Blog Archives

God is still speaking~

2/28/2012

From the deck this afternoon.

      What a day! I wrote about it on my acottagebythesea.net blog. In summary, it’s about how going to yoga class disrupted the silence, solitude and simplicity of my time at the cottage. Big learning lesson.
    Afterwards, as I sat on the deck eating my lunch and reflecting on the experience, it became clear that God was ‘telling’ me to stop being so busy, so active all the time. Yes, exercise is important for my health, and particularly to strengthen my bones, but that I don’t need to overdo my planning and activity. With that, I felt incredible freedom, which is still there.
     And yes, as the expression goes, “God is still speaking,” this time in my afternoon reading. From Isaiah 58:11 I read: The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a a spring of water, whose waters never fail.”

Wilderness, forty days and the devil~

2/27/2012

Today I took my very longest walk down the beach. The tide was out so I could keep going easily. I thought of Jesus in the wilderness for forty days being challenged by the devil. My wilderness was the beach, going on and on with no other human being as a distraction. The forty days was the long, long time I had available to me, with no time restraints, no obligations. The devil represented my own demons--whatever keeps me from God. Mine included, but aren’t limited to, impatience, pride, jealousy, and judgments. (You probably have your own list and undoubtedly we overlap on a few.)

The Lenten season doesn’t change much for me as far as my routine at the cottage is concerned, but it does remind me to pay attention to this practice of my faith.

I recommend my minister’s sermon yesterday on the topic. One of his many best. http://mccsudbury.org/files/Tempted%20to%20take%20it%20literally.htm

Lent--taking on God's awesomeness~

2/24/2012

Once again, we’re into Lent. As a child I was told that I should ‘give up’ something. Chocolate was often mentioned, but I was never much of a sweet eater, so that didn’t do much for me. Then it was suggested that I ‘take on’ something—do something nice for someone else. The most powerful message, however, was that Lent was a time to think about God and Jesus and to try to be a better person. I remember my aunt giving up Chesterfield cigarettes and ‘taking on’ a filtered brand, but I don’t remember any God or Jesus talk about it.

For me this year Lent isn’t about ‘giving up’ or ‘taking on’ anything tangible. I want to ‘take on’ an awareness of God and Jesus in my life.

Ash Wednesday Taize service~

2/23/2012

Another Ash Wednesday is here for those of us who keep the Christian calendar. This year at my church, Memorial Congregational Church of Sudbury, it was a Taize service. The church email offered this:

Ash Wednesday Taizé Service - Wednesday, February 22 at 7:30pm.

Taizé services are characterized by quiet and candlelight, the repetition of melodious chants sung many times in many languages, a period of silence, and contemplative prayer. Let the songs sing themselves in you. Once you catch the tune, let yourself find the words -- in your heart or as you listen to your brothers and sisters as they sing. Let your spirit move along the path provided by rhythmic repetition, deeper and deeper into the stillness and beauty of God's presence.

(Adapted from the Taizé website)

Place your prayers in your heart~

2/21/2012

     The other day someone suggested that I place my mom in my heart. What a lovely, sacred place for her to be now. My job of making her happy is over and although she taught me much, I don’t have to keep thinking about all those lessons. They are there for me in my heart.
     This placing people in my heart is prayerful. It removes them from my mind where judgments live, and places them in my heart, where love resides. And besides, it feels very satisfying and right to know that the people I am praying for are with my mom, who had an enormous heart, a heart that at end was too big, too full of love for her earthly life.
      How light my shoulders and neck feel. Try it.

Praying for peace~

2/19/2012

Along with Ghandi, we're praying for peace at the Peace Abbey in Sherborn.
www.peaceabbey.org

Contemplation and action~

2/17/2012

I heading back home to a very busy weekend. It’s all good, but there is something in me that wants to remain here in the solitude of my cottage by the sea. I wonder if Jesus every wanted to stay off by himself but knew he had to go back among the people? Jesus is my model for contemplation and action, so off I go to do God’s work in the world. If I want to follow the Christian path, I have no choice.

Simple praise and intercession~

2/15/2012

The following is from Celtic Daily Prayer; Prayers and Readings from the Northumbria Community. Like the prayer that Jesus taught is, “It contains simple praise and intercession.”

Notice that not once did Jesus make His disciples pray. He just kept praying until at last they could contain their hunger no longer and asked Him to teach them how to pray. The question came from the twelve, indicating that they were now ready to listen and to hear. Jesus must have jumped at the opportunity of holding before them His model of prayer. It is interesting to note that He gave them a formula, neat and tidy. It was almost as if He was getting them into practice so that later on their own prayer life could develop. It is also interesting to note that in this first prayer taught by Jesus there is no sentimentality, piousness or rhetoric. It is simple, direct and filled with nobility and sureness. It contains simple praise and intercession.
Pat Lynch, Awakening the Giant

Jesus prayer at sunrise~

2/14/2012

When I mention another beautiful sunrise, I’m often thinking about the morning twilight, when myriad colors through the streaks of clouds light up the horizon. That was the way it was this morning, and I was grateful. Although I couldn’t recall the particulars, I had awoken from dreams about my mother dying, and I was sad. So as I sat on the deck, just watching, and pretty soon I realized that I was saying the Jesus prayer, “Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.” A certain sadness remained but I was uplifted. I wasn’t alone any more nor did I feel purposeless.

I doubt that my mom ever prayed the Jesus prayer, but Jesus was her guide for her entire life. What a legacy.

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Praying about the weather...again~

2/13/2012

There’s a common theme about the weather here in southern New England that has been going on all season. These days, whenever it’s mentioned, as it often is in human discourse, everyone has the same theme: I’ll take this weather any day; no snow is fine with me; I’m not complaining. (My apologies to those who are skiers.)

As I’ve previously written, praying for the weather is a challenge but one that I am at least willing to discuss with God on most occasions. But I notice that I am feeling a little guilty about this shovel-free winter, sensing that this obvious climate-change may not be good for the environment, and also fearing that I may be tampering with God’s domain. And so, I don’t bring it up with God, which is one of the ways I deal (cover up/ignore) with guilt. And God, being God, waits for me to mention it.