Day 5 - Don’t envy one another

Morning prayer

Start you day with this prayer

Give wisdom to all our leaders.
Give them ears that listen well.
Forgive them and us when we don’t act according to your will.
Heal the earth and everyone who lives on it.
Renew our hearts, our thoughts and our spirit for a new era and a new holy community with You, with others, and with your whole creation.
And bring us all to a joyful resurrection.
(Silence)
Let your will be done.
Amen

Prayer station

Use this symbol to lead you in prayer for the day.

Symbol: A cookie

We pray for grandmothers and grandfathers and for the eldery – also for those who are vulnerable and ill.

Remind them that we have not forgotten them.

We are grateful for the wisdom and experience of everyone older than us and from whom we can learn.

Reflection

Read this reflection on the text for the day.

Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other – Galatians 5:26.

There are few things as toxic as envy and conceitedness in our life together as God’s family.

Years ago there was a film about Mozart titled Amadeus. This film is a dramatised version of his life as told from the perspective of one of Mozart’s contemporaries, Salieri. In the film Salieri is depicted as a bitter old man because of his lifelong envy of Mozart’s talent. The tragic truth is that Salieri himself was an extraordinarily talented composer. However, he wasn’t as gifted as Mozart. Salieri’s obsession was fueled by a great desire not just to be talented, but to be better than Mozart. In the film this obsession destroys both of their lives.

If we don’t accept the talents that we received by grace, if we don’t focus all our attention on being the best that we can be, but rather on being better than others, then we are in danger of always comparing ourselves to others. It is this constant comparison with others that leaves us conceited because of our belief that we are better, or that makes us envious of the talents of others. Both of these attitudes make it impossible to live authentically with other believers.

Lord, keep me from being envious of others. Teach me to be grateful for the gifts that I received from You. Amen.

Isaac’s Soap Opera

Watch this video with your children

Liturgy for Life

See the ordinary things you do in and around the house as signs of God’s care.

Grateful for what I have now …

One of the most dangerous things that we can do, is to compare ourselves to others. It leads us to do precisely what today’s Scripture tells us not to do: Do not be envious of one another. The best medicine for the habit of comparison is to be grateful. If you can focus on what you have it will keep you from looking at what others have and from wishing that you had that as well.

This is why we are going to focus on the small and simplistic gifts that God gave us, including those that we might not even notice.

Walk with everyone in your home to the kitchen. Open the tap. We think that it’s a given, that it’s something that should just be there. Water from a tap. In most places in South Africa you can drink from a tap in your home. If you live in a town where you still have this privilege, take a glass and fill it with water. Drink the water. Do you realise what a great privilege it is to still be able to do that? According to Wateraud.org 1 out of 10 people does not have access to clean water near their homes. The amount of people who don’t have clean water inside their homes is much larger. It is a privilege to have water.

Walk with the people in your home and take photos with your phones of all the gifts in and around your home that you don’t even notice anymore. Take a few moments to thank God for these gifts. Ask God to open your eyes to all people on earth who don’t have these privileges. We must not be conceited, because everything that we have is a gift from God’s hand.

Children’s activity

Play with your children.

Wow! 21 Days of isolation. 21 Days in which we’re only allowed to be in our homes (or gardens) and can only go out for the most essential things like food and medicine. It can be a little rough! All the things we usually do during the day, like school, sport, church … are not happening anymore. It can really confuse you and maybe even bore you a little. These daily readings will help you to spend some time with Jesus every day in a creative and fun way. You can do these readings and activities by yourself, with your siblings, or with your entire family. Ask one of the grownups to post your activity on Facebook so that others can enjoy it with you. Tag it with #solitudecalendar #churchtogether

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Have you ever heard someone say, “Don’t go walking around with your nose up in the air”? What does this mean? No one walks with their noses in the air! Maybe today’s Bible verse will help us understand it better. This verse says we must not be conceited, tease each other or be envious of one another. In short, it means we should not think we’re better than others. We also should not be envious of them.

•The opposite of envy or jealousy is gratefulness. What are you grateful for today?

•Why shouldn’t we walk with our noses up in the air?

Activity

•Make a list of things you’re grateful for. If you want to, use the letters of the word grateful to think of things you’re grateful for.

•See how far you can walk with a book balanced on your head while your nose is up in the air. Now start over and see how far you can walk with a book on your head without your nose up in the air.

Creative prayer

Colour and reflect (Instructions are available under the picture)

INSTRUCTIONS

• Choose your art materials such as coloured pencils, coloured pens and koki pens. Any of these will work. • Colour in the picture and do the activity.

TIPS

• Choose no more than five colours. If you’re unsure of which colours to use, take out all the colours and put them on the table. Close your eyes and pick up five. • It may be easier for you to first start colouring the edges and not big blank spaces. • Don’t stop halfway, especially if your reason for stopping is that you think your picture isn’t pretty. This is the purpose of the activity – to get your attention away from unnecessary thoughts like, “Am I doing this right?” and to focus on the people that you love. • When you’ve finished colouring the picture, put the picture in a prominent place in your house, like your bedroom or in the kitchen. Consider sharing your picture on social media with the hashtags #solitudecalendar #churchtogether

Thank you’s and testimonies

Share your testimony with us! Use the online form below.

My testimony is of God’s love and care: While I’m licking my wounds about all the things that have been taken away from me during this lockdown, I want to choose to rather place my focus on the millions of people in our country who are hungry, scared and alone – not in fancy houses, but in shacks or even homeless.

– Jaco Swart.