Church of the Nativity

Daily Devotional
Voices From the Pew
April
As the deer longs for the water-brooks,
so longs my soul for you, O God.
My soul is athirst for God, athirst for the living God;
when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?
Psalm 42:1-2
Prayer is our connection with God, the discipline that helps our souls stay aligned with Gods will. Daily
prayer is the most basic of Christian disciplines, helping us remember that God is present in all the joyous,
sorrowful, mundane, and ordinary parts of our lives. By maintaining a steady diet of daily prayer, we learn
to open our hearts and minds to Gods will, and grow to recognize Gods voice as it speaks in our hearts.
Most of us, however, stay so busy so much of the time that it is hard to make time for daily prayer, or even
when we make time for it, it is hard to keep our minds focused. One way to approach this problem is to
begin with daily devotions. This collection of daily devotions, spiritual exercises, and prayers was created
by a group of people from Episcopal Church of the Nativity, Scottsdale. These are prayerful people who
have found ways to share the prayers of their hearts with you.
I hope that as you begin to use this book, you will find your mind enlightened and your heart opened to the
presence of the living God, for whom our souls are athirst.
Many thanks to Lani Sambach, the editor of this collection, and Mina Rafferty for her assistance.
In Christ,
The Rev. Susan Brown Snook
April 1
A soldier asked Abba Mios if God accepted repentance. After the old man had taught him many things, he said,
Tell me, my dear, if your cloak is torn, do you throw it away? He replied, No, I mend it and use it again. The
old man said to him, If you are so careful about your cloak, will not God be equally careful about his creature?
During Lent we hear the word repentence quite often along with its synonym penitence. Both mean feelings
of regret or real acts that show our sorrow for what we have thought, said and done. We express repentance as we
recite the General Confession and we apologize to our neighbors when we have hurt them in some way yet
sometimes that doesnt seem like enough. Even if we dont use physical scourges that were used as punishment,
we use the mental version as our mind replays again and again things we regret but cant seem to shake off.
Abba Mios words are encouragement to those who feel they need to beat themselves up over something (or a lot
of somethings) they have done in their lives that make them feel less worthy of the love God offers. Just as a tear
in a cloak or a crack in a cup does not make it less useful, the mistakes we make, the times we miss the mark, no
matter how badly, do not make us less precious to God and less forgiven in Gods sight. God treats us much more
gently than we do ourselves.
We can try to make restitution, if it is at all possible, and learn from the experience. We can mend the rips and
patch the chips as best we can. Most of all, we can ask God for forgiveness, not for Gods sake but our own. We
can lay our transgressions at Gods feet and then go on with the resolution to do better and make better choices.
Today let us take one thing we regret but havent been able to let go of and lay it at Gods feet with resolve to
leave it there. God can handle it, even when we cant. God loves us, flaws, cracks and all.
April 2
Care, the Source of All Cure
Care is something other than cure. Cure means "change." A doctor, a lawyer, a minister, a social worker-
they all want to use their professional skills to bring about changes in people's lives. They get paid for
whatever kind of cure they can bring about. But cure, desirable as it may be, can easily become violent,
manipulative, and even destructive if it does not grow out of care. Care is being with, crying out with,
suffering with, feeling with. Care is compassion. It is claiming the truth that the other
person is my brother or sister, human, mortal, vulnerable, like I am.
When care is our first concern, cure can be received as a gift. Often we are not able to
cure, but we are always able to care. To care is to be human.
Henri Nouwen

April 3
John 20:27.be not faithless but believing.
Have faith in your own faith. Have faith enough in yourself to believe that you really have enough
faith to move mountains.
Is this a strange idea? Probably it is for many people, yet Jesus taught it!
People are constantly saying that they wish they had more faith because
if they had they could get better results. You have to realize however,
that this attitude of mind is extremely negative. It is affirming,
although indirectly, that your faith is very poor and you know what
that means!
So have faith in your own faith!
April 4
Why, my soul, are you downcast ? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope within God, for
I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.
Corrie ten Boom and her family were part of an underground movement to protects Jews in Holland
during the Nazi occupation. For this, the ten Boom family was arrested in 1943. As they were taken from
their home, Corrie managed to place a small Bible in a cloth bag and tie it around her neck. As we
stumbled up a hill I felt the little Bible bumping on my back, she said. As long as I had that, we could
face hell itself. Corrie and Betsie, her sister, were soon to face hell in Ravensbruck concentration camp.
As guards searched the women, Corrie asked God to shield the Bible. The woman ahead of me was
searched, she said. Behind me Betsie was searched. They did not even look at me.
In Barracks 28, the words of that Bible were shared with other women until their building became
known as The crazy place, where they have hope.
Is your hope low? Pick up a Bible. Read it. God wrote the scriptures with you in mind!
Daily Devotions for Women, paraphrased.
Shannon Rafferty April 5
If you are kind,
people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway.
If you are successful,
you will win some false friends and true enemies; succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank,
people may cheat you; be honest and frank anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be jealous; be happy anyway.
The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow; do good anyway
You see, in the final analysis,
it is between you and God;
it was never between you and them anyway.
Mother Teresa
Spiritual Exercise April 6
Julian of Norwich writes,
It is thinking upon Gods goodness that pleases Him most.
This week focus your thoughts on the goodness of God. Seize every
opportunity to speak about Gods goodness among your friends. Keep
thoughts of the goodness of God present wherever you go.
April 7
Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them,
What were you arguing about on the way? But they were silent, for on the way
they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. He sat down,
called the twelve, and said to them, Whoever wants to be first must be last of all
and servant of all. Mark 9:33-35

Even in the closest of relationships, there are going to be disagreements and the
disciples were having a big one. Had Mohammed Ali been there the answer would
have come from him, I am the greatest! but since he wasnt, Peter, James, John
and the rest were left to try to establish their own pecking order within the group.
Continued on the next page
April 7
In steps Jesus like the parent who comes in the room and knows the kids have been
up to something and probably has a pretty good idea of what it was. Naturally, when
confronted, the kids either fall all over themselves pointing the finger at one another
or clam up entirely which is what this group did. Jesus saw through the whole thing.
If you want to be first, you will have to be last. Not very encouraging for those
pressing their own claim to being the greatest.

Being a servant isnt something to be ashamed of. We are all called to be servants by
the mere fact that we follow Jesus. It was a very big deal to him as it should be for us.
Mother Teresa didnt look to become famous but quietly went about her work in the
slums of India, rescuing people that society had thrown away as worthless. We look
at the great body of her work and the order she founded to help with that work and
consider her great, yet her greatness came from her servant ministry that she
performed behind the scenes, the quiet tending of Gods children that other human
beings could not even see.

April 08
I am beginning now to see how radically the character of my spiritual journey
will change when I no longer think of God as hiding out and making it as
difficult as possible for me to find him, but, instead, as the one who is looking
for me while I am doing the hiding. When I look through Gods eyes at my lost
self and discover Gods joy at my attempts to find him, then my life may become
less anguished and more trusting.
The Return of the Prodigal Son p.106
Henri J.M. Nouwen
April 9
In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. Mark
1:35
Jesus had been busy, healing Simon Peters mother-in-law and just about everybody in Capernaum who had an illness or
affliction. He hadnt been in his ministry long, but he knew that his batteries needed to be recharged and that required
some alone time, a short bit of Sabbath time, time to put work aside and spend time in prayer and meditation.
For many, early morning is a stressful time with all kinds of things to do. Between arising
and getting everyone and everything in order and ready for the new day, it can be quite
frazzling. Finding time for one more activity might seem hopeless, and maybe it is, unless
the clock gets set a little earlier and sit quietly in the early morning before the house
awakens. It neednt be a long period, maybe 10 to 15 minutes, but it can be enough time to
read the Daily Office or something to meditate on like the readings in the devotional
youre reading now.
Jesus didnt have access to those things, but he did have access to a quiet place and a
desire for prayer. He knew the importance of it. Let us be like Jesus, rising early and
finding a quiet place to pray. It could make the day start better than that first cup of coffee.
Painting from the Brooklyn Museum, Jesus Goes Up Alone unto a Mountain to Pray by
James Tissot, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Liz Sambach April 10
And the one who sent me is with me-he has not deserted me.
For I always do what pleases Him ~
John 8:29
April 11
Psalm 34:18
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.
Can we be compassionate to those whose suffering remains hidden from the eyes of the world? There is
much hidden suffering: the suffering of the teenager who does not feel secure; the suffering of the
husband and wife who feel that there is no love left between them; the suffering of the wealthy executive
who thinks that people are more interested in his money than in him; the suffering of the gay man or
woman who feels isolated from family and friends; the suffering of the countless people who lack caring
friends, satisfying work, a peaceful home, a safe neighborhood; the suffering of millions who feel lonely
and wonder if life is worth living.
Once we look downward instead of upward on the ladder
of life, we see the pain of people wherever we go.
Can you hear the call of compassion?
Dear Lord
Hold us in your heart and save us when
our spirit is crushed.
Henri J.M.Nouwen
April 12
When I pray, I speak to God, and when I study Torah, God speaks to me. Rabbi Louis Finkelstein
We as Christians talk about prayer often; its one of the basics of our faith journey. What we dont always think about is
the need to study. For us, it isnt just Torah (the first five books of what we call the Old Testament) but also the
prophecies, poetry, writings, gospels, epistles and all.
It is one thing to read the Bible straight through and think weve covered it. We read strange stories with people doing
things we cant understand and cant figure out how such things got into the word of God. But through study,
consultation with commentaries, pastors, theologians and the like, we begin to understand that there is more here than
just a simple reading will provide. Through study we gain understanding of the world of the Bible as it was. We learn
why people sometimes did unthinkable things and how God could condone it
much less authorize it. We learn that even though some of the stories might
not be 100% factual (CNN hadnt been invented yet and many stories and
books were written years after they came into being) but there is a deep truth
lying below for us to discover, examine and take to heart.
We shouldnt give up learning just because weve completed high school or
college or any kind of formal schooling. If we stop learning, we stop
growing. We pray in order to communicate with God but we study to learn
what God has to tell us through the words of the Bible as well as through
prayer. As we read in Sirach, How different the one who devotes himself to
the study of the law of the Most High! (38:34).
Sometimes being different is a very good thing.

April 13
Faith does not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God
writes Paul in 1 Corinthians.
Gods testimony makes wise the simple says David in Psalms 19.
Gods testimony! When was the last time you witnessed it? A stroll through knee-high grass in a green
meadow; an hour listening to seagulls or looking at seashells on the beach. Or witnessing the shafts of sunlight
brighten the snow on a crisp winter dawn. Miracles that almost match the magnitude of the empty tomb happen
all around us; we only have to pay attention.
To really understand and believe in the
miracle on the cross, wed do well
to witness Gods miracles every day!
No Wonder They Call
Him the Savior by Max Lucado
April 14
Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered
pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant
that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the
way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
Hour by Hour
Forward Movement Publications
April 15
Easter is meaningless without the bitter days which lead to it. We cannot know the gift of new
life without the quiet growth of Lent and the pain of the Passion of our Lord. Easter is call the
Queen of Feasts not because of the soft days of Spring, the stately lilies, joyful hymns, new
clothes, children chasing colored eggs or chocolate bunnies. Easter is the Queen of Feasts
because it represents the assertion of Gods sovereignty and rule. Sin will be forgiven; death is
overcome; the Kingdom of Heaven is ours.
The church provides a rich pageant of services for our edification and worship in this week.
The hope is not only that we may be found faithful, but that we may find God that drinking at
this well of the Churchs liturgy we may taste the Water of Life.
My Dear People
!"#$% '(
If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36
Freedom comes when we know with our hearts we are loved. If we can accept and believe that we are
unconditionally loved we would never be lonely. We all struggle with this, to give unconditional love. But, if
we experience it we know what Jesus meant when he said: You will be leaving me alone, yet I am not alone,
because the Father is with me.
Freedom is at the heart of our spiritual life. It comes from deep inside our heart that allows us to love our
neighbors unconditionally. In our personal relationships, a moral life is not enough. We must also live a life
that is embraced by our God who says, I love you fully and unconditionally.
Who are you going to love today?
Christ our Hope, Henri J.M. Nouwen (paraphrased)
April 17 - Maundy Thursday
Walking in sandals makes for dirty feet, especially if the feet have been walking on Roman roads and desert
pathways, perhaps even following a caravan or animals being herded to the Jerusalem temple. Jesus
disciples probably had very dirty feet with thick calluses and roughly-trimmed toenails, yet Jesus knelt
down and gently and thoroughly washed them as a servant would have done. He, the master, the rabbi, the
healer and teacher, knelt in the position of subservience and humility before ordinary men who had
followed him and been his friends.
Foot washing is an act of deliberate vulnerability, requiring that a person sit as another bends over to pour
water and rub a part of the body that isnt usually given this much attention, in public anyway. As being the
recipient makes one vulnerable, being the one performing the act gives a feeling of deep humility. Between
the two, even though strangers, a bond of trust forms, a recognition that each is in a position of power over
the other yet each accepts that they can hurt just as they can be hurt by the encounter.
When we encounter Jesus, we risk vulnerability and yet we are humbled by the experience. When we
expose our vulnerability to others we recognize and honor the Jesus within them as we demonstrate our
willingness to follow the example he set for us. On this night, facing betrayal and death, he gave us an
example of what it meant to follow him. Today may we look for opportunities to serve with humility and to
be willing to be vulnerable, for the sake of our Lord Jesus who endured the ultimate vulnerability for us.
Apr. 18
Mark 15:33-39. At three oclock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani? which means,
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
These soul-wrenching last words of Jesus in the crucifixion account in Mark are, in fact, drawn from another
scriptural sourceJesus was quoting Psalm 22. It must have felt like a fitting psalm: they pierce my hands and
feet; I can count all my bones (v. 16). Jesus finds expression through the psalmists words, just as we might, and
we can find strength and solace in his honesty. During the times when we feel abandoned by God, when God seems
far away and utterly silent, we can remember that Jesus knows the pain of what we are going through.
Psalm 22 does not end in darkness and despair, though, just as our Christian story does not end with the events of
Good Friday. Psalm 22 ends in the praise and glory of God. It ends in liberation and salvation. In the same way,
Jesus last words on the cross are not the end of the story. After these words came Easter, and a story that continues
today in all of us. After pressing darkness came a great and unimaginable light.
Forward Movement
April 19
Its Holy Saturday. The raw grief of Good Friday is somewhat dulled and the joyous celebration of Easter is not
yet arrived as the church sits quietly waiting. The bustle of the mornings preparations for tomorrow are over and
the building is decorated with flowers, fresh candles, the scent of oil and polish. It is like seeing a bride prepared
for her wedding. She is the bride of Christ waiting to greet her risen Lord. Sorrow will be forgotten and only joy
will remain, but that is still in the future. Today she must patiently wait.
Today we who are the church wait. What if the good news we expect doesnt come? What if the women at the
tomb kept the secret of what they had seen? What if Peter goes to the tomb and finds the stone still in place? We
know, though, that the story was told, the stone door was open and the tomb was empty but we must go through
Holy Saturday to reach that point.
The doubts are fleeting. We know what the outcome will be. We wait, both patiently and impatiently, for the
organ to sound the call of triumph, Jesus Christ is Risen Today.
Tomorrow will come but first we must finish today.

Kara Erickson April 20
Psalm 40:1-3
I have always found this Psalm very haunting and most likely because it was played by one of my favorite bands,
U2. Allegedly, U2 wrote the song to fill the final track of the Bands 3
rd
album WAR, but I cant help but believe
that it was Gods hand at work to point the lead singer of the Band to that particular Psalm. The lyrics of the song
are the 40
th
Psalm word for word up to about the 3rd verse.
I waited patiently for the Lord, he turned to me and heard my cryLent is a time of reflection; to reflect
inwardly upon ourselves and ask God for help. One thing we can pray for is more patience. We ask for things
from God and pray that things will happen for us. In prayer we must demonstrate patience as David did in this
psalm for he never stopped trusting in God. God may have delayed helping David and after God felt there was
sufficient proof of his patience he answered David. We must be patient at times because God doesnt always
answer our prayers or maybe He answers them in ways we never even imagined. We must believeto keep
hoping and praying and know that it is not in vain, but to be patient for his answer. Jesus had a special gift of
patience for his Lord. Impatience never lingered in his heart or came from his lips. God may keep us in suspense,
but we must not lose courage and strength.
I will sing, sing a new song. I will sing, sing a new song. How long to sing this song, how long to sing this
songhow long, how long, how long to sign this song.
David Bolger APRIL 21
Genesis 12: The Lord said to Abram, . . . I will bless you . . . so that you will be a blessing.
What do Gods words to Abram about blessings mean to us to our Nativity congregation in 2014? I
believe they mean that, as members of this community of believers, we are blessed by the Lord, as was
Abram, in many different ways. Some of our blessings are large and collective, and some are small and
singular. But, because the Lord has blessed us, we have an obligation to be a blessing: to pass our
blessings along in every way that we can in thought, word, and deed, as blessed individuals and as a
congregation. When we live our Nativity mission of Transforming Lives with the love of Jesus Christ, I
believe we are accepting Gods promise of blessings to us and repaying that promise by causing our
work, our service, and our lives to be a blessing to others.
Llz Sambach !"#$% ))
"The heart of the problem is a
problem with the heart. You're
just a prayer away from a
change of heart." - Dr. Henry
Brandt
April 23

The sense of smell can stir up powerful memories. The smell of shoe polish can still take me back to my boyhood, when I
used to shine my shoes before church every Sunday. I can remember just where I sat, and how much I hated that job.
What do you think the disciples felt in the years that followed Jesus death when they caught a whiff of expensive perfume?
Did it take them back to that night in Bethany when Mary anointed Jesus feet? If it did, they might remember that Jesus
was talking about being anointed for his burial, and it may have brought tears to their eyes.
But they might also remember that Lazarus who had been raised from the dead was right there with them. It may
have helped them remember that where Jesus is concerned death never has the last word.
Jim Somerville

C LhaL you and l mlghL be,
Llke !esus,
lalLhful and Lrue.
Cod granL us grace
1haL we mlghL become,
Llke ChrlsL,
SLeadfasL ln our love Loo.
Paul Jensen April 24
East from West
In speaking of the breadth of the grace of God, Psalm 103 refers to ". . . as far as the east is from the
west, . . ." Notice that if someone goes north long enough, sooner or later he starts going south. This,
however, is not the case with going east or west; one can go east forever and never wind up going west.
How did the psalmist know this? By tradition, the Psalms were written by King David, who lived some time
during the 10th century BC. At that time there was no knowledge of the shape of the world, so how could the
psalmist have known that east and west never meet?
This is not the only place in the Scripture where the distance between east and west is mentioned. The
distance between north and south is not mentioned. Interesting that the ancient Israelites possessed this kind
of knowledge.

"Love Me by JR Heller
He cries in the corner where nobody sees
He's the kid with the story no one would believe
He prays every night, "Dear God won't you please
Could you send someone here who will love me?"
Who will love me for me
Not for what I have done or what I will become
Who will love me for me
'Cause nobody has shown me what love
What love really means
Her office is shrinking a little each day
She's the woman whose husband has run away
She'll go to the gym after working today
Maybe if she was thinner
Then he would've stayed
And she says:
Who will love me for me?
Not for what I have done or what I will become
Who will love me for me?
'Cause nobody has shown me what love, what love
really means
He's waiting to die as he sits all alone
He's a man in a cell who regrets what he's done
He utters a cry from the depths of his soul
"Oh Lord, forgive me, I want to go home"
Then he heard a voice somewhere deep inside
And it said
"I know you've murdered and I know you've lied
I have watched you suffer all of your life
And now that you'll listen, I'll tell you that I..."
I will love you for you
Not for what you have done or what you will become
I will love you for you
I will give you the love
The love that you never knew
!"#$% )*
!ohn 13: 9 As Lhe laLher haLh loved me, so have l loved you.
kaLhy Craf Aprll 26
A lamlly rayer
Cod made us a famlly
We need one anoLher
We love one anoLher
We forglve one anoLher
We work LogeLher
We play LogeLher
We worshlp LogeLher
1ogeLher we use Cod's word
1ogeLher we grow ln ChrlsL
1ogeLher we love all men
1ogeLher we serve our Cod
1ogeLher we hope for Peaven
1hese are our hopes and ldeals
Pelp us Lo aualn Lhem,
C Cod, Lhrough !esus ChrlsL our Lord
Amen
!"#$% )+
We glve you Lhanks, mosL graclous Cod, for Lhe beauLy of earLh and sky and sea, for Lhe
rlchness of mounLalns, plalns and rlvers, for Lhe songs of blrds and Lhe lovellness of
owers. We pralse you for Lhese good gls and pray LhaL we may safeguard Lhem for our
posLerlLy. CranL LhaL we may conunue Lo grow ln our graLeful en[oymenL of your abundanL
creauon, Lo Lhe honor and glory of your name, now and for ever. Amen.
8ook of Common rayer
SplrlLual Lxerclse Apr. 28
LxperlmenL pracuclng Lhe presence
of Cod Lhls week. uevelop Lhe
hablLs of reLurnlng Lo Cod even ln
Lhe mldsL of your dally Lasks.
!"#$% ),
AsslsL us merclfully, C Lord, ln Lhese our suppllcauons and prayers, and dlspose Lhe way of
Lhy servanLs Lowards Lhe aualnmenL of everlasung salvauon, LhaL, among all Lhe changes and
chances of Lhls morLal llfe, Lhey may ever be defended by Lhy graclous and ready help,
Lhrough !esus ChrlsL our Lord. Amen.
8ook of Common rayer
!"#- ./
AlmlghLy laLher, whose dear Son, on Lhe
nlghL before he suered, lnsuLuLed Lhe
SacramenL of hls 8ody and 8lood:
Merclfully granL LhaL we may recelve lL
Lhankfully ln remembrance of !esus ChrlsL
our Lord, who ln Lhese holy mysLerles
glves us a pledge of eLernal llfe, and who
now llves and relgns wlLh you and Lhe
Poly SplrlL, one Cod, forever and ever.
Amen
Pour by Pour
lorward MovemenL ubllcauons