Good morning…
“Try to keep a little hermitage in the center of your being,” encourages Henri Nouwen, “where you can continue your prayer even during a busy day.” This morning I add “continue your prayer even in the aftermath of another mass shooting, even amid polarizing politics, even facing challenges you did not choose.” We all need a little hermitage, a refuge and retreat, a haven and hideout, a shelter and sanctuary at the center of our being, where we continually carry on honest conversation with God.
As an online community, God has drawn us to the rhythm of savoring Sundays as a time of Sabbath rest. One holy day each week, we curl up in our inner hermitage and survey the spiritual path we are traveling together. On this set aside, seven day, we rest. We renew. We recenter. We review. Through what inner landscape has our LORD led us this week? Let’s take the time to track our shared journey.
Monday: We will host another four-week class on the Enneagram, an ancient tool used to identify our own core need as a unique child of God. Once our deepest drive is discerned, we will learn to track our spiritual growth as God’s Spirit awakens our True Self. This time I will be teaching with a long time friend and colleague, Rev. Catherine Boothe Olson. (P.S. Because of the great response to this learning opportunity, we have moved the class into a larger space. We will meet on Mondays in August, 12:00 to 1:30 pm, now hosted in the Fellowship Hall at Northside Church, 2799 Northside Dr NW, Atlanta, GA 30305). All are welcome.
Tuesday: Life is hard. Life is really hard sometimes. Before leaving this earth, Jesus asks God to give us forever a Helper, a Comforter, an Advocate, an Intercessor, a Counselor, a Strengthener, a Standby who is the Spirit of Truth. Jesus knows we need the ever-presence of a Paráklētos. Each moment every day, we can access the inner power of God’s Holy Spirit or we can deny our Intercessor’s help and comfort, counsel and strength, gifts implanted within us by the Father of all. Because we do not see Him or know Him, we can pretend this inner Eye-witness is not close-beside. We can struggle severely, swept up in the lie that we can handle life’s heartaches alone, without Help.
Wednesday: God’s peace often lands on us in tangible ways. On the tennis court, on a mountain hike, and while watching a lacrosse game. After reading our morning message, look what arrived.
P.S. After our post, these additional photos came in. How cool is God?
What a blessing!
At a summer travel lacrosse game of the boys a few summers ago
Here is my little butterfly that God sent me this week. I thought you might enjoy another image with your collection.
Thursday: The shadow box pictured on the top of this post lives in our living room as a lasting symbol for me that when the LORD has a life lesson to teach, the Spirit of God will find surprisingly creative ways to speak to us clearly. Our daily job is to prayerfully ponder, to notice the unusual, the odd, the weird, to let strange ideas grow, and to accept God’s invitation to land softly, securely, at rest with the Spirit.
Friday: One of you wrote: “I think God speaks most clearly through us, in and through His creation – if we are paying attention. For me, one of the most powerful experiences of God’s timing came from me responding to the inspiration of a sudden breeze and a simultaneous thought popping into my head while sitting alone on a porch swing staring at the Tetons. It’s a long story but I felt an urgency to do something I’d been putting off and the end result proved to me that responding, not on my preferred timeline but in the moment the Spirit spoke, allowed me to surrender to God’s will for my life.”
“I love these thoughts,” I responded. “Might share them with our readers? Together we are learning to hear our invisible, mysterious God in the midst of our ordinary lives, FINDing God guiding us in surprising ways. It feels freeing to be in sync with God’s Spirit, trusting God to move us along the path of a Divine, higher will. I agree with you wholeheartedly, hearing God’s movement does take our ongoing commitment to “make quiet space” daily, giving God room to nudge, to speak, and to lead in unpredictable ways.”
Saturday: As we talked about the Holy Spirit actively guiding our daily lives, she said, “I only want to do what God wants me to do. Everything else will fade away. It reminds me of the song I love most right now.” Then together we enjoyed her current favorite song. As I share it with you now, I hope you will love it too.
“Try to keep a little hermitage in the center of your being,” encourages Henri Nouwen, “where you can continue your prayer even during a busy day.”
This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it—the Lord is his name: “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:2-3, NIV).
…Sue…
