Blog Archives

Fear not!

1/31/2017

It’s hard to stay peaceful and prayerful with all that’s going on in our country and around the world. Hard not to have legitimate fears about the well-being of individuals and families, both today, tomorrow, and well into the future.
Jesus tells us, “Fear not.” In fact he tells us that more than anything else. “Fear not,” or “Be not afraid,” is the most common phrase in the Bible, very likely because it is so hard not to be afraid. Clearly it is one of the most difficult directives in Scripture, and one of the most important, for when we are afraid we cannot love. We can learn to love and let go of fear through our heart not our mind. This is no intellectual endeavor. Centering prayer is a good place to start. Pray for an open heart, listen to God, and follow.

1 Comment

Pray, read, pray

1/26/2017

1 Comment

The Women’s March in Washington immersed me in family and politics and place me smack in the middle of the everydayness of life. It was almost impossible to prayerful, or at least to situate myself in a prayerful stance. I was disappointed how easily I marched away from God, although I didn’t march into anger. I was more in the moment along with 500,000 others, including eight family members.
Driving home Monday I told my husband that I might watch a little of the evening news. But half way home, as I read Eleven Hours, a novel about a nurse and women in labor bonding in the delivery room, I found myself settling back into my commitment to be a positive and prayerful presence in the world. I have returned to my reading for compassion project, and have started praying for my enemies, which I am only able to do when I renew my belief in a loving God. It is a challenge to stay hopeful and faithful. Pray, read, pray.

1 Comment

Pray for women

1/25/2017

0 Comments

Pray for women who are discriminated against,
who are marginalized,
who suffer violence and abuse.

For women being heavy responsibilities and pressures:

Women on the way to the well
women supporting whole families by themselves.

For equal opportunities
and women’s issues.

Jesus, women were always close to you,
did not run away--

from pain
from commitment
from grief and emptiness.

May the contributions, wisdom and strength of women
be recognized in wider society.

Neil Paynter

0 Comments

Let there be peace on earth

1/18/2017

2 Comments

“Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.”
Please pray for a peaceful weekend in this country. Please pray for civility and respect. Please pray that all voices will be heard.

I spent today prayerfully preparing to participate in Saturday’s Women’s March on Washington by being silent—reading, praying, writing, sitting in the mystery. I even cancelled an evening obligation. The march will be noisy, with elbow to elbow human beings, and complex logistics. No silence, solitude and simplicity.
Although our demeanor will vary, we will all gather under the umbrella of full respect, opportunity and protection for every human being. My goal is to be a positive, prayerful presence, which means that I must do my best not to step into the political rhetoric and critique. By abstaining from reading or listened to the news in the past two months, I have put myself on the fringe of any serious discussion of the issues. And that, helps me be a positive, prayerful presence.

2 Comments

Prayerful reading for hope~

1/14/2017

1 Comment

    A few more thoughts about prayer to add to the following cottage-by-the-sea post. This pausing in the midst of reading sends me to a deep place with God, a place where God is present with nothing added. I go from reading and thus being ‘in my head’, to resting with God in my heart. Perhaps this, for me, is the essence of contemplative prayer.

     My Reading for Compassion project is taking on new titles: Reading for Humility, Reading for Gratitude, Reading as Prayer. How can I not feel compassion, humility, gratitude and prayerful when I read about the poverty and sexism in India or Appalachia?
     I am surprise, however, by how centered I feel while reading about these challenging life situations. Sometimes I pause to feel the presence of the Holy, the ineffable. In part, my gratitude is for the grace-filled life I have been given, but it is also for the hope lived out by the protagonists in the stories. That is what humbles me.
     To date I’m averaging a book every three days—I have given myself permission to read during the day. In some inexplicable way, I believe I am offering hope to a world fraught with anger, jealousy, bigotry, poverty, and mistrust.

1 Comment

Prayer march

1/12/2017

0 Comments

Dear Prayer Friends,
On January 21st I will be participating in the Women’s March on Washington with my daughter, sister (who lives near DC), and other family members. I am not going to protest but to support the rights of all human beings. My energy is positive and prayerful.

I have begun a list of family, friends and friends of friends who can’t make the trip but who want to be there in spirit. I will keep the list close to my heart, at least for the start, but I may leave it somewhere along the way—in another marcher’s hand, at a designated memorial spot, on Lincoln’s lap. I may release it to the wind or bring it home with me. I’m open for surprises and miracles.

If you would like me to add your name, or the name of someone else to the list, please let me know.

Peace and love,
Bobbi

0 Comments

Just believe in God, nothing else

1/5/2017

0 Comments

    I must post this entire piece from Celtic Daily Prayer Book Two by Roland Walls. The last sentence gives me, and perhaps all those other doubting Thomases, the faith we long for.
      “We need to pray for deliverance from sloth and fear which hid behind a piety which is less than a bold faith in God who needs no protection from our intellectual shiftiness. True faith in God can be combined with quite a good deal of healthy skepticism—in fact, true faith assumes it. A true theologian is one on whose tombstone could be written the lines that concluded The Times obituary notices of the greatest of my teachers, Father Herbert Kelly, SSM. They read, ‘He believed in God and precious little else.’”

I am both stunned by, and in awe of the comfort I am feeling.

0 Comments

Compassionate Reading~

1/2/2017

0 Comments

I’ve added a few feature to my Cottage By the Sea blog. It’s entitled “Compassionate Reading.” Here’s my description. If you’re interested, check it out at www.acottagebythesea.net.

   Compassionate Reading may sound strange, but that’s my purpose in joining the Goodreads 2017 Reading Challenge. A book a week seems like a reasonable goal. Maybe I’ll read 52, maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll read 32, but probably not 520.
     Number goals appeal to me, especially ones connected with the calendar. As a teacher, I loved the definitive school year. There is nothing like a Monday morning every seven days to give me another jump start. The first of every month I take delight in turning the page of my wall calendar. I like numbers.
    However, this reading goal isn’t about adding books to a list. My goal is understand lives different from mine. Up until now I have read through the lens of my own life, one of ease, privilege, freedom and advantage; they never promised a rose garden, but I was given one. Now I want to wear the lens of the authors and their characters. I want to step into their feelings and experiences without comparing them to mine. I want to observe without judging. I want to appreciate the nuances rather than put everything into categories. I want to I want to read with my heart more than my head.
    My plan is to post how each book opened my heart to compassion.

0 Comments

Archives

Categories