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Our quest for spiritual nourishment

By Rev. Charles Moreland | September 28, 2008 |

For spiritual nourishment, I attend public worship services, view given religious programs, and read uplifting literature.

A few words about uplifting literature: In my spiritual pilgrimage I am discovering my faith rekindled through reading newspapers, magazines, books (fiction and non-fiction), and The Upper Room, a daily devotional guide published by the United Methodist Church.

Today, through prayer and thought the conclusion of the Upper Room devotional energized and encouraged my faith in our Lord.

The prayer is as follows:

“All caring God, we rejoice in being your children. Help us to feel your comfort, your love, your joy, your peace, and above all, your presence.  Amen.”

The thought for the day, inspired by Psalm 139:1-12, is: “God’s presence is a glorious and comforting gift.”

These spiritual nuggets were written by a Tennessee resident.

Our reading is one source for making ourselves sensitive to the spiritual resources available to us daily. Share with fellow believers a devotional that inspired you during the past week. send it to news@clarksvilleonline.com.

Here is the text of Psalm 139:1-12:

1. O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
2. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
4. Before a word is on my tongue; you know it completely, O LORD.
5. You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.
6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
7. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
8. If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.
9. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10. Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
11. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”
12. even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

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