View as Webpage

Morning Devotion for the Season of Epiphany

February 20, 2023

Frederick Douglas

The Invitatory

The Lord has shown forth his glory. Come let us adore him.

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.

Reading: Psalm 85:7-13

7 Show us your mercy, O Lord, *

and grant us your salvation.

8 I will listen to what the Lord God is saying, *

for he is speaking peace to his faithful people

and to those who turn their hearts to him.

9 Truly, his salvation is very near to those who fear him, *

that his glory may dwell in our land.

10 Mercy and truth have met together; *

righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

11 Truth shall spring up from the earth, *

and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

12 The Lord will indeed grant prosperity, *

and our land will yield its increase.

13 Righteousness shall go before him, *

and peace shall be a pathway for his feet.

Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones

Today the Church remembers Frederick Douglass, born on this date circa 1818. An enslaved person in Talbot County, Maryland, Douglass was separated from his mother, Harriet Bailey, when he was still an infant. When Douglass was about twelve, his owner's wife started teaching him the alphabet. He succeeded in learning to read from a variety of sources. Such exposure to a new realm of thought prompted him to question and then condemn the institution of slavery. He escaped from slavery heading north to freedom in September 1838, ultimately to Massachusetts. There he joined various organizations and pursued his life’s work in writing, speaking and advocating for freedom and the rights of all people. Douglass produced the abolitionist newspaper, The North Star. Its motto was “Right is of no Sex - Truth is of no Color - God is Father of us all, and we are all brethren.”

This motto of The North Star is striking to me in its proclamation of God, Father of us all, yes perhaps for political reasons, but it does place all of humankind in relationship to God and in a sense, points to Psalm 85. It leads us to think about the ordering of the universe and ourselves in terms of God’s power and not our own. We yield something of “ourselves” in order for all to be brethren

God’s restoration of Israel’s fortunes is a turning toward his people, in particular, to those who turn to him.” This group of “faithful” are able to experience the manifestation of divine life within their own lives. God’s character, while consistent in its fundamental goodness to all, is most appreciated and enjoyed by persons of faith who grasp the wonder of God’s steadfast love.

Steadfast love, faithfulness, righteousness, and peace, have individual meaning; there is a greater need to communicate the way they work together. The picture of their “meeting” and “kissing,” “springing up” and “looking down,” convey a world in harmony. Just as the attributes of God are not in conflict with each other, the hopeful vision of re-creation is that the same qualities would become fully integrated in human relationships. The references to land or ground establish a connection between justice and the renewal of the earth. There is a word of hope to people who have prayed for restoration and salvation. This restoration is not just for those who have been oppressed; perhaps more so for their oppressors. The response to God’s great forgiveness should be more than words, it involves a change in behavior. This restoration involves the whole creation.

Erratum; My meditation of the 15th referred to the incorrect passage. It should have been Mark 8:22-26. They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, ‘Can you see anything?’ And the man looked up and said, ‘I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.’ Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Then he sent him away to his home, saying, ‘Do not even go into the village.’ 

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.