Praying to a dear friend...

"Your father knows what you need before you ask him."
Matthew 6:8

Jesus' disciples have asked him how they should pray in this passage and Jesus seems to give them reason to question even why they should pray. If God already knows what we need what's the point? Richard Rohr frequently says that we don't pray to change God's mind about us but to change our minds about God. That's sure a good explanation! We pray to be in relationship with God. We pray to connect, converse and convene with God. Maybe we pray less for a specific outcome than for the grace and strength to get through the difficulties of our unfolding lives. A great example for how to pray is Mary, who at the wedding feast at Cana, just stated the problem to Jesus. "They have no wine," she says (John 2:3). That's the deal. She doesn't tell him what to do about it. I try to do the same, with mixed results. "Blaine is flying solo in a small airplane." I state the concern, trying not to add the Yikes! factor. God already knows my mother's heart! Ultimately, no matter how we pray or the why, or what-for, God always just loves hearing from us. Let's spend some time today, thinking about how we can pray to give glory to God and naming our concerns just like we would to a dear, loving friend. And finally, let's try to step back and trust that God's will for us is the best outcome. "Your will be done." (Matthew 6:10). Love, heidi

Spirit of Christ...

"Jesus said to his disciples, 'I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now...'"
John 16:12

Sometimes I feel this happens on retreat. Jesus has my undivided attention for days in a row and there is just so much for me to learn! This time I even stayed an extra day at the hermitage to get a little bit of the "much more" Jesus had to share. My main study book this time was "The Universal Christ" by Fr. Richard Rohr and it is indeed a doozy! The hermitage was a perfect place to observe the Christ-soaked universe that Fr. Richard describes in the book. Everything and everyone have been breathed into life by our Creator Christ and thus, contain the Spirit of Christ. "Whoa, that!" one would say--really? But looking around the mesa, bathed in spring, it was easy to see. From the tiniest bug to the foliage to the young buck mule deer I saw several times, the spirit of Christ was present. Fr. Rohr calls creation the first Incarnation of God. God came first in creation and we little humans are part of that, too. I felt like I was just another creature in the midst of creation, celebrating the fact that we all are en Christo, alive in Christ. So, today, our nearly-summer Monday, let's look at our world a bit differently, can we? Either the spirit of Christ is in everything or it is in nothing. Let's stretch ourselves and try to see it in everything and everyone we encounter this day! Love, heidi