Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: Psalm 122:6a “Please pray for Jerusalem.” “Pray for peace in our land.” On our recent trip to the Holy Lands, we heard these statements multiple times. Our tour guide asked. An employee at one of the hotels mentioned it. But it was a store clerk in a gift shop that I remember the most. We were visiting the Garden Tomb, a pleasant walk not far from our hotel. A walled green patch in the middle of Jerusalem, its beauty, charm and peacefulness fades the fact it probably isn’t the actual site of Jesus’ burial. A quiet place of contemplation in contrast to the crowded chaos of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. A nice way to spend the last day in the Holy Lands. Like good tourists, we entered the gift shop and found a few more souvenirs. As I chatted with the store clerk, I couldn’t help notice her distinctive American accent. I politely asked her and she confirmed she was originally from the U.S. She married a man from Israel … [Read more...]
Giving Thanks – Quote of the Week
“Giving thanks awakens me to a God giving Himself, the naked, unashamed passion, God giving Himself to me – for me – a surrender of love. ‘Gratitude is the most fruitful way of deepening your consciousness that you are a divine choice,’ wrote Henri Nouwen. A divine choice! He chooses His children to fully live! Fully live the fullest life: the astonished gratitude, the awed joy, the flying and the free. The discipline of giving thanks, of unwrapping one thousand gifts, unwarps God’s heart bare: I choose you, Live!” One Thousand Gifts – Ann Voskamp … [Read more...]
Today Let’s Just BE
Shh, let’s just be today. Forget that to-do list. Sit quietly in your chair. Take a few deep breaths and be. Do you realize we check our cell phones an average of 110 times a day? According to Computer World, in the United States we average 16 minutes every hour on social media. Distractions bombard us continuously. Distractions – phone, internet, and pestering to do’s deter us from giving our full attention to the One who most deserves our devotion. I hunger for stillness and quiet and just to be. Perhaps that is why I love to start my morning in contemplative prayer. Usually I ramble off my concerns and a few wants to the Lord, then I just rest in his arms. Heaven doesn’t open up and I don’t see angels ascending and descending – just being in his presence. I don’t hear God’s mighty voice or lean in for his gentle whisper, We just enjoy each other’s company. No agenda. No items to discuss. Just being together. But I fail often. My mind wanders … [Read more...]
Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room – Getting Our Hearts Ready for Advent.
November 30 is the first Sunday of Advent. How will you prepare your heart for this special season this year? The word “Advent” comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming” or “visit.” Advent is the four weeks before Christmas when we look with hope and anticipation for the coming Christ Child. This time of year can be hectic, full of family drama, and preoccupations with both comforting and/or sad memories. Yet many of us want to take some time to ponder the true reason for the season and spend time with God. Advent is a wonderful opportunity to be open to prayer to shape our spirit this season. "Advent, like its cousin Lent, is a season for prayer and reformation of our hearts. Since it comes at winter time, fire is a fitting sign to help us celebrate Advent.If Christ is to come more fully into our lives this Christmas, if God is to become really incarnate for us, then fire will have to be present in our prayer. Our worship and devotion will have to stoke the … [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. Teresa of Avila Many 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 marriage of her oldest sister, Teresa was sent to be educated with Augustinian nuns. She returned home several times … [Read more...]
WHACK! “A Gentle Whack on the Side of the Head” Kind of God
What a great start to the morning -on my second cup of coffee, checking the third item off my to-do list, and accomplishing numerous jobs. I was a multitasking fiend, zipping along like a road runner. WHACK! Hitting myself on the side of the head I said out loud, “I forgot to pray this morning.” Each morning I try to start my day with the Lord. I sit quietly and praise him. I lift up my prayer concerns for family and friends and I read a devotional. Often I also journal where I feel God is leading me on my journey. Sounds nice, doesn’t it? But to be honest too often I dive into my day without first honoring God. WHACK! Do you watch NCIS? This favorite television show of mine shows the main character, Gibbs, occasionally slapping Dinozzo, another agent, on the back of the head -a mild, loving head slap to redirect Dinozzo’s attention back to where it belongs. Gibbs administers tough love on his agents. WHACK! As soon as I realized I forgot God, I quit all the … [Read more...]
Hidden Clutter
A tip from my Weight Watcher friends is to put the three-pound weights on my desk where I would see them readily and use them more often. While waiting for a video to load on the computer or the printer to print, I could exercise. Great idea! I tried it. It worked for the sum of one day. Then my eyes quit seeing the weights on my desk, hidden among the clutter or amid the normal environment of my desk. Even in plain sight, I never thought of them. On a side note, one lady at the Weight Watchers group said she finally put her dumbbells in her microwave. She has to remove them every time she uses the microwave and then uses them more often. Mmm, don’t think I will try that one. Hidden clutter. Hidden in plain sight but not seen. I read an blog post a few weeks back titled, "The Clutter We Rarely Notice.” My desk may look messy but I can tell you where everything is. I can have a place for everything and still have clutter. My eyes soon only see what stands out, what is … [Read more...]
Five Ways to Find Balance Spiritually
As I sat at the table at the blogging conference I attended in September, our initial enthusiasm waned. How would we get all these great ideas implemented? One of my new friends sighed, “Really, how do we balance all the demands of writing, family, faith, working and the world?” I hear this all the time in our conversations with others. Most of us do struggle with juggling all the wanted and needed obligations in life – demands from the outside and expectations from others and even self-imposed mandates. We give and give our time and energy to others, then wonder if and when we can carve out a moment or two to work on our dreams. And where does God fit into this? I have every good intention of starting my day with him in prayer, silence and study and many times do meet him early. But way too often I find myself not even thinking of God until late afternoon, or with a quick prayer in the car or as I crash into the bed at night. When I do practice centering prayer or … [Read more...]