Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64: 8 This verse kept coming to mind as I watched the video below. With meditative music, these images can lead us closer to God as we allow him to mold and shape our lives. This is a type of prayer called Visio Divina – spiritually watching a video or a painting or even a beautiful sunset and emerging your soul with God’s. A divine moment. Lectio divina is praying with scriptures; visio divina is praying with media. So take a deep breath and allow yourself to melt into this video. How did these masters of pottery led your to the Potter of all? … [Read more...]
Sabbath Struggles
I struggle with keeping the Sabbath. I have gone on retreats about the Sabbath. I even led a workshop on this topic (“those who can’t do, teach", right?) I have read books. I’ve listened to speakers and preachers. I joined the wonderful group – the Sabbath Sisters – who share ideas and resources about Sabbath keeping. I have even confessed this failure of mine on this blog before. I don’t fully understand why something I say I value, I fail to put into practice. What is Sabbath to me? I think it is intentionally setting aside a time to honor and be with God. It is breaking from daily routine to rest and to be. Sabbath is letting go, emptying inside of doing, clinging, filling up with noisy clutter in my head and heart. Sabbath should look and be different from the other days. There is a rhythm to life and even to the workweek that I have lost. I turned off the computer on some Sabbaths. I have also snuck peeks at my smartphone since the computer was shut down. I … [Read more...]
Summertime Spiritual Slump
Does anyone else suffer from summertime spiritual slump? I sure do. Let’s talk about this today. Each summer I get distracted by outside gardening, family activities, trips, cookouts, visiting with neighbors – call it busyness, call it craziness, call it just plain life in the summer. I am overwhelmed by the calendar and off centered spiritually. My journal gathers dust. My devotions get read, not daily but once a week (well, on a good week). Even my spiritual director and I took a summer break and won’t meet up again until fall. I feel like I am in spiritual limbo. My expectation of accomplishing some extra writing and deepening my quiet time with God during the summer months is not realistic. Or is it? Do I let the excuse of a full schedule interfere with my most important priorities? Do I allow myself to be full of busy doings instead of quiet being? Do I get caught up in the pace of summer instead of embracing the pauses? Is this a summertime Sabbath or if … [Read more...]
4 ½ Reasons Why I Love to Travel
I love to travel. I grew up in a family that traveled as we took many exciting adventures when I was young. My hubby and I discussed travel with two friends when we were in our first couple of years of marriage. The other couple, hard working and very seriously, told us they planned to pay off their mortgage and work on their careers before they did any travel. Later that summer we turned down a trip to Germany due to a possible job change. The new job never materialized and we missed a wonderful opportunity. We decided right then to always fully evaluate trip possibilities – no regrets. As a couple we would rather have memories with a mortgage than no mortgage and no trip memories. Travel took a higher value for us from that year on (not the highest, God holds that place in our lives, then our family next). I love to travel. Here are my 4½ reasons why: Travel is mind expanding. I love to learn and see new sites and explore ways of thinking. Attentive travel helps us … [Read more...]
How We Choose is Almost as Important as What We Choose
“As surprising as it sounds, how we choose is almost as important as what we choose. Most of our choosing comes as a response to superficial desires or as an act of willpower and resolve. Neither is helpful in choosing to open ourselves to the Divine. Choosing God is choosing life just as all true choosing of life reflects choosing God. But neither life nor God can genuinely be embraced by willfulness and determination. They can only be received in openness and willingness.” Dr. David G. Benner When I read this quote the other day, I knew I had to copy it into my journal. How we choose is almost as important as what we choose- words that convicted my heart. Too often my decisions arise from my emotional reactions to a need or want. I revert back to my default mode – what is easiest, most comfortable and many times, just plain out of habit. I know I make decisions from a place of stress, fatigue, hunger, wanting to be accepted. Then I conclude something is wrong with me … [Read more...]
Treasuring the Ticks of Time
Time goes by so quickly. If you try to catch it, like bubbles or whispers, the moments evaporate. Yet life occurs in those fleeting seconds. I am learning to treasure these ticks of time. To pause and breath. To hold sacred the seconds of living. Perhaps it was the retreat a few weeks ago when we began each session with three deep breaths. The first breath reminds that I am mortal, the second that others with you are mortal and the third reminds us that this makes the moment of interaction and coming together even more precious. I inhaled the breath of God and let it swirl within my soul, dancing around my heart. I exhaled the very depth of myself, back to Him, letting him remove my many masks and embrace my empty vulnerability. Maybe the awakening spring reminds me of how life emerges, cycles, and reiterates its rhythm and pace. I too often dash at full steady speed without the minding the tempo of time. The rests and the crescendos create dramatic music. Recently I … [Read more...]
The God Box by Mary Lou Quinlan
Do you have a God Box? Mary Lou Quinlan wrote a memoir about her mother titled “The God Box – Sharing my Mother’s Gift of Faith, Love and Letting Go.” Keeping a God Box is a wonderful spiritual practice I just added to my routine. The God Box is any box where you keep handwritten notes/prayers to God. No fancy paper or pen, no lavish words, no long theological petitions – just simple prayers scribbled to God for everyday concerns and thanks. Quinlan writes that the only caveat to her mother’s practice was once she put the request in the box, it became God’s. “If you think you can handle it better than God, it’s coming out,” her mom would tell her family. What a way to give hope, comfort and the relief in letting go of the gunk we keep inside our hearts way too often. Her mom’s requests were simple and always dated. “Dear God, Please make my right ankle stop hurting, Love Mary. “ “Protect Jack in decisions about his job. Thank you for all your blessings. Love Mary.” After … [Read more...]
The Spiritual Practice of Remembering our Baptism
Do you remember your baptism? Some of us come from beliefs where babies are baptized, while others practice baptism only with adults or near adults. Some of us sprinkle water at a font and others immerse fully. Anyway we are baptized, most of us believe we are marked with Christ in this sacrament. Do you think about your baptism often? Daily? My local church newsletter lists the upcoming month’s birthdays and below these dates, there are the dates of when people were baptized. This serves as a reminder to remember that we are children of God, loved by him and part of his family. Being baptized is not just a one-day celebration with candles, water and family. The day of our baptism is the day God connects with us deeply. Now that is something worth honoring and celebrating. While I was on retreat a few weeks ago, one of the participants shared how she remembers her baptism each day. When she showers in the morning, she puts her hands on the head saying aloud “Remember … [Read more...]