Little words hold power. I should know this by this point in my life, but I still am discovering often it is the simple, seemingly unimportant words that deepen our understanding and light our way. Minor words we don’t fully see that connect thoughts and sooth our souls. They exist and add to our lives but we don’t value or savor them. I see this wonder every year with my practice of adopting and exploring a word of the year. Two years ago my word was “Go’ and last year I walked with “all.” Two unassuming words offering me wisdom and insights. This year instead of one word, God led me to a phrase. “Honor the thirst deep within.” The obvious power words to study and explore in this sentence is “honor”, “thirst” and “deep” and I have learned from analyzing and pondering those words. Yet on retreat this year that tiny almost tacked-on word at the end of my phrase “within” sprang into my spirit and shared its story. To be honest I hadn’t paid attention to its presence but … [Read more...]
What’s Saving My Life Right Now?
What’s saving my life right now? Now. At this present moment. What is life-giving, uplifting, refreshing and stirring my spirit? What’s saving my life right now is a question Emily Freeman (A true mentor of mine) asks frequently. She discovered this question in a book by Barbara Brown Taylor (another mentor of mine!) in her book, Leaving Church. Taylor shares the story of being a guest speaker at an event. When she asked for her topic, this was her host’s request: “Tell us what is saving your life right now.” These words invite us to pause, reflect, and savor what is giving us life at this moment. When I relistened to Emily’s podcast and what she was noticing in her life, that question dug deep into my soul. What is saving my life right now? What’s Saving My Life? Journaling – I know writing in a journal isn’t for everyone but wrestling with words to express my prayers, my desires, my longings, my hurts brings me healing and draws me closer to God. This is an … [Read more...]
Retreat Recap
Going on retreat is an essential spiritual discipline for me. Time for silence and learning informs the mind and forms the spirit. I leave refreshed, renewed, transformed – not quite the same as I arrived. If you are interested in learning more about retreats, I usually write a blog post about them several times a year. Just go to this sidebar on the right, enter “retreat” in the search button and you will find many, hopefully inspiring, posts here about this spiritual practice. I just returned from a four-day silent retreat and often get questions about what I experienced, learned, and heard. I spend the last day of retreat summarizing, harvesting my journal, emotions and lessons, then reread them once at home – a continual fountain of blessing. Retreat Recap Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,my memory, my understanding,and my entire will,All I have and call my own. You have given all to me.To you, Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with … [Read more...]
Four Somethings – March 2023
Four Somethings is the spiritual practice of remembering, reviewing, and savoring life’s lessons and sacred moments in our lives. So occasionally I share bits of wisdom in four categories. Gathering Four Somethings makes me aware of all the blessings often hidden under busyness, worries, and distractions. These “somethings” become markers in our spiritual journey. With so much pivoting and uncertainty in our lives right now, being grounded in a simple practice like this guides my way. Something Wise “Holiness comes wrapped in the ordinary. There are burning bushes all around you. Every tree is full of angels. Hidden beauty is waiting in every crumb. Life wants to lead you from crumbs to angels, But this can happen only if you are willing to unwrap the ordinary By staying with it long enough to harvest its treasure.” Macrina Wiederkehr Something Wonderful I was studying the spiritual discipline of seeing beauty and learned a new to me … [Read more...]
Pondering the Pillars of a Healthy Spirituality – Humility
I humbly present the next pillar of a healthy spirituality - humility. I don’t hear cheers and loud applause for this virtue. I know I hesitated even to invite humility to come to this blog, but felt it had insights for our spiritual walk. In 2023 I plan to explore different building blocks, components, the essential nutrients that support a vibrant strong life with God. I hope to learn, study, and share thoughts about these various aspects and hope they bring fresh insights to all of our earthly journeys as God continues to shape our souls. This is our second exploration of one of the characteristics of a healthy spirituality: humility and being humble. You can read about the first one. Be Awake, here. Be Humble Do you know this old song by Mac Davis? Oh Lord, it's hard to be humbleWhen you're perfect in every wayI can't wait to look in the mirror'Cause I get better lookin' each dayTo know me is to love meI must be a heck of a manOh Lord, it's hard to be … [Read more...]
Lenten Devotional
Lent, one of my favorite listening to God seasons, begins with Ash Wednesday, Feb 22. Lent is the season before Easter lasting 40 days, not counting Sundays. It is a time to reflect and remember our relationship with God. This time presents an opportunity for us to focus and draw closer to our Lord. One Lenten practice is to read a particular book/devotional during the season. There are many great ones available, even one written by me a few years ago. 40 Voices – A Lenten Devotional captures the words and settings surrounding Jesus the final week of his human life. We hear the stories with new insights for us today and showing us the transformational power of the cross. Each devotion ends with an image, a question, and a prayer. Here is an excerpt from one chapter: “Hosanna! Not the most common word in our everyday language. I have said it during church services and sung it in hymns. I’ve read it in the Bible and heard it proclaimed on Easter morning. I assumed … [Read more...]
Pondering the Pillars of a Healthy Spirituality – Be Awake!
What are the pillars of a healthy spirituality? In 2023 I plan to explore different building blocks, components, the essential nutrients that support a vibrant strong life with God. I hope to learn, study, and share thoughts about these various aspects and hope they bring fresh insights to all of our earthly journeys as God continues to shape our souls. This week I am pondering being awake. Being awake “Just being awake, alert, attentive is no easy matter. I think it is the greatest spiritual challenge that we face.” Diana L. Eck Anthony DeMello tells this story:“A group of tourists sits in a bus that is passing through gorgeously beautiful country; lakes and mountains and green fields and rivers. But the shades of the bus are pulled down. They do not have the slightest idea of what lies beyond the windows of the bus. And all the time of their journey is spent in squabbling over who will have the seat of honor in the bus, who will be applauded, who will be well … [Read more...]
Four Somethings
Four Somethings is a regular blog post where I feature bits of wisdom in four categories. Gathering Four Somethings makes me aware of all the blessings often hidden under busyness, worries, and distractions. These “somethings” become markers in our spiritual journey. With so much pivoting and uncertainty in our lives right now, being grounded in a simple practice like this guides my way. As I began this practice last year, I listened to my heart and to God and narrowed down my four categories and use them to frame these life lessons: Each one reminds me to pay attention to these qualities in my life as gifts from God. Something Wise Kate Bowler shared this New Year Blessing on her web page. So fitting for all of us and a wonderful prayer to accompany my words of the year: Honor the thirst deep within. A blessing for when you want to change God, I carry around this incompleteness, this drive for fulfillment that always seems just around the … [Read more...]