“Earthly undertakings” aren’t just what we do, they are what happens to us. They also block and distract us from what God has for us, and what He wants to give us is Himself.

2 things in this week’s prayer:

This week’s Collect is filled with wonderful imagery: running to meet Christ, righteous deeds, gathered at his right hand, and possessing the heavenly kingdom.

Two things to consider this week —

What is God’s will for you? To set you free from slavery.

Just beware of the sneaky ways the evil one wants to distract you from what that really means.

When we pray that we God has chosen living stones, know that we are BOTH - the building and the builder.

The Collect for the Feast of the Commemoration of All the Faithful departed (All Souls) is beautiful.

It is about life. Living today and living for eternity.

It is about faith and hope. When faith is deepened, hope is strengthened.

Who wants to earn the Eternal Life Merit Badge? I hope no one because when we pray that we would merit His promises, we are asking Him to make us worthy of them.

Who knows? Perhaps God is just waiting to answer that prayer in you.

Submitting our will to God is more than giving God permission to change our plans. It requires us to let go and allow Him to conform us.

Oh yeah, then there’s the obedience part.

Look ahead of you - God has already prepared good works for you to do.

Look behind you - His grace is pursuing you.

How did you get in the middle? You were made for it.

When you read the word kindness in this week’s prayer, don’t just keep going. In the Latin form of the prayer for kindness, we find the word pietas, which refers to the loyalty, devotion, and duty in relation to family.

If you took the look of kindness or pietas that is seen on Mary’s face in Michelangelo’s Pieta and multiplied it by infinity, that is the kindness the Father has for us.

The mind/body connection is fascinating, especially after I realized that sin came into the world through the mind and body, and that salvation came the same way.

What can you do to strengthen your mind/body connection to become more holy?