Blog Posts

A new look at suffering

3/30/2020

I grew up in the United Church of Christ, where I heard that Jesus loves me and that God loves me. We didn’t sin; we made mistakes and our loving God was there to forgive us and help us to do better. My New England church was simple, displaying no art work, only an empty cross that (I assumed but was never told) signified Jesus’ resurrection. No suffering Jesus in sight. In fact, I recall no conversation about suffering; it seemed that no one in my church suffered; other people did, but not us.
Much of that church experience has stood me in good stead. Generally speaking I am positive, upbeat, forgiving and loving. At least that’s what I strive for, because that is what I was taught and how I was treated.
Although Covid-19 is a challenge, I am still benefitting from the messages I learned during my first 18 years from my church (and my parents). But this Lenten season I am taking a new look at suffering; there is no way to avoid it. People I know and love are suffering; suffering could be just around the corner for all of us. The amazing grace is that my faith is deepening. Jesus’ suffering is become a gift.

John Baille's A Diary of Private Prayer

3/24/2020

Here are some blessings from John Baille’s A Diary of Private Prayer (1949), which I read every morning and evening, from the very book my mom read every morning and evening. I can still picture her sitting in bed quietly praying the words out loud. The style is dated, the message is eternal.

Now unto Thee, O heavenly Father, be all praise and glory that day by day Thou doest richly fill my life with various blessings:

A home to share, kindred to love, and friends to cherish:
A place to fill and a work to do:
A green world to live in, blue skies above me, and pure air to breathe:
Healthy exercise and simple pleasure:
Good books to read and many arts and crafts to delight in:
So much that is worth knowing and the skill and science to know it:
Those high thoughts that sometimes fill my mind and come I know not
     whence:
Many happy days, and that inward calm that Thou givest me in days of
     gloom:
Thy peace, passing understanding, that comes from Thine indwelling in my
     soul:
The faith that looks through death and the hope of a larger life beyond the
     grave.

Make home sweeter and friends dearer:
Turning sorrow into gladness and pain into the soul’s victory:
Robbing death of its sting:
Robbing sin of its power:
Making peace more peaceful and joy more joyful and faith and hope more
     secure. Amen

Calling for peace

3/20/2020

One way to feel at peace during this Covid-19 time is to be close to God. It’s the best way; I believe it’s the only way. But how? Jesus gives us guidance in two words: pray and love.
     For the past three days I’ve been connecting with people from my church to see how they are getting along. The diaconate has made the commitment to telephone every member and friend, which means talking with our mouth and listening with our ears; no emailing or texting. We ask how things are going and if they need help; we tell them that church, both the service and Sunday school, is live on-line every Sunday; we remind them to keep a look out for “Keeping Connected,” Pastor Tom’s daily email message, We ask for prayer requests, both joys and concerns. We listen and we share.
    This journey of prayer and love has lead me to peace. I’ve heard stories and shared stories, heard joys and pains, and gotten to know people in new and profound ways.
     I encourage you to call friends and acquaintance. They won’t wonder why you’ve called. They will know and be grateful. When I finish with these church calls I’m planning to make some calls of my own. It’s a great way to spread prayer and love.

Time for prayer

3/12/2020

I have chosen to stay home during this covid-19 pandemic. I’ll walk and slip into the supermarket if necessary, but that’s about it. What’s my response to this self-imposed quarantine. I love it.
A surprising benefit is that I have more time for prayer and meditation. Not just physical time to fit it in, but moments that appear as part of the rhythm of the day.
I’m also very grateful that walking can remain as part of the program. Signs’ of early spring appeared on today’s walk.

Knitting prayer shawls

3/5/2020

I posted this also on my www.cottagebythesea.net blog.

Ten years ago for my birthday a friend knit me a prayer shawl. Every morning I wrap it around my head and shoulders and in the evening I spread it from my feet to my neck;. A year later, in 2011 when my mother died, my best friend (since we were two) knit me shawl. It, too, was long and cozy. I use both of these shawls every day.
     These two gifts, filled with warmth, love, and prayers, catapulted me into kitting prayer shawls. There are 17 recipients on my list, including the one I made much earlier for my friend Sarah when she was struggling with cancer. A few years ago her husband told me he puts it over his shoulders during his morning meditation.
     Sometimes I start a shawl with a recipient in mind, but usually the person ‘appears’ as I knit. Usually it is for someone who is ill or has lost a loved one, or is having a personally hard time.
      Occasionally people tell me stories about some specific comfort they have received from their shawl, but usually the bond we have remains silent, which feels very sacred to me. The mystery is holy, but I do wonder. I wonder who is using the shawl I knit for a friend who has since died and whose family I’ve lost contact with? I wonder who is wearing the shawl that got lost in the laundry at a nursing home? I wonder if any shawl has made it to college? I have every reason to believe that each shawl, whatever its journey might be, is still sending forth love and prayers.

   A quick internet search will give you all the information you need. But here is what I do.
    Use 3 skeins of Lion Brand Homespun Yarns; cast on 63 stitches on # 11 needles.
    K3, P3; begin and end with K3.
    Before starting the third skein, cut about 120 16” piece for the fringe that you will add when you finish up the skein.

Hildegard of Bingen

3/4/2020

Holy Spirit
giving life to all life,
moving all creatures,
root of all things,
washing them clean,
wiping out their mistakes,
healing their wounds,
you are our true life,
luminous, wonderful,
awakening the heart
from its sleep.

Hildegard of Bingen

A Prayerful decision

2/27/2020

I cancelled my 3/6-3/20 solitary trip to Rome and Florence. It hardly counts as a prayerful decision because it was so easy to make. Why risk contracting the virus? Why worry my family and friends? Why get quarantined at some hotel at Logan Airport on my way home? I love walking the streets, but what if all the museums and churches are closed? And what about restaurants?
But this was a prayerful decision, with prayer taking myriad forms: talking with God, meditation, emptying my mind of thoughts, as well thinking, gathering information, analyzing, and considering all those questions. Prayer is about considering choices, musing on them, wondering, asking questions, listening for answers, sitting with the answers, pondering unsatisfying responses, attending to answers that have anger or malice in them, and finally embracing a decision that is faithful, hopeful, and loving.

Praying without ego

2/23/2020

To pray is to pay attention to something or someone other than yourself. Whenever a man concentrates his attention--on a landscape, poem, geometrical problem, an idol, or the True God—that he completely forgets his own ego and desires, he is praying.
I put this quote by W.H. Auden on my cottagebythesea blog because I figured, even though God is mentioned, it wasn’t too religious. In trying to keep that blog about silence, solitude, and simplicity, I don’t write anything ‘too religious’. And yet, I assume that anyone with that longing probably taps into some desire for the ineffable.
Auden’s understanding of prayer resonates with me. Prayer is not about me and my judgments. It isn’t about telling God what I think God should do for others. As I live day by day with prayer, I’m hearing more and more that prayer is about lifting up a person or situation to God. Jesus, being human and divine, has implanted this in my heart.

Music in church

2/18/2020

Emily Aldinger

Lately my church has been evaluating the place of music in the Sunday service. Here are a few of my thoughts on the subject.
    Music is an essential part of any worship service; it is best addressed in the contest of worship.
    I come to church to worship in community, to open my mind, body, and spirit to God, to open my heart to love. Each part of the service does this for me; each is necessary for the service to be whole. I want to leave church feeling connected to God, loving my enemies, rejoicing in my friends and family, feeling gratitude, wanting to go out to God’s work, trying to follow Christ….
     All of the components of church music are important --prelude, postlude, choir, covenant, other performances, and hymns. It is music that binds together all the elements of the service—welcome, prayer of invocation, children’s moment, scripture, message, joys and concerns, events of the church, prayers….

Acting on faith

2/12/2020

When I heard Mitt Romney say that his faith was most important to him, I thought, “Yes, that’s what I want to be able to say.” Well, I can say that but can I act on it as Romney did? Something comes up in my life and I wiggle a bit and not follow through faithfully; someone asks for help and I give myself a ‘legitimate’ excuse not to come forth.
On the other hands, maybe it is easier to be faithful when a big decision come up. Not that I’ve been tested like Romney was. He admitted that the political consequences would be enormous, but being a man of faith, he knew that the spiritual consequences would be catastrophic. In facing God we want to be able to say and believe Thy will be done.