God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. --Reinhold Niebuhr Many of us take comfort in reciting the Serenity Prayer, especially the line about accepting the things I cannot change. But doggone it, accepting those unchangeable facts of life are difficult. I don't like it. I feel powerless. Frustrated. Discouraged. Even angry. Give me a few days of whining, withdrawing into my self-pity and wailing against the world, THEN just maybe I'll come around with resigning myself to not controlling everything that happens to me. I studied this prayer this past weekend and journaled about winter. I hate winter. Northern Ohio is experiencing a nasty, cold and snowy season this year. And guess what? I can't control it nor change it. The way our family is and how life has unfolded, Ohio has been and will continue to be my home. I guess I need to make friends with this miserable … [Read more...]
Come and See – Jesus’ Invitation – Lectio Divina
"When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "Rabbi, where are you staying?" He said to them, "Come and see." John 1: 38-39 Come and See Jesus, you invite me to come and see. I am amazed you stop what you are doing in all your glory and turn to me, little unimportant me, at any moment in my day and ask me what I need. I can cry out to you in my raw honest vulnerable state and you listen. I can approach you with my questions. My doubts. My anger. My fears. And you invite me to come and see. You welcome my questions. You are open to my struggling uncertainty. You meet me where I am right now, not where I should be or will be or have been, but present in this very moment. You accept me - your unsure, quivering child - with open arms. I come to you, Lord and see you. Thank you for being a God who sees me too. … [Read more...]
Accept – Quote of the Week – Paul Tillich
"The courage to be is the courage to accept oneself, in spite of being unacceptable." – Paul Tillich … [Read more...]
How to Spend More Time with God
How do we find or make the time for God? Too often I let busyness distract me or allow my to-do list and calendar to control my day. This sounds horrible, but I find there are times I am just too preoccupied with things of the world and not of God. After many of you completed the survey here last fall, I realized I wasn't alone with this struggle. Charles E. Hummel observed, “We realize our dilemma goes deeper than shortage of time; it is basically a problem of priorities. We confess: We have left undone those things that ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done.” Or, as a cotton mill manager once told him, "Your greatest danger is letting the urgent things crowd out the important." I think it is ironic that we find that we have little time in our lives for the One who created and gave us our time. Many of us want to take some time out for God, but somehow we never quite get there. So how do we spend more time with God? I've been … [Read more...]
Feeding the Mind and Heart for a Healthy Spirituality
A healthy spirituality balances the nourishing of the mind, heart and spirit. The spiritual practice of reading and studying is one habit that feeds us and keeps us going. Holidays and the days when we end one year and launch into another can be crazy and chaotic, but I did find a few segments of quiet time to read. I hungered for moments of solitude to rest my soul and to feed my spirit with God's word and what others write about our experience with God. I thought today I would share what I read the end of the year. 1. Nelson's Annual Preachers' Sourcebook - I received this huge resource from Thomas Nelson in exchange for a book review. I am under no obligation to give it a good review so this is my honest opinion. As a newly commissioned Associate in Ministry at my church I am thrilled to add this to my bookshelf. This book gives sermon outline for weekly and special occasions. It is full of lots of ideas for when writers presenters' block pop up. What I really like … [Read more...]
This is my Son, the Beloved, with Whom I am Well Pleased – Lectio Divina
This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased. Matthew 3: 17 Lord help me remember my baptism. Every morning when I arise, may I feel the mark of the cross on my heart, claiming me as your child Remind me that every breath contains your Holy Spirit, filling me with life. Prompt me to hear you as you guide my steps that I may follow only your path Soften my heart so I recognize the things that break your heart. Provide your life-giving water to my dried soul. Fill me with courage to risk all for you and to give all to you. Only through you, Lord, will I find the rest for my deep longing. Remembering my baptism each day, knowing who I belong to, and experiencing your loving guidance, I know someday I too will hear you call me "your Beloved, with whom I am will pleased." … [Read more...]
You Alone – Prayer of the Week – Thomas Merton
Give me the strength that waits upon you in silence and peace. Give me humility in which alone is rest, and deliver me from pride which is the heaviest of burdens. Possess my whole heart and soul with the simplicity of love. Occupy my whole life with the one thought and the one desire of love, that I may love not for the sake of merit, not for the sake of perfection, not for the sake of virtue, not for the sake of sanctity, but for You alone. Thomas Merton … [Read more...]
Polar Vortex – Spiritual Vortex
The harsh winter weather in North American introduced a new phrase into our vocabulary - polar vortex. The meteorologists loved to say those words over and over again to describe the dramatic rush of snow, wind and cold blanketing this part of the world. January can be cold here, but not this frigid. A polar vortex is super cold air that whirls around the Arctic. Occasionally this mass changes course and comes south to regions it normally doesn't visit. I found the words to describe this weather system interesting: lopsided, distorted, intense, turbulent, and even dangerous. A vortex is a whirling spiral of motion around a center like the water spinning down the drain of the bathtub. Once formed, vortices don't keep neat circles, but can move, stretch, twist, and interact in complex ways. A vortex seems pretty chaotic, unpredictable and ever changing to me. Mmmm, that sort of sounds like life, doesn't it? The metaphor of a spiral is often used to describe … [Read more...]