Good Morning, God!
Nothing like observing YOUR creations to make us humble. A rainbow is always breathtaking . . . and one against sunset lit clouds . . . even more so.
But, humble or not, we ARE made in Your Image, God! Made to create. Finding in ourselves AS we create something deeply satisfying. I remember watching Toshiko Takaezu creating a bowl on a potter’s wheel. It felt as if she were reaching down — into the “Teeming Void” — to pull that bowl up and out into existence. It was a deeply sacred moment.
I was going to riff on the differences between handcrafted items and machine made products — but then I looked over at my new iPhone. I love it. It, too, has been pulled up into existence — designed with care, designed with love. How is it, God, that we recognize this quality?
Sometimes what tips us over into delight as we approach something isn’t even so much aesthetic as it is a small touch of joy. When I saw my car in the dealer’s lot — I saw the SWOOSH on its side — and responded, viscerally, with delight. Actually, I responded that way when I first saw, Kit. Smile!
The sight of these overlapping palm branches stopped me last night. I backed up and took a photo. It’s a jumble, but with an underlying pattern. Discovering — perhaps creating — underlying patterns is part of the creative process, too, God.
You command us to BLESS, BLESS and DO NOT CURSE. You tell us PRAY for those who despitefully use us! I think that is because You want us to know that WE CAN CREATE ENEMIES BY OUR EXPECTATIONS — and by our expectations we can open the door to creating friends, too. Please, HELP us, God, to “overcome evil with good.”
When I was working as a therapist in a small mental hospital everyone suddenly noticed that not one of the teens swore either at me or around me. Perhaps God was giving me a little break.
Than I was asked to work on the drug ward. I was sure the charm would not last. However the same thing happened. We were all surprised as I was the only one that they did not swear at.
So, from across the ward I hear a nurse call to me saying John just swore at me. You can guess where my heart went. I did not know what to do.
I pointed at John and said in a loud voice You come here right now. And he did. I looked up at this 6.3″ football playing drug addict and said NOW YOU SAY THAT IN ENGLISH. He could have chosen not to come to me.
He was my patient so I saw him the next day for therapy and took a big breath and asked him how he felt about calling him over to me. His response wad “No one has ever asked before. Wow.
I think God gave me the insight to know what to say to John and wants me to pass it along.
If you ever have a chance to do that let me know.