« ‘Serendipity,’ friendship fuel change | Home | Roadside Marketplace: Fruit shops, ‘pick-your-own’ apple orchards »

‘The Upper Room:’ a spiritual vitamin

By Rev. Charles Moreland | October 21, 2007 |

Our spirituality requires nourishment to bloom and to be an asset or resource for our daily lives. The nutrients, the “vitamins and minerals” that enable our spiritual resources to radiate, are at hand.

On such vitamin for me is the devotional book The Upper Room. Over the miles of my spiritual journey it has been a steady companion, strengthening me wherever I went. In Vietnam, Korea, and Germany, stateside in Fort Bliss and Fort Hood, and now here in Clarksville, The Upper Room provided me with the sustenance required to develop and sustain spiritual stamina.

Some of the titles and prayers I favor are listed for September, but favored and appropriate for any time. Each devotional is listed with the following components: date, title, scripture narrative, prayer, thought for the day and “prayer focus.”

Here are my choices by title: Prayer Focus, Giving Freely, Meek or Weak, Golden Days, and Christmas Every Day.

Now for the prayers:

“Thank you for friends. Please use us to help meet the needs of others.”

“God help us to be meek but not weak and to be bold but not arrogant.”

“Lord, fill us with joy each time we give and help us to be wiling to sacrifice.”

“Loving Lord, be patient with us … “

These are a few of the spiritual building blocks, the vitamins and nutrients for the soul, awaiting discovery in The Upper Room.

Include in your busy schedule time for meditation and your spiritual strength will improve.

A copy of this devotional is available at the United Methodist Church or can be ordered from www.upperroom.org/bookstore or by calling 1-800-972-0433.

About Rev. Charles Moreland

Rev. Charles Moreland, retired, has lived in Clarksville for seven years and holds great pride in his adopted city and its people. His one objection in Tennessee is the Hall law of taxes on dividends and savings. Charles served in the U.S. Army Chaplaincy from 1966-1986, retiring to serve as a United Methodist pastor near Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He serves on the Boards of Directors for the ARP, Roxy Theater and MCDP. Though retired, he is a regular speaker at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. His five grandchildren, ages two to thirteen years, live in Evansville, Indiana. He is a veteran of the Vietnam War and served in Germany and Korea while on active duty.

Email: MLPmoreland@aol.com

Sections: Opinion, Spirituality
Topics: Meditation, prayer, Spirituality, The Uper Room, United Methodist Church

Comments

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Feeds

• Full
• Comments