My husband and I have been blessed to travel twice to Europe– once to Germany and another time to Italy - with a special lady, Sister Nancy Brousseau.Nancy doesn’t just offer tours she invites us to pilgrimage. She calls us pilgrims. The trips take on deeper meaning than just sightseeing.I treasure how I grow spiritually on those journeys and thought of them once again a few weeks ago while reading the book, The Art of Pilgrimage by Phil Cousineau. Rich with great quotes, it was one of those books I underlined quite a bit.“If we truly want to know the secret of soulful travel, we need to believe that there is something sacred waiting to be discovered in virtually every journey.”“A pilgrimage is a transformative journey to a sacred center…a pilgrimage is a spiritual exercise, an act of devotion…pilgrimage is a powerful metaphor for any journey with the purpose of finding something that matters deeply to the traveler.”“Pilgrimage is the kind of journeying that marks just this move from … [Read more...]
Asking for Directions – Spiritual Discernment
Sometimes life is confusing. The signs we see are real. Yet we still get lost in this world This road sign was recently erected in our county. Imagine you are driving north in traffic. You need to know if you should turn or keep going straight. Quickly what does this sign mean? East is still east and west is still west in my county, Here Ohio 15 runs north and south for the last 80 years, but that is not what the sign signifies. In their wisdom of seeing the whole picture, the Ohio Department of Transportation replaced the road sign recently, striving for consistency throughout the state. State Route 15 is designated in Ohio an east-west route even though you travel north and south here. Confused yet? Look at all these signs as a whole – East goes in three different directions. You can travel both south and east at the same time. What a mess. Spiritually, don’t you just want a sign sometime? The world shows me puzzling and often misleading notices on how I should … [Read more...]
Silence – The First Step in Prayer
Image by Mara ~earth light~ via FlickrToo often I rush into my prayers. Listing my perceived needs and coveted wants to God like putting coins in a vending machine. I do add some praise. I pause for a moment of gratitude. I really try to worship.But noise fills up all the nooks and crannies of my prayers.Mother Teresa’s words stopped me cold when I read them the other day:The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is peace.Silence is the first step – the critical element that we can’t miss.Many of you know the verse from Psalm 46:10: Be Still and Know I am God.I have begun using this at the beginning of my prayers. Repeating it slowly with silence in between, dropping a word each time from the ending.Be Still and Know I am God.Be Still and Know I am.Be Still and Know.Be Still.Be.This simple mantra quiets the chattiness in my mind and brings me silently into God’s presence. The focus … [Read more...]
An Early Thanksgiving
The grateful heart sits at a continuous feast. Proverbs 15:15My prayers and thoughts lately have rested on thankfulness. I do feel as the verse from Proverbs states, like I have been to rich banquet.I hope in leaner, dryer times to focus as much attention on gratitude as in these good times.I read this week an interesting story on the blog, The Practical Disciple: “During a spiritual renewal weekend that I just attended someone at a discussion table raised a question that has really gnawed at my conscience. “What if tomorrow when you awoke, the only things you had were the things you thanked God for today?”What a powerful statement. Makes you think, squirm, and fall to your knees thanking God, doesn’t it? Pondering that question reminds me of many, many forgotten moments to hold up to Him with gratitude.Then later I read this quote:We don't need more to be thankful for, we need to be more thankful.—Source UnknownI have much to be thankful for recently.Everywhere I look I am seeing … [Read more...]
Saying Thank You
Image by woodleywonderworks via FlickrSaying thank you is more than good manners. It is good spirituality. —William PainterSaying ‘thank you’ is more than common courtesy – it is powerful. Two simple words convey appreciation, lift our spirits, and add meaning to life. Each night as I settle in to sleep I pray the Prayer of Examen. I thank God for the day and ask myself two questions: What am I most thankful for today? What am I least thankful for? The answers to the first question are overwhelming and often too numerous to count. I know several bloggers who participate in weekly posts such a Thankful Thursdays. Based on the best seller by Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts, others are listing the 1000 gifts they discover in life. Saying thank you is more than good manners – it is a spiritual discipline to cultivate.Watch this intriguing video about thank you:Thomas Merton wrote, “To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us — and He has given us … [Read more...]
Spiritual Breathing
Image via Wikipedia Take deep breath. Pause a minute and breath in deeply. Feel your chest rise and expand with each inhale and relax as you exhale. Taking deep breaths is healthy for us in so many ways – physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7 The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Job 33:4 In the Bible breath is a powerful symbol of the presence of God. The air we breath every moment of our life is invisible, but life giving. The breathes we take, most of time without our control or even our awareness keeps us alive. The air surrounding us is a massive ocean—invisible, yet completely necessary for our life, for we are quickly dead without it. Makes me wonder if one reason God created the air—and how his living creation breaths - was to show us how great and immediate and … [Read more...]
A Spiritual Discipline – Teach Me to Listen, Lord
Image via WikipediaThe day I spotted the tiger swallowtail butterfly dancing on my flowers continues to linger in my soul.My immediate reaction was “to do.” I grabbed my camera and joined him in the garden, snapping away to capture that moment.Yet to take the closest photographs, I had to stop and stand very, very still. At one point I even thought my new friend might land on my arm, thinking I was part of the garden. I lean so near to him, for a moment I almost heard the flutter of his wings.Experts say butterflies cannot hear, but they can feel vibrations.We can hear, but do we listen?Listening – what a spiritual discipline we all need to develop. I know at least I do.Teach me to listen, Lord.Listening, whether to God, to others, or to our true selves, mean stopping and standing so still you can “hear” the vibrations.“For listening is the act of entering the skin of the other and wearing it for a time as if it were our own. Listening is the gateway to understanding. “ David Spangler … [Read more...]
Thanking God for Weeds
I was driving last week down one of our back county roads. Tall tasseled green corn stood in formation on each side of the highway. Lining both sides of the road as far as I could see grew countless blue dayflowers. Delicate Queen Anne’s Lace danced in the breeze.Even the clover blossomed in pick colors.“Thank you” tumbled out of my mouth.The beauty of God’s world captured my voice and all I could say was “Thank you.”“Thank you, Lord God, for crafting these dazzling details in Your creation.”If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is "thank you," that would suffice. —Meister Eckhart***************************************************************************** I realized later that except for the corn, the beauty I experienced that day arrived in the form of unwanted weeds. In fact the blue dayflowers are classified as noxious and hard to control.Made me wonder: What do I cling to that would be categorized as toxic? Are there other unwelcomed … [Read more...]