Where Do I Belong?
Good morning... At 3:24 am, I finished yesterday's post and pushed send on our message, A Peacemaker Prays. The Henri Nouwen quote highlighted was sent by Ignatius House Retreat Center earlier in the week, along with the calming song and images. Our blog ended: "We actively pray, 'Lord, make me a peacemaker.'" I climbed back into bed for a bit more sleep. Waking for a second time around 7:00 am, I opened the [...]
A Peacemaker Prays
Good morning... "A peacemaker prays," writes Henri Nouwen. "Prayer is the beginning and the end, the source and the fruit, the core and the content, the basis, and the goal of all peacemaking. I say this without apology because it allows me to go straight to the heart of the matter, which is that peace is a divine gift we receive in prayer. In his farewell discourse Jesus said to his disciples, 'Peace [...]
My Mediocre Mess
Good morning... I have been enjoying Kate Bowler's Joyfully Mediocre Summer Blessing Series. Each Wednesday her weekly email arrives in my inbox. Yesterday's morning message wove itself into me. ***** God, I can’t tell which person I will be today: kind and loving, turn-the-other-cheek and I’ll-be-right-here, soft but strong. I will keep no record of wrongs. I might be someone else entirely: brittle and judgmental, I’m-taking-my-share and you-deal-with-it-alone, hard but weak. I will [...]
Weary And Wounded
Good morning... Sharing honestly from her heart, she texted. "With respect to this week, frankly, it is hard. The days just are hard. Things are hard in this chapter. I know that God will give me the strength I need," she continued. "I know that this will work together for something I don't yet understand. Right now though, I just feel weary and wounded." "Weary and wounded," I texted back. "Those [...]
Caught In An Avalanche
Good morning... Yesterday we huddled around my husband's cell phone to watch a viral video. This week's footage of an avalanche closing in on a vulnerable hiker sparks an honest prayer. "Oh God. Oh dear God." The Lord is my Rock, my fortress, my place of safety. He is my God, the Rock I run to for protection. He is my shield; by his power I am saved. He is my hiding place [...]
How Might I Pray?
Good morning... As if panning for valuable chunks of gold, I sift through a New York Times opinion piece to discover some very important nuggets. Author Anne Lamott, wise and sassy, provokes the potential of authentic prayer. "Prayer connects us umbilically to a spirit both outside and within us, who hears and answers." "Prayer says... 'I am tiny, helpless, needy, worried, but there’s nothing I can do except send my love into that [...]
We’re Supposed To Change
Good morning... As we consider the possibility of spiritual transformation, it is good to be reminded: "We're supposed to change." When staying stuck hurts more than total surrender, we take the risk. Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have [...]
Memories With My Mom
Good morning... Sorting through stacks of old stuff, I happen upon a favorite photo. Canoe. Popsicles. Big wheel. Three of our kids with some of their cousins. My mom, a grandmother of twelve, smiling in her mid-sixties. This endearing image is soaked in summer fun. Some of the same cousins, now in their mid-twenties, are pictured last month at my mom's 84th birthday party. My sister. Her husband. My dad. My [...]
Be Thankful For Little
Good morning... When our oldest son was a little boy, he used to search for the smallest grape in every cluster. This fun memory quietly returned when I met an Estonian proverb: “Who does not thank for little will not thank for much.” Now please read with me a Biblical proverb, a proverb I have structured a bit for easier reading. There are four creatures on earth that are small, but they are [...]
Stop Right There!
Good morning... Sitting at her picnic table, sipping our coffee, we read aloud yesterday's blog post, Buoyed By Good News. After we were done reading together, my nearly ninety-one year old mother-in-law said, "There are about three concepts there I really want to discuss." We opened our individual copies of Falling Upward to page 90, and I began to quietly read again words written by Richard Rohr. "The Holy Spirit is that aspect [...]
Buoyed By Good News
Good morning... "It has been said that 90 percent of people seem to live 90 percent of their lives on cruise control, which is the unconscious," writes Richard Rohr on page 90 of Falling Upward. "The Holy Spirit is that aspect of God that works largely from within and 'secretly,' at 'the deepest levels of our desiring,' as so many of the mystics have said. That's why the mystical traditions could only resort [...]
Freedom On This 4th
Good morning... What does freedom really look like on this complex fourth of July? In the Message translation, 1 Peter 2:16-17 simplifies our answer. Exercise your freedom by serving God, not by breaking the rules. Treat everyone you meet with dignity. Love your spiritual family. Revere God. Respect the government. Now my thoughts are drawn back to our recent post Simplicity is About Freedom. One single insight continues to guide me. "Simple living is [...]