Faith

Monday's Gospel from the Daily Office was Mark 5:21-43. I love this story of the woman who has been bleeding for 12 years (twelve years!!!), and just wants to get close to Jesus. She knows he can heal her. She doesn't even think she has to be touched by him, she just needs to touch his clothes. In the midst of the crowd she does not give up on what she needs.

Her faith, Jesus says, is what heals her. "Go in peace." She believed in Jesus.

So, today amid these days of social distancing and isolation, I am asking myself, and I'm asking you,

do you believe in Jesus? 

I believe Jesus walks with us, always. We only need to look & listen.
I believe Jesus hears us. We only need to ask.
I believe Jesus has laid a plan for us. We only need to be open.

I don't know what our lives will look like next week, in two weeks, in a month ~ but this I know for sure.

Jesus is with us. Jesus hears us. Jesus has laid plans for us.

Have faith and believe.

Go and stay in peace.

below is a meditation for you...

CROWDS, PEACE

a meditation of Jesus in Mark 5:28-34

March 28, 2018

crowds, always crowds

   people pressing all around

fear, confusion

demands

everyone wants something,

          a piece of me

how can I give to them all?

Father, how can I do this?

      jostled,

pushing and shoving

     hot

  peter & james & andrew & all

          trying to protect me

So hard to move

O Lord, it’s too much

What happened?

     I felt it; someone

                    someone        someone

someone        in this crowd

   just one person

only that one

     Where?

         Where?

              Where?

looking all around

          Who?

Who touched my clothes?

   still here

now I’m the one searching

Who touched my clothes?

the crowd parting, stopping

                    a woman

yes, Her, there,   O my child

       no, no, everything is all right

          sshhh…………

       don’t worry so

I am here,

          I will always be here

your Faith touched me

       & my power has healed you

Peace

     Go in peace

you are healed by your Faith         free

      you will always have me with you

I was here in this crowd today

   for you

I will meet you where you are

just reach out

                    reach for me

                               reach for me

I will hold you, I will heal you,

     I will save you,

I will give you Peace

STAND

I've chosen a word of the year for at least two years. It's a touchstone, a guide post, for the year. A word I refer to almost daily. It is less specific than goals and resolutions, but something much more. In choosing the word, I start by writing a list of possible words, adding to it when something comes to mind. I ponder them and pray over them, always seeking God's guidance.

Last week I thought I'd "ask the Googles" (as my friend says), for suggestions, so I entered "one word 2020." The first search result was for a quiz. I'm sort of a sucker for quizzes, so I went for it. The site was dayspring.com ~ which, turns out, is a Christian website (insert knowing look here). This is from their website:

Dayspring ~ Live your faith

We're here to help you to know and share the life-changing message of God's love.

I took their 7 question quiz and the result was that my word for 2020 is STAND. Once I saw that, I immediately knew that it was right. I wasn't sure what it meant; I'm still not exactly sure what it will mean throughout 2020. But God certainly knows.

STAND...

strong, for, against, with, up, down, fast, apart, in love, in peace, in faith

...the possibilities are endless. 

After getting my word, I had the strongest urge to reach out to one of my friends and tell her about this experience and my word. I couldn't figure out why I had the feeling I should do this. We are Facebook friends, in a group of wonderful photographers, and I've never met her in person. But the feeling persisted, so I messaged her this story and my word. Her reply was "Sounds like you'll be 'standing on the promises of God' in 2020. Which, by the way, I found out a few days later, is an old hymn. Whatever other words will follow STAND for me in 2020, they can't be any better than those six ~ standing on the promises of God.

So, unexpectedly, technology had a big part in finding my word for 2020. While it can be a curse, the technology to reach others and find community can have great benefits and blessings. Here's hoping that your 2020 will be a year full of God's goodness for you. May you know all of God's promises.

Click on this photo to see some of God's promises to us on the lower step

Oh, here's just another example of the "rightness" of this ~ Dayspring sells books and journals, including Promises from God's Heart - A Bible Promise Journal. And, yep, I bought one!

PS - Click here for the Dayspring Your Word 2020 quiz in case you want to try it!

Unscheduled

From the God Speaks Daily Inspiration December 19, 2019

               Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
                    -Matthew 25:13

Just before this admonition in Matthew, we hear the parable of the ten bridesmaids. They are waiting for the groom to arrive so the wedding banquet can begin. Some of them didn't bring enough oil for their lamps, so when they had to wait they were in danger of the lamps going out (guess they didn't write "bring extra oil" on their to-do list). Others came prepared with enough oil to last. When the groom was coming, those "foolish" girls with no oil asked the "wise" ones to share, but no way. So they went to buy more; and in doing so they were shut out of the banquet. And the groom tells them, "Keep awake therefore, for you know neither day nor the hour."

The season of Advent is one of looking forward. Looking to the manger. Looking to the Savior. In our world, the baby Jesus arrives December 25th. On schedule, every year, without fail. And we celebrate. We schedule our celebrations beginning in November. We have lists of things to do, things to make, things to buy, places to go, people to see, meals to prepare, and we schedule all those things into our days. We know the days and the hours. Believe me, I understand ~ I'm right in it too.

With our phones, computers, apps, reminders, digital calendars, & paper planners, we live lives scheduled by the day, hour, and sometimes minute. When was the last time you had an unscheduled day? One where there was nothing in the little calendar square for that day? When was the last time something wonderful happened that was unscheduled? Perhaps a little surprising? Are you prepared to notice those moments when they occur?

The unscheduled moments are the ones we should be looking and waiting for. Keeping our eyes, heart, & soul open and aware. Those moments are how God sends us reminders that the world is majestic and beautiful and magical, and that we are loved and valued and created to be all that God has planned for us to be. We must remain awake and prepared or those moments pass us by and we are shut out of all the goodness that awaits.

An unscheduled visit ~
juvenile red-tail hawk on the veranda railing

Rescue me, Lord

From the God Speaks Daily Inspiration September 6, 2019

I entrust my spirit into your hand.
   Rescue me, Lord, for you are a faithful God.
-Psalm 31:5   (NLT)

Entrust = trust = letting go. Oh how we humans hold onto all manner of things. To entrust my spirit to God, I must be willing and able to let go and to listen. As a friend often puts it, "it's the ego again." The call here is to let go of our egos; our need to control; our thinking that we know best. God is there, just waiting for us to trust and entrust our lives to the plan God has for us. A leap of faith, yes! But, oh, how hard that can be.

Turning our lives over to God, for me, seems easier done in times of doubt, of trouble, of crisis, of despair. But when all is going well... a beautiful sunrise, the dog hasn't peed in the house,  a phone call with a good friend ~ then the question becomes can I pray & believe & trust with the same desperation? When I don't feel the immediate need to be rescued? Or do I let my ego run away with itself and believe I am in control? The psalmist says if we trust and entrust always to God, our lives will be more full; for God is faithful.

To move from ego/control to trusting,  I can offer thanks and gratitude to God for all I am and all that I have - for it is all a gift. And through this thankfulness and gratitude, I acknowledge that God is above all things. God knows all the animals of the fields; all the fish in the sea, all the birds of the sky; God knows each and every one of us. God has a plan for me, for you, for us, for all his children. Trust and entrust and listen.

listening for God's call on a breath of wind

In my prayer group, we read St. Ciaran and the Dream for our meditation. His phrase

swallows singing praises, saying here

was the focal point of my reflection time.
Here is where God led me:


not swallows but sparrows, little birds - now
flocks of them by the house
mama feeding youngster in the tree
9 on the star pine - top 2 branches
lots & lots on the wires yesterday & today
always hearing their song - morning,
          afternoon, evening
they fly free, singing their joy in the day
going where they are drawn
          by the wind, by the sun
while we are tethered to the earth
with feet firmly planted
hearts grounded in our places
our souls looking, longing to be with
     the sparrows
listening for God's call on
     a breath of wind
drawing us closer and closer to
where, we too, break into joyful song
finally free

Note: my last line echos the last line of St. Ciaran and the Dream

Fly

There's a hummingbird that has been visiting us recently. For the last couple of weeks, she comes to the lemon tree near our family room in the evening. Flying around the tree, checking all the little flowers for nectar, she hangs out for a while. Then she will look directly into the window at us, and just hover there for a few seconds. Almost as if she's checking in to see what we are doing. We often see hummingbirds at our feeder, but never before like this one. We look for her every evening, and we feel as if a friend has come to visit.

I'm reminded of something that happened last year. My beloved Aunt Margaret passed away in June. Her memorial service was held on July 26, 2018 in Toledo, OH. It was a beautiful service, full of music and memories. Afterwards, one of the women from the church told me that during the service a hummingbird flew right up to the glass door and hovered there, looking in. In fact, this hummingbird really startled the woman, because she said she had the feeling that the little bird knew what was happening inside and wanted to come in.

One of the things my Aunt and I shared was our faith. Our belief in Jesus. Faith and belief and hope that there is something beyond this life ~ the everlasting life promised through Jesus. While we have no idea what that life looks like, I'm betting it looks a bit like a beautiful hummingbird. Flying free wherever the Spirit leads, visiting friends & loved ones.

Breaking Point

Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 

John 3:17

Mary Oliver writes:
Is the soul solid, like iron?
Or is it tender and breakable, like
the wings of a moth in the beak of an owl?
   -from Some Questions You Might Ask

We used this scripture and Mary Oliver poem in my contemplative prayer group recently. In this group, we listen a total of four times - first to hear; then for a word or phrase that speaks; then for a feeling that comes; finally, spending time in reflection. For this scripture and poem, my word was "breakable." Which led me to the question, "What is my breaking point?"

Science offers us lots about breaking points, melting points, boiling points. Scientific, specific, and static. Breaking point of iron; melting point of ice. But us humans?

There are no specifics on the breaking point for the human soul and spirit. We can be stretched to unbelievable dimensions without breaking. And return to ourselves ~ changed but the same. I think about a piece of string. I hold it between my hands and pull ... and pull ... and pull. If I keep pulling it will break. But if I release it, it is saved.

Through the trials and tribulations of my life: broken relationships; the death of my mother when I was 24; losing my dad, my in-laws, my aunt; my husband's cancer & treatment; being sued by a neighbor ~ through all these things, past and to come, my soul and my spirit has been stretched. At each I have wondered, "Is this my breaking point?"

Like the string, we may reach a point where the soul has stretched & stretched & stretched until it is taut and the tension is unbearable. At this point - this tension moment - we can choose: to release it all to God, being saved and brought back to ourselves. Or we can hold onto control in the false belief that we can save ourselves. And we will be lost and broken.

Saving and redemption and life come through and belong to God. God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit. God the healer. Help me to let go of control and to trust.