Traversing the Divine Scriptures: Spring Meditations

By G. W. Nura

Traversing the Divine Scriptures: Spring Meditations is an inspiring devotional offering daily meditations based on scriptures from the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic religions for the months of April, May and June.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Mar 15, 2015
• ISBN: 9780986148408

Book preview

MERCY

April 1

HEARTS GUIDANCE

What is worship for you? Is it a ritual that we do alone or with our faith community? Is it a sharing of our spiritual journey? Is it a deep connection with the Divine? Is it a sense of gratitude for our blessings?

How can we be transformed or guided by the Divine?

The three scriptures below promise guidance through our hearts, through our minds, through our bodies. They suggest that there are many routes to hearing what our LORD wants us to hear.

Ever Near Lord,

renew us

and heal whatever stands

in the way of our deep connection with You.

Heart within our hearts,

embrace us a we stumble

and guide us

to Your Holy Unity.

Psalms 85:9-10

Romans 12:1-2

Surah 3:8

April 2

GRATITUDE

People who are grateful for their food, for their voices, for their forgiveness, and for their faith have a glow, do they not? The verbal proclaiming of what is important in our lives spreads out in ripples around us.

Giver of Life,

we praise and thank you today for our food,

our friends,

our community,

our leaders,

and our families.

We welcome all that has

brought us to Your embrace.

Psalms 26:6-7

1 Corinthians 10:31

Surah 34:15

April 3

EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE WITH FAITH

Psalms 40 holds onto faith in the most harrowing circumstances. Mark 9 tells the story of Jesus helping a man who has petitioned for help with expanding the little faith he has. Surah 105 refers to an Abyssinian army of 60,000 trying to destroy the Ka'bah in the year of Muhammad's birth (pbuh). The tribes living near Mecca did not have the power to fight, but their belief was that the Ka'bah was not theirs, but Allah's. The day of the intended destruction, the elephants of the army would only move if turned away from Mecca. Then swarms of birds appeared with stones that they showered on the troops. The army was destroyed.

Faith in the power of the Divine is different from faith in the Divine. So many teen and children's books nowadays are about children with super powers. The real power of the Divine is not a popular theme. But when we are at our wits' end, who else can we turn to? That power is there for us at any time.

An inner way to take this is to consider the armies of doubtful thoughts that at times can attack our minds. Being at one's wits end or enduring the apprehension of a father worried about his son fits into this scenario. If we can override our tumultuous thinking with faith, then we can persevere over even the most stressful circumstance. As Jesus says, if we can believe, everything is possible.

Beloved LORD,

we crouch in the womb

of Your Existence

hungering for Your Protection

Your Deep Love,

and Your Light.

Feed our faith,

and heal our doubt.

Psalms 40:12-14

Mark 9:23-24

Surah 105:1-2

April 4

HEREAFTER

All three of the scriptures speak to us of an eternal home. Psalms 133 sets a place from which the LORD gives everlasting life, perhaps on a Day of Judgment. The theme in 2 Corinthians is based around an image of a house, both on earth and in heaven. An individual will have an end in this world, but that is not final.

Surah 29 affirms that the glory of the Hereafter is sublime, if only we knew. The blessing of that time is truly beyond imagining.

Holy One,

we thank you for Your eternal Love.

We long for Your embrace,

thirst for Your approval,

and trust in Your Mercy.

Prostrated before Your Holy

Essence

we arise

to move toward Your Subtle vibration

within and without this universe.

Psalms 133:3

2 Corinthians 5:1

Surah 29:64

April 5

ACCEPTANCE OF GOOD AND EVIL

It seems a human characteristic that we do not want to accept what we label as evil. No, no, not that. We must fight, we must change that particular thing so that our world is peaceful and kind and loving. It seems a perfectly logical and required action. But what of the good that comes from the evil?