Is one word enough for a journal entry? Using a single word as a writing prompt is amazingly simple, yet powerful. I have notice when studying scripture and being with God, often the small plain words hold as much meaning as the gigantic theological ones. THE Lord is MY shepherd. OUR Father who art in heaven. YET God… My Word of the Year My word of the year is very minimal and down to earth: GO. I have shared on other posts about my word and GO continues to put down deep roots in my spiritual journey this year. Emily Freeman talked this past week about How to Journal Using One Word in her #173 podcast. Well worth listening as she is inspiring and insightful every week. Emily likes to write her word at the top of a journal page. She then reviews and reflects over the past week, month or quarter her using her iPhone photos, her journal, and her daily planner. Paying attention, she looks for patterns or material related to her word. She then gleans insights … [Read more...]
POOF! 50 Years Later
50 years ago – March 1971. I bet some of you reading this may have been alive then. Do you remember March 1971? I do. A significant event happened, but at that moment I never realized that this was a turning point in my life. Even you, my younger friends, have experienced a meeting, a word, an interaction that at the time seemed small. Maybe fun but not life changing. Another notation on the calendar, the to-do list. A minor memo that slowly and surprisingly took root and grew beyond any expectations. March 1971 – I remember riding back to my college dorm with my then current boyfriend. I recall saying to myself. "He is such a nice guy but just not the one. There is no spark here. I really should try spending time with someone new." A girl-ask-guy party was coming up on campus. I looked around at several meetings scanning the crowd for a possibility. I remember looking at tall blonde Paul, wondering about him when I noticed a shorter … [Read more...]
Half a Million, Oh My!
Half a million dead. This is the number fellow Americans who have died in the Covid pandemic. In one year – 500,000 lives gone. This grim statistic stabbed my heart. I can't even comprehend this staggering number of a half of million. I read this is more that the entire population of the city of Atlanta. There are 525,600 minutes in a year. That’s one Covid death per minute, for almost an entire year. National Geographic shared these and other graphics about this tragedy. In 2020, the U.S. saw a more than 15 percent increase in deaths over the prior year, the highest year-on-year rise in deaths across the U.S. since 1918, which experienced both a global flu epidemic and the First World War. A line of 500,000 caskets, laid end to end, would stretch for 645 miles. Those coffins would reach from New York City to Indianapolis. It would take a wall almost nine times the length of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., to list the … [Read more...]
Uphill and Into the Wind
Can you imagine walking uphill and into the wind? Think about the determination, the pain and fatigue, unable to see the final destination. The persistence of plodding one step at a time, one after another, bogged down with thick mud or snowdrifts. Straining with each labored breath. Icy cold driving rain pummeling your face. I dreamed that scene last week. I rarely remember my dreams so when an image not only lingers in such detail but echoes in my soul with such a thundering boom, I notice. Doesn't take a genius to pay attention when God is trying to show me something. I tried to find just the right photo to capture this uphill and into the wind image. I wanted to paste it into my journal. Show it here to you. The illusive perfect illustration hasn't surface yet but still lives vividly in my mind. I am being vulnerable today, sharing this experience, baring my soul. In my morning prayer time lately, Jesus has been sitting across from me, listening, watching, … [Read more...]
Are you a Spiritual Marathoner?
Are you a spiritual marathoner? I am a not a runner. Yes, I do walk for exercise but run? No way! If I did try running, I am sure I wouldn't go far before gasping for air or collapsing. My legs and my heart aches with the thought of running a marathon. Yet, in many ways we are all running a collective marathon right now. It has almost been a year we have endured this pandemic – a life event we didn't choose, can't control, and we are not sure when it will be over. We are tired. We desperately want to get back to how we used to do things. We are emotionally and spiritually exhausted. I said this to others serving in the church and friends of faith and all agreed. There is a bone weary, soul numbing fatigue. "Hitting the wall" is a phrase marathoners use when every step feels like you are wading through concrete and you begin to doubt if you will ever see the finish line. In reality this feeling of defeat and discouragement usually arrives at about mile 20 of … [Read more...]
Stretching My Journal Muscles with a New Approach
Journals– most of you know I am an avid journal writer and know the free download I have shared here about journaling is the most popular one I have written. I love collecting journals and have quite a stack ready to grab once I fill one up. Writing in my journal is prayer and a practice of reflection, growth and record of life. The disciplines of contemplative prayer and expressing my emotions within a book's pages have been essential during the rough uncertainty of the past 12 months. Journaling serves as lifeline for me. Journaling helps me hear my own voice often drowned out by the world. Journaling helps me connect with God. One of my favorite writers, Emily P Freeman, has just released a new journal in a unique format. Her probing guiding questions will stretch my journaling muscle in a new way. Her new book is called The Next Right Thing Guided Journal – A Decision-making Companion. And what a great companion this book will be. This book is set up as a place to … [Read more...]
A Blessing for the New Year – John O’Donohue
On the day whenthe weight deadenson your shouldersand you stumble,may the clay danceto balance you. And when your eyesfreeze behindthe grey windowand the ghost of lossgets into you,may a flock of colours,indigo, red, greenand azure blue,come to awaken in youa meadow of delight. When the canvas fraysin the currach of thoughtand a stain of oceanblackens beneath you,may there come across the watersa path of yellow moonlightto bring you safely home. May the nourishment of the earth be yours,may the clarity of light be yours,may the fluency of the ocean be yours,may the protection of the ancestors be yours. And so may a slowwind work these wordsof love around you,an invisible cloakto mind your life. Here is a video to this poem spoken by the poet himself. If you are getting this by email you will have to go the blog to see the video and hear his wonderful Irish brogue. May 2021 overflow with blessings for you! … [Read more...]
Walking with Companions from the Great Cloud of Witnesses
Who are your walking companions? Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12 :1 God has gifted us a rich history of past and present "witnesses" to our faith that accompanies us if we only seek their wisdom and listen to their stories. I love the image of one or two fellow pilgrims emerging from the cheering crowd along my path and coming along side of me for a spell. A road to Emmaus moment. Sharing our story with and in the presence of Christ – learning and growing deeper. When I was in formation to be a spiritual director, we were asked to walk with a spiritual person for two years –soaking in the story of their lives, immersing in their writings and gleaning lessons for our own journey. Dorothy Day still walks with me today as a friend, a companion and a … [Read more...]