Hello Dearest...

"Hello Dearest, I'm so glad it's you!"
Anne Lamott, "Almost Everything"

Author Anne Lamott has a friend who always answers the phone, "Hello Dearest, I'm so glad it's you!" Anne says she thinks that is how God responds when she prays, even at her "least attractive." I read this book while on retreat and the minute I read that line (and  it's early--page 6) I heard God saying that to me too. I don't know how any of us survived with any kind of spirituality when we were raised with the idea that God was still mad at us for the sin of Adam. Really? We were taught to do this and that to appease God and this was to be a lifelong pursuit. I still shudder when I remember nervously entering the confessional to tell all my most heinous sins (I was 8) to an invisible man behind a screen. Gratefully, things changed, and were a bit more user-friendly, by the time our kids went through the process, but still. What if we had been taught that whenever we pray God is tickled to death to hear from us and says joyfully, "Hello Dearest! I'm so glad it's YOU!" God loves us. Even at our most unattractive or disagreeable. We need to accept and get used to that fact. Maybe it would help us if we could imagine God so delighted to hear from us, each time we reach out. "Hello Dearest! I'm so glad it's YOU!" Let's bask in that beautiful image this autumn Monday! Love, heidi

Our Divine heritage...

"Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are."
1 John 3:1

One of the classes I help with at school is learning about genotypes and phenotypes. As I am finding I need to do often, I asked a kid what they were all about and he explained it to me. Naturally, when I read this, this morning, I thought of the fact that God created us in God's image, we are God's children, so therefore, God's traits and qualities are already wired into us. God is love, therefore we have that in us too. We are made to love and made to reflect the qualities of God, just as a blue-eyed person carries that trait of a parent. We have a divine heritage, not a sinful one. We may not always act out of our divine heritage, but we are also human beings who sometimes act solely out of our own self interest and not always from our true selves. Our true selves are who we are in God. God's own little progeny; and we need to remember that! Whether we have hazel eyes from our mother, or brown curly hair from our father, we know that we have a nature of love within us from our Divine Parent. Once we tap into that love and share it with everyone, the world will be a better place! Love, heidi

Share the leaven...

"It is like the yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until the whole batch of dough was leavened."
Luke 13:21

This struck me this morning...that the presence of God, within all who love God and desire to share God with the world, is like the yeast. The yeast doesn't just change part of the flour mixture, right? The yeast mixed in with the dough changes the entire batch, not just part of it. There isn't one part of the dough that rises and the rest does not. Likewise, the love of God, mixed into the dough of this world doesn't just affect part of the world. All of the world is changed by the presence. We carry the love of God into all of our environments, not just our Sunday environment, and in that, all of our environments are touched and changed by the love of God. Today, as we go out to all of our activities in God's world, let's remember that we carry the ultimate leaven, the love of God. Let's make sure we share it will all we meet! Love, heidi

See beyond the rules!

"'Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.' He laid his hands on her, and she at once stood up straight and glorified God."
Luke 13:12-13

Jesus is challenging the synagogue authorities (again) in this reading when he heals the woman bent over. He "sets her free" from her bent-overness and the authoirities tsk-tsk that he should have done this on a Tuesday, for example, instead of the Sabbath. But Jesus likens the healing of the woman to caring for a loved one, as she most certainly is, as a "daughter of Zion." He challenges the authorities to look beyond the rules and see the real human beings suffering among them. Don't let the rules get in the way of you helping them! Jesus points out that they care for their animals on the Sabbath, why not care for human beings, our sisters and brothers? When I read this, I think of our mission to care for all of God's children among us, not just those who believe what we believe or look as we look. Maybe we are to look beyond the "rules" and help those fleeing persecution and looking to us for help. Maybe the immigration and refugee "rules" are keeping us from seeing God's children who need us, because all we see are the rules? Food for thought this Monday morning! Blessings and love, heidi

Time to retreat...

"The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God..."
Revelation 12:6

While I don't feel so much as I'm "fleeing" like I used to, this weekend at Marymount will be such a joy and welcome respite for me! I can't wait to get into the silence, peace and prayer of it all. I'm eager to see the earth in its nearly-winter state, since this is the latest in the year I've gone on retreat. I feel so gifted already, as this was the moon this morning as I walked the dog...

Blessings and love to all! You're all in my prayers at Marymount! Love, heidi

Success and frutifulness

"The divine love of God reveals to us that fruitfulness is more important than success, that the love of God is more important than the praise of people..."
Fr. Henri J.M. Nouwen, "Sabbatical Journey" (as quoted in Give Us This Day)

It seems we spend much of our lives aiming for success, doesn't it? That was drilled into me by my Depression-era parents, who learned it the hard way. We must succeed! Success equals happiness! Now that I'm climbing down the success ladder, I see that fruitfulness IS more important. What I do in a day may only make a difference to one first or third grader, but if it is done sincerely, with a loving heart, it is more important than anything counting for "success" in my life. Another important aspect of this is that we may never actually learn the "fruit" of our fruitfulness. We may be long gone by the time a person we have impacted realizes that they were impacted. We may just need to trust God that, being in the right situation and with an ability to help someone, the result is fruitful. We may not see or feel we have made a difference, but we trust that God puts us where we are needed and a difference can be made. Yesterday was such an unusual day. I started with my volunteer job at a day shelter and ended at a lovely Boise restaurant. In between I read Winnie the Pooh to first graders. As I reflected on the day, I realized that I desire to be real in all environments. I desire to be fully present to all I encounter. I desire to love everyone. That is of God. That will be fruitful. Love, heidi