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Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost

October 21, 2022

The Invitatory

Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

The earth is the Lord’s for he made it: Come let us adore him.

Reading: Sirach 11:2-6, 14-20

Do not praise individuals for their good looks,

  or loathe anyone because of appearance alone.

The bee is small among flying creatures,

  but what it produces is the best of sweet things.

Do not boast about wearing fine clothes,

  and do not exalt yourself when you are honoured;

for the works of the Lord are wonderful,

  and his works are concealed from humankind.

Many kings have had to sit on the ground,

  but one who was never thought of has worn a crown.

Many rulers have been utterly disgraced,

  and the honoured have been handed over to others.

Good things and bad, life and death,

  poverty and wealth, come from the Lord.

The Lord’s gift remains with the devout,

  and his favour brings lasting success.

One becomes rich through diligence and self-denial,

  and the reward allotted to him is this:

when he says, ‘I have found rest,

  and now I shall feast on my goods!’

he does not know how long it will be

  until he leaves them to others and dies.

Stand by your agreement and attend to it,

  and grow old in your work.

Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones

The Book of Sirach or Ecclesiasticus, is a Jewish work, originally in Hebrew, of ethical teachings, from approximately 200 to 175 BC It was written by the Judahite scribe Ben Sira of Jerusalem, on the inspiration of his father Joshua son of Sirach, sometimes called Jesus. I am someone who has always loved clothes. I used to imagine what I would wear as if I had been casted in some role for a Hollywood movie, or was a celebrity, expected to always be beautifully and elegantly attired, as if I truly believed that clothes made, in this case, the woman. I am now amazed by the number of emails I receive each day that could feed my hunger to be a fashionista. The constant turnover of one’s wardrobe has led to flooding the world with an unbelievable amount of cast-off clothing by Americans set upon buying the next fashion rage. Those emails are closely rivaled by those of the cooking and home design businesses that constantly question my ability to place a good and beautiful meal on the table without their persistent advertising and surveillance. It is exhausting to try to keep up.

Now that I am a mature woman, who I hope has developed deeper and more enduring life values, I hope I have placed my wardrobe in a different perspective. Nonetheless, I appreciate the artistry of fashion; it does not, however, comment on the person entirely. And it should not overtake one’s perception of one’s value, or anyone else’s in life. For indeed, our clothes may become victims of moths. How do we then account for ourselves?

Our giftedness and contributions to life and to God’s creation bear little to no relationship to what we claim to be ours. The bee was created to produce honey in God’s order of creation. Who am I, even if dressed in my finest clothes to Almighty God, who is invisible to all? How could I dare to compare myself? Even the most seemingly exalted and powerful of persons for a time are often humbled for reasons and on occasions that may prove to be much beyond their control.

The enduring and important gifts are those that God in his wisdom, love and mercy bestows upon those whom he will for God’s purposes alone. And often his full purposes are not disclosed. Sometimes the ways in which God’s people further God’s purposes are not easy, are not of our choosing and do not esteem us in the least. He is the potter, we are the clay. We are called to pursue what God sets before us in faithfulness and steadfastness, sometimes knowing what the outcome may be, often not, more often with hope that what we have done has been pleasing in God’s sight and that we come rich through our diligence and self-denial. Then, and only then, may we rest.

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

    hallowed be thy Name,

    thy kingdom come,

    thy will be done,

        on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

    as we forgive those

        who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

    but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

    and the power, and the glory

   for ever and ever. Amen.