Harvey – a great black and white movie starring Jimmy Stewart, is one of my favorites. Elwood P. Dowd’s best friend is a six foot, three and half inch invisible white rabbit who accompanies him throughout his day helping him. The movie also has some great spiritual lessons too:Ponder these delightful quotes from Elwood:"Well, I've wrestled with reality for thirty-five years, Doctor, and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it.""In this world, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant." “I always have a wonderful time, wherever I am, whoever I'm with.” “Harvey and I warm ourselves in these golden moments. We came as strangers - soon we have friends. They come over. They sit with us. They drink with us. They talk to us. They tell us about the great big terrible things they've done and the great big wonderful things they're going to do. Their hopes, their regrets. Their loves, their hates. All very large, because nobody ever brings … [Read more...]
Weekend Reflections on the Word of God – October 18, 2009
Lectio Divina - a holy reading of the Bible slowly, savoring it, and enjoying it with the Lord – is the spiritual practice of sacred reading of the scriptures. The intention is not to learn or gain information but to deepen our relationship with God. St Benedict encourages us to “to listen with the ear of our hearts.”Join me once a week for Lectio Divina. I will share a verse and a word that spoke to my heart. Read and listen to the verses here. And gently ask God for a word or phrase that speaks to your heart for that day – that is what lectio means. Once we find that gift, we hold it, meditate, and savor its meaning. This step is called meditation.Then offer that word back to God in prayer or the third step of oratio. In prayer we allow our real selves to be touched and changed by the word of God.Finally, we simply rest in the presence of the One who has used His word as a means of inviting us to accept His transforming embrace. No one who has ever been in love needs to be reminded … [Read more...]
Spiritual Priorities
Remember the old Abbot and Costello skit: “Who's on first, What's on second, I Don't Know is on third...”I have been pondering that question lately: Who’s on first? Who is first in my life? I wish I could say God was all the time but to be honest, that is not always true.I heard a speaker last week, Rev, Dan Schrock, pastor of the Berkey Avenue Mennonite Fellowship in Goshen Indiana, speak about five attachments we cling to instead of God. Many of these affections are not bad, but just disordered. We hold onto them tightly, putting them in first place – a place reserved only for God. “Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” Exodus 34:14.What takes the place of God as priorities in our hearts and lives?1. Physical objects – that new truck, our laptop, the home we have lived in for 22 years2. People – This could be a highly regarded mentor, a close friend and of course, our family3. Images of self – Being competent, your education, your job, … [Read more...]
Teresa of Avila – Perseverance in Prayer
Every life tells a story – a story rich with spiritual lessons. One spiritual practice I follow is learning about other Christians throughout church history and their spiritual journeys. Their lives fill me with hope, guidance and ways to draw closer to God.My faith tradition – Lutheran – has added to the worship and lectionary readings what they call commemorations – recognition of individuals or events that have been noteworthy in the life of the Church. Our Catholic friends have for centuries honored saints on certain festival days. What I am really enjoying is the expansion of the names on the Lutheran list to include people from all denominations. Periodically in this blog I will feature someone from this list, a brief biography, quotes, and inspiration from their life.Teresa of AvilaMany of you may never have heard of this woman who lived in the 1500s. We celebrate her day on October 15th. Teresa was born in Spain and at the age of fifteen, after her mother's death and the … [Read more...]
Weekend Reflections on the Word of God – October 11, 2009
Lectio Divina - a holy reading of the Bible slowly, savoring it, and enjoying it with the Lord – is the spiritual practice of sacred reading of the scriptures. The intention is not to learn or gain information but to deepen our relationship with God. St Benedict encourages us to “to listen with the ear of our hearts.”Join me once a week for Lectio Divina. I will share a verse and a word that spoke to my heart. Read and listen to the verses here. And gently ask God for a word or phrase that speaks to your heart for that day – that is what lectio means. Once we find that gift, we hold it, meditate, and savor its meaning. This step is called meditation.Then offer that word back to God in prayer or the third step of oratio. In prayer we allow our real selves to be touched and changed by the word of God.Finally, we simply rest in the presence of the One who has used His word as a means of inviting us to accept His transforming embrace. No one who has ever been in love needs to be reminded … [Read more...]
Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus – A Favorite Hymn and a Contemplative Practice
You become what you think about. (Earl Nightingale).What do you focus on?So often I see only my problems, my faults, my limitations. My ego leads my thinking and behavior down wrong paths with a dimming flashlight. I focus on my circumstances, not my blessings.I know the answer. The ironic solution lies in my life verse from Hebrews 12:2: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”The old hymn, “Turn your Eyes upon Jesus” says it all:Turn your eyes upon Jesus.Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.Did you realize the lady who wrote this wonderful hymn, Helen Howarth Lemmel was blind? She had much heartache in her life including being deserted by her husband when she lost her sight.Lemmel could have focused on her losses, yet she spent her life in music including writing over 500 hymns. A woman without sight saw the vision of how to truly live: with eyes on Jesus.Some call this … [Read more...]
The Wonder of God’s Visible and Invisible World
When we traveled through Yellowstone this summer, the scenery overwhelmed me. I stood speechless in front of God’s incomprehensible creation of radiant colors in the translucent water pools and rising ghosts of eerie white steam against extraordinary blue skies.Behold the wonder of God. The planet we stand on is a mere glimpse of his creation, a small sliver of what he has made. Just imagine for a moment what God has created that we cannot see.God’s invisible handwork.As a nurse, I know full well the intricate marvel of the human body. The multitude of well organized mini-components working inside each of the estimated 100 trillion cells that makes up our bodies.Behold the wonder of GodThe Human Cell The power of a tiny microorganism to bring us mighty humans down. I am fascinated by the beauty of the viruses and bacteria who unfortunately spread havoc and fear in our world:Behold the wonder of GodThe Flu VirusOur … [Read more...]
Weekend Reflections on the Word of God – October 4, 2009
Lectio Divina - a holy reading of the Bible slowly, savoring it, and enjoying it with the Lord – is the spiritual practice of sacred reading of the scriptures. The intention is not to learn or gain information but to deepen our relationship with God. St Benedict encourages us to “to listen with the ear of our hearts.”Join me once a week for Lectio Divina. I will share a verse and a word that spoke to my heart. Read and listen to the verses here. And gently ask God for a word or phrase that speaks to your heart for that day – that is what lectio means. Once we find that gift, we hold it, meditate, and savor its meaning. This step is called meditation.Then offer that word back to God in prayer or the third step of oratio. In prayer we allow our real selves to be touched and changed by the word of God.Finally, we simply rest in the presence of the One who has used His word as a means of inviting us to accept His transforming embrace. No one who has ever been in love needs to be reminded … [Read more...]