Wespath Prayer

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to pray at the Wespath Investment Forum. It was grace for our lunch together. I didn't write out a prayer - just notes - so this represents my notes more than the actual prayer.

Creating, Loving, sustaining God....

We are grateful for all of the goodness around us. As we look outside the windows, we are grateful for the beauty of nature - the water and the sun - that you surround us with. We are grateful for the beauty around us inside this room - the people who share their expertise with us - the fellowship of each other. We are grateful for the ability to serve others - churches, donors, institutions and ministries - and we are grateful for the good they do.

Help us to be generous enough to give all it away.

Thank you for the farmers who grew and tended the food we will eat today - for those who gathered it, who transported it, who prepared it, and for those who will serve it today. May the food we share together make us strong to serve you.

In your son's name, amen.

Lent Photo-a-Day Week 2

Walk

 

Name

Everlasting

Call

Bless

Rise

Celebrate

Doors

Zion National Park

I think it is interesting how different people see and approach things differently.  I was looking at something - either on Youtube or Instagram the other day.  The picture was of a lovely door in a garden - the door was closed.  The poster said that it symbolized the future - how through the door was what was next.

You might see it that way.  Or you might see a closed door.  A door that blocks the way - an obstacle - or a barrier to inclusiveness.

I think we need to keep in mind that how we see something is not how everyone would see it. A door communicates something to everyone. It might be an invitation to what is beyond or a locked door.  I think we would all see it differently.  What is in our churches that we, who are the insiders, see one way, and those who are outside see another way. 

And it really doesn't matter what we intend. Other people's perceptions are their reality. It's useless of us to blame them for "misinterpreting."

I think it is helpful to visit other churches and look around. See what you see. Is there anything you see that gives you ideas about what your church is "saying" to those who visit?

Inner Authority

In Richard Rohr’s book, Preparing for Christmas: Daily Meditations for Advent (Fourth Sunday of Advent), he writes about the Blind Faith of Mary and Joseph.  He wonders why Mary and Joseph so seemingly easily followed the plan of God in the nativity story.  Who would trust such a situation?  Roar writes:

So why do we love and admire people like Mary and Joseph and then into imitate their faith journey, their courage, their non-reassurance by the religious system? These were two laypeople who totally trusted their inner experience of God and who followed it to Bethlehem and beyond.

He asks, “In what ways do you trust your own inner authority?”

Do we trust our inner authority? Do we follow God because our innermost self tells us it is the right thing to do? Or do we, sometimes, ignore the voice within to trust something else?

And when is it right to trust that voice? Don’t we sometimes get it wrong?

I think this is the challenge of discernment.  God is with us; the Holy Spirit speaks in us, directing us, helping us, right? But also in our minds is our own voice, not yet completely perfected, that leads us to something less unselfish, less God-led.  How do we come to the point of trusting our inner authority, of understanding that it is from God?

Doesn’t the question become - I trust God, but do I trust myself to discern God’s will?

That said, I can also say that there have been times when I did trust that inner authority - when I followed my inner voice.  Most often it took lots of convincing from God - whether that was a sleepless night or several months of arguing with myself.  I did get there, and the result has been wonderful.

Lent Photo-a-Day Challenge Week 1

I'm participating in the Lent Photo-a-Day challenge.  I'm going to post my previous week's images here on Mondays.  That will mean a juggle to my normal posting schedule.  My normal Perspectives Post on Fridays will disappear during Lent.  I'll post the two regular weekly posts on Wednesday and Friday.

Covenant

 

Living

Sign

Remember

Celebrate

Perspectives: Black Box

 Sometimes life is like this - confusing with a black box in the middle.

If I love

The following is a repeat post from February 14, 2007 but it seems fitting for Valentines Day.  

Mark 12:28-31; Corinthians 13

Love God
With all of your heart
With all of your soul
With all of your mind
With all of your strength.
Love God.

Love your neighbor.
As you love yourself.

I hear it,
But what does it mean?

It means that there is nothing more important.
It means that even though God gives us many gifts,
The one which matters the most,
Is love.

If my words are spoken,
Without thought of anyone else,
Then I am just a noise.
Useless to God.
Even if I am smart enough
To predict what the future will bring,
Even if I am clever enough
To understand the most difficult thoughts,
Even if my faith is so strong
That the biggest obstacle I face is nothing at all,
If I do it all without love,
Then God cannot touch others through me.

Even if I am so unselfish
That my belonging are like chalkdust to me.
Even if I give all that I am
To whatever purpose God has for me,
But I do it without love,
Then I have no purpose to God.

I must receive and give the greatest gift of all.
I must Love.

Love works at its own speed.
If I love,
Then I do not wish for what I cannot or should not have.
I do not trumpet my own worth,
I do not value what I do over who other people are.
I show the value of other people by my actions toward them.

When I love,
My own wishes or desires sink in importance
Compared to the needs of others.
When I love, I am easy to be around,
And I do not wish it to be otherwise.

When I love,
I do not celebrate sin, but instead I glory in the truth.
Love will put up with a lot,
Love will trust beyond reason,
Love will hope when all seems lost,
And love never gives up.

Love never ends.

Everything else in the world is temporary.
All other gifts will eventually fade away,
But not love.

Love is so hard to understand,
But God knows that.
He understands that what we can accept
Is so much less
Than what he is willing to give.
The time will come, though,
When all will be made clear.
And love will be for us
Like the air we breathe,
And it will make us complete.

When I was younger,
My habits were those of a child.
My speech, my thoughts, my actions
Were immature.
As I grew older, I grasped something better.
And I gave up my childish ways,
For those of an adult.
We are like that.
What we see now, what we can understand now
Is so much less than what God wants us to be.

My relationship with God,
My ability to love God,
My hope of being able to love my neighbor,
Is fractured.
God has promised
That I will know fully what love means
And that there will come a time
When I am able to know him
Just as fully as he knows me,
When I am able to love him
With just as much completeness
As he loves me.

He has given us
Faith
Hope
Love.
But his greatest gift,
Beyond comparison
Beyond price
Is love.

Whose Kingdom

During Advent, I read Preparing for Christmas: Daily Meditations for Advent by Richard Rohr.  One of the meditation contains the sentence, "When people say piously, 'Thy kingdom come' out of one side of their mouth, they need also to say, 'My kingdom go!' out of the other side.  The kingdom of God supersedes and far surpasses all kingdoms of self and society or personal reward."

This sentence struck me because the day before I was asked to pray at the beginning of a Zoom meeting.  It was an extemporaneous prayer - and I'm not sure if this will make sense or not - but because I had not prepared for it, it was a prayer that I journeyed through while I was praying it.  Sometimes those go well, and sometimes they feel clunky and cliched.  This prayer journeyed to an ending of "may we do all of this for your glory and that your kingdom may come."  That's not a phrase I often use, so it was surprising to me that it was how I ended the prayer.

I think the idea that saying "my kingdom go" is why saying - if you really mean it - "thy kingdom come" is frightening.  It means losing control.  It means letting go of control, intentionally.  Do we have trust issues with God?

I taught a CLM class earlier this week.  One of our topics was discernment, and I share this quote with the class:

"St. Ignatius of Loyola notes that sin is unwillingness to trust that what God wants is our deepest happiness.  Until I am absolutely convinced of this, I will do everything I can to keep my hands on the controls of my life, because I think I know better than God what I need for my fulfillment” David Benner 

Do we trust God? Do we trust God more than we trust ourselves so that we can, without fear, let go of control, and say, "My kingdom go."

Perspectives: Grace

 

Thanks be to God

 Liturgy based on Ecclesiastes 3

L: Did you know? Have you heard? Everything has its time.

P: There is a time to be born - to be welcomed to the world, and there is a time to die, to leave this world for the next.

L: There is a time to plant - to with excitement and anticipation place a seed in the ground,

P: and there is a time to harvest, to gratefully gather what has grown.

All: Thanks be to the God who is timeless.

L: It is hard to believe that there is a right time to kill, and a right time to heal.

P: It is hard to believe that there is a right time to destroy and a right time to construct.

L: There are times when we need to cry, and there are times when we need to laugh.

P: There are times for grief, and times for joyful dancing.

All: Thanks be to the God who is in all times.

L: We know that sometimes we must throw away stones and other times we need to gather them.

P: We know that there are times to hug, and times to give others space.

L: Sometimes we seek, and sometimes we lose.

P: Sometimes we keep what we have, and sometimes we desperately need to throw it away.

All: Thanks be to God who comes at the right time, every time.

L: The fabric of our lives can be torn apart or sewn together

P:  Our voices can harm or help, so there are times to speak and times to keep silent.

L: It seems that it is the right time for love all the time, but we can hate injustice and harm.

P: It seems that it is the right time for peace all the time, but we can fight against that which hurts others always.

All: Thanks be to God.

Book Review: Preparing for Christmas

Information about the book:  Richard Rohr, O.F.M.  Preparing for Christmas: Daily Meditations for Advent.  Franciscan Media. Cincinnati, Ohio. 2008.

Summary: (From Amazon) “Advent is not about a sentimental waiting for the Baby Jesus,” Richard Rohr asserts. Advent is a time to focus our expectations and anticipation on “the adult Christ, the Cosmic Christ,” who challenges us to empty ourselves, to lose ourselves, to surrender.

Whether you are seeking a moment of tranquility in the midst of a busy holiday season or searching for a deeper connection with your faith, Preparing of Christmas: Daily Mediations for Advent is the perfect compassion. Renowned author and spiritual teacher Richard Rohr provides profound insights and gentle guidance to inspire and uplift as you reflect on the birth of Jesus and the significance of this sacred time.

Impressions: It was the first Monday of Advent, and I was sitting at my desk.  I picked up the devotional book I was reading and realized I wanted something more focused on Advent for the season.  I browsed Amazon, and found this Richard Rohr book.  I downloaded it my kindle, and have been reading one day’s reading each day.  Rohr is profound.  Each day’s reading opened up revelations that could be thought about all day.

Each reading is short, but packed with wisdom.  The book is designed so that it would work for any arrangement of Advent, with extra days in the back to fill in for longer advents. 

This is a great advent devotional book - I would highly recommend it.

Posts about this book will be tagged with Rohr Preparing.

Perspectives: Really?

 I was looking for the movie Volcano. The streaming app suggested some alternatives,  like The Volcano, Aftershock, and THE MIND OF A CAT.