Sanctuary of the Soul

On Thursdays at 3 PM I do a small zoom group that I call a "spiritual growth group."  We began meeting last March when the pandemic started and it was a book study and then after we read the book on spiritual practices we have basically just met to do lectio divina.

Two weeks ago I introduced a new book for us to slowly read together - it is Sanctuary of the Soul by Richard Foster.  Richard Foster is an old mentor of mine - I first encountered his writings when I was in seminary and read Celebration of Discipline. Some twenty years later when I was in the Wellstreams program we read his book that was simply entitled Prayer.  And now I spend time with this book and get to share it with others who take seriously this journey into meditative prayer.

The chapter I read this morning was about the practice of lectio divina and how we can use our imagination in reading scripture to allow the scripture to come alive and speak to us.  Here is a quote from the book:

"To pray is to descend with the mind into the heart,

and there to stand before the face of the Lord,

ever present, all seeing, within you."

As I write that, in some ways I don't know what it means.  But in other ways I know I experience it on Thursdays when we do lectio divina.  It is a practice of reading scripture several times and asking it different questions.  Or seeing ourselves in the scene that is enacted.  What happens for me is that frequently something new is experienced or seen or heard.  This is similar to my usually daily practice with the "Pray as you go" app that includes music, scripture and questions for reflection. 

This morning the song that was sung had these words in it - "unveil my eyes" so that I can see the grace and the plans that you have for me.  And that really is my prayer today.  I am so grateful for the ways in which  authors  - like Richard Foster, Henri Nouwen, Joan Chittister, Morton Kelsey - have guided my journey over the years.

I am grateful for the Bible which really is a book of transformation as long as we spend time with it. And truly grateful to have a community where we can struggle and share together this journey.

Here's a quote from Richard Foster on understanding prayer

Prayer is the heart’s true home. But, you see, we have been in a far coun­try. It’s been a coun­try of climb and push and shove. It’s been a coun­try of noise and hur­ry and crowds.

The heart of God is an open wound of love because of this dis­tance and pre­oc­cu­pa­tion of ours. God mourns that we do not draw near to him. God weeps over our obses­sion with ​“much­ness” and ​“many­ness.”

And God is seek­ing after us. God seeks us like the father rush­ing out to embrace the prodi­gal. God seeks us like the woman who will leave no stone unturned in her deter­mi­na­tion to find a lost coin. God seeks us like the shep­herd search­ing, search­ing, search­ing for one lost sheep. God is seek­ing us. 

God invites us to come home: home to where we belong; home to seren­i­ty and peace and joy; home to inti­ma­cy and accep­tance and affirmation

A new day

Yesterday on and off I watched the inauguration and the party.  It feels like a new day with a new president.  I did my zoom Bible study last night and in the check in people basically shared - their hope and their optimism - me too.

I have to say the love the pomp and ceremony of the inauguration itself and watching the people - especially the women - in their colorful coats.  There was something of that whole day in the obvious care and planning that went into it, that just inspired me. And the fireworks at the end of the day were just amazing.  A good beginning to what I hope will be a time of unity and people working together.  I hope, I hope, I hope.

I was especially touched by the poem written and read so well by Amanda Gorman.  She is a gifted writer and she left us with words of challenge and hope.  She wrote of raising this "wounded world into a wondrous one"...."we will rebuild, reconcile and recover".....and ended with these words:

when day comes we step out of the shade,

aflame and unafraid

the new dawn blooms as we free it

for there is always light,

if only we're brave enough to see it

if only we're brave enough to be it 

There is so much power in words and her words - so well crafted - lifted so many people.  

I am preaching in 10 days and feel energized in that task of putting words to paper..  The text I am using is Mark 1: 21-28 in which Jesus is preaching "with authority" and a man with an unclean spirit cries out.  It is another example of the power of words - to threaten or unsettle or reveal what is inside of us.

And last night I led a Bible study where we spent time with Mathew 12 which spoke of the power of our words:

  ³³ “Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. ³⁴ You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. ³⁵ The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure. ³⁶ I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; ³⁷ for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

All of this leads me with a deeper awareness of the call for all of us to consider our words - and be full of care - they can truly change the world.

It feels like a new day to bring love and light into this world.

Here is a blessing for today

May the God of WARMTH be with you.  

May you be warmed by the love of God and fired by the message of the Gospel.

May you know an enthusiasm born of the deep-down knowing that you are loved.

 Into a world that is often cold and dark may your own warmth bring with it the light of God's presence.

May the God of WARMTH bless you.

Listening for the Voice

This is the prayer that I wrote for Sunday's pastoral prayer.  I often post other people's prayers, so I thought I would include one of mine.

Prayer

Lord God , Loving God, Faithful God, On this cold January morning we come to you.  We kneel at your throne, We come in gratitude and in supplication

We are grateful that you are with us, you  - our God,  our help in ages past and our hope for days to come.  As we look back on this week, we thank you for the strength and healing and hope that we have received.  And we trust in your presence, your love and the power of the holy spirit that is with us now.

Open our hearts, our minds, our souls, our ears to your love and your way of truth.   May we hear your voice in the wilderness..

Lord, this pandemic goes on and on and now we learn that the covid is mutating.  It continues to be a danger to our health and the community that we love.  We lift up to you  those who are suffering right now, those who are isolated, for those who are exhausted from working on the front lines.

May we hear your voice guiding us, strengthening us and giving us hope

Lord, so many people are suffering economically at this time.  We pray for those who are without work . We lift up to you those who need  food and homes  and financial stability

May we hear your voice guiding us to serve, strengthening our faith and giving hope to all who are in need.

Lord our nation is suffering through political division and conflicting loyalties. We have been horrified by the riots at the Capitol building and the death and destruction of that day. We lift up to you all who  are in leadership.  May they be guided by your vision of unity, reconciliation, truth and peace.

May we hear your voice guiding us, strengthening us, giving us hope

We come together this morning to center our lives on you.  May we surrender to your love and follow your way of humility, compassion and faith in God.

May we be open to your call upon our individual lives.  Open our ears so that we might hear you calling our names.  May  we  - as followers of Jesus - be a source of wisdom, healing and hope for this fragmented  and broken world.

We pray all of this in the name of Jesus

Prayer for Reconciliation

Yesterday I went to church to work - so happy to be out of the house. And I was glad that I was not able to do what I would have done - watch the news all day - as the horror of the riots in Washington DC played themselves out.  

It is a fitting end to these years of terrible divisiveness under President Trump.  I pray that President Biden will find a way to help people to work together.  I had watched Trump's rally in Atlanta and heard his invitation to his people to come to Washington and was really not all surprised at what happened.  Especially after Rudy, his son and then Trump himself encouraged their actions. I am only surprised that the police were not prepared for the onslaught.

So, we are all spectators in this terrible drama and all we can do is seek to understand and to keep praying for peace and reconciliation.  

Here is a prayer by Walter Brueggemann

You creator God
who has ordered us
in families and communities,
in clans and tribes,
in states and nations.

You creator God
who enacts your governance
in ways overt and
in ways hidden.
You exercise your will for
peace and for justice and for freedom.

We give you thanks for the peaceable order of
our nation and for the chance of choosing—
all the manipulative money notwithstanding.

We pray now for new governance
that your will and purpose may prevail,
that our leaders may have a sense
of justice and goodness,
that we as citizens may care about the
public face of your purpose.

We pray in the name of Jesus who was executed
by the authorities.

— Walter Brueggemann, Prayers for a Privileged People

New Beginnings

 

That is what today feels like.  I found out yesterday - yes it took 5 days for me to get a covid test!!! - that I DON'T HAVE COVID!

Which means I get to leave the house and go to work today and see people - with my mask on.  And go to the grocery store and even play pickleball.  Yes - yes - yes.  It is a very good feeling.  Meanwhile Audrey - who actually has covid - is feeling fine and just waiting for the quarantine to end for her to be able to get out of the house.  We have really been lucky with it all.

Today is officially the beginning of the holy season of Epiphany and the scripture for the Pray as you Go App was the story of the Three Kings as recorded in Matthew.  It is a favorite text for me and I have preached on it often.  It symbolizes the journey that we are all on to find God in our lives.  I always liked the detail of their following the star and somehow ending up in Jersalem and the palace of Herod.  Which speaks to the reality that we find Jesus in unlike places - not the place of power and greed.  But we can easily get distracted and led astray.

However, they followed the star and were attentive to the dream and went home a different way and were not used by Herod as he intended.  The Christmas story itself has people being guided by angels, stars and dreams - all of which mean we need to be open to God's subtle, subversive communication.  It is interesting that the older I get, the more my prayers are about guidance - show me the way, Lord.  And it is not always obvious what I should do and where I should go.

My mantra for this season - and maybe for my whole life now is - Wait and it will be revealed.  There is trust and patience necessary in that statement.  

One of the suggestions in my daily prayer today was to look back on my journey to Bethlehem this year - my own Advent and Christmas story.  And as I looked back - all I could see was occasions of love - love given and love received.  Even in my recent quarantine I could not get over the people checking in on me and my daughters care of me.  Truly love is what makes the world go round.

So as I enter into a day of new beginnings - getting out of the house - I seek to love and to see the love that is here in this world and in my world.  I live as a seeker who is always waiting for God to show me where to do and what to do.  But the bottom line to all of it is look for love - it is all around you.

I found a prayer on New Beginnings by Ted Loder - here is how it ends:

Help me to be a beginning to others:
to be a singer to the songless,
a storyteller to the aimless,
a befriender of the friendless;
to become a beginning of hope for the despairing,
of assurance for the doubting,
of reconciliation for the divided;
to become a beginning of freedom for the oppressed,
of comfort for the sorrowing,
of friendship for the forgotten;
to become a beginning of beauty for the forlorn,
of sweetness for the soured,
of gentleness for the angry,
of wholeness for the broken,
of peace for the frightened and violent of the earth.

Help me to believe in beginnings,
to make a beginning,
to be a beginning,
so that I may not just grow old,
but grow new
each day of this wild, amazing life
you call me to live
with the passion of Jesus Christ.