WELCOME

The LC† Being God's Hands Lenten devotional project
has ended. It took place from February 14, 2018
until Easter Sunday, April 1st, 2018.



Check back in May at Pentecost for
daily devotions of Scripture, music, images and stories
to help deepen prayer and spiritual practice.
Blessings on your day!

Lutherans Connect / Lutheran Campus Ministry Toronto.
Join our Facebook page. Follow us @LuTConnect.

DAY 27

Image by Paul Bica

Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law

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A Greeting
I think of you on my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night.
(Psalm 63:7)

A Reading
When Jesus entered Peter’s house,
he saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever;
he touched her hand, and the fever left her,
and she got up and began to serve him.
(Matthew 8:14-15)

Music



Meditative Verse
You gave me room when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer.
(Psalm 4:1b)

A Reflection
An unexpected result of our following Jesus is that he always
follows us, so that we benefit others unintentionally, simply
by our fidelity... What characterizes this healing by Jesus is that
there is no intercession either by the sick person or by a friend. The
love of God enters the presence of human misery, and Jesus' hand
extends without hesitation... God's deft hands are drawing
new life out of nothingness and illness.
- from Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word: Meditations on the Gospel According to St. Matthew
by Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis

Verse for the Day
I will both lie down and sleep in peace;
for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety.
(Psalm 4:8)

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Image by Paul Bica

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What seems startling about today’s very brief healing story is how casually it occurs. Jesus enters Peter’s home and sees a suffering woman within Peter’s household. He touches her hand and moves on and in the quiet of his departure, her recovery has occurred. As Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis has written, when we follow Jesus, we carry him with us. No one has asked for this healing; Jesus has simply responded to what he sees. The story invites us to imagine what it might be like if we could take Jesus with us into any home of any friend or family and let him heal whatever may be going on there. How wonderful that would be. Is it possible that this is exactly what we are meant to do? So that we may be inspired to do whatever we can to assist those in need? We may not have Jesus’ capacity to heal but we offer our hands and hearts in service, as our way of bringing him in the room. And we can pray, in the knowledge that Jesus knows all suffering. “No simple act of mercy escapes his watchful eye,” says today’s song. Jesus sees Peter’s mother-in-law and he sees the person you care about too. And you yourself. “This you have asked of us: do little things with great love,” says the lyric. Who will benefit from knowing that Jesus travels with you today?
How will they know his presence from the things that you do?

LC† Being God's Hands is a project of
Lutherans Connect / Lutheran Campus Ministry Toronto
Join us on Facebook. Follow us @LutConnect

DAY 21

Image by Christian Kortum

God's Hands in the World:
The Ocean Cleanup

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A Greeting
Bless the Lord, seas and rivers;
sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
(Prayer of Azariah 1:55)

A Reading
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my help and my God.
My soul is cast down within me;
therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep
at the thunder of your cataracts;
all your waves and your billows
have gone over me.
By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
(Psalm 42:5-8)

Music



Meditative Verse
God uncovers the deeps out of darkness,
and brings deep darkness to light.
(Job 12:22)

A Prayer
God, our Creator, as we reflect on the mysteries of the ocean
depths, we celebrate the wondrous design of the seas that
surround us. Help us to discern how we have polluted our oceans
and to empathize with the groaning of creation. Teach us to know
the presence of God in the tides and currents of the seven seas.
Teach us to care for the oceans and all our waterways. In the
name of the Wisdom of God, the creative force that designs
and governs all creation. Amen.
- "Prayer of the Day" from a liturg for Ocean Sunday
Web of Creation: : Ecology Resources Transforming Faith and Society

Verse for the Day
By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas.
(Psalm 65:5)

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Image by Peter Femto

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The ‘deeps’ in the Old Testament is an image that often appears metaphorically as a symbol of the soul’s relationship to God. The Hebrew word ‘tehom’ appears most often in the book of Job, where it is associated with a darkness that is unfathomable, unsurvivable. Yesterday, we considered the stirring and calming of waters in the meaningful ways in which creation is used by God and by Jesus to show to demonstrate healing and strengthen a community. But what happens when the activity of humankind alters creation in such a profound way that it’s hard to imagine how God might help us restore it? The Ocean Cleanup is a non-profit organization that develops technologies for ridding the world’s oceans of its garbage patches. Founded and developed by an eighteen year old man named Boyan Slat in 2013, it is made up of more than seventy specialists whose research, engineering and science and tech experience combine to create innovative methods for the cleanup. The first test area in 2016 was in the North Sea. The model was redesigned and is currently being tested again in the North Sea before a planned 2018 expedition on the American Pacific, where one of the biggest garbage patches exists between California and Hawaii. Using a combination of both aerial and nautical approaches, the team first maps the extent of the crisis and then finds specific approaches for the region in question. Their vision is a hopeful one. How can we live into that place of hope with them? We can start by remembering the very first verses of Scripture in which “the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” God’s creation lives in us and we in it. We are the only ones who can make change. How does this inspire you to action today?



LC† Being God's Hands is a project of
Lutherans Connect / Lutheran Campus Ministry Toronto
Join us on Facebook. Follow us @LutConnect

DAY 13

Image by Mish Sukharev

Weavers and Sewers

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A Greeting
For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
and I walk in faithfulness to you.
(Psalm 26:3)

A Reading
At that time, also, my wife Anna earned money at women’s work.
She used to send what she made to the owners and they would pay
wages to her. One day, the seventh of Dystrus, when she cut off a
piece she had woven and sent it to the owners, they paid her full
wages and also gave her a kid for a meal. When she returned to me,
the kid began to bleat. So I called her and said, ‘Where did you get
this kid? It is surely not stolen, is it? Return it to the owners; for we
have no right to eat anything stolen.’ But she said to me, ‘It was
given to me as a gift in addition to my wages.’ But I did not believe
her, and told her to return it to the owners. I became flushed with
anger against her over this. Then she replied to me, ‘Where are your
acts of charity? Where are your righteous deeds?
These things are known about you!’
(Tobit 2:11-14) 

Music


Meditative Verse
She seeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.
(Psalm 31:13)

A Poem
Seamstress sew me a line of word
Make it colourful,
Make it stand out,
She did it, the words weaved in and out
One over the other,
They flowed vibrantly,
She was a master at sewing word
Her pins were
Pencil
&
Pen
Woven with each, shades came out
Each told a story, a life of its own
- from "Seamstress of Word" by Poetic T

Verses for the Day
For it was you who formed my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you,
for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works.
(Psalm 139:13-14)

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"Tobit and Anna" by Abraham de Pape (1658)

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In today’s story, Tobit — a good and righteous man — becomes accidentally blinded and struggles to keep his sense of dignity amid all that has changed. In his heightened anxiety, he wrongfully accuses his wife Anna of stealing and is worried that his already diminished status will be made worse by it. Anna is a weaver and seamstress who is supporting the family. Weaving and sewing were complex biblical vocations, and often undertaken by women. Leviticus outlines very strict terms for the seamstress and weavers of the time: tunics must be woven in one piece for instance, and wool and linen could not be woven together. Leviticus 13 uses an entire chapter to describe the delicate condition of providing and caring for cloth worn by those with leprosy. Weavers prepared vestments and canopies for worship too (See Exodus 35). When Tobit insists too much, Anna replies by reminding him of what it means to be charitable, that he himself used to be known for his charitable acts so why should he be surprised by the charity of others? Immediately humbled, what follows in the text is Tobit’s long prayer asking God’s mercy on his anger and arrogance. Sometimes it is hard to be on the receiving end of hands who want to give. Stubbornness and pride may prevent us from seeing how God is working in our lives through other people. In our resistance, the hands of others are stopped from creating and giving and the flow of God’s grace is interrupted. When has this been true for you? When have you refused assistance, believing it better to just manage things yourself? How can you challenge yourself to accept what is being offered you from the hands of others? How is God working in your life, 
in ways you have not seen?

LC† Being God's Hands is a project of
Lutherans Connect / Lutheran Campus Ministry Toronto
Join us on Facebook. Follow us @LutConnect

DAY 12

Image by Patrick McDonald

Creator's hands in the world:
the work of N'we Jinan

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A Greeting
"Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry;
do not hold your peace at my tears.
(Psalm 39:12)

A Reading
Thus says the Lord:
A voice is heard in Ramah,
lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
she refuses to be comforted for her children,
because they are no more.
there is hope for your future, says the Lord:
your children shall come back to their own country.
(Jeremiah 31:15;17)

Meditation Soundscape: Snow and Wind



Meditative Verse
This is my comfort in my distress,
that your promise gives me life.
(Psalm 119:50)

A Song
Life is hard, didn’t choose this way,
Had no strength, didn’t lose my faith,
My heart is torn, couldn’t find my place,
Found my escape every time I prayed.
Sometimes cried, I wish I had died,
And prayed to the Creator for a different life
I was born here and want to live it right
The pain we have, need to give it light.
- from today's N'we Jinan video below, written by
the students of the Na Aksa Gyilak'yoo School in Kitsumkalum First Nation, British Columbia

Verse for the Day
Therefore walk in the way of the good,
and keep to the paths of the just.
For the upright will abide in the land,
and the innocent will remain in it.
(Proverbs 2:20-21)

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Image by Aaron Hawkins

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"This is my comfort in my distress," says the psalmist, "that your promise gives me life." N’we Jinan, a Montreal-based non-profit organization, works with Indigenous youth in their own settings to tell their stories in music video form. They also organize and provide workshops in the arts located at schools within First Nations communities. Since their conception, they have helped to create more than sixty original songs, each one written by the children and youth of the community visited and in each case, educating those youth in songwriting and music recording and producing. In turn, the children educate us with their songs. Today’s video story comes from the 'Na Aksa Gyilak'yoo School in Kitsumkalum First Nation, British Columbia. The nation is situated near the ‘Highway of Tears’, a stretch of the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway that runs between Prince George and Prince Rupert, BC and which has seen a high number of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. In the video, the youth sing of their anxieties and fear, while encouraging each other not to be oppressed by it. “There’s drama in my heart and in honour of the missing, I will not be torn apart from the way that I’ve been thinking. I’ve found a little courage and made my decisions. Respect is what I’m learning and I’m trying to be the difference.” How do these words, and the lyrics above in the devotion, resonate with you? In the past few weeks we have witnessed the suffering of Indigenous communities mourning Coulten Boushie and Tina Fontaine and many others, as verdicts have been reached. How does hearing voices of hope amid such losses inspire us to 'be the difference' too? What can we do today? Right now?




LC† Being God's Hands is a project of
Lutherans Connect / Lutheran Campus Ministry Toronto
Join us on Facebook. Follow us @LutConnect

DAY 4

Image by Paxson Woelber

Tentmakers

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A Greeting
I will offer in God's tent shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.
(Psalm 27:6)

A Reading
Enlarge the site of your tent,
and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
and strengthen your stakes.
For you will spread out to the right and to the left,
and your descendants will possess the nations
and will settle the desolate towns.
(Isaiah 54:2-3)

Soundscape



Meditative Verse
And they came, everyone whose heart was stirred,
and everyone whose spirit was willing, and brought God's
offering to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service.
(Exodus 35:21)

A Poem
For me, at work in my studio,
where I scratch and scrawl and loop
letters into shapes so I can enter the Tabernacle
of their bodies and hear each foot, each syllable
sending its roots to a depth as great as that tree’s,
which has been standing and rooting and swaying
long before I came to memorize its plain mystery,
its wide-bodied hull open to stars at night,
each a point that I lengthen into a letter
and each letter into a word, and with the words
build a Tabernacle for the ten most broken
and the ten most resonant words. I will place them
in an inner sanctum enclosed by hanging carpets,
and outside it, another space enclosed by carpets,
and outside it, another, so that those who wish
to read the words, to say them out loud,
must first pull one curtain back and step inside,
and then another, and another until they arrive
in a hushed space, a soundproofed, heavy quiet
where they come to know that which makes all things
day after day,
and out of which the earth was made.
- from "Tabernacle" by Emily Warn

Verse for the Day
Let me abide in your tent forever,
find refuge under the shelter of your wings.
(Psalm 61:4)

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Image by Paxson Woelber

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The art of making a tent is one of the most ancient practices of the biblical story. When the Israelites were on the move, they traveled with the Ark of the Covenant, the most holy of holies, and each place that they settled, they raised a tent around it - the Tent of Meeting. But tents were also places of dwelling. The skill of tent making involves continuously patching and extending an existing tent, repairing and adjusting for family sizes. Made of coarse goat hair, and strengthened and partitioned inside with curtains, carpets and canopies, tents were passed down from father to son, along with the skill of weaving new hair in patches to prolong use. When Isaiah encourages the Israelites to widen their tents — this is what he means. By expanding a tent, there is always room for more to gather, and more space also for God to dwell. Poet Emily Warn uses some of these images in her poem. She compares the words of Scripture to a tree that sinks deep into the earth and upward to the stars, surrounded in her imagination with the Old Testament Tent of Meeting. While images of an expansive, worshipful tent are powerful, sometimes the sacred space of communion with God also occurred in Scripture in small tent spaces. In the book of Exodus, for instance, Moses had his own tent -- away from the Tent of Meeting or other tents, so that he could better hear God. Nowadays, we might find the same kind of closeness to God in a tent on a summer's night. As you listen to the fire and experience the sounds of outdoors, take a moment to rest in creation. How is God present with you in this place of rest? What feels sacred? When the Israelites were on the move again, they carried with them that sense of sacred space. How can you carry this time of sacred quiet forward in your day?

LC† Being God's Hands is a project of
Lutherans Connect / Lutheran Campus Ministry Toronto
Join us on Facebook. Follow us @LutConnect