We’ve been using columnist John Kass’ prayer poem “O Holy Night” originally published for Christmas as a prayer guide for introspection at Lent. About the brotherhood of man, he writes,
…For all those friends who don’t wait for a special night to build a family. They show up unannounced to find you on some random afternoon in July, or a cool morning in November– with a coffee cake from your favorite bakery–dropping by just to make sure that you’re OK. Tonight is for them, and tomorrow, too, because they are family, by the acts of family.
Family and neighbors who were close like family. Back in gentler times of America, neighborhoods were neighborly…not a place of warring political tribes with virtue-signaling yard signs. Things like block parties and Americana, Independence Day patriotism, bridge or bunco nights, and parades have waned like the moon.
Comedian Sabastian Maniscalco makes fun of it hilariously but it’s funny because there was a time when families would keep a coffee cake reserved if company popped by to visit. Oh, don’t anyone touch it until we’re sure no company will come to enjoy it, by which time it bordered on stale for family. At that point, it was no longer suitable for guests, so it was okay for family to eat it. Nothing but the best for our guests!
People in the good ol’ days would look out their windows, hoping for company. But these days, people hide behind the door’s peephole and hope visitors will just go away. I’m not sure if that was around the inauguration of stranger danger, but we’ve become isolated and unneighborly as a culture.
We’ve become fearful and lonely when what we really need are friends.
We need community.
Some people still harken back to that former era. They come armed with cookies or gifts and pop by even if to check in at the door to make sure you’re okay. Kass lauds such people as family in the larger (and truly sincere) sense…because they care.
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” (Romans 12:10-11)
Prayer Focus: Help us, Lord, to regard our spiritual family as a gift from You.
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You can find these “Κύριε, ἐλέησον, ‘Lord, have mercy” devotionals here or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter!
Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:
Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014.
Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations. We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17.
ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ. It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.
Revelation in 40 devotionals for 2022 offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.
“Created to Display His Image” explored what it truly means to be made in God’s Image and the profound significance of that fact. They are archived beginning February 22, 2023.
“Seeing His Love with New Eyes” was the topic for 2024 and it explored looking at God’s love beyond the superficial and trite notions of love. They are archived beginning February 14, 2024.
“The Way it Had to Be” explored the conversation in Luke 24 by the men on the Road to Emmaus as they walked with Jesus. They discovered their assumption “This is not how it was supposed to be” was precisely what had to happen and had been predicted throughout the Old Testament and fulfilled in Jesus’ ministry. These devotionals are archived beginning March 5, 2025.