Censer for the burning of incense, Roekelseskar Photo by Nina Aldin Thune (“Nina-no”), (CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported – Distribution Creative Commons, Kunsthistorie.com, Farmasihistorie)
Spikenard is a flowering plant grown in China, India, and Nepal. The plant was known in ancient times, distilled into oil, and shipped as a luxury item to Rome, Egypt, and the Near East.
Spikenard was one of the eleven spices comprising incense for the First and Second Jewish Temples. Once a year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, coals from the altar were taken into the Holy of Holies, along with two handfuls of incense. There the incense was used to make smoke before the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant, the place where God dwelt.
Six days before the last Passover of His life, Jesus had supper at the home of His friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus (whom Jesus had raised from the dead). Mary lovingly anointed Jesus’ feet with spikenard. Read more…
Today we Christians celebrate the language of Micah and Isaiah. At least a half century of prophetic silence, however, followed these men. Zephaniah was among those who finally broke that silence.
Zephaniah’s theme involved God’s intervention in history to bring punishment for the wicked and peace to the righteous. Describing the state of affairs in Jerusalem, Zephaniah spoke of judges like “evening wolves” (Zeph. 3: 3), treacherous prophets, and violence done to the law. Addressing Judah at large, Zephaniah warned of the coming “day of the Lord” (Zeph. 1: 7). Zephaniah can, thus, be read to predict the ultimate return of Christ at world’s end.
“The Lord is righteous in her midst, He will do no unrighteousness. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He never fails…” (Zeph. 3: 5).
Ours is a wicked world, Father. We see corruption on every hand, and evil increasingly mistaken for good.
Like Judah, we await judgment. Send instead revival, Father. For our nation and our world, we beg mercy, in the name of Your Son, Jesus.
Let Your justice shine forth.
Amen
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![Spring's_slender_hold_beneath_winter's_grip,_Halligarth_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1727122[1]](https://alawyersprayers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/springs_slender_hold_beneath_winters_grip_halligarth_-_geograph-org-uk_-_17271221.jpg)
“Spring’s Slender Hold Beneath Winter’s Grip”, Photo by Mike Pennington, Source Geograph Project geograph.org.uk (CC BY-SA 2.0 Generic)
Each spring Arctic caribou migrate north to their traditional calving grounds. The journey north then back again south in the fall runs them approximately 800 miles.
By twos and threes, by tens and thousands, they gather. Steadily heading in a direction unseen, the caribou cross icy streams and tractless wastes. Ever watchful for predators, the animals search for tender shoots beneath the snow.
At last they arrive at their destination…as generations have done before them. And newborn calves (protected in their mothers’ wombs all through the cold winter months) finally meet the world.
Who provides directions to these animals? Who supplies their nourishment? Who designed their bodies for this climate and this endeavor? Who engineered their instincts so that calves are born en masse, giving each the best chance for survival?
There is a single answer to all these questions. And the same God who watches over these creatures with such care watches over us. Read more…
Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC, Author Gregory Maxwell (GFDL 1.2 only)
“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, 1865
We celebrate America’s birthday each year. But parades and fireworks are not enough. Democracy must be implemented on a daily basis — something our legislators appear to have forgotten.
This land we love is far from perfect. Children still grow up in poverty. Money, fame, and the color of a man’s skin still shape events. As Americans, lawyers, and most especially Christians, our job is to fight for justice and equality despite these challenges.
The battle is hardly theoretical. Lives hang in the balance. Read more…
“The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you’” (Gen. 12: 1).
There has been much talk lately about immigration reform. With Hispanics a steadily growing segment of the American population, there is political capital at stake. That has made for histrionic rhetoric. Xenophobia – often thinly disguised racism, as much as fear – has further enflamed the discourse.
Some argue in favor of a new path to citizenship for those already resident in the United State, but illegally so. The conditions floated for this new path include payment of a fine, repayment of taxes owed (assuming that taxes on years of “off the books” employment can even be calculated), and mandatory fluency in English.
Clearly, these conditions have little basis in reality. They are intended to mollify those demanding red meat in the form of immediate deportation of all illegal aliens (by whatever means necessary, at whatever cost, and regardless of hardship). Read more…
Torah and Jad (Pointer), Big Synagogue Museum, Wlodawa, Poland (CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported, BY 2.5 Generic, GFDL 1.2 or later)
Anyone familiar with the Book of Leviticus knows that the Mosaic law applied to all areas of life, from diet and business practices to the symbolic cleansing of healed lepers.
Altogether, there were 613 commandments in the Torah or first five books of the Bible. Included were some 81 dealing with the court and judicial procedure, injuries and damages, property rights, criminal law, punishment and restitution. Penalties included decapitation, strangulation, burning, and stoning.
“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart…” (Ps. 19: 7-8).
Lord Jesus, we know You came not to destroy the law, but fulfill it. We stand before You aware of our many imperfections, yet assured of our salvation through You. Assured of our salvation though the law would condemn us.
You have drawn us to the legal profession for reasons as varied and individual as each of us is unique. Whatever our reasons, keep us on the path You have determined for our lives. Let us not be swayed by power or gain. Let Your law be on our lips and in our hearts.
Above all, let Your love be demonstrated by our actions. We ask this in Your holy Name.
Amen
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“The Sacrifice of Isaac” by Pedro de Orrente (PD-ArtlPD-old-100)
Most of us have dealt with medical issues at one time or another. We have weighed the risks, and made the choice of whether to take a given medication, have a certain procedure or not.
That choice becomes far more difficult when it involves instead someone we love. We labor over the decision, attempt to assess every possible consequence, all the while wishing fervently we could assure the outcome. We hope and pray; plead and promise; rage at the lack of control, then pray again.
Abraham must have felt something similar when God instructed him to sacrifice his son, Isaac. This was, after all, the son Abraham he had waited for, longed for. This was the son whose birth would have been celebrated with feasting, whose every step Abraham would have watched over with care.
Now a death sentence had been handed down. Read more…
“The Grotto of the Agony” by James Tissot (c. 1890), Brooklyn Museum (PD-Art, PD-old-100)
“And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22: 44).
Lawyers are frequently characterized as brazen or worse by the public. Since they are regularly required to face fear, most lawyers have considered the nature of courage. Some would describe courage as an internal state, i.e. the absence of fear. Others would describe courage as action despite fear.
CS Lewis wrote in “Letters” on this topic:
“God could, had He pleased, have been incarnate in a man of iron nerves, the Stoic sort who lets no sigh escape him…He chose to incarnate in a man of delicate sensibilities who wept at the grave of Lazarus and sweated blood in Gethsemane. Otherwise we should have missed…the all important help of knowing that He has faced all that the weakest of us face, has shared not only the strength of our nature but every weakness of it except sin. If He had been incarnate in a man of immense natural courage, that would have been for many of us almost the same as His not being incarnate at all.”
Lord Jesus, You overcame the world for our sakes. Yet You sweated blood at the Garden of Gethsemane contemplating Your suffering on the cross.
With You beside us, whom should we fear? Grant us the courage to speak up for what we know to be right – whatever the odds, whatever the consequences.
Amen
READERS CAN FIND MY VIEWS ON ABUSE AND ABUSE-RELATED ISSUES AT ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse
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Icicles, Heidelberg, Germany, Photo by 4028mdk09 (CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported)
Ice appears in nature as hail, snow, and icicles – more massively as icebergs, glaciers, and polar ice caps.
Ice floats on liquid water, allowing fish and other organisms to survive the winter months rather than being frozen to the bottom. Ice is a factor driving the great ocean conveyor which transports heat and nutrients around the globe, as well as impacting climate.
Ice in the form of snowflakes changes shape and design as it falls from the sky, and is exposed to variations in temperature. It is nearly impossible for two snowflakes to experience identical conditions as they progress through the atmosphere – just one of several reasons the chances are statistically remote any two have ever been alike.
“By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen…Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God” (Job 37: 10, 14).
Father, You filled the world with wonders for us, so that we might see Your love daily before us. Even those who do not know You by name know Your handiwork.
You give the frost of heaven birth. Breathe on us anew, Father, that our hearts may melt. Shape us to Your purposes, even as we stand in awe at Your beauty. Use us to Your ends, Father, that the Good News of Salvation may be spread throughout all regions and climes.
Amen
READERS CAN FIND MY VIEWS ON ABUSE AND ABUSE-RELATED ISSUES AT ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse
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“Conan Hand Turkey – Happy Thanksgiving”, Chapel Hill, NC, Photo by bnilsen, Source http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnilsen/5206109741/ (CC BY-SA 2.0 Generic)
Parents with young children will recognize handprint art. The outline of a child’s hand is magically transformed into a brightly colored turkey, butterfly or fish. The result is sure to bring a smile – precious for having forever captured a moment in the life of a beloved child.
The world is filled with God’s handprints, clues to His existence. There are arguments in God’s favor based on First Cause, fulfilled prophecy, the improbability of life, design v. random chance, personal experience, and more.
But arguments to the contrary can be made, as well, some of them powerful. Few things, for instance, touch us so deeply as the loss of a child. Needing to blame someone, we cry out to God in our grief. May reject Him entirely.
It is up to us to sift through the evidence. Read more…
A Lawyer's Prayers 