How do you describe time spent in the presence of God? First I want to thank many of you who held me in prayer when I went to the four-day silent retreat last week. I encourage you if you have never gone on retreat, whether a silent one or one filled with life-giving presentations, to try this spiritual practice. You will receive priceless nourishment for your journey in life.Even as a writer, I have difficulty finding the words to illustrate these precious quiet days with God. So I will borrow a phrase from Anthony de Mello:Look at God…looking at you… and smiling.I experienced being enfolded in the hands of God and beheld in His tender, loving, and unfailing gaze.I found this statuette and took multiple photos of this father and baby since they best represent how I felt.“You are precious in my eyes. I honor you and love you." Isaiah 43:4Often at the beginning of a retreat, the director will suggest some Bible verses that may guide us on our weekend. As soon as Susan mentioned Hagar, I … [Read more...]
Journaling our Journey
Patty Wysong has created a fun meme where once a week bloggers posted on the letter of the week. Check out the details here. It is called A2Z: Take 2. A2Z as she challenges bloggers to write a post each week going through the alphabet. Take 2 since this is the second time she has used this meme. Anyone can join in and you don’t have to always participate. This week’s letter is JJ = Journaling our JourneyTEN! I counted ten people continually carrying journals. More than one third of the people on the silent retreat with me last weekend carried some form of journalwith them. Blank notebooks, plain or with fancy covers, spiral notebooks, sheets of loose papers – many scribbling, capturing precious moments and lessons learned in sacred stillness of the retreat.I watch them. Prayfully they held their journals in the chapel. Slowly they recorded thoughts, prayers, verses, and experiences within these treasured pages in the reflection room. I am sure many of them wiped tears from those … [Read more...]
Three Ways to Use Your Imagination Spiritually
I played in a spaceship when I was seven years old. I spent hours exploring new worlds found in my imagination while never really leaving my backyard. My spaceship? A stocky tree with great climbing branches planted next on the southeast corner of our house. Different limbs warped into sections of my spacecraft: the galley, the lookout, the bridge for guiding my rocket into the mysterious universe.Sigh. I loved that tree.Patty Wysong has created a fun meme where once a week bloggers posted on the letter of the week. Check out the details here. It is called A2Z: Take 2. A2Z as she challenges bloggers to write a post each week going through the alphabet. Take 2 since this is the second time she has used this meme. Anyone can join in and you don’t have to always participate. This week’s letter is I.Image via WikipediaI = ImaginationImagination can be a helpful tool, even for adults. We use our minds to dream up decorating ideas, plots for novels, and innovative approaches to problem … [Read more...]
Spiritual Direction = Spiritual Listening
Image via WikipediaLent is a time for listening. I am listening in prayer. Listening to the Word of God. Listening in the writings of others on a spiritual journey. Listening to my heart. All forms of spiritual listening – hopefully I will hear God’s lessons during this Lenten season.My blogging friend Nancy Franson invited me write a guest post for her wonderful blog, Out of My Alleged Mind and she specifically asked me about my call to become a spiritual director – another form of spiritual listening. My post is over on her blog today and I invite you to hop over there to read it and while you are there explore her other features. Here is a teaser:Ten years ago, transition and turmoil filled my life. In 2002, two of my three children were graduating and moving out of state, close friends died and others experienced serious illnesses, friends at work betrayed my trust, and my husband’s workload became heavier. I felt restless, lost and tossed in never ending storms.And this was the … [Read more...]
15 Lenten Practices
Patty Wysong has created a fun meme where once a week bloggers posted on the letter of the week. Check out the details here. It is called A2Z: Take 2. A2Z as she challenges bloggers to write a post each week going through the alphabet. Take 2 since this is the second time she has used this meme. Anyone can join in and you don’t have to always participate. F = Fifteen 15 Lenten Practices The season of Lent will soon be here. Ash Wednesday is February 22. As few weeks ago I began exploring how to have a healthy spiritual heart in preparation for Lent. I asked myself, “how best can I prepared my heart of my Lenten journey? How will my heart be healthier by Easter?” Seeking answers for these questions, I have found some great resources to deepen our journey through the 40 days of Lent to the cross and resurrection on Easter morning. I am not going to attempt all of these, but thought I would share what I discovered with you today. Perhaps one or more of the following … [Read more...]
Learning by Heart – Guest Post by Nancy Franson
An unexpected benefit of writing this blog is how connecting with others has enriched my life. One of my favorite fellow bloggers is Nancy Franson who writes a wonderful blog called, Out of My Alleged Mind. Please check out her blog.As I ponder heart healthy spirituality this month, I asked Nancy to guest post for me today. Thank you Nancy for being here and sharing your story.Desperate and DeceitfulMost people who commit to memorizing Scripture begin, I imagine, with passages, which are familiar to many both inside and out of the church. John 3:16 is a likely starting point. The reference shows up on signs in the end zones of professional football games and on the eye black of Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow. For God so loved the world, John 3:16 reads, He gave His only begotten son . . . The verse is a succinct explanation of the gospel message, one well worth committing to memory.John 11:35 is another easy entry point into the discipline of Scripture memorization. Two simple … [Read more...]
Healthy Heart Spirituality
Image via WikipediaI listened to his heart. The beats were fast. His pulse was irregular. His skin was flushed and sticky with perspiration.Fifty years old and recently released from prison, the man came into the free medical clinic where I volunteer as a nurse. He patiently waited through all the paperwork and for his given appointment time.But he was very sick.Too sick for our little clinic. We quickly sent him over to the hospital for care. His heart sent us messages that something was terribly wrong. Hearts fascinate me. Did you know:· The average adult heart beats 72 times a minute; 100,000 times a day; 3,600,000 times a year; and 2.5 billion times during a lifetime.· Though weighing only 11 ounces on average, a healthy heart pumps 2,000 gallons of blood through 60,000 miles of blood vessels each day.· A kitchen faucet would need to be turned on all the way for at least 45 years to equal the amount of blood pumped by the heart in an average lifetime.· Every … [Read more...]
Why Do You Go to Church?
I read this story the other day:A minister was talking to a man about joining the church. “I want to join a church because I want to be fed,” said the man.The ministered answered, “Well that is fine, but we all would be better off if you would take off your bib and put on an apron.”Good answer, Pastor, but to be honest one of the reasons I do attend church is to feed my spirit. I attend for an opportunity to worship and be with God and to serve Him by helping and being with His community. So if you put all three reasons together I attend for God, for others and for myself.Is that so bad?The Barna Group recently surveyed Americans who have attended a Christian church sometime in the past and discovered what they say about their experiences in these congregations. I found some of their discoveries very fascinating and through provoking. Also interesting to note that the size of the church didn’t matter – small, medium or large answered in similar ways.· Most people responded that … [Read more...]