March Daily Devotionals begin with Calm and Centering
- Scripture: Deuteronomy 31:6 — Be strong and bold; have no fear or dread of them, because it is the LORD your God who goes with you; [God] will not fail you or forsake you.
- Reflection: We are mortals, and finite. We feel vulnerable to changes in the world around us. Admittedly we live in turbulent times right now. The social and cultural environment vies for our attention around the clock, 24/7. Social anxiety is heightened right now in our country and around the globe as political and economic and social upheaval occurs.
Yes. we are sensitive to the world around us. We receive so many messages, intrusions, disruptions, distractions, and demands. Yet those are also not the whole story. And we need to reconnect to a deeper kind of story and self, and remove some of the noise from our lives.
We all feel emotions. They can seem like the whole story, like the arbiter of our reality. Yet feelings aren’t facts and they don’t give us the whole perspective we need. On the other hand, though God’s nature remains unshaken by events and experiences in our world, Holy Love responds to us. God listens to and cares for people, and creation. God makes Godself known in the world around us. God is our companion through everything.
Use this scripture as a focal point to anchor yourself. You are connected, whether you feel it or not, to something larger than yourself. Your are bound to a Love which is abiding and enduring. You are claimed and valued by a God who is alpha and omega, eternal and unending. Our Creator cannot be rocked or shifted by this chaos in which we live. God cannot be turned aside from being with us. - Spiritual Prompt: Turn off or limit your screens for one day: phone, television, computer. If you must, set aside only intentional time for a limited exposure, then turn them off. Tell everyone you’re having a digital break for 12 or 24 hours (or some time frame of your choosing). Don’t read emails. Don’t scrol through social media or news. Don’t post. Don’t text. Turn off as many of the intrusions as possible. Instead choose something slow and centering into which you may immerse yourself, such as a small or ongoing creative project, preparing or sharing a homemade meal, moving through nature such as walking or skiing, listen or make music, reading an old-fashioned printed book, or meditating/praying.
SONG:
- Center of It All by Mac Powell: https://youtu.be/3B1CUPDV7uA?si=oKgRxcKVDy-p-mlm
My house is the red earth; it could be the center of the world. I’ve heard New York, Paris, or Tokyo called the center of the world, but I say it is magnificently humble. You could drive by and miss it. Radio waves can obscure it. Words cannot construct it, for there are some sounds left to sacred wordless form. For instance, that fool crow, picking through trash near the corral, understands the center of the world as greasy strips of fat. Just ask him. He doesn’t have to say that the earth has turned scarlet through fierce belief, after centuries of heartbreak and laughter — he perches on the blue bowl of the sky, and laughs. — Joy Harjo
March 1st Devotional