Words vs actions...

"Jesus, are such journeys just about you or are they also about us? Do you want us to think higher of you, or higher of ourselves because of you? Why do you take us along on such journeys at all?"

Fr. Richard Rohr, "Wondrous Encounters--Scriptures for Lent"

 

This was yesterday's meditation on the Transfiguration and I wanted to finish the prayer--Why do you take us along on such journeys at all? Especially if you don't want us to talk about them? In both Mark and Matthew's Gospels Jesus specifically tells the witnesses NOT to tell about the vision of his transfiguration with anyone.  Why take us along if we can't share it?  Well, Jesus tells them not to share it until after he has died and risen from the dead, which gets them head-scratching right there.  But my prayer with this went a different way.  I realize that us talking about our fabulous encounters with Jesus can only go so far.  When we are changed by Jesus we change from the inside out.  Jesus wants us to talk about our encounters less and change our actions more. Jesus knows that actions speak louder than words and our behavior changes will bring more positive ripples through our world than our just talking about Jesus. So, as we embark on our mid-Lent Monday, let's be aware of how our actions, not just our words, can share Jesus in our world today.  Our actions are much more contagious, sharing Jesus in the world! Love, heidi

Letting go or gripping tightly?

"The spiritual journey is more like a giving up control than taking control."

Fr. Richard Rohr, "Wondrous Encounters--Scripture for Lent"

 

As a kid I remember Lent being all about self-control.  The self-control it took to give up candy, which was the standard. The self-control to be plucked out of my warm bed, a quick brushing of teeth and, throwing a coat over my PJ's, being flung into a cold winter morning to attend 6:30 mass.  The self-control of beating my breast, begging God not to "throw me into the pit," in the Psalms. Yes, it was all about what I did.  I did. My control. My doings.  I'm feeling more and more that Lent is all about what God does; what God can do if I am just willing and pliable and give up control.  Lent, for me, has become more about letting go than tightly gripping.  Thanks be to God!  Love, heidi

PS: I will be in class for the next few days...please pray for us as we continue our class with our dear leader, Peg, watching from heaven. 

Where do we most need rain?

"Thus says the Lord, 'Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down, and do not return there till they have watered the earth...'"

Isaiah 55:10

In the reflection of this reading on Pray-As-You-Go, they ask a pondering-worthy question.  What part of your life is dry and needs a good, cleansing rain? Oh, that's easy! I'm still reeling from my regular trip to the woodshed, i.e. yesterday's Gospel about the sheep and the goats! (Matthew 25:31-46) Consistently, I am brought up short in that reading and find myself clearly in the Goat line.  Unless taking a box of wine glasses to St. Vincent de Paul counts as giving drink to the thirsty, I'm still coming up short this year. (Thanks, Sam, for suggesting I fill the glasses first!) It's not that I don't give to the poor; that can be remedied by writing a check.  It's how I feel toward the poor that is the problem.  I struggle with the poor because I have so much and life is so much easier for me--it always has been.  I don't identify with the poor because I haven't walked in their shoes or shared their struggles.  I have always been, by comparison, very rich.  And this troubles me.  Just as the Rich Young Man, I wonder if Jesus is asking too much of me to "sell all I have and give to the poor." I find myself going away, very sad, because I have too much.  So, that is where I need a good, cleansing rain, my Friends.  I ask for the grace to get it all figured out.  Love, heidi

The fasting God prefers...

"Isaiah says explicitly that God prefers another kind of fasting which changes our actual lifestyle and not just punishes our body (The poor body is always the available scapegoat to avoid touching our purse, our calendar, or our prejudices)."

Fr. Richard Rohr, "Wondrous Encounters: Scripture for Lent"

 

With this awesome reminder, let's spend time praying and thinking about how we can delve into our purses, rearrange our calendars and prejudices and actually DO something worthwhile this Lent.  Maybe doing something for the Body of Christ and not just punishing our own bodies? That is the fasting God prefers! Love, heidi

The Lent playlist...

Choose life...choose love!

"Choose life..."

Deuteronomy 30:19

 

As we go through our day today, we may not make life and death decisions.  Oh, surely, we choose to drive safely and responsibly, and that can make a difference between life and death (no texting=life!) Realistically, though, our choices today will be more about choosing LOVE.  We will be asked to choose between treating someone with love or treating them indifferently.  We may choose to treat someone with patience or throw up our hands in frustration.  We may have to choose to be kind to a stranger or just walk on by.  Our choices today will be about choosing love.  Let's remember these two simple words as we move through our first Thursday of Lent...Choose Love!  And let's do just that! Love, heidi