Words are many things:
hurtful, uplifting, loving, hateful,
words are either —
fertilizer for the growth of new life, … or
poison for the soul.
Actions do many things:
open or close door, feed or starve the hungry,
actions can —
lift up the soul into the sun, … or
drive the soul into the ground.
Life versus existence
which will it be.
To live life means;
speaking for the voiceless,
encouraging the timid, guiding the young,
sharing from your abundance, and
laughing until the dawn.
To exist means:
storing your treasures in leaking vessels,
hiding fearfully behind walls of your own making,
distrusting those closest to you, and
being alone even in a crowd.
Life is to be lived
to share good fortune and bad,
to share laughter and tears,
to offer a helping hand,
to dance and sing together
Giving is better than hording
light of life is better than the darkness of existence.
Life for all is at its best when
all have what they need, enough
encouragement, love, compassion, justice, mercy.
“And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to light upon the earth.” Genesis 1:16-17 Walking at night has always been one of my favorite things to do. I grew up in the country and I have seen the Milky Way spread across the sky with my own eyes. This picture taken on a Beach in Scotland reminded me of how beautiful the Universe is. It is because of stars we are alive. We are made of star dust and a star warms our earthen home. We owe our very existence to the life giving power of stars. Gaze into the picture, look deep into the mystery, do you see yourself, looking back. When the skies are clear (I know that is difficult to find here in the Northwest) take walk outside. Gaze at the star studded sky and dream.
As You gaze at the picture take a deep breath and let it out slowly, take a second breath and let it out slowly, let your shoulders relax and your gaze soften.
Look deeply at the picture and let the colors of the night sky enter your imagination. What feelings does this bring to the surface? What memories or stories? Imagine you are walking on a star studded night, what does that look like and feel like to you.
Respond to the image with a prayer for God’s entire universe. Offer a prayer of intercession and thanksgiving for the abundance God has graces us with.
Continue to gaze at the picture, breathe deeply and rest quietly. Let God pray in you in silence beyond words.
The story of the two disciples on their way to Emmaus who meet the resurrected Jesus is a familiar story to us all, maybe to familiar. I found this drawing of Rembrandts and it touched me in a way some finished painting cannot. If you look closely you will see it is not a complete drawing, you have the basic outlines some detail is included but most of the fine detail is missing. In a way that is what the scriptural story is for me, the fine details are left out. For instance Rembrandt portrays a young and an older disciple with Jesus but I don’t remember ages being given. For some reason I always pictured the road they were walking on as being isolated but in the background here you see other travelers, is that possible. Jesus is in deep conversation with the two and I often wondered why these two were they the only ones of his disciples not afraid to go out? I could go on forever but then you wouldn’t have a chance to meditate on this drawing.
So today, I offer this drawing for Visio Divina practice. Gaze at the picture and as you focus on the images place yourself in the role of one of the disciples. Ask yourself the following questions:
The other disciples are afraid of leaving the upper room but you have chosen to travel. If you had been one of these disciples what would you have thought of this stranger interposing himself on you and your companion? Would you have been afraid?
In what ways does this the teaching of the stranger peak your curiosity.
What is it about the stranger that draws you to him? Does he somehow feel familiar?
Given that some of the women in your group have come back from the tomb telling everyone that Jesus was alive, can you entertain the possibility that you are talking to your risen Lord even if you are afraid to say so out loud.
May Christ meet you on the road and offer you comfort.
John Bell is one of my favorite composers and lyricists. He writes music that reaches deep inside of me and calls to me. Most of his hymns are short chant type pieces that I am able to sing all day. On Sunday we sang one of my favorites “Take, O Take Me As I Am” and in the place I currently reside I needed to hear those words. You see I often wonder if I am worthy of the tasks God asks of me. Sometimes doubts just creep into the corners of my mind and mock me with all of the mistakes I’ve ever made.
The words of John Bell speak to those doubts, telling me God isn’t looking for perfection. God is looking for real beings that try, fail, get up and try again. Well that fits me to a tee. How do I know this well? If you look at all the people God has ever called: Moses, Abraham, Noah, Jonah, Paul, all of them were less than perfect but they had something God needed, faithfulness, determination, grit. They didn’t give up when they started something that was what God was looking for, not perfection.
So this morning I offer these words of John Bells for you to chant during the week, to remind you that love, caring, compassion, justice, mercy don’t come with perfection they come in the packages they are in, you and I. We may be less than perfect, but we are who God Seeks.
Take, O Take Me As I Am John Bell
Take, O take me as I am;
summon out what I shall be;
set your seal upon my heart
and live in me.
Vocal Ensemble Eljakim uit Bolsward olv Erwin de Ruijter tijdens
4 colour concert in Bolsward
May we remember today that we are part of an unfolding story
That calls us to listen to God’s words with intent to action
May we live in the reality of God’s kingdom entering into our lives
May we rejoice in the wonder of God’s eternal presence
May all that we do deepen our awareness of God
May we see in every moment the spark of holiness
And recognize Christ in every encounter
May God’s word burst from the pages of our lives and …
become the life we live
AMEN
32 Let the afflicted see it and be glad!
You who seek God—
let your hearts beat strong again — Psalm 69: 32 (CEB)
30 But I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth;
among a great crowd I will praise God! — Psalm 109:30 (CEB)
This past January John and I visited Boston to celebrate his and our youngest grandson’s birthdays , which fall on the same day. And, yes I know January is not the ideal time to visit historic Boston and yes we had snow. However, we just couldn’t miss this celebration of joint Birthdays.
Because the weather was anything but comfortable we all decided to visit the Boston Science Museum and spend the day where it was warm, dry and had lots of exciting things to do and see. The 2 grandchildren had a great time exploring the human body, looking at dinosaurs and exploring all kinds of interactive exhibits. For lunch we chose to take our packed lunch to the large busy café and supplement all of our goodies with a few treats.
After making our selections and paying for them I went to get the necessary napkins, forks, spoons and straws needed to eat our lunch. As I was picking up my things there was a young man restocking the bins as we took things out. It looked like such an endless job and more than a little boring but he was doing an excellent job of keeping up. Before I left I turned to him and said “thank you for keeping this area stocked, I’m sure it’s not an easy task.” Startled he turned and gave me a gruff “thank you.”
After we had finished our lunch and were preparing to leave the area the same young man pushed his way through the crowded exit area and called to me, “Miss, I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your thanks. No one has ever spoken to me that way before and I was afraid I might have offended you so I wanted to make sure you knew how happy I was.”
First of all, I really liked being called miss, no one has called me that in a very long time so he won me over just with that one word. Well I was happy to bring a little joy into his otherwise boring day with just a few words of thanks from me. But, what saddened me was his statement NO ONE HAD EVER COMPLIMENTED HIM for doing his job well! No one ever said thank you! That is one of the saddest things I have ever heard. It took me all of 2 seconds to express my thanks to the young man and those 2 seconds made his day. For 2 seconds he wasn’t invisible and unimportant. No he had been seen, he was important enough for someone to say thank you. As we were separated by the ever shifting crowd he waved and gives me the biggest, toothiest grin I have ever seen.
Two seconds out of my day added joy to someone else’s. Gratitude isn’t an emotion or attitude we are to keep to ourselves, no, gratitude is to be given away freely at every opportune moment, even when you yourself are not grateful. We hear so often we are to be grateful for what God has given us, to express gratitude by thanking God. Well being grateful for God’s grace comes in many forms. It was a grace of God that a young man did his boring job well, it was a grace of God that allowed me to see the face of God in the young man and his courage to continue performing a rather menial task even when no noticed how well he did it. Gratitude for the grace of God comes in many forms, big and small, all are important in the eyes of God.
The Psalms tell us to seek God’s face and to offer our thanks for God’s gifts. Each one of us is a gift, each one of us has a gift to give, each one of us is the reflection of God, and each one of us carries God within. So doesn’t it make sense to give thanks to those who reflect the grace of God?
Over the next week begin the habit of saying thank you for the little graces of God. Offer thanks to the bus driver as you exit, say thank you to the young woman who hands you your morning coffee or say thank you to the washroom attended and see the smiles grow around you. Offering thanks is an easy spiritual practice and one that brings great joy to the receiver and the giver alike and it is free to give. It costs you no more than 2 to 5 seconds of your day, surly we can spend 5 seconds to bring hours of joy to someone who feels they are invisible to the rest of the world. Surly we can learn to do that every day, for every person we meet.
Thank you for reading my blog post. Your presence on my site has made my day and I am grateful for your interest.
According to my old college American Heritage Dictionary “liturgy is a noun defined asa fixed set of ceremonies, words, etc., that are used during public worship in a religion; ritual.” [1] As followers of faith traditions we most often encounter liturgies when we attend religious services. But all rituals having a set order to the words spoken and are also liturgies. Graduation ceremonies, inaugurations, State Union Addresses, weddings any ritual using an set order of service uses a liturgy.
We may also use liturgies in our private prayer and spiritual practice’s. Some traditions have small books with liturgies for each day of the week that include morning, mid-day, and evening prayers. Each meditation includes a prayer, scripture, maybe a written meditation, and sometimes poetry or pictures to contemplate. In addition to a traditions individual prayer books there are also many other books that provide written rituals for private prayer. (You will find a short list of a few of my favorites at the end of this meditation.) Today I am going to introduce you to a liturgy from one of my all time favorite prayer books and offer how I use these resources in my prayer life. One of the advantages of having a liturgy already written out for you is you may adapt them to fit your day and your lifestyle.
I most often use prayer books when I am very stressed out and can’t find a way to sit still and listen for the still small voice of God. Using a liturgy that includes a blessing or poem, scripture and a prayer calms my heart and open a door into soul allowing me to find my still point and open up to what God is trying to tell me. If you are new to prayer, any kind of prayer, these pre-written liturgies may provide you with a stepping stone into a regular prayer life. They allow you to slow down and step across a threshold to you own sacred space. But, just as with every spiritual practice, you must set a regular time aside each day to read the liturgy. Most are short and may be read in only a few minutes. However, setting aside 10 to 15 minutes as a starting place will allow you to sit with the written prayers and scripture in silent contemplation.
Today I offer a liturgy I’ve adapted from a meditation for Tuesday from the Earth Gospel, a guide to prayer for God’s creation written by Sam Hamilton-Poore. It is an adaption I have used before in my own private prayer and one that allows me to go deeper into that sacred space of my heart. As you read may you also find a blessing within the words.
Opening Blessing: Edmund Banyard
Holy is the soil we walk on,
Holy everything that grows,
Holy all beneath the surface,
Holy every stream that flows.
A moment of silence
Scripture: Psalm 23 Common English Bible (CEB)
The Lord is my shepherd.
I lack nothing. 2 He lets me rest in grassy meadows;
he leads me to restful waters; 3 he keeps me alive.
He guides me in proper paths
for the sake of his good name.
4 Even when I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no danger because you are with me.
Your rod and your staff—
they protect me.
5 You set a table for me
right in front of my enemies.
You bathe my head in oil;
my cup is so full it spills over! 6 Yes, goodness and faithful love
will pursue me all the days of my life,
and I will livein the Lord’s house
as long as I live.
Reflection: “The Avowal” by Denise Levertov (1923-1997)
As swimmers dare
to life face to the sky
and water bears them,
as hawks rest upon air
and air sustains them,
so would I learn to attain
freefall, and float
into Creator Spirit’s deep embrace,
knowing no effort earns
that all-surrounding grace
Closing Prayer:
Into your arms, loving Lord, let me “free-fall,”
upheld by your goodness and mercy.
Secure in your embrace,
show me how to love without effort,
trust without fear,
and live with abandon. Amen
Resources:
Deleon, Roy ObiSB, Praying with the Body, Bringing the Psalms to Life, Paraclete Press, Bewster, MA, 2009
Hamilton-Poore, Sam, Earth Gospel, a guide to prayer for God’s creation, Upper Room Books, Nashville, TN , 2008 (my offered liturgy will be found on pages 106 and 107)
Newell, J. Philip; Celtic Prayers from Iona, Paulist Press, Mahwah, NJ, 1997
“Do not urge me to leave you,
to turn back from following you.
Wherever you go, I will go;
and wherever you stay, I will stay.
Your people will be my people,
and your God will be my God. 17Wherever you die, I will die,
and there I will be buried.
May the Lord do this to me
and more so,
if even death separates me from you!”
Just over 13 years ago these beautiful words from scripture were read at my wedding. I have always loved the book of Ruth, and yes one reason is because I was named for her, but, primarily I love it because Ruth took her destiny into her own hands and made a place for herself among strangers. Like the biblical Ruth my own life has been one of making my place in strange places and with strangers all around me. My wedding was just one of the many steps along my journey to find the face of God.
Now I really don’t want this rambling to be about John and me rather I want to tell you the best part of my marriage, our grandchildren. Ok, so they are John’s grandchildren not mine, but the youngest ones have known only me as Grammy Ruth and I love them and their parents as much as if they were my blood relations. And, I have watched with great joy as the two older ones Granddaughter S and Grandson A grow into loving adults.
Recently John, me and our little Chihuahua Suzie spent a joyous week in Boston with John’s son M and daughter-in-law LB and the littlest grandchildren, Grandson L and Granddaughter A. John’s birthday is January 17th and he shares it with L who turned 7 this year, so for the first time they decided to celebrate their birthdays together. Watching L as he opened gifts, as he gently held our little dog Suzie, and talked excitedly about everything was a pleasure all its own. Holding little A and reading a story to her, playing games, watching as she and her brother played, and squabbled, and listening to giggles, laughter and tears put me in a place of bliss that I can’t really describe to you.
I watched as M and LB did a ballet of sorts as they prepared breakfast and got the kids ready for school. As I listened I realized just how much M and John sound alike and how much grandson L is growing into a young man so like his father and grandfather. Granddaughter A has inherited her mother’s artistic talents which she combines with her father’s and Papa John’s determination to succeed and do it well. Even though she is only 4½ she is determined to dance and draw her life in her own way.
I said my journey was to find the face of God and I do, in all of creation including people. The most important Faces of God I see is when I look at John early in the morning just before rising, in the faces of M and LB when I spot them waiting for us to come from the plane. I see God’s face in the sleeping, laughing, crying, and determined faces of Grandson L and Granddaughter A. I hear God laugh and giggle when Granddaughter A dances and runs in play. I hear God’s voice when I listen to LB and John talk in the kitchen doing clean up from dinner. I hear God’s voice as Grandson L talks with so much certainty about how something works in his 7 year old world and see God at work as he figures out how to build a new structure of some sort.
This is the wedding gift that never stops giving. I have found a place here in the midst of strangers. I have found people I love. After much searching I have found where I belong. I have been welcomed and accepted as family and been blessed with the love from John’s 3 sons and 4 grandchildren. I have watched the two oldest grow into strong adults where a future of unknown adventures lies before them. I have held in my arms Grandson L and Granddaughter A as newborns and offered my blessings and prayers for God to watch over them.
I have watched each of the grandchildren grow into people I want know. All of them are young people who question everything and when no one can give them an answer they go in search for it. Even if Grandson L and Granddaughter A might not believe in a Divine force, they know they have a Grammy who sees that Divine force whenever she looks into their eyes. It is in the question of why does Grammy believes what she does that opens a door to their own journey of discovery of who they are and where they fit in.
My blessed babies, who are babies no longer, have begun their own journeys. Someday they too will say “wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you stay, I will stay.” That day lies long in the future but time passes quickly and before you know it they will be searching for what they believe. My prayer for all four of the Grandchildren is they find what feeds their souls with love, compassion, mercy and a passion for justice. I pray they build a life that gives more than it takes, a life open to the blessings of God whether they call Her God or not.
January is a month of quiet stillness, the stillness of snow falling, the stillness of early darkness. It is time when the earth sleeps waiting for the renewal in life coming in future months. January is a desert time, a time when the darkness can overwhelm us with emptiness, and loneliness. For some the month of January can last forever, or seem like it anyway. But spring is coming, hope lies just below the surface of cold snow and hard ground just as water lies beneath the surface of the desert waiting until it is able to break through into the light.
Today I invite you to join me in the practice of Visio Divina with the above desert picture. As you focus on the desert scene ask yourself the following questions:
When have you felt the silence of the desert in your life?
In what ways did the desert nurture your renewal into a new spring?
And, what is calling your forth from the desert?
May your deserts, whether cold or hot, draw you deeper into the arms of the Holy Spirit.
A Quiet Walk 