that happened on that day. The “good” part of the event is based on an ancient word, “goude”, meaning pious or holy. That designation began in around 1300 to signify the holiest of sacrifices. On the night before that sacrifice, Maundy Thursday commemorates Jesus’ final commandment in the sense of a mandate as he educated his followers in a ceremony that was to become known as Holy Communion. “Maundy” is a shortened version of “mandatum”, a Latin word meaning “command” but it’s more in the nature of an extension of the Love Commandment: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another.”(John 13.34) These words were delivered on the same evening as the Last Supper, as he washed his Disciples’ feet. The “mandate” that followed would serve as a reminder to them of the profound extent that love was to reach. Jesus loved them enough to die for them. He was about to literally give his body and his blood. That holy meal was to become a continual reminder of the salvation offered through the ritual of sharing through a meal of mutual love. As he emphasized “Remember me” he was telling them to remember that love has no limits; the mandate of peace on earth. PRAYER May we recall Jesus’ timeless words on this Maundy Thursday as we remember his life of boundless love. As we strive for a world free of hatred and mindless wars, may our love also have no limits. Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Dan Peeler Order of St. Francis and St. Clare
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