Photo of Eliana Beth Garcia on her arrival day, Oct. 25, 2012!
This is our prayer, Lord!
From the Psalms 104: 29-34: When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground. May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works— who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke. I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Praise the Lord!
There is a tattered card in my wallet that I've carried in there since 1985. It was a prayer card given to me on Walk #22, held at Mt. Wesley Methodist Encampment, during my Walk to Emmaus® experience. It is a prayer that I know by heart that says this phrase in it: "Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth." When I first prayed that together with all the men on that walk I said, "Wow!" I confess, most everything I heard, read, saw, or experienced made me say Wow, over and over. And I think I lost weight in tears that I gained again by delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies. What strikes me in the phrase is God's power to create and to make new; and when we include ourselves in that we have the entire Gospel message - God can make even us new!
The psalmist knew this for he had seen it in nature. In his quiet walks with his flocks and as he lay under the stars awaiting sleep, he saw God at work. He knew that if God hid from us, an expression more about our actions leading us away from God, great dismay comes upon all the earth. Should God choose to take away His breath from us, we would die; but, when God sends forth His Holy Spirit, new creation happens, and the face of the earth is renewed and God is glorified. This made the psalmist sing and praise the Lord, and it should make us do the same. Our hope and trust remains in the One who can create and make all things, us included, new!
PRAYER: Let us pray that special prayer: Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy your consolations. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
If you have not yet been blessed by the awesomeness of God in such a spiritual weekend, please talk to your pastor about attending a Walk to Emmaus in the near future! Or visit the Walk to Emmaus page at emmaus.upperroom.org.
