Help me to show it!

"Jesus, your name has been on my lips since I was a young and innocent child. Now these many years since first we met I understand you are more than a name. To know you is to allow your teachings to reach into the core of my daily life, to have your vision be the vital substance of what truly guides and rules how I live. How easy to bend the knee to your name but how difficult it is to bend the heart."

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

 

If I had a fraction of Sr. Joyce's gifts and abilities, I could have written the reflection above, for I feel so much the same way.  It is so much easier to know who Jesus is than to live like Jesus! Knowing Jesus must show in our actions, not merely our words.  Even the demons in scripture knew who Jesus was--they often identified him.  But, living like Jesus, changing our daily behavior to reflect Jesus, now, that is a whole new ballgame.  Lord, I know you and love you...that's the easy part. Please help me to show it!  Love, heidi

Experience God

"The essential human desire is to experience God."

Msgr. Stephen J. Rossetti, "Living Faith"

 

And that, dear Friends, is the Journey.  All our lives we desire to experience God and we seek situations and events that give us that experience.  We may run from pillar to post, from one retreat to another, one book to another, all to experience God.  And why? Because we have experienced God and we loved it.  We can list the times we have felt God's presence--like the birth of a baby, or a physical healing; other moments of intense joy.  We recognize God in those times and we like what we see...we want more.  In today's Gospel (Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25), we read, "(Jesus) went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness..." (v. 23)  We think, "Lucky those people! They got to experience Jesus first-hand!"  But, in our lives, we can experience Jesus first-hand, too.  We just may have to be a bit more awake and aware to recognize him.  The people of Jesus' time didn't recognize him, either, even though he was right there, preaching and healing.  And we face the same thing today.  We desire to experience God, but we still may find God illusive.  If we truly believe that God is in all things, all people, all experiences, then all we need to do is look harder, with open eyes and hearts.  Let's be especially aware today for how we experience God in our winter Monday.  By the end of today, let's spend some quiet time with Jesus and write down all the times we saw him in our day.  Love, heidi

Be hospitable!

"And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart."

Luke 2:19

 

I am still reflecting on the many beautiful lessons I have learned throughout this amazing Season! During our Christmas homily, we learned that we must make room for Jesus in the "inn" of our own hearts.  Then, on the Feast of the Holy Family, we learned that, in addition to making room, we must nourish the Jesus within.  It's not enough just to make room, we must nourish and be hospitable to Jesus, just as we are hospitable to guests in our homes.  I thought about this quite a bit and came up with ways we can be hospitable to Jesus, our most Precious Guest.  First, we need to spend time with Jesus.  We don't invite people over to our homes and then ignore them by watching TV or playing on the computer do we?  Let's try to spend quality time by giving full attention to Jesus in prayer each day.  Second, we need to learn about our Guest so we can converse more easily.  We can do this by reading Jesus' own words in the Gospels and other spiritual writings.  Let's strive to get to know Jesus better by studying what he said.  And finally, (I love lessons in threes, don't you?)  when Jesus tells us to do something, let's do it!  When we invite someone in and they have good, practical suggestions for us, we pay attention to them.  Jesus gives us all we need to know to live doing God's will.  Let's try to do it!  So, to sum it all up:  we invite Jesus in, we make room for Jesus in our lives, and we are hospitable hosts, loving and learning from our Guest.  Sounds easy, right?  Love, heidi

Sing a NEW song!

"Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all you lands."

Psalm 96:1

 

I'm not big on New Year's resolutions...they usually end up being discarded by mid-January (with the exception of my resolution to be better about recycling in 2006, which I am still keeping!) But, I do love that starting-over feeling of a brand new year and the idea of trying to improve something. In reflecting on this, as I look ahead, I came up with three things to work on throughout the new year.  First of all, I will try to live more simply.  I know, I know, I've said that before! But this time, I may inch forward a bit more.  The less I have, the less I have to keep track of and think about.  "Tis a gift to be simple..." Will try to do better in '14.  Second, I want to be more giving.  This goes hand-in-hand with the first one.  The more simply I live, the more I can share with others.  Pope Francis is such an inspiration in urging us to share with the poor and those who have so much less.  Nothing is really just ours...it is only ours to share.  And finally, I desire to be more devoted to prayer, study and just spending time with Jesus.  It is so important to me to spend time in solitude and silence, but I can get so distracted and some of that valuable time gets frittered away.  So there you have it...with the grace of God, 2014 will be a year of simplicity, sharing with others and devotion to Jesus.  What new song will you be singing in 2014?  Love, heidi

Oh, several people have asked to see a picture of the quilt from yesterday's Daily...just scroll down to yesterday's post!

An Advent gift

"And be thankful."

Colossians 3:15

 

I can finally share my most precious Advent blessing, now that the gift has been given!  My dear friend Nancy suggested I make a tee shirt quilt for daughter Sam...out of all the old tee shirts she left behind.  There was a drawer-full of tee shirts from blind camp, deanery camp, even from working at Kohl's those many years.  There were plenty of tee shirts that had never made it to Boise in four years.  They were basically discarded in the drawer.  Nancy was patient and generous with her help, since I don't sew and knew nothing of how to turn these rejected shirts into something precious.  And I truly believe God helped too.  Whenever I messed up a shirt and needed another one, there was another in the drawer!  The result was a quilt and Sam said she remembered each shirt, each event, or time in her life. How fun!  The lesson for me, throughout Advent and the time spent working on this quilt was this:  Nothing is discarded by God.  No matter what, God can turn anything, seemingly unwanted, into something lovely.  And second, God uses our human hands to do it.  No matter how unskilled we are--God still uses our inept hands to make something beautiful out of something discarded. There are no rejects in God's world...we all have the potential and the ability to love and be loved.  Isn't that a magnificent Advent gift?  Blessings on your continued Christmas celebration! Love, heidi

Make room!

"She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."

Luke 2:7

 

We had a wonderful homily on Christmas about making room for Jesus in our own personal "inn." And, I am here to say, that making room for Jesus--even a tiny little space--will change our lives...for the better.  There were a couple of instances over the last several days when I felt one way, and, thankfully was able to act another, thanks to Jesus residing in my inn.  Making room for Jesus can help us to act less selfishly, more thoughtfully.  Making room for Jesus can help us to get over silly annoyances and make more room for kindness.  Making room for Jesus can help us decide to choose the better part, instead of sitting back and letting others do everything.  So, let's spend some time thinking about how we can make room for Jesus in the "inns" of our own hearts.  And then, watch out!  We will be changed...for the better!  Continued blessings on your Christmas!  Love, heidi