The Fierce Urgency Of Now
Good morning... Rayshard Brooks was fatally shot by a police officer in the parking lot of a Wendy's restaurant here in Atlanta on Friday night. Rayshard was twenty-seven years old, a father of three daughters and one stepson. Last night, protesters calling for reform took to the streets and closed down one of Atlanta's main arteries, interstate 75. From our television about fifteen minutes away, I watched the images of the Wendy's building [...]
In Silent Solidarity
Good morning... I sat uncomfortably in the ant-filled grass, sweating in the sun, experiencing last weekend's rally. I listened attentively to story after story of unkind treatment, derogatory comments, rampant racism recalled by recent grads. I wanted to be witness. I wanted to give support. I wanted to say with my presence, "You are heard. You are valued. You sharing your truth opens a pathway to healing." It was not my place to [...]
This Bedside Quote
Good morning... "I keep this quote by my bedside," she wrote, sharing words from Lisa Beamer, whose husband died on 9/11. "Who is becoming whole again on your watch? What is being healed by your influence? How is God redeeming His creation by way of your life?” Then she added, "And I pray for God’s grace to recognize the opportunities and respond with love." When there is an opportunity to love, I also want to [...]
Shed Healing Light
Good morning... One week ago today I turned in devotional thoughts to be shared with our church family. Now as a church member, the morning message appears in my inbox. Even in this one single week in the foreverness of time, I sense God illuminating more of me as I feel the growing edge of the Spirit expanding inside. ****** June 11th Devotional by Sue Allen The last time I sat close beside [...]
Our Way To Hope
Good morning... I feel drawn to share with you the uplifting words from yesterday's daily devotional sent from the Henri Nouwen Society. ****** Solitude is the Way to Hope by Henri Nouwen Intuitively, we know that it is important to spend time in solitude. We even start looking forward to this strange period of uselessness. This desire for solitude is often the first sign of prayer, the first indication that the presence of [...]
Children Will Lead Us
Good morning... "Hello all," a brave daughter of a subscriber wrote a letter to her extended family, giving me permission to share it with you. "I’m sure you all have heard of what’s happening in our country right now in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. I know that many of you hold very different political views than I do, and that’s okay, not everyone has to agree with everyone on [...]
Little Pockets Of Space
Good morning... Each morning we wake into a little pocket of liminal space, as we quietly cross over a new threshold, from what was to what will be. I set my alarm clock very rarely. Instead I love being woken when God's Spirit stirs me from sleep, coaxing me from my unconsciousness into the more conscious portion of my fertile brain. Some of my sweetest moments of the day are [...]
Use This Time Wisely
Good morning... The hands of the hand-painted clock above fell off long ago. This broken clock hangs on the wall in my spiritual direction space, an invitation for me to stay keenly alert for God's perfect timing, kairos versus chronos time. Chronos, clock-time, is the measurable sequence of seconds, minutes, and hours structuring our daily lives. Yet it seems to me, kairos time is the gravity grounding our world in palpable ways right [...]
Lost In Time
Good morning... "I think we are all living in what Rohr calls liminal time," she said to me at a backyard reception following the funeral. Intuitively I agreed, then I thought to myself, "I need to look up the definition of that word again." Liminal. Wikipedia shares this drawing and this detailed description: "In anthropology, liminality is the quality of ambiguity or disorientation that occurs in the middle stage [...]
Two Funerals In One Day
Good morning... I followed the suggestion given in yesterday's blog post, Stand Actively Silent. "Active silence," Dr. James Johnson explained, "is stepping to the back of the line and creating space and opportunity for others to speak, especially those who don’t look like me or experience life as I do – those voices that I don’t normally hear." In active silence I watched on TV the memorial service for George Floyd. Stepping back. Giving [...]
Stand Actively Silent
Good morning... Since 2006, God has organically grown my spiritual gifts in the rich soil of Northside Church. I have seen many staff members come and many go, but one person I have seen stay, grow, and flourish is Dr. James Johnson, our Director of Adult Discipleship. During this period of pandemic, our church has begun sharing online devotionals, written by different staff members on different days. The morning message James shared with [...]
One Single Seed
Good morning... If I am a grain of wheat, I wrestle with John 12:24. Jesus says, “Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over." You see, I like being a grain of wheat, secured by my stalk, swaying in the breeze. Passive. Pristine. [...]