God is in the mess...

"Trust is like a staff you can lean on as you journey uphill with Me...the staff will bear as much of your weight as needed."

Sarah Young, "Jesus Calling"

As I drifted off to sleep the other night, after the discovery of the flood (small "f" flood--not quite as bad as Noah's capital "F" Flood), I prayed to see God in the events of the day.  The more I looked,  the more evident was God's presence.  Sometimes we don't immediately go to looking for God in difficulties, though. We may be tempted to scold God for not showing up in time to prevent the difficulties in the first place.  After all, wouldn't that be easier than having to clean up the bigger mess? But, I'm finding that God is there, in the mess--in the individual heartbeats of each person involved. The words and actions of comfort and care may come from the lips of people on the scene, but the grace behind them is from God.  God is quite easy to find if we are looking.  So, as we lean on trust in Jesus like a staff (I love that!), let's keep our eyes open to find God in the mess of the situation.  God is right there.  Love, heidi

Kindness

"In the end only kindness matters..."

"Hands," by Jewel

 

I had one of those days yesterday.  My day was hijacked by a serious flood at my attached-townhouse-neighbor and my place was damaged too.  At the end of the craziness I sat down and thought about what lessons I am invited to learn in all this.  Now, I haven't heard this song for years and years, but the phrase "only kindness matters" kept running through my mind.  I listened to the whole song and it is so beautiful and spiritual (I will put the link below).  Anyway, God is inviting me to put the whole deal in perspective--no one was injured! Also, God is asking me to be as kind as possible to everyone. With the grace of God I hope to just be the "nice lady next door" through the next several weeks of dealing with it all.  As we pray with the beautiful words to this song, let's all remember the words, "only kindness matters..." and let's live that way.  Love, heidi

 

Jewel - Hands (Official Video)

				Jewel - Hands (Official Video)
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Soften my heart!

  "Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, Jesus said to the man..."

Mark 3:5

"Hardness of heart," hummm.. What is that exactly?  Yesterday, I had a long bus ride home from visiting my daughters over the weekend.  The weekend was amazing...God-tracks all over the place.  It's so much easier to see God in a lively celebration than it is in a long, mundane bus ride.  It's so easy to get frustrated with our fellow human beings when they have the theme song from the Smurfs as a very loud ringtone.  It's so easy to be crabby when waiting for the bus connection takes longer than the trip itself.  But what better time to work on softening our hearts? We had a mission speaker last year who made it a point to travel by bus everywhere she went! There are lessons to be learned--patience and humility for two, while squeezing in with our fellow travelers on the metaphorical journey.  Sad to say, I wasn't open to learning them yesterday.  My heart was too hardened, I guess. Thankfully, today is a new day, full of new lessons to learn.  Lord, please soften my heart today! Love, heidi

Take an honest look...

"They were all astounded and glorified God saying, 'We have never seen anything like this before!'"

Mark 2:12

Pray-As-You-Go had an interesting take on this Gospel today--the Gospel of Jesus healing the paralytic, whose friends lower him through the roof of the crowded house.  There are so many nuggets of gold to mine in this reading, but the new little twist made me really think.  PAYG explained that people in Jesus' time automatically believed  disease and disability were punishment from God for sins--either the individual's sin or his parents' sin.  Hopefully, we shudder at that notion, but it wasn't that long ago, (think--the beginning of the AIDS epidemic), that people actually spoke that way.  PAYG asks if there are still groups we may feel "deserve" the malady that befalls them.  Yikes, that!  But, honestly, do we believe the unemployed are lazy? Do we believe the poor deserve to be poor? Do we believe those on death row are reaping as they sowed? Ultimately, in the words of Pope Francis, who are we to judge? It is not up to us to determine the worth and value of each person, but it is up to us to love each person like Jesus loved.  Let's take an honest look at our own prejudices and pray we can value each life God has created.  Love, heidi

PS: I will be away a few days, so blessings and all good to everyone!

Can you hear me now?

"Samuel answered, 'Speak, for your servant is listening.'"

1 Samuel 3:10

 

On Pray-As-You-Go this morning, they say that God speaks to us, too, just like to Samuel.  Samuel needed Eli's help to recognize God's voice and we may need some help as well.  When I think back to times I really felt I heard God speaking, there were some things I had to discern to know, for sure, it was God. 

First, am I familiar enough with God to recognize words that really just sound like God? Has God said something similar in scripture or to someone else, like one of the mystics or saints?  God's words are life-giving, loving, sustaining.  Am I close enough in relationship with God so God's words are familiar, recognizable? Second, it seems like I hear God better if I am off on my own--on retreat, or on a Quiet Day, or driving in silence.  It's not that God doesn't call at other times, maybe it's just easier to hear when I'm quiet! Third, God says stuff I know, deep down, but still may be difficult to hear.  Like "You can do better at this." It may be hard to hear at the time, but I certainly know God is right on.  And finally, I have always felt the most loving kindness and affection in God's words.  Even while hearing the hard stuff, I feel completely embraced by love while hearing it.  I never feel scolded (even though I deserve to be), but I feel cradled in love and gently encouraged to try harder.  So, let's pay close attention to the words we hear this day...do they sound like God? Are we listening? Love, heidi

With "authority"

"The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes."

Mark 1:22

 

This is so interesting to me today.  As I prayed with it, I wondered what that "authority" looked like.  I read back a few days in Richard Rohr and he says that Jesus specifically taught with scriptures that were inclusive, emphasizing mercy and honesty.  That was a marked change from the scribes as they taught more exclusively and in a more "you're in, you're out" way.  Jesus was reaching out to those on the fringe and scooping them in.  The man with the unclean spirit in this Gospel would have been shunned and avoided by those in charge, ushered to the door and bid never to return. But Jesus  reaches out, heals him and restores him.  On Pray-As-You-Go, they point out that Jesus backs up his teaching with actions, which is another way of showing authority.  Not just empty words come from Jesus, but words AND a demonstration of how it's done.  So what about us on our winter Tuesday? Are our words inclusive? Do we speak with mercy, honesty and reach out to all? Are our words supported by our actions? Do we walk the talk? Let's ask for the grace to say yes!  Love, heidi