Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me--practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
-- Philippians 4:6-9 (ESV)
Chrysostom, Homily 14 on Philippians:
The peace of God which He has wrought toward men surpasses all understanding. For who could have expected, who could have hoped, that such good things would have come? They exceed all man's understanding, not his speech alone. For His enemies, for those who hated Him, for those who determined to turn themselves away, for these He refused not to deliver up His Only Begotten Son, that He might make peace with us.
Spurgeon, "Prayer, the Cure for Care" (Metropolitan Tabernacle, 1888):
Let your cares be the raw material of your prayers; and, as the alchemists hoped to turn dross into gold, so do you, by a holy alchemy, actually turn what naturally would have been a care into spiritual treasure in the form of prayer. Baptize every anxiety into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and so make it into a blessing.
Chrysostom, Homily 14 on Philippians:
As if he had said, May He who has delivered you in such sort as mind cannot comprehend--may He Himself guard you, and secure you, so that you suffer no ill. If the peace surpasses all understanding, much more does God Himself, who gives peace, pass all understanding, not ours only, but also that of Angels, and the Powers above.
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Book I, Chapter 20:
In silence and quiet the devout soul advances in virtue and learns the hidden truths of Scripture. There she finds a flood of tears with which to bathe and cleanse herself nightly, that she may become the more intimate with her Creator the farther she withdraws from all the tumult of the world. For God and His holy angels will draw near to him who withdraws from friends and acquaintances.
What anxiety are you carrying today that you have not yet actually handed to God in prayer--not as a passing thought, but as a deliberate act of surrender with thanksgiving?
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, V.2:
When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive--to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love--then make that day count.
St. Clair, MI -- Friday, July 17
Partly sunny with smoke in the air. High near 88°F, low around 71°F. South wind 0-7 mph. Smoke expected through tonight before clearing around 2am. Weekend brings storms: Saturday sees a 90% chance of showers and thunderstorms with highs near 89°F and west winds gusting to 24 mph.