You're listening to Encounter, a simple daily podcast made possible by listeners like

you.

We hope to help you discover sacred moments in the middle of ordinary days.

And if you would enjoy greater access to even more free meditations, I encourage you

to download the encountering piece mobile app where all the meditations are free, as they

should be.

The poet Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in his essay Compensation that, in the order of nature,

we cannot give benefits to those from whom we receive a benefit.

But the benefit we receive must be given again.

A line for line, deed for deed, sent for scent to somebody else.

Or as Lily Hammond famously wrote, You don't pay love back, you pay it forward.

Have you ever had the occasion to pay something forward?

To take a gift you've been given, and give it away again.

This meditation from John chapter 13 is a contemplation on paying things forward.

Remembering to see Jesus as your example of a humble giving servant, receiving the love

of God, and then paying it forward for his divine glory, serving others as Jesus serves

you and me.

So to begin, whether resting in first or last light, yield to the next 15 minutes as a

divine retreat from the greed and selfishness of the world.

Allow your eyes to close with no effort now, and permit your mind to begin centering on

the humility and servanthood of Christ.

Grant for your body to posture itself, and obedience before God, and concede for your

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