Bits of Heaven. Russell J. Levenson Jr.
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Copyright © 2020 by Russell J. Levenson Jr.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
Unless otherwise noted, the Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
A version of this book was previously published as Summer Times by Insight Press.
Church Publishing
19 East 34th Street
New York, NY 10016
Cover image: Bar's Lilies, painting by Russell J. Levenson Jr. Cover design by Jennifer Kopec, 2Pug Design Typeset by Denise Hoff
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Levenson, Russell J., author.
Title: Bits of heaven : a summer companion / Russell J. Levenson, Jr.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019046085 (print) | LCCN 2019046086 (ebook) | ISBN 9781640652712 (paperback) | ISBN 9781640652729 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Summer--Prayers and devotions. | Summer--Religious aspects--Christianity. | Episcopal Church--Prayers and devotions.
Classification: LCC BV135.S96 L48 2020 (print) | LCC BV135.S96 (ebook) | DDC 242--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019046085
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019046086
Dedicated with love and gratitude toMy Parents, Russell and LynneMy wife, LauraMy children and grandchildrenwith whom I have shared many, manyBits of Heaven
Contents
2 • You Look Just Like Your Daddy
9 • The Birthplace of Righteousness
10 • Sometimes It Takes Two . . .
12 • Delighting in Rules
13 • Crying, Laying, Waiting
14 • A Refugium for Your Troubles
15 • Healing the Hidden
16 • Forsaken, But Not Forgotten
17 • Holding Fast to the Shepherd
18 • Seek and Hide
19 • Meeting Your Desires
20 • An Undivided Heart
21 • Deserted Times
22 • Hungering for Something More
23 • “It’s Not What You Know . . .”
24 • “And When You Pray . . .”
25 • Doling It Out
26 • Doing the Right Thing
27 • Listen Up!
28 • Kid Stuff
29 • No Darkness at All
30 • Good Wine
31 • Missing the Mark and Hitting the Bull’s-eye
32 • Everyone?
33 • Have Love
34 • Be Reconciled
35 • What Do You Do with the Thorns?
36 • Drawing Circles . . .
37 • Imitation of a Life
38 • Press On
39 • Serious Business
40 • Putting Your Gift to Work
Afterword • The Safest of All Places
Acknowledgments
Scriptural Index
Index of Authors Cited
“Be still, and know that I am God!”
—Psalm 46:10
Be still. Be still. Those two words alone seem to be a calm oasis plopped in a time of rapid-fire busyness. Our forebears, only a century ago, would not recognize our world of emails, cell phones, texts, Skype, Twitter, and Facebook. Satellite radio, GPS, home audio systems, even shower televisions have made it possible never to be alone, even when you are alone. It is possible to fill all twenty-four hours of every day with noise, activity, work.
The ancient world in which David would pen the above words had virtually no similarities to our own. Yet even then . . . yes, way back then . . . David beckoned the human heart to “be still.”
This book is an invitation to be still and to consider. Consider what can be learned in moments of leisure, rest—stillness. The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Donald Coggan, wrote, “I go through life as a transient on his way to eternity, made in the image of God, but with that image debased, needing to be taught how to meditate, to worship, to think.”
In our multifaceted, multitasking world, we tend to forget that we are actually pilgrims on a journey