March 4/Second Thursday of Lent He is like a tree planted near running water, That yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. ~ Ps 1.3 My husband has remarked more than once that the surest way to kill a plant is to put it under my care. He has a point. I have lost count of the…
Author: Betsy Cahill
Song 13: Words to Live By
March 3/Second Wednesday of Lent Into your hands I commend my spirit; you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God. ~ Ps 31.6 “Into your hands I commend my spirit.” Is there a more compelling and powerful expression of trust in the entire Bible? Jesus uttered it from the cross at the moment of his death, and that cry has…
Song 12: Keeping Up Appearances
March 2/Second Tuesday of Lent “Why do you recite my statutes, and profess my covenant with your mouth, Though you hate discipline and cast my words behind you?To him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.” ~ Ps 50.16-17, 23 The other day during a phone conversation, a friend heard me commenting about someone in…
Song 11: Low Blows
March 1/Second Monday of Lent Let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low. Let the groaning of the prisoners come before you; with your great power preserve those doomed to die. ~ Ps 79.8, 11 The other day the local news featured a story about a man in a nearby town who sank into the mud…
Song 10: All In
February 27/First Saturday of Lent Happy are those who keep his decrees, who seek him with their whole heart. ~ Ps 119.2 How many of us can honestly say that we seek God with our whole hearts? Do we make a sincere effort to set time aside each day for prayer and reflection? Do we follow our parish services online…
Song 9: Rough Waters
February 26/First Friday of Lent Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; LORD, hear my voice!. ~ Ps 130.1-2 The only time I have truly felt myself to be in peril on the sea was years ago when, on a solo outing in the family Sunfish off the beach, I capsized. As the sail filled with water…
Song 8: Giving a Hand
February 25/First Thursday of Lent Your right hand saves me. Your kindness, O Lord, endures forever; forsake not the work of your hands. ~ Psalm 138.7-8 Years ago, at a fraught time in my life, a sympathetic friend noticed at dinner one night that I had tucked my thumbs firmly into my clenched hands, and gently asked why I was…
Song 8: Giving a Hand
February 25/First Thursday of Lent Your right hand saves me. Your kindness, O Lord, endures forever; forsake not the work of your hands. ~ Psalm 138.7-8 Years ago, at a fraught time in my life, a sympathetic friend noticed at dinner one night that I had tucked my thumbs firmly into my clenched hands, and gently asked why I was…
Song 7: Cleaning Up
February 24/First Wednesday of Lent A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. ~ Ps 51.10 I first met this verse — which has served as a touchstone for me throughout my life — as a young Episcopalian choir girl. Our redoubtable choir director, Mrs. D, never missed an opportunity to teach us…
Song 6: Near, and Dear
February 23/First Tuesday of Lent Near is the LORD to the brokenhearted, and the crushed in spirit he saves. ~ Ps 34.19 We soldier on amid confinement and deprivation and isolation, waiting for a better day. Then — an unexpected death, a sudden job loss, a betrayal, and we are brought to our knees in shock and sorrow. The Hebrew conveys…