Brown – not my favorite color. In fact, I am not sure how much I pay attention to this hue. Brown? It’s okay. Neutral. More of a background. Not exciting. The trees this fall in Ohio blazed with reds, oranges, yellows. And the colors lasted much longer than usual – energizing me with God’s paints. But last week I noticed the chopped, harvested cornfields, surrounded by skeletons of bare trees against a dull gray cloudy sky. Ugh. Brown. Paying attention to what not only brings joy to our hearts but also what jars our spirit is a key spiritual practice for us. Lord, you want me to “see” that ugly boring brown? Are you teaching me something from this ordinary, uninspiring color? I pulled the car over onto a side road and studied that scene. Discovering Beauty with a Closer Look My favorite color is blue. I also lean towards greens. Splashes of yellow brighten my mood and red fires my spirit. But brown? I had to stop and look closely to find its … [Read more...]
Second Guessing
Second guessing – I get caught in this mood quite a bit. Do you find yourself second guessing your decisions, motives, and actions? Me too. When I pay attention to my thoughts, I confess I fall into this trap more often than I realize. Then I listened to a directee in spiritual direction last week who also got stuck and weighed down with overthinking. We second guess ourselves. We second guess God. I decided to do some reading and research about this human behavior and seek God’s guidance in managing this habit. Second guessing can be a beneficial but also if it dominates our thoughts and stirs our anxiety can lead to procrastination, indecisiveness, and lack of peace and joy. What is Second Guessing Second guessing can be defined as overanalyzing our decisions after they are made. We wonder if we have made the best choice or not. This is a normal human reaction but we don’t have to allow it to ruin our day or run our lives. Doubts and … [Read more...]
Small Moves
“Small moves, Ellie” is a line spoken near the beginning and repeated towards the end of the movie, Contact. I attended a retreat quite a while back where the speaker shared clips from this movie and then we discussed the spiritual implications. I have love Contact ever since then, watching it frequently. “Small moves, Ellie,” advises the father of the main character as a child, Ellie Arroway, who is a young ham radio operator. Her father is coaching her at her radio not to turn the dial too quickly and to move a radio dial very slowly in order to hear the frequencies in-between. He tells her "Small moves, Ellie, small moves." “Small moves” is also a pivotal movement in Ellie’s transformation as an adult when she experiences an encounter with a person from another planet (looking like her father so she is not afraid). When she is full of confusion, questions, and uncertainty about what happens next, he says with tender love once again, “Small moves, Ellie." If you are … [Read more...]
What is saving your life right now?
What’s saving my life right now? When I first heard this question, I wasn’t impressed. How odd, I thought. I don’t get the value of asking this. Last week I heard this question again from Emily P Freeman, then read another blog post by Crystal Rowe based on this. Emily explained on her podcast the origin and importance of this question: “Well, just this week I finished listening to Barbara Brown Taylor’s memoir, Leaving Church. It’s all about her story of finally getting her dream job as an Episcopal priest and serving a small parish in Georgia, only to realize about five years in that in order to save her own faith, she had to leave the role of priest behind. Now, I’ve read portions of this particular book of hers over the years, but the last few weeks I listened to the entire book from start to finish. Toward the end, she tells the story of being a guest speaker at an event. The topic she was invited to talk about was an invitation with a simple question. They asked her, … [Read more...]
Mountain Wisdom
Can we hear wisdom from mountains? In September Bill and I took a wonderful trip to six national parks. Three in the US (Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, and Glacier) and three in Canada (Waterton, Banff, and Jasper). Yes, all awe-inspiring and beyond words in creative beauty. I picked up this card in a gift store in the Tetons and thought it would be fun to find one in each of the coming parks. BUT this one was the only one I found. Bill and I then decided we would listen quietly to each place to hear its wisdom. God teaches us so many lessons in nature when we pay attention. “Believe one who knows: you will find something greater in woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters.” Saint Bernard de Clairvaux Here is some insights from God’s imagination and creativity: Grand Tetons Wisdom (from the gift store) Savor life’s peak experiences. Be uplifting. Slow down and meander. Yellowstone … [Read more...]
All of Me Prayer Reflection
All as my word of the year continues to teach me, form me, stretch me. Who would think such a small “insignificant’ word held such wisdom. This spiritual practice is a wonderful way to hear God and see his touch in our lives. I shared earlier in the year the small plaque I found in Hobby Lobby – “All of me loves all of you” and its amazing lesson that continues to color my prayer and time with God. All of me -could refer to me. All of me - also refers to God speaking. Afterall, he is the All. I spend time soaking in this incredible message that the Creator of the Universe knows us, loves us, wants to me with us. Loves us unconditionally. His All loves our all. This lens sharpens my vision of all others. God whispers, “All of me love ALL of you.” Not just me, but all others. God loves all of us. Last week I sat at a meeting where one lady drove me nuts. Her gossiping. Her complaining. Her inappropriate behavior. She really got under my … [Read more...]
Push the Pause Button
Pause - we all need a break to rest, take a breather, slow down. I will be traveling the next couple of weeks. I originally planned to blog ahead but simply ran out of time. I am giving myself grace and pausing so you won't get a new blog post for several weeks. I will be back! Take time in your life to pause. Give yourself grace too. We all need it! See you later in midOctober! … [Read more...]
The Ebb and Flow of Life
September invites me to pause, savor, and reflect on the ebb and flow of this past season. The joy of family and families gathering for celebrations. The tender moments of reconnection. The warm (perhaps too warm some days) sunshine on the back yard deck. My roses outdoing themselves in blossoms this year. But I reread my journal, spotted with tears and anger and sadness experienced in the darker moments of life. War. Suffering. Illness. Separations. I am slowly learning that life is more and/both than either/or. Ebb and Flow. Good ol’ Henri Nouwen says it best in this prayer: “Dear Lord, Today I thought of the words of Vincent van Gogh: “It is true there is an ebb and flow, but the sea remains the sea.” You are the sea. Although I experience many ups and downs in my emotions and often feel great shifts and changes in my inner life, you remain the same. Your sameness is not the sameness of a rock, but the sameness of a faithful lover. Out of your love I came to … [Read more...]