Generosity Is Contagious
Good morning... Waking this Easter Monday morning, I wonder, "What does it really look like for Christ to live in us?" In the quiet of these early hours, my mind is drawn back to a letter I received on Saturday from the leader of our Disaster Response Team from church. A lightbulb goes on right now: "This is a tangible example of how the risen Christ lives in ordinary people." With permission I [...]
Puppies This Easter
Good morning... This Easter morn, we remember back to the final moments of Jesus hanging on the cross. A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit (John 19:29-30, ESV). Why did Jesus [...]
My God, My God, Why?
Good morning... I knelt in the prayer chapel at Northside Church, asking God to hold close, to gently lead, to heal whole those facing various forms of agony. I had followed the footsteps of Jesus into this inner sanctuary. Then he withdrew from them a short distance to be alone. Kneeling down, he prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup of agony... But no matter what, your will must be mine.” [...]
Perfect Timing
Good morning... I love this hand-painted clock that lives in our basement. It is a clock with no hands which mysteriously sets itself to God's perfect timing. I just experienced a moment of God-ordained timing. I have been up since 4:30 am working on this morning's blog post with God. Just as I was about to push "send," an email arrived in my inbox from Julie Harlan's amazing mother. Remember? Julie is my [...]
Wait Wild Awake
Good morning... Since the evening my spiritual mentor texted me this poem, I have been prayerfully pondering, 'What might these words mean for me?" ****** Gethsemane: A Poem By Mary Oliver The grass never sleeps. Or the roses. Nor does the lily have a secret eye that shuts until morning. Jesus said, wait with me. But the disciples slept. The cricket has such splendid fringe on its feet, and it sings, have you [...]
More Than A Facebook Friend
Good morning... My oldest daughter chose to give up social media for Lent. "Welcome to my world," I said, "it's peacefully wonderful." I don't twitter or tweeter, "snap a chat," "inst a gram" or "face a book," but I do love when friends send me nourishing nuggets. That's what happened on February 28th, 2021. The image above came to me with this letter below. ****** Letter from Mary Waite, February 28th, 2021 Hello [...]
Backed Into A Brick Corner
Good morning... "Because of my tech savvy ineptness, I couldn’t write about this picture of a pansy," she wrote me the day after our final Waking Up Whole Zoom class. "This pansy is from my garden," she explained in her follow up email. "I named it 'bloom where you don’t want to be planted.'" I like the persistent pansy photo, I love the descriptive name, and I hate the experience of being planted [...]
I Felt Like A Failure
Good morning... Last Monday morning I woke feeling like a "failure." I had facilitated our final Friday morning class and was scheduled to teach our last Zoom class on Monday afternoon. I began the semester writing an interactive, online study with God, but, as we came to the final week, our Waking Up Whole: Mind, Body, and Soul study sat embarrassingly "unfinished," weeks seven and eight remained only partially complete. In front of [...]
Gain Your Very Self
Good morning... In the Christian calendar today is Palm Sunday. We remember Jesus riding on a donkey through the streets of Jerusalem. Many people carpeted the road in front of him with their cloaks and prayer shawls, while others gathered palm branches and spread them before him. Jesus rode in the center of the procession, with crowds going before him and behind him. They all shouted in celebration, “Bring the victory! We welcome [...]
Go In And Close The Door
Good morning... As we head into Holy Week (tomorrow is Palm Sunday), I think Henri Nouwen's meditation from yesterday provides powerful perspective. ****** DAILY MEDITATION | MARCH 26, 2021 - Jesus’ Hiddenness I don’t think you’ll ever be able to penetrate the mystery of God’s revelation in Jesus until it strikes you that the major part of Jesus’ life was hidden and that even the “public” years remained invisible as far as most [...]
Celebrating This Spring
Good morning... Enjoying a homemade, outdoor birthday dinner with two besties in my bundle, I am so grateful I was born in the spring. Spring is new life, longer days, and bursting beauty. Spring is renewal, revamping, reimagining. Spring is what happens when we wait with hope through the dark, cold, harsh, winter after winter. The day after our soul-filling evening, along with this picture my friend sent these wonderful words posted that [...]
Facing An Unknown Future
Good morning... Frustrated by no available parking spot, we sat stuck in a long line of cars trying to escape the crazy Costco crowd. "Look at this," I said to my husband. "Traffic has not been this bad since before the pandemic." With more and more people feeling freed by vaccination, I fear we are driving again toward frustrated. Stuck. Crazy. Crowds. "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known [...]