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...]
Healthy Spiritual Nourishment – Five Bible Verses to Ponder
Image via WikipediaPonder - what a delightful word!To ponder usually means to think about something.But it has more depth than that.To ponder can mean to consider quietly, somberly and deeply; to examine attentively or deliberately or even to wrestle with.One definition referred “to weigh in your mind.” The word actually comes form Latin meaning to weigh. I like that image. Take a Bible verse, for instance, and gently put in on the scales within your head balancing it with your life experiences, your beliefs, your hopes and dreams and let it slowly seep into your heart.My favorite definition is to “chew on.” Or as Rainer Maria Rilke wrote writing that requires the reader who “does not always remain bent over his pages; he often leans back and closes his eyes over a line he has been reading again, and its meaning spread through his blood.”Eugene Peterson wrote a book about the art of spiritual reading call “Eat This Book.” His definition is “reading that … [Read more...]
Eight Ways to Practice Humility – Moshe Cordovero
Image via WikipediaHumility – not a word we ponder much. At least I don’t.Maybe that is the problem, right? HA!Then I read this story the other day that made me mull over the concept of humility in my life.A man asked his rabbi why people couldn't see the face of God. What had happened that they could no longer reach high enough to see God?The rabbi, a very old man, had experienced a lot in his life and was very wise. "My son," he said, "that is not the way it is at all. You cannot see the face of God because there are so few who can stoop that low. How sad this is, but it is the truth. Learn to bend, to bow, to kneel and stoop and you will be able to see God face-to-face."Ever notice when God stirs your heart on a matter, the key word pops up all over? He wasn’t done with me yet.The day after I read that story I saw in the Thirty Good Minutes email a story about eight ways to practice humility. 30 Good Minutes is a collection of inspirational videos, stories of faith and reflections … [Read more...]
Online Spiritual Direction
Image via WikipediaI have been a spiritual director since 2006 and have offered spiritual direction, both individually and in a group.Spiritual direction is the process of accompanying people on a spiritual journey. Spiritual direction emphasizes growing closer to God.Spiritual direction, sometimes referred to as spiritual guidance or spiritual friendship, is an on-going relationship in which one person (the directee), desirous of being attentive to his or her spiritual life, meets with another person (the director) on a regular basis (approximately once a month), specifically for the purpose of becoming more attuned to God's Presence in order to respond more fully to that Presence in all of life.Spiritual direction has been part of the Christian tradition for centuries. The latest issue Presence, the journal for spiritual directors published by Spiritual Directors International, has an article about a new venue for this practice. Online.Image by Sean MacEntee via Flickr“E-spiritual … [Read more...]