We mostly spend our lives conjugating three verbs: to Want, to Have and to Do. Craving, clutching, and fussing, on the material, political, social, emotional, intellectual, even on the religious plane, we are kept in perpetual unrest, forgetting that none of these verbs have any ultimate significance, except so far as they are transcended by and included in the fundamental verb, to Be, and that Being, not wanting, having and doing, is the essence of the spiritual life. Evelyn Underhill … [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...]
The Spiritual Practice of Unplugging
I am a techie. I love gadgets. The Internet lures me away for hours playing with history, trivia, fascinating conversation. I admit my struggle with dealing with emails and can tell you all the tips about time management with electronic devices. Okay one more confession. I am one who has been known to read USAToday app on her IPhone in the middle of the night. Yes I have read all about how the white light from the phone interferes with sleep and about the girl whose pillow caught fire from putting her phone there. What drives this? A fear of missing out on something? An ego urge to know the most up to date info? Insomnia? Why am I fearful of letting go? Guess I have to ponder this a bit more. I am not into many games, but a good round of Angry Birds is a great stress reducer. When we go out with friends, we do put the phones away during dinner, but have this unspoken competition about who can look up some table conversation question on Google the quickest. The truth is: … [Read more...]
Rejoice in the Lord – Lectio Divina
Rejoice in the Lord always; Again I say rejoice. Philippians 4: 4 Lord, I can’t help but sing that silly children song whenever I read these words. I am nodding my head as it beats in my head today and I smile. I hope you smile too. But Lord it is so hard at times to rejoice. The world seems to be falling apart – beheadings, epidemics, wars, bombings. My stomach churns with fear, doubts, uncertainties. My restless nights haunted with anxieties, helplessness and vulnerability. Yet you say rejoice. Rejoice? Really? Yes, rejoice. Maybe that is why we have to say rejoice again. Again I say rejoice. To convince my quivering soul. To remind me of your promises. To yield my insecurities into your open and waiting arms. We do know that you are victorious in the end. You defeated death and will never abandon us. You ultimately are in control and in charge. I can let the world take over my heart or I can choose to keep my eyes on you and rejoice. Rejoice. Again I … [Read more...]
Love as a Frame – Quote of the Week
If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else we must see our neighbors. With our imagination as well as our eyes, that is to say like artists, we must see not just their faces but the life behind and within their faces. Here it is love that is the frame we see them in. Frederick Buechner … [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...]
Playdates with God – Book Review
I, God, am your playmate! I will lead the child in you in wonderful ways for I have chosen you. Beloved child, come swiftly to Me for I am truly in you. Then I shall leap into love. Mechthild of Magdeburg (1207-1282) My daughter, Katie, arranges playdates for her kids with other children. They spend joy filled hours together, playing, learning and building relationships. Creating memories is perhaps one of the best gifts from playdates. Do you ever have a playdate with God? I tend to approach my time with God with a serious adult face (mask?) or an attempt at being more spiritual and filled with worship or occasionally with genuine humbleness seeking comfort and maybe forgiveness. After all this is God – our creator, the Almighty, the One and Only, the Savior. But I also think God loves the joy and delight of just being with us too. I love the quote above by Mechthild of Magdeburg – what an image – God as a playmate! I am enjoying reading a new book by Laura … [Read more...]
What is Success, Lord? – Lectio Divina
“Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3: 13b-14. What is success, Lord? You know I struggle with this concept. I drive toward accomplishment. To reach favorable outcomes that feed my ego. Getting things done and crossed off some eternal list of to do’s. I see success in completion and achievement, not in you, Lord. Crossing the finish line without you won’t ever happen. I am incomplete without you, Lord. Please forgive me. I seem deeply wired towards my motivation, but want to renovate this desire. I turn over to you my heart, my goals, my purpose. I surrender my entire self into your hands, forgetting what lies behind me and turning forward only towards you. You are my aim. You are my goal. You are my very reason to breath, to write, to live. My relationship with … [Read more...]