Today I found myself journaling about the Kingdom. I woke up feeling a little listless, although nothing specific seemed to be bothering me. Now that I’m in my seventies, however, I am more and more aware of possibilities of the life to come, life after death that is, and let me tell you, the older I get, the more comforting that becomes. As I continued to write about my lethargy, a sense of purpose raised my spirits. I found myself content knowing that accompanying the glimmer of the kingdom in the future, came hope in the kingdom in the present. They are different and yet the same. I’m very grateful for this comfort.
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I just got word that a young mother, a wife, friend, a woman full of light and love has died. What can we make of such unfairness? We lament like Job, like the psalmists. Like Jesus we call out, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ I am grateful for all these laments, especially for Jesus’ words that let me know that I can be angry, that anger, despair, and even hopelessness are all part of the human condition. Simone Weil writes: “Affliction constrained Christ to implore that he might be spared, to seek consolation from man, to believe he was forsaken by the Father. It forced a just man to cry out against God, a just man as perfect as human nature can be, more so perhaps, if Job is less a historical character than a figure of Christ.” Jesus and Job called out to God in their affliction, but they never left God, they never stop believing in God’ love; they just didn’t understand. That’s where I am now, trying to understand, waiting in hope for the resurrection. Thank God the story isn’t over. The other day a friend and I were discussing that perennial problem of self-care. I decided to send him this Wayne Dyer prayer, a prayer than I often email to people. Good morning, This is God. I will be handling All of your Problems today. I will not need Your help, so have A miraculous day. Here’s his reply: Should we find ways to give God a break? There’s no theological answer to this question, but it sure has me thinking. Before my eyes are even open in the morning, I’m sending God my prayer list. Does God need a wake up call with all those names from yesterday’s list? And just wait, I’ll be adding new ones before my feet hit the floor. In fact, all day God keeps hearing from me. I’m fine with asking God for all this help and I don’t believe God needs a break, (although maybe I do). But I do wonder at my persistence. Am I showing mistrust in God? What about that ‘let go and let God’ approach? Do I believe that I am the savior of these people? I’m sure you can come up with your own questions to ponder; certainly our pondering has value. Somewhere someone suggested that we lift up our prayer requests to God and then go along leading our lives. Let God alone for a while to do God’s work. I wish I could remember who wrote that idea. I wish I could remember to follow it. I wish I could take a break. Give me a kind heart that will endure, One that's strong and secure. To help someone along the way, May this be my goal everyday. Let me lend a helping hand To someone whose life has not gone as planned. Reaching out to one in need, May this be my daily good deed, To provide a guiding light For someone lost in the dark of night, Let me take time to care For someone experiencing despair, Whatever I do, everywhere I go, Your will, dear Lord, let me know. Eve Kiley I’ve posted this prayer before. It’s the one my mom gave me. A prayer she prayed every day, but she didn’t just pray it, she followed it. Right up until her last breath she was smiling a people. At age 101 her kind heart just gave out. I do my best to read this prayer every morning, and to follow it. The daily repetition has given me new prayer categories. As people have different needs along the way, so there are the different ways we can help. And yet, it all pretty much the same. With a kind heart, show up, listen, pray, take action. Some lives just haven’t turned out the way people had hoped or anticipated. Let me lend a helping hand To someone whose life has not gone as planned. From time to time we all are in need. Maybe it’s just temporary, not life threatening. Reaching out to one in need, May this be my daily good deed, Some people get lost, take a wrong turn, are influenced in the wrong way. To provide a guiding light For someone lost in the dark of night, Then there is despair when all seems lost forever—a death, illness, accident, divorce, loss of job. For someone experiencing despair, Whatever I do, everywhere I go, Open Lord, my eyes that I may see. Open Lord, my ears that I may hear. Open, Lord, my heart and my mind that I may understand. So shall I turn to you and be healed. As I read this traditional prayer the other morning, all I can say is that I was startled. Startled, because although I’ve read it many times, I’ve never really paid any attention to it, and this time I did. Sure we ask God to open our ears, eyes and heart. And sure Eckart Tolle and others tell us to pay attention to the NOW. We know all of that. But WHY do all of this? I had never considered the why of it all, and that’s what startled me. Sure, so I can see, hear and understand; those words wash over me because they are soooo obvious. But this ancient prayer cuts to the quick. There it is, the God answer. No rhetoric, no hyperbole. Pay attention so you will turn to God and so you will be healed. Give me a kind heart that will endure, One that's strong and secure. To help someone along the way, May this be my goal everyday. Let me lend a helping hand To someone whose life has not gone as planned. Reaching out to one in need, May this be my daily good deed, To provide a guiding light For someone lost in the dark of night, Let me take time to care For someone experiencing despair, Whatever I do, everywhere I go, Your will, dear Lord, let me know. Eve Kiley I say this prayer every morning. It’s one my mom gave me when she was 95, six years before she died. “I try to help someone every day,’ she told me, ‘and I want you to have a copy of this prayer that I read every day.” With that, Mom marched down to the front desk where she was living, prayer in hand, and asked Delia to make a copy for me. My mom was very wise. She knew that when we repeat something, be it a poem, scripture or prayer, we begin to internalize the message and act on it. I guess that’s what she wanted from me. In this prayer we are asking God to guide us in lending a helping hand in a variety of situations: some, just minor bumps along life’s road; others, life changing, life chattering caverns. · To someone whose life has not gone as planned: this might be for those who, looking back over their life, had thought and hoped that they would have experienced more joys. · Reaching out to one in need: this might involve a small act of kindness for a small need. · For someone lost in the dark of night: this might be for someone who is not certain of the right decisions to make during a particular stretch in life. · For someone experiencing despair: this might be for someone in the midst of terrible tragedy was feeling no hope or resolution. This prayer starts by asking God to give us kind heart. Um, I thinking that that’s where prayer for others begins. How do I respond when someone tells me, ‘My friend is better thanks to your prayers.’? We pray for someone because we believe that it matters. But the how, what, when, where, and who of it all is a mystery, and probably better kept that way. Probably better not to analyze another’s response. What if they say, ‘My friend isn’t better because people did pray hard enough for her.’ Then there is the question of what exactly I have prayed for. To the best of my understanding I pray that peace will surround everyone in the situation. Sometimes the person gets better, which brings great joy; sometimes the person dies peacefully, which also brings joy. Sometimes the situation seems pretty horrific, with no apparent peace or joy. There are so many questions. I just keep praying for the peace of God that passes all understanding. Mary Luti posted this today on Stillspeaking Devotional dailydevotional@ucc.org. So powerful, so thought-provoking. Too powerful? Too thought-provoking? It leads me to a new level of faith where I may not want to go. You Do Not Answer, by Mary Luti "Why have you forsaken me? I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest." - Psalm 22 Sometimes we think that if we work hard at our spiritual practices we are bound to experience God, to feel God within us. But not everyone feels God, no matter how hard they try or how much they want to. Many know only the ache of absence. The truth is that God is often silent, dark, and distant — so much so that it can be painful to be around people for whom God is cheerful, close, and chatty. There's an old slogan that says, 'If God feels far away, guess who moved?' You're supposed to answer, 'Not God.' But whoever thought that up never read the psalms. Jesus, who probably loved saying "Surely goodness and kindness will follow me all the days of my life" as much as we do, didn't pray Psalm 23 on the cross. He prayed Psalm 22: "I cry to you, but you do not answer. "You know this, but hear it again: the Christian life isn't about feeling feelings or acquiring spiritual experiences. Baptism ushers us into a life of greater depth than that — a life of faith. And faith is almost always a journey through the desert and the dark. If Deus absconditus is your God, you are not a second-class Christian. You have a gift. A hard one, but a gift all the same. Your heartache — faith's heartache — can lead you straight to the heartache of others, to neighbors whose abandonment is human, not divine. With them you can keep company. With them, mourn. With them, persevering, wait out the darkness 'till the Coming Day. Was there really anything else you wanted when once upon a time you said yes to a fierce and mysterious God? "Prayer: Hidden One, they say you are still speaking, and even if it isn't to me right now, give me faith to trust that you are as real as the poor, as close as the suffering, as audible as the cry of the abandoned; and let me find you there." About the Author Mary Luti is Visiting Professor of Worship and Preaching at Andover Newton Theological School.
A little comfort food to open the heart.
Why do I get in such a tizzy about little annoyances I feel from other people? My problem, not theirs! What about the friend who sometimes interrupts me? Why don’t I politely say, “Please, just let me finish?” Why don’t I dwell on all her good points and let the annoyances go? How about praying for God to open my heart, and leave it at that? That my mental ramble of a prayer for today. Thanks for listening. Today in church my minister, Tom O’Brien, told the story of Nik Wallenda’s successfully July 23nd twenty-two minute crossing of part of the Grand Canyon 1,500 feet above the Little Colorado River Gorge. Thanks to a microphone hookup, live TV reported every word the acrobat spoke, many of which were words calling on Jesus. This got me thinking about the different intentions I have when calling on Jesus. When I am fearful or in danger, I appeal to him in desperation. When I repeat the Jesus Prayer, Lord Jesus Christ have mercy upon me, I am requesting that my heart be fill with the Holy Spirit. All of this is extremely personal and very private. It’s between me and God. In fact, this blog is as public as I get. Most people reading it are strangers or prayer people I know who keep their prayers to Jesus private. I share in the hope that what I do may help others discern how God is calling them to pray. I don’t know Nik’s intentions, but I sense there was some evangelism involved, which to me is different purpose, but not prayer. I suggest that you check out Tom’s sermon. <http://mccsudbury.org/faith-on-a-wire/> |
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