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  A Prayer Diary

The Last Temptation of Christ~

5/31/2015

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Every Wednesday evening a small group of us meet for informal worship at church. These times at “The Well” start with a discussion of a theological topic, scripture, a poem, a piece of music, or a film; the evening ends with prayer and communion.

     During the month of May we watched the 1988 screen adaptation of “The Last Temptation of Christ”, published in 1955 by Nikos Kazantzakis. At the time of publication the book was banned by the Catholic Church and Kazantazakis was excommunicated by the Greek Orthodox Church.

      The outrage the book and film generated years ago did not enter into our discussion. We didn’t need to declare our belief or disbelief in the details of the story Kazantazakis put forth. Rather we tried to make sense, as  stated in the books’ preface, of the fully human, fully divine Jesus.

     “The dual substance of Christ—the yearning, so human, so superhuman, of man to attain to God or, more exactly, to return to God and identify himself with him-has always been a deep inscrutable mystery for me.”

      As Christians we affirmed our effort and longing to be at one with God while living in our very human bodies.

     “Struggle between the flesh and the spirit, rebellion and resistance, reconciliation and submission, and finally—the supreme purpose of the struggle—union with God; this was the ascent taken by Christ, the ascent which he invites us to take as well, following in his bloody tracks.”


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Hooray for Pentecost~

5/25/2015

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Yesterday, Pentecost Sunday, my UCC church hosted the UU church in town as part of a year-long celebration of 375 years of communication between the two churches. We acknowledged this long, sometimes joyful, sometimes acrimonious relationship by celebrating our difference and similarities—love for all people and for the earth. A very twenty-first century way of doing things!

      When our kids were growing up, our family attended First Parish. We liked it—the people, the outreach, the activities--but when they left for college, my husband remained a member while I sought out a more God-centered church. I returned to my Christian roots to the extent that I settled into the pews of Memorial Congregational Church, the denomination of childhood.

     Yesterday affirmed my decision. Pentecost Sunday celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit, which I need badly. All by myself I can’t perpetuate or extend all the love that’s needed in the world.



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No cheap grace~

5/22/2015

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When life is going along well for me, as it is at the moment, my challenge is not to let my good fortune turn into cheap grace by forgetting  that I am living in God’s kingdom. Whatever the situation, good, bad or the neutral, my prayer is to remember to ask God what does God want me to do.

   I share with you Henri Nouwen’s questions:

What does this all mean?
What is God trying to tell us?
How are we called to live in the midst of all this?

     Answers don’t come immediately and new challenges keep coming, but with prayer God reveals what our next response should be and leads us on the right path.


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Leaf blower prayer~ 

5/20/2015

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Dear God,

Give me the patience to accept the noise of the leaf blowers as I take my afternoon walk. Give me the physical fortitude to live with all the dust and dirt that I breathe. Help me to express gratitude when I pass someone with a rake in hand. Amen



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Sit, pray, write~

5/14/2015

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I go along accepting the joys and concerns of life pretty well, not becoming over-concerned by sad news nor overjoyed with blessings. Whatever happens feels to be in the natural order of things; balance is maintained.

     But then something overwhelming happens, usually on the side of catastrophe and heartbreak, and I slip from ‘Thy will be done,’ to ‘Why God have you forsaken us?’ Yesterday I heard that a terrible cancer has hit a family that has already experienced more than its share of tragedy. (At least that’s my judgment.)

     I need time to sort this out, so here I sit in the AR (Angel Room). Sitting, praying, writing, praying. I was planning to clear out some files this morning, but that task seems pointless. My heart tells me to be with God. My call to pray for people take precedence—at least for today.  


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My secret prayer list~

5/11/2015

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I have a new, secret prayer list, one that I’ll probably refresh once a month. It lists the names of people who are having a hard time in life right now, and who in my humble opinion, need God with them. In my prayer, I hold them in God’s light; that’s all. They don’t know I’m doing this. In fact, I don’t even know some of the people.

     What I do know is two things; that they are suffering; and that with prayer, God will lift that suffering. What I don’t know is how this mystery comes about, or what the shift will be. That is not in my hands, nor is it my business. Again, it is so apparent that the purity of my prayer and the emptiness of judgments on my part, go hand in hand.

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Gratitude walk~

5/8/2015

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One hundred five years ago my mom was born. What became clear to me as I accompanied her during her final years, and as I finished writing about her in Very Grateful, is that Mom’s entire life was filled with gratitude. As I move on, I become more and more aware that gratitude is one of the cornerstone of Christian faith, with love being the foundation of it all.

    What if, throughout our day, we expressed gratitude for all that passes our way? Here’s my list for today, and it is only mid-morning: I’m grateful that I didn’t hit the deer by the side of the road early this morning, that I didn’t run out of eggs for breakfast, that I heard from a friend I’d been thinking about, that I had a good night’s sleep, that I have time to write this, and that I’m having lunch with a long-time friend today.

     Here’s yesterday’s gratitude walk.



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Carrying silence, solitude and simplicity with me wherever I go~

5/6/2015

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Finally, I’m back to posting. I took a break while finishing Very Grateful, which is now off to the copy editor and then on to production. I was surprised at the relief I felt the moment I wrote my response to my editor’s final suggestion. It had to do with ending my cottage-by-the-sea days. This past winter would have been my sixth season, but the owner became ill and wasn’t able to go to Florida, so I stayed home.

   In that final writing i discovered that I don’t need the cottage any more, that I can carry silence, solitude and simplicity with me wherever I go.

This realization wasn’t an answer to a particular prayer, but I believe it was a response to the prayerful work I have been doing to keep God in the forefront of my life. Oh, I fail miserable, but every morning I pray for God’s presence to be with me throughout the day, and so even though I’m not conscious of it all the time, I believe it is there. The more intentional I am about it, the more certain it will be.

     It is a comfort to believe and come to know that our intention and effort at prayer continues to work in us whether we are aware of it or not. 


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