I live in the future. I am a planner, organizer, to- doer of the highest regard.This realization hit me once again this past weekend. Walking into Barnes and Noble, just to look around, I saw them –2011 calendars Like an eagle diving to snatch its prey, I raced over to the display. So many bright colors and varying formats before me. I felt like a child drooling over all the possibilities at Toys R Us or an addict finding just the right fix. I even held in my hand one calendar dated 2011 and 2012 – two year of planning. I had to buy one. In fact, I bought two.My husband just shook his head at me. “There is still half of 2010 left you know.”He is right. I think I can somehow control the future when I have dates and notations for boundaries. How sad to miss the present gifts surrounding us being too busy looking ahead.I have been reflecting about my reaction of joy and excitement over next year’s calendar. At first I chastised myself for being so future oriented and not embracing … [Read more...]
God’s Delightful Creativity in the Deep Sea
Behold the work of the Lord.Newscasts last week carried this story:“Remote-controlled cameras sent down to depths of more than 4,500 feet in the Coral Sea, northeast of the northern Australian city of Cairns, have brought back unprecedented views of six-gilled sharks, giant oil fish, swarms of crustaceans and nautiluses that have been compared to "living fossils."The photographs fascinated me. Just think we had no idea these creatures even existed until the camera captured them. God created their brilliant colors, symmetrical bumps and flowing tentacles and set them free to dance just for Him these last million years or so. Now He is sharing them with us, His deep sea delights.When the photos appeared on the television screen, their beauty drew my attention. I abruptly stopped everything else and said, “Only God could have made something so wildly imaginative as these fish.” The photographs haunted me. With the renewed effort to be green and the tragedy with the oil spill in the … [Read more...]
God the Creator – Lectio Divina
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.Isaiah 40:28 (NIV) The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.CreatorMakerOriginatorArtist ExtraordinaireFashioner of puffy clouds, crawling bugs, and long necked giraffesBuilderComposerArchitectDesigner of every detail from beginning to endInventorAuthor Molder of masterpieces and shaper of soulsLord you are the genesis, the source of all creativityLord you are the spark of all eternity.Praise you for being the source, the fountain, and the seed of vitality.You are Creator. … [Read more...]
Lighten my Heart, Lord – Light as a Feather
Ma'at, the Egyptian goddess of justice, truth and order, was always depicted wearing a white ostrich feather in her hair. The Egyptians believed that when they died they would enter the underworld or the Hall of the Dead where Ma’at would weigh their hearts against the weight of a feather to determine the worthiness of his or her soul. If the heart was free from the impurities of sin, and therefore lighter than the feather, then the dead person could enter the eternal afterlife. A heart could be made light as a feather by lifetime of kind deeds, love and care for the needed. Makes the expression – “lighten up”- take on new meaning, doesn’t it? My heart has been heavy lately – full of hurts, anger, and resentments. Reading this story reminded me it was time to lighten up my heart. Time to replace my negative emotions for more Christlike characteristics of kindness, gentleness, and love. Being able to find an image to describe a problem or situation I face helps me … [Read more...]
God Bends Down to Hold the Ordinary
My one-year-old granddaughter, Kyla, has been here the past three days as her parents help put on a new roof on our house. My duties while they lifted, hammered, and sweated in the hot summer sun? Babysit!!Now being a good grandma I have a collection of fun and developmental correct toys and lots of books for her. Yet what was her favorite activity? Playing in the backyard with stones. I was fascinated watching her. She looked intently at the ordinary river rocks, spied just the one she wanted and gingerly picked it up like it was the most precious stone on earth. She held it tenderly in her hands, murmur baby talk as if she knew somehow the rock would recognize the words, then lay it gently down. I have stepped on these rocks in my back yard for a number of years and never once took the time to notice the individual colors, shapes and differences. I wonder what other everyday miracles I miss. One year old Kyla reminded me, this old grandma, that paying attention is a powerful … [Read more...]
Resting In God – Lectio Divina – July 11, 2010
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 (NIV)Weary and burdened. Yes Lord that is how I feel this week. Weary from too much whirlwind traveling and demanding busyness.Burdened by consuming shifting emotions that swing wildly from deep heartbreaking hurts to indescribable joy.I read once that we are like sheep and need to remember sheep are not burden carrying animals.So this little lamb comes to You seeking Your arms of comfort and rest.I need Your strength to renew my spirit so I can continue to live as You called me.Your rest is the place I dwell and release my heavy burdens and unwind my weariness. … [Read more...]
What Does God Look Like?
How do you see God? Judy Cannato wrote in her newsletter last week, “Healthy spiritual growth is normally characterized by the evolution of images of God. Often spiritual directors ask directees to recall how their picture of the divine has changed over the decades.” What does God look like when you visualize him? Or her? The book, The Shack, shocked some people’s image of God when the author portrayed God as a black woman. When I was younger God was a tall old man with long white beard sitting off in the distance. As my spiritual walk continued, God often was a more of a companion, friend, gentle guide and encourager nurturing me slowly to grow closer to him.Last year I noticed my image of God moved away, like he was once again sitting in the corner, not close. My spiritual director encouraged me to reflect on this movement: did He move or did I? To be honest, I kept Him at arm’s length for a while during a dry spiritual period and it was only after returning to quiet meditative … [Read more...]
Praying – Exploring Different Types of Prayers – Prayer of Relinquishment
How do you pray? Often my prayers slip into comfortable routines, predictable patterns, yet prayer is all around us – like our breath. So many different ways to talk with God are waiting to explore. The following is a part of a three-week series on prayer and its many forms. Come explore with me ways to address God when words are inadequate and let’s get to know God better by spending time with Him.Reading Catherine Marshall when I was younger was the first time I read about the Prayer of Relinquishment. The dictionary tells me that when I relinquish something, like a possession or a right, I give it up. I surrender it.Catherine Marshall wrote, “…God was trying to teach me something important about prayer. Gradually I saw that a demanding spirit, with self-will as its rudder, blocks prayer….God absolutely refuses to violate our free will; that therefore, unless self-will is voluntarily given up, even God cannot move to answer prayer.”Image of this prayer is the garden of Gethsemane … [Read more...]