A prayer for the cave...

"Our sojourn of inner growth sometimes

Confines us to the cave's empty gloom.

In this silent, gray space of waiting

When we are unsure of how to proceed

We hear your voice of wisdom urging us:

'Do not be afraid. I am with you.'

'Learn to love the silence.'

'Trust this time of slow gestation.'

'This is not a waste of your time.'

'Breathe, Be at peace. Easy does it.'"

 

~Sr. Joyce Rupp, Fragments of Your Ancient Name"

God alone is enough...

"Let nothing disturb you;

Let nothing make you afraid;

All things pass,

But God is unchanging,

Patience

is enough for everything.

You who have God

lack nothing.

God alone is sufficient."

St. Teresa of Avila, as quoted in "The Dark Night of the Soul," by Gerald G. May

 

Let's let this beautiful prayer of St. Teresa settle in us today.  God alone is enough.  Love, heidi

Marymount Hermitage

"The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God, that there she might be taken care of for twelve hundred and sixty days."
Revelation 12:6

If you would like to read about my adventures on retreat at Marymount, please click on the link below.  Marymount is a little piece of heaven on the desert mesa of Idaho. I only wish I could stay for twelve hundred and sixty days!
http://www.marymount-hermitage.org/newsletters/monthly/2014-10.pdf

Keeping it clean...

"Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil."

Luke 11:39

 

This reminded me of a story from one of our favorite priests.  He told this at a class he was teaching and it really stuck with me.  His favorite movie, when he was a young lad, was "Braveheart," with Mel Gibson.  Many years later, he decided to go a full year without watching anything with violence...no movies, TV shows or video games. After that year, he had the chance to see Braveheart and he settled in to watch his favorite movie.  He realized, however, that he was appalled at the violence.  It was the same as always, but HE had changed. He could no longer stomach the violence in a movie he had previously enjoyed.  Well, a similar thing just happened to me.  I had read a popular book recently and decided to see the newly released movie.  After watching mostly documentaries and reading only spiritual and historical books, I was surprised by my own reaction to the movie.  I felt like I needed a good shower after watching it!  Is the world really like that?  I felt like I wanted to "un-see" it, but that is impossible.  I decided to learn from the experience so as to lessen the mistakenness of it.  I want the inside of my cup to be as clean as I want the outside. And that takes an awareness on my part on what I should watch. These are things we need to know about ourselves.  We are all different, but we need to know ourselves and allow ourselves to grow and change.  Love, heidi

Keep knocking!

"And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you."

Luke 11:9

 

But, what if it doesn't FEEL like you're getting what you asked for? What if your prayer seems to be going nowhere?  What if there is only silence on the other end? And, another one of my burning questions: does our prayer actually change God's mind?  Was God all set to do one thing and our prayer causes God to actually do another?  These questions drive me crazy (not a drive, just a short putt).  But, seriously.  What I have come up with, at this point in my spiritual journey is this: God wants to be in relationship with us.  Prayer is relationship, because we are communicating with God when we pray.  We may feel silence on the other side but that is just like the neighbor in Jesus' story today (Luke 11:5-13). Our persistence in prayer is the key to our prayer.  We continue to knock, even if no one seems to be home. Does God need our prayer? No, but WE need our prayer.  We need to be able to do something when difficulties arise.  We need to have a way to move out of ourselves and seek an answer.  We need to turn to Someone bigger than us.  It's a relief to know there is Someone bigger than us, that we aren't in charge of the universe and that the universe doesn't revolve around us. So, does God ultimately change an unsavory situation when we pray?  Possibly.  But mainly, God changes us.  God works inside of us, inside our hearts and minds.  And the change seems real.  The situation may be the same, but we are different.  And the change is real.  Love, heidi

Teach us to pray...

"Free us from selfish interest and self-inflicted burdens..."

Prayer request in "Give Us This Day"

 

Cha Ching!  That is exactly what I need to pray today. The disciples ask Jesus in today's Gospel, "Teach us to pray..." (Luke 11:1-4) And, if Jesus were to answer me that question, this prayer from Give Us This Day would be the answer. Jesus taught us to ask for what we need in prayer.  And I desperately need to be free from selfish interests and self-inflicted burdens.  That is the "Me" I bring to prayer today.  Tomorrow may be entirely different, but this is me today. That is why we must pray daily...pray for our Daily Bread.  That is why we must Pray Always and Pray All Ways.  Because we are constantly changing and our requests vary as often. Lord, please keep me tuned into you this day.  Help me to get my selfish interests and self-inflicted burdens out of my mind and heart and help me to concentrate on what you want me to do.  That is the Daily Bread I need from you this Wednesday...Love, heidi