“God’s will for you is Godself. When you, in the freedom of your will, want nothing but what God wills—that is, you live by and for the ever-deepening consummation of this union in love—then these two wills are united in love.”
James Finley, Daily Meditation 10/12/17
It took me a few times reading this, and then a little while praying with it, before I said, Well, maybe. OK. I have always felt God appreciated my suggestions for how my life should unfold. I'm the one living this life, spinning around on this planet. But, as I’ve grown in faith, I can see two things: First, I recognize that the deepest desires of my heart were actually placed there by God. My desires for what I think may be my will, are actually God's will for me. God doesn't want us unhappy doing God's will! The second thing is that God has better ideas than I could even dream up. God has surprised me so many times, just by pulling a rabbit out of a hat. I’m awed by just the idea of wanting nothing but God’s will for my life, but, thankfully, as I grow spiritually, the two wills are closer than they may appear. Love, heidi
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Travel lightly...
"Lose your money for relative or friend; do not hide it under a stone to rot. Dispose of your treasure according to the commandments of the Most High, and that will profit you more than the gold. Store up almsgiving in your treasury, and it will save you from every evil."
Sirach 29:10-13
A wise friend pointed out that this seems to be our journey at this point in our lives. I sure feel the urge (a rather urgent urge, too) to let go of material possessions. Today's Gospel (Luke 12:35-38) has Jesus telling us to ready ourselves for the master's return. We sure don't want to be wrestling stuff out of the crawl space when that time comes, do we? We are asked to travel lightly on this planet; carry little and leave only footprints behind. And yet, the message of the commerce-driven world is "Buy, buy, buy!" Since I have been more and more aware of this recently, the ads I hear ring particularly objectionable. "You save 10% if you spend over $100!" Dearest God, forgive us! Help us to dispose of our treasure to benefit others. May our letting go fill the pockets of those in need. May we grow to share, not just from our surplus, but even what we're using right now. If I have two, help me to give one away...and, at that, help me to part with the one if someone else needs it. Love, heidi
Sirach 29:10-13
A wise friend pointed out that this seems to be our journey at this point in our lives. I sure feel the urge (a rather urgent urge, too) to let go of material possessions. Today's Gospel (Luke 12:35-38) has Jesus telling us to ready ourselves for the master's return. We sure don't want to be wrestling stuff out of the crawl space when that time comes, do we? We are asked to travel lightly on this planet; carry little and leave only footprints behind. And yet, the message of the commerce-driven world is "Buy, buy, buy!" Since I have been more and more aware of this recently, the ads I hear ring particularly objectionable. "You save 10% if you spend over $100!" Dearest God, forgive us! Help us to dispose of our treasure to benefit others. May our letting go fill the pockets of those in need. May we grow to share, not just from our surplus, but even what we're using right now. If I have two, help me to give one away...and, at that, help me to part with the one if someone else needs it. Love, heidi
Monday, October 23, 2017
Mind the gap!
"Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."
Matthew 22:21
I usually just pay attention to the first part of Jesus' statement here--give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. But as I reflected on this Gospel, I paid more attention to the second part--about paying to God what belongs to God. I wondered, What belongs to God? What does God want from me? I've been getting rid of a lot of stuff lately; is that what God wants? My mother's china? In the Franciscan Way course I'm taking online the answer is spelled out beautifully. God desires that we see all living things with God's eyes of love. God wants us to close the gap between ourselves and all living things...we are all One. So when I revisited what God wants from me it was fairly clear, though not easy. God wants me to close the gap with others, especially those with whom I disagree or with whom I may struggle. I thought of that expression in the UK around the public trains, "Mind the gap!" I decided to make it a little mantra, reminding me that my differences with others are in my own mind. In God's eyes, we are all loved and treasured beyond our own imaginations. We are all creations of the Living God, who loves every cell ever created. Love, heidi
Matthew 22:21
I usually just pay attention to the first part of Jesus' statement here--give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. But as I reflected on this Gospel, I paid more attention to the second part--about paying to God what belongs to God. I wondered, What belongs to God? What does God want from me? I've been getting rid of a lot of stuff lately; is that what God wants? My mother's china? In the Franciscan Way course I'm taking online the answer is spelled out beautifully. God desires that we see all living things with God's eyes of love. God wants us to close the gap between ourselves and all living things...we are all One. So when I revisited what God wants from me it was fairly clear, though not easy. God wants me to close the gap with others, especially those with whom I disagree or with whom I may struggle. I thought of that expression in the UK around the public trains, "Mind the gap!" I decided to make it a little mantra, reminding me that my differences with others are in my own mind. In God's eyes, we are all loved and treasured beyond our own imaginations. We are all creations of the Living God, who loves every cell ever created. Love, heidi
Friday, October 20, 2017
Look for grace...
"What if God's grace had a bright face and chased us around the block?"
Fr. Guerric DeBona, Give Us This Day
So there's a fun image to get us through our Friday! We can't as much see God's grace as we feel it, at least that's the way with me. I can feel the warmth of the Spirit flowing through me at times, but seeing God's grace seems abstract. Unless we remember that seeing any goodness at all is seeing God's grace. Just yesterday I watched a school crossing guard at a busy intersection. The care with which she shepherded her little charges seemed grace-filled to me. I experienced a moment of grace when I reached out to a coworker who gently, kindly explained why my braille-writer wasn't working--operator error. Even the harried UPS guy who came flying in at the bitter end of the day, when it seemed all hope of him arriving in time, was lost. Grace. We once heard, in a homily, that grace is our next breath. We can certainly take that in and feel it, but let's actually look for the bright face of grace in our autumn weekend, Friends! We will see it when we see anything that looks like love. Love, heidi
Fr. Guerric DeBona, Give Us This Day
So there's a fun image to get us through our Friday! We can't as much see God's grace as we feel it, at least that's the way with me. I can feel the warmth of the Spirit flowing through me at times, but seeing God's grace seems abstract. Unless we remember that seeing any goodness at all is seeing God's grace. Just yesterday I watched a school crossing guard at a busy intersection. The care with which she shepherded her little charges seemed grace-filled to me. I experienced a moment of grace when I reached out to a coworker who gently, kindly explained why my braille-writer wasn't working--operator error. Even the harried UPS guy who came flying in at the bitter end of the day, when it seemed all hope of him arriving in time, was lost. Grace. We once heard, in a homily, that grace is our next breath. We can certainly take that in and feel it, but let's actually look for the bright face of grace in our autumn weekend, Friends! We will see it when we see anything that looks like love. Love, heidi
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Roll up your sleeves!
"It is not enough for a Christian to condemn evil, cowardice, lies, and use of force, hatred, and oppression. He must at all times be a witness to and defender of justice, goodness, truth, freedom, and love..."
Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko, as quoted in Give Us This Day
A martyr in our own day, Fr. Jerzy died for the cause of solidarity in Poland in 1984. Over thirty years ago, but yet the cause of suffering with the oppressed lives on this very day. If one of us on this planet is oppressed for any reason, we all are. If one of us is bullied, maligned, turned away when seeking help, refused medical treatment, tricked, abused, ignored in our need, we all are. If one of us suffers due to race, creed, sexual orientation, national origin, we all should be feeling that pain. We are one human family, united under a loving God, who relies on us to minister to each other. There is goodness in this world, but things seem so difficult right now with the negative blaring of division from places of power. Lord, please help us to speak truth to power and help us to roll up our sleeves and help those among us who suffer. Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko, pray for us! Love, heidi
Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko, as quoted in Give Us This Day
A martyr in our own day, Fr. Jerzy died for the cause of solidarity in Poland in 1984. Over thirty years ago, but yet the cause of suffering with the oppressed lives on this very day. If one of us on this planet is oppressed for any reason, we all are. If one of us is bullied, maligned, turned away when seeking help, refused medical treatment, tricked, abused, ignored in our need, we all are. If one of us suffers due to race, creed, sexual orientation, national origin, we all should be feeling that pain. We are one human family, united under a loving God, who relies on us to minister to each other. There is goodness in this world, but things seem so difficult right now with the negative blaring of division from places of power. Lord, please help us to speak truth to power and help us to roll up our sleeves and help those among us who suffer. Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko, pray for us! Love, heidi
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Clean the whole cup!
"Give for alms those things that are within and see, everything will be clean for you."
Luke 11:41
Wow, I was surprised this morning, at the difference between this verse in the Pray-As-You-Go version (UK) and the US version: "But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you." The UK version seems to imply that we can give from our inner selves, letting go of our anger or our tendency to judge others, and thereby clean our insides. While the US version seems open to our giving alms from our physical wealth. This is fascinating to me, Friends! I think we can cover all our bases and take a both/and approach. Let's think about what within we can let go of to clean ourselves from the inside--any grudges, bitterness or lack of forgiveness? And we can also see so much need in our hurting world for our physical wealth. What can we share with others? Let's ponder how we can clean our insides and outsides, both, it seems, require a letting go... Love, heidi
Luke 11:41
Wow, I was surprised this morning, at the difference between this verse in the Pray-As-You-Go version (UK) and the US version: "But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you." The UK version seems to imply that we can give from our inner selves, letting go of our anger or our tendency to judge others, and thereby clean our insides. While the US version seems open to our giving alms from our physical wealth. This is fascinating to me, Friends! I think we can cover all our bases and take a both/and approach. Let's think about what within we can let go of to clean ourselves from the inside--any grudges, bitterness or lack of forgiveness? And we can also see so much need in our hurting world for our physical wealth. What can we share with others? Let's ponder how we can clean our insides and outsides, both, it seems, require a letting go... Love, heidi
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