Prayer, the Work of Believers

Posted on May 19, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

A worker on a Boston building

Good Morning, God!

I’m off to work for the morning at the Library. I love working with the library committee and residents who have become such dear friends. How GOOD it is to work together on meaningful projects. How I wish EVERYONE could have meaningful work to do.

Before I go to work, I’m going to pray with our Wednesday Morning Women’s Prayer Group. I love praying together with these women who have become more than friends — or perhaps it is a “special kind” of friend. How I wish that everyone had people to pray with — not rote prayers — but full-hearted, truthful and REAL prayers.

How is it God that the church has not been busy encouraging this? Indeed, it seems to me that the church (not ours, of course) has instead focused on prayer as PRIVATE ONLY. Or, if it is corporate prayer — we either say the written prayer or listen to a prayer by a professional. Now, I really love “professional prayers”. They are lovely and very much appreciated. I am not complaining about what we do. I am grieved by what we (as the Body of Christ) DON’T DO! Surely, prayer is the WORK of all Believers?

Yes, God. I understand that it takes time and confidentiality for enough trust to develop so that people can pray real prayers together. I mean the “I’m in pain. Help me!” prayers. But, surely opportunities should be lifted up? Surely invitations should be extended and groups formed?

Hmmm. Do I hear You asking “Who have you asked to join you, recently?” Good point, God. I give You my discouragement when people don’t come. Help me to ASK! Oh! You just reminded me how embarrassed I was the first time I was in a group where I “had” to pray extemporaneously OUTLOUD. I remember that. Thank YOU!

Posted in being heard into speaking, being together in a compassionate presence, meaningful work, Prayer, Praying together extemporaneously

Blossoms, and Blooming — Tulips and Humans

Posted on May 18, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

A bed of tulips in a Dublin park

Good Morning, God!

I’m back to flowers! “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, the toil not, neither do they spin . . .”

Jesus was pointing out our concern for clothing — saying that You clothe the flowers better than even King Solomon was dressed.

All part of the DO NOT BE ANXIOUS admonitions which I appreciate. Still, as always, it seems to be a BALANCE among diverse virtues. We are to consider the costs before beginning to build — certainly good advice. And SIX DAYS we are to WORK, so it isn’t a matter of “toiling not” like the flowers. Perhaps it is more a matter of our being WILLING to grow and bloom?

I cannot look at these tulips without smiling.

Looking into the hearts of tulips?

They are doing what they are designed to do — BLOOMING — and it brings me great joy to see them. Hmmm. A tulip KNOWS what it is designed to do. And when it is given half a chance it will fulfill its design. We humans have a RICHER and more COMPLEX set of designs. That gives us so many options, but maybe too many? Or maybe conflicting options?

Certainly, for women the design question is complex. (I was going to say fraught with peril, but that seemed a little strong.) Hard to manage? Women are designed to have and care for children. At the same time we are intelligent humans who want to use our full gifting. How good it would be, God, if each one of us humans was given half a chance to use our FULL GIFTINGS!

Well, it would be wonderful! But two thoughts leap up. The first is the obvious one that each of us has to make choices from among WAY TOO MANY giftings. The second, and perhaps key thought, is this. What we DO is not as important as the Attitude of the Heart with which we do it. You Do look upon our hearts. And I sense that a Heart that TRUSTS You and offers up the Gift of Praise makes You smile.

Posted in Balancing and adjustments, choices, gifts and giftings, Praise, Trusting God

Flowing SLOWLY into God’s Time

Posted on May 17, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

A stream in Glendalough, Ireland

Thank You God!

This is what my Sabbath Day was like, yesterday. It was like a slowly flowing stream — calm, relaxed, refreshing itself. The magic word seems to be S L O W.

I confess, God, that I have spent many years addicted to my own adrenaline. I loved that last minute for that surge of adrenaline. Nature’s own cocaine? Part of the Superman motif. I was born around the time Superman was created — FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET! I’m smiling, God. That was before jet planes — before rockets orbiting earth — before Voyager II swept off past the solar system.

Oops! Sorry, God. You were asking What did I LEARN? I learned how slow and easy gets more done than fast and frantic. I didn’t MEAN to get anything DONE! It just sort of effortlessly happened. Almost easier to flow in and through it that to set it aside. How ODD.

Oh. Being connected with YOU was my goal. You helped me when I put You first. And I guess I must have put You first as I hardly remember what stuff got done. It was truly secondary.

Now You seem to be smiling! Smiling at my surprise at Your Delight in Helping — once I get out of Your Way. I really want to remember this, God! I want to continue putting You First! And I want to go slow — slowing down to enter Kairos — to enter Your Time.

Posted in A weekly day of rest, Abundant Life, God wants to nourishes us, God's gifts, God's Time, responding to God's Spirit

Protect me from my Busyness, Please!

Posted on May 16, 2010 by a moment with god — 1 Comment

the doorway IN to St. Kevin's cell in Glendalough, Ireland

Good Morning God,

I just had this lovely thought. This “cell” wasn’t so much to keep St. Kevin IN as it was to keep the world OUT. And it is the same with the Sabbath Day.

It is designed to PROTECT US. . . NOT CONSTRICT US.

How very sad that the orthodox church twisted the intent. Indeed, God, how sad it is that organized religions so often get off track.

This morning’s 7:00 a.m. service at Central Union celebrated the ascension of Christ. I was thinking, God, about how REALLY HARD it is for You (even YOU) to change long standing expectations. Because, there in the first chapter of Acts the disciples are asking Jesus about WHEN IS YOUR KINGDOM [on earth] TO BE ESTABLISHED? They were still thinking You were going to replace Rome with . . . ?

And, I am quite sure that I have long standing cultural expectations that keep me from Your Path. Certainly, a lot of those have to do with the whole idea of the Sabbath. Six days shall you WORK and on the seven day you shall do no work. You shall rest. That seems clear enough. But, my lawyer mind asks (not unreasonably) WHAT IS WORK? And what is REST? And all of this was muddied by the kill joys who outlawed dancing and card playing and everything but smiling.

In this Ultra Busy world of 24/7 we are especially hard pressed to refrain from work and to rest.

OK. For me, this morning, I hear. GO SLOW. Yes, I can play at clearing my desk — but not actually working on the stuff lurking on it. I can make my home look pretty! Interesting point about PRETTY.

And, perchance, I might want to list the nudges I am hearing — have heard — from You and consider doing them as WORSHIP TIME. Ah, worship as in Entering into Your Time . . .

And now, down to a leisurely breakfast with Kit. ALL PRAISES BE TO YOU, GOD. You who want to give us Life Abundant.

Posted in A weekly day of rest, Abundant Life, accepting my authority to set limits, accepting my need for help, being a Slow Learner, busy, relaxation, Sabbath as PLAY, sabbath rest

Connections over Time and Space and a Call to TURN

Posted on May 15, 2010 by a moment with god — 1 Comment

silhouette of a celtic cross in the monastery grounds at Glendalough, Ireland

Good Morning God,

I must confess I was going to post a photo of flowers and chat about how I wanted to buy some flowers for my car port garden. But my heart is full of Our Need for HEALING.

Hmm. Are You asking if there is also a DESIRE for Healing? I feel as if You are pointing out that mostly our idea of healing is that we should just not hurt.

Well, yes. Not hurting — not being in pain — that’s a good start, God.

Only, not hurting — not feeling pain and thus not noticing problems — is part of why diabetics let foot infections go too far. Paul Brand, a hand surgeon and leprosy specialist, wrote a book about the usefulness of pain. It’s called, Pain: the Gift Nobody Wants.

And in leprosy — having the nerves to the extremities die — the patient can’t feel pain enough to protect him or herself. Sigh. O.K. God, pain isn’t the problem — pain is the symptom.

And pain isn’t just of the Body, it is also of the Heart. True Prayer is for the Mind to descend into the Heart and there behold the Face of God. So, help me here, God. What sort of healing DO we need?

Boy, this is HARD, God! I wish I’d gone for the flowers. OK . . . OK: we need to be healed of the idea that we are ONE PERSON — able to do just what we want — with no responsibilities toward YOU, or Family or Community, or Cosmos.

“To those much has been given, from them much is required.” Only, I am pretty sure You are taking this verse UP several notches. I hear vague whispers about INTERCONNECTEDNESS.

A CALL TO TURN?

Posted in a prayer for healing, asking for and accepting forgiveness, connecting, connections, Heal Us Now, healing, Prayer, responsibility, Uncategorized

Rest, Rejoicing, and Colored Celtic Crosses

Posted on May 14, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

St. Kevin's cell area in Glendalough, Ireland (Glendaloch is how it sounds)

Good Day, God!

Time Zones have caught up with me. Yesterday I was rushing out of the house when I heard Diana’s voice calling. I FORGOT it was Thursday with my standing 6:30 a.m. walk date with her. That was distressing!

Perhaps I picked this photo for its very high relaxation quotient. I notice that I now tend to drive the most relaxing route. Yesterday I rejected making a left turn on to Kalanianaole and drove through the shopping center parking lot. Smart. Especially smart when my reflexes and brain are somewhere over the Atlantic — maybe next week I’ll be over the Pacific.

Aside from wobbling a bit on the day of the week — I have been productive — without rushing. And, today will be relaxed and pleasant — with time to pray — time to center — to rejoice.

a colored celtic cross -- what they would have looked like

And, thank You God for letting me look back in TIME and see that the crosses in St. Kevin’s cell would have been JOYFUL!

How did we forget that? How did we get the idea that You wanted us to be serious and somber. After all, Jesus was called a wine bibber and a glutton. Not that he was. But, he must have been upsetting that idea.

So, here I am, God! Ready for my day. Help me remember that You made this World and called it GOOD! You made it FULL OF COLOR! Full of colorful people and Full of Kindness.

Praise YOU! Thank You for this GIFT of a New Day!

Help me to use it wisely — and to REJOICE IN IT!

Posted in adjusting, Colors, JOY, recovery time, rejoicing, relaxation, the waiting cross, time

The Irish Pikemen of 1798 and before . . .

Posted on May 13, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

A statue honoring the Pikemen of the rebellion of 1798 in Wexford, Ireland

Good Morning, God!

This statue honoring the pikemen who fought and died in the rebellion of 1798 has stayed in my mind — or should I say it keeps coming up. Standing there, looking at it, I was impressed with the bravery of the farmers going up against armed soldiers with pikes. Then, say a week later, I thought — HOW DUMB WAS THAT! As I confessed, God, my Left Brain was really judgmental.

Then I thought, hmmm, maybe I should read more about this rebellion. Sigh. It was a case of good intentions having the opposite of the effect that was intended. (Jay Forrester’s rule: In a complex system you almost always get the opposite of what you intend.)

The United Irishmen (Catholics and Protestants and Dissenters) was founded in 1791 to remove English control of Irish affairs. They were big fans of the French Revolution — which made the English nervous — and then repressive. It went from bad to worse and the French sent 14,000 soldier to invade Ireland in 1796 but bad weather kept them from landing. That meant MORE vicious suppression and informants and spies everywhere. Most important the rebells had no good way to communicate. Hard to plan a revolt without secure communications.

So, God, there I was JUDGING without full (any?) information. The rural rebellions were meant to be secondary to the rebellion in Dublin. But Dublin didn’t rise. So the rural men were all there was. And the capricious and cruel punishments of ordinary people left the farmers feeling as if they had no options.

Now, God. Are You thinking, where are you going with this? I am. Sigh. I guess making people AFRAID is not a good long term way to get them to do what you want. Except, if you get them to be afraid of someone outside . . .

Will we ever be smart enough to manage to live together in peace — with mutual respect — or at least forbearance? Oh? Not SMART . . . more MATURE! Will we ask for Your Help in becoming Mature?

Will I ASK? Will I RESPOND? Do I even have a good definition of MATURE? Ah, yes, if I listen to You.

Posted in a prayer for healing, asking for help for myself, courage, fears, growing toward up, Humility or Needing Help!, processing on deeper levels, responding to God's Spirit

Lamp poles and Life’s Layers and Mental Maps

Posted on May 12, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Lamp pole in Dublin

Good Day, God!

I love this photo. I love the swirls of the lamp post which seem to say Isn’t THIS FUN! A joyful lamp post? Well, I feel joyful looking at it. Then on the left are the unstructured leafings of the tree’s branches. Perhaps there is a structure there and it just looks random to me because I don’t understand. I am sure that happens a lot!

Another thing I like, God, is the letter in the sky behind the trunk of the pole. It is a reflection from the big letters on the front of the bus, reflected on my window as I take the photo through it. Layer upon layer — I like that.

Yesterday was a good day — after pondering the importance of actually responding to Your Nudges — I actually did that. I had just finished depositing my check when I felt the nudge to call a friend and see if we could get together. There was a brief moment when I thought about all the things I planned to DO upon my return home. They tugged a bit.

But then I called — and amazingly my friend was free. Being RESPONSIVE feels so good, God, that I wonder why I don’t do it more often. Is it that I forget?Or is it that my Mental Map is inadequate?

I am hearing You say that it is OK that my mental map isn’t as good as it is going to get. Remapping is part of living. Just like making “mistakes” is part of living. Life is, in short, a lot of layers piled up and up. And I am trusting YOU, God that it is all right not to understand it all. I’m just to keep on sorting out, digesting and integrating my experiences as best I can.

That is a JOYFUL note on which to start my day! Thanks!

Posted in complexity, JOY, layer upon layer, responding to "nudges", responding to God's Spirit

My Day as a Garden, Earth as God’s Garden

Posted on May 11, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

garden gate in Phoenix Park, Dublin

Good Morning, God!

I am still so thankful — make that THANKFUL — to be home, God. I had 11 hours of sleep the first night home and am functioning pretty well. Back on my “right eating” plan after ENJOYING the whole grain soda bread and the butter of Ireland.

Ah, but home involves VEGETABLES — three every night for dinner. Hard to beat vegetables — I only wish mine were from my own garden. Hmmm. OK, You’re right, God. I would probably only enjoy that if I had a gardener. For all my talk of closeness to the earth — a pot of oregano and pots of palms and anthuriums are pretty much it for me.

Still, there is something so delightful about gardens — walled gardens, especially. I love doors — how much better a garden gate.

It’s fun to think of Each DAY as like a walled garden. We enter it and it is ours. We can plant new activities in it — or perhaps work on weeding out old dead wood — old habits and old thought patterns. I like that idea, God.

And I like the idea that we can walk with You in our garden — Adam and Eve may have been removed — but You still long to commune with us. It isn’t a matter of being Worthy — more a matter of being WILLING.

And I am beginning to understand that means Willing not just in theory but in responsiveness. Letting You guide my eating and my sleeping — and nudging me toward reaching out to affirm my fellow children. You have given me such a good home and such good friends and family. How can I not affirm?

Hmm. Easy enough when I am too busy — think I’ll STOP for a rest! Thank You for inviting us in to Your Garden, Earth.

Posted in appreciation, responding to God's Spirit, responsibility, stopping, thankfulness, Thanksgiving!

The road less taken — to understanding and peace

Posted on May 10, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

a road in Ireland - the road less taken - the road to understanding?

Good Morning, God

We were in Ireland for almost two weeks and I’m still gathering my impressions and thoughts and trying to sort things out.

Right at the moment, God, I’m thinking that there really are always two sides. It is so easy to “take sides” and conclude that This Side or That Side is RIGHT.

Yes, I KNOW that I’ve known that for a long time, God. But I EXPERIENCED it in Ireland. And THAT changes everything. I went over feeling that the Irish had been wronged by the invading English. I guess I was thinking that THEREFORE they were right and the English Imperialists were wrong. I guess I had made that ALL right and ALL wrong.

But, then, just tonight I remembered what Darien, our tour director, had said about how long it was that it was illegal to buy contraceptives in Ireland — at least into the 1970s or was it 1990s?. And I thought, SHOOT, I would have wanted to be part of Great Britain! I would not have wanted to be forced to join Ireland and not be free to exercise my beliefs.

Then too, I realized that I am not nearly as Right Brained as I thought I was. The rebellion of 1798 involved PIKES! Pikes against guns. Who was in charge of THAT ONE! So, I found my Left Brain making judgments — as the Left Brain is so good at doing. Now, it is so easy to leave it there. And I fear most of the time I do.

But our tour director also talked about the months and years of negotiations that both sides had undertaken in Northern Ireland. That’s HARD work. I always think of that as begun by mothers. Indeed, I just read, God, that Betty Williams started a March for Peace after she witnessed the deaths of three children hit by a car driven by an IRA man shot by the police. She and Mairead Corrigan won the Noble Peace Prize for their work in 1976.

Ah, God, help me stop judging and work on understanding. Please, God, take away the certainty that I am ALL RIGHT. And help me not just SEE but FEEL the “other sides”. To HEAR without judging — ah, that is the True Work of the Heart.

Posted in acknowledging another's existence, being together in a compassionate presence, humility, Peace