"Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I, the Lord your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go."
Isaiah 48:17
This reading really hits home for me this year, as I sit watching the sun rise (the sun is as lazy as me this morning!) I feel like God has been leading me and teaching me, so vividly, these last several years; ever since I really made an effort to pay attention. I felt so led to move to Boise, to work at Hawthorne, to live at Liberty Lake Apartments--all of it has been such a gift from God. But it certainly isn't the end of God's teaching and leading! Each day I am invited to learn more, especially now that I'm in such new environs. Each day I am invited to follow God's lead somewhere, to meet someone. God's leading and teaching may not feel as dramatic as it did six months ago when the UHaul headed west on I-86, but it is there in subtle, yet unmistakable, ways. The student that needs an extra dose of my patience (which sometimes seems lacking). The three hundred fellow tenants here who may need a wee bit of understanding and leeway. God has even led me to take the city bus when I go downtown to protect all other Boise residents from my feeble driving-in-traffic skills. God leads us and teaches us each day, and by reflecting at the end of the day in the Examen prayer, we can see just how. Blessings on your third weekend in Advent! We get to Rejoice! Love, heidi
Friday, December 14, 2018
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Open heart, open ears...
"God of whispers and shouts of joy,
Unclog my heart stuffed with me and my struggles
so it can become a listening, hearing Advent heart."
Fr. Ed Hays, "Meeting Christ at Broadway and Bethlehem"
This seems to be the message I am getting in my private prayer lately. Listen more, talk less. Ask questions, don't give speeches or talk endlessly about yourself. It's a message I definitely need to hear and heed! It is especially powerful to connect the heart with the ability to listen, too. The ears and the heart are several inches away from each other, but they need to work in tandem. If the heart is open and eager to receive, the ears will be too. If our hearts are so stuffed full of ourselves, there is no room for others. The ears may as well be closed, too, for the needs and concerns of those around us go unheard. Today, I will pray this beautiful little prayer with Ed Hays...Unclog my heart, open my ears! Love, heidi
Unclog my heart stuffed with me and my struggles
so it can become a listening, hearing Advent heart."
Fr. Ed Hays, "Meeting Christ at Broadway and Bethlehem"
This seems to be the message I am getting in my private prayer lately. Listen more, talk less. Ask questions, don't give speeches or talk endlessly about yourself. It's a message I definitely need to hear and heed! It is especially powerful to connect the heart with the ability to listen, too. The ears and the heart are several inches away from each other, but they need to work in tandem. If the heart is open and eager to receive, the ears will be too. If our hearts are so stuffed full of ourselves, there is no room for others. The ears may as well be closed, too, for the needs and concerns of those around us go unheard. Today, I will pray this beautiful little prayer with Ed Hays...Unclog my heart, open my ears! Love, heidi
Monday, December 10, 2018
Be strong!
"Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak. Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God..."
Isaiah 35:3-4
Today, I see this reading as two-fold. First, it is a comfort and encouragement to us; God will strengthen our feeble hands, wobbly knees and help us stand firm and strong. I'm energized by that as I head out into my busy Monday. And the second message is that we are to do these encouraging things to those we meet today. We can offer a steadying hand to those who suffer and feel unable to cope. We can help the weaker among us to stand firm and tall, that is, in fact, what God wants us to do and what God helps us do. It's all a divine circle of loving encouragement, with God at the crux of it all. God loves us, sends us forth to love others, we love and others love in return. It comes back around to God, then, because loving others is how we love God back. It's a beautiful image of a circular love dance, as Fr. Richard Rohr suggests in "The Divine Dance." Today, as we head out there to do what we do, let's close our eyes and feel our hands growing stronger and our knees more steady. We know we have nothing to fear because God is right here with us, infusing us with love from within. And we can go forth and do God's work for God's people. Love, heidi
Isaiah 35:3-4
Today, I see this reading as two-fold. First, it is a comfort and encouragement to us; God will strengthen our feeble hands, wobbly knees and help us stand firm and strong. I'm energized by that as I head out into my busy Monday. And the second message is that we are to do these encouraging things to those we meet today. We can offer a steadying hand to those who suffer and feel unable to cope. We can help the weaker among us to stand firm and tall, that is, in fact, what God wants us to do and what God helps us do. It's all a divine circle of loving encouragement, with God at the crux of it all. God loves us, sends us forth to love others, we love and others love in return. It comes back around to God, then, because loving others is how we love God back. It's a beautiful image of a circular love dance, as Fr. Richard Rohr suggests in "The Divine Dance." Today, as we head out there to do what we do, let's close our eyes and feel our hands growing stronger and our knees more steady. We know we have nothing to fear because God is right here with us, infusing us with love from within. And we can go forth and do God's work for God's people. Love, heidi
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