Thoughts for the Day

Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

‘For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done.

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Today is Saint David's Day. For the history of this Saint you might click on 'Saints' at the top of this page, and choose 'Saint David', to see the Thoughts that I wrote a year ago. Born in the 6th century, there is an idealized version of his life written by Rhygyfarch in the 11th century. David was to become Archbishop and Patron Saint of Wales, however because of the time-lag we must count a lot of his history as unreliable, even if we enjoy some of the stories. A famous one tells of how when St David was preaching to a large crowd of peope the earth is said to have risen up, so that he was standing on a hill and everyone could then see and hear him.

One of the first legends about Saint David's birth occurs some 30 years beforehand, when an angel appeared to Saint Patrick to foretell the saint's birth. Another story says David cured his teacher Paulinus of blindness by signing the sign of the cross over him. Paulinus in his turn sent David off to convert the pagan people in Britain, and in due course he was to found 12 monasteries. The monks lived a harsh and austere life, called to keep silence except for worship or in an emergency.

His most famous saying was that we should concentrate on "doing the little things in God's presence with conscientiousness and devotion". If we all concentrated on the little things around us as individuals and nations - our relationships with other nations and other people for instance, focussing on them in the presence of God, we could transform our world.

Father God,
may we do the little things in life
in Your presence,
learning to bring joy and hope
into the lives of others;
to accept their failings
and our own weaknesses;
and to work collectively for the good of all;
Amen.