Breezy and calm...

"The God-centered soul is calm in a way the self-centered soul can never be."

Paula Huston, "Simplifying the Soul"

 

This really struck me this morning.  The last couple of days have been a whirlwind of getting things spiffed up for my boss who came to town yesterday, turning in my state car to switch to another, and getting ready to head off to Spiritual Director School later today.  Phew!  At times I have felt the exact opposite of calm, believe me! (For one thing--how did the state car get to be such a mess in just five years?) Anyway, I felt very un-calm, if that is even a word.  This passage from this amazing Lent book helps me to realize that it is my self-centeredness that gives me the un-calm.  I am spinning myself into a whirling dervish, on my own.  What God desires for me is  more of a peaceful calm and a breezier attitude about these events.  They are not earth-shattering!  They really only affect me. (Well, me and the poor person who inherits this car).  Today, as the madness continues, I will cling to this phrase, "The God-centered soul is calm..." Maybe that will help you, today, too!  Blessings on the rest of your week, Dears...I will return on Monday.  Love, heidi

Speak life!

"Speak life, speak life

To the deadest darkest night,

Speak life, speak life

When the sun won't shine and you don't know why."

Toby Mac, "Speak Life!"

 

This catchy song on Christian radio is more than just a great sing-along song (although it is that...link below!).  In today's Gospel, Jesus tells us, "So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from the heart." (Matthew 18:35)

What could be a better example of "Speaking life" than forgiving each other?  Forgiving words are life-giving words.  So are words like "I'm sorry," "Forgive me," "Let's work this out." "Thank you."  Before I left to attend the silent retreat at Nazareth, God put it on my heart to thank a coworker for her job well-done.  The notion to email her came during prayer and I was reminded to act on the idea when I got to work (Thanks, God, for not letting me forget!)  Little did I know the impact that small action had on me during the silence of the retreat.  I realized I would not have been able to come with a humble and contrite heart had I not reached out at God's suggestion.  We speak so much during the day (some of us vastly more than others!) Today, let's try and only speak words of life--words of comfort, encouragement, forgiveness, peace, contrition and humility.  Let's only speak words of life!  Love, heidi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rK6O0YtBRY

Who IS this guy?

"Naaman went away angry, saying, 'I thought that he would surely come out and stand there to invoke the Lord, his God..."

2 Kings 5:11

 

I admit, I kind of agree with Naaman here.  After seeing movies like "The Ten Commandments" and "The Greatest Story Ever Told" don't we come to expect God to produce a spectacular, Cecil B. DeMille miracle? Something showy and convincing? The people who jeered at Jesus to come down from the cross wanted a flashy miracle to show who he was.  But, while Jesus did some fabulous miracles of healing and feeding, Jesus wasn't one to perform on command.  The miracles Jesus did required the faith of the people, too.  And the people in Jesus' hometown couldn't get past Jesus, just the hometown carpenter.  How special could he be? It reminds me of a fabulous quote I read years ago in the biography of St. Edith Stein.  If you know about her, you know she was raised Jewish, but later converted to Catholicism and became a Carmelite sister.  It was very difficult for her to tell her mother she was joining the Carmelites, not just to live there, but to JOIN and become a Carmelite sister herself.  Her mother was very upset when Edith told her and she said, "Why did you have to get to know him (Jesus)? He was a good man, I'm not saying anything against him. But why did he have to go and make himself God?" (from "Edith Stein-A Biography," by Waltraud Herbstrith).  I wonder if that is some of what the people of Nazareth thought of Jesus? "Oh, he was a nice guy, a good carpenter.  Why did he have to go and make himself God?"  Today, let's ask ourselves if we are guilty of wanting Jesus to prove who he is or can we believe on faith?  Love, heidi