New Year Again

It seems to me that 2010 went by with great speed. I know time, & everything else, is relative to the reference point. With my advancing years, I have a larger reference point & one year is a smaller portion of that reference point so would naturally seem less. Yet, even knowing that it still seems that 2010 was extra fast. I have heard younger people say the same.

The turning point is arbitrary. That is we could have chosen any place to say it is the new year, but January 1st got the nod.

At any rate 2011 is here. What does that mean to us? It is the opportunity to feel that we are getting a fresh new start, a chance to live a bit better or maybe a lot better. It is a time to think deeply about how we would like to be & how we would like this year to be. It is a time to sort out our priorities & re-aim our lives toward new targets.

My life target has been for spiritual understanding, deeper communion with God, & enlightenment. That shall always be my primary target, & of course I reaffirm it for 2011. I also aim toward the best health possible, family healing, learning new art & quilting techniques, my trip to Russia 20 years after my first trip & I think it is also my 20th trip there, more travel & experiencing & being at the places I've always wanted to see such as Ireland, etc. I support my husband as he aims toward greater income.

I have other targets that I'd like to reach. I hope, dream & pray that at least some of my books that I've written over the years, most of them for my work in Russia, could get published in English & in bookstores all over America. I hope, dream & pray that the coarseness of our culture could be reversed & a resurgence of spirituality would emerge. I hope, dream & pray for peace in each heart & therefore in the world. I realize that angry, greedy, power-driven people do not want nor are capable of creating peace. So I hope, dream & pray for that healing of each human heart that is needed first.

I ask you, what are your targets? For what do you hope, dream & pray. This is a great time to ponder such things.

Father, we come to You this day with a new openness in our depths. We are open for You to inspire within us greater targets toward which You would want us to aim our lives. We begin anew in this new year. We wish to begin as You would want us to begin. Speak in our hearts. Whisper to our souls. We listen. Thank You, dear God. We let go & await Your working in our lives. In the name of Christ we seal this prayer with Amen.

Health

Health is a bottom line kind of thing. Without it, other things pale by comparison, except the spiritual which becomes more important.

Tagging on to the pruning idea before this entry is the idea that maybe when health dips, there is a pruning going on. Maybe so we will focus on the spiritual, health challenges us.

I'm having an odd sort of health thing. I awoke with numb feet & lower legs plus the feeling of electrical charges in my arms & hands & a bit on my cheeks & tongue. So far there has been no answer as to why.

So, I'm thinking, as I go through tests & questions, what value could this irritating & painful experience have? What comes to mind is to slow me down from my usual busy life so I have to focus even more on my spiritual life. Or it is my body reacting to the traumas of 2010 & complaining about them. Or I'm supposed to keep on keeping on the best I can, not allowing my physicalness to stand in the way of my life. I so far have not been able to think of more possibilities. I imagine more are on their way to my mind though.

Interesting thoughts come  --- I need my hands! Sure I need my feet, but I NEED my hands. My life revolves so much around my hands -- typing, quilting, other sewing, painting & drawing, cooking, hugging, holding books, driving, holding hands, holding the chalice on Sundays, & on & on. This electrical pain has to stop; I NEED my hands!!!

So, I am left to contemplate the messages both physically & spiritually. I know the answers will come, maybe not in the quick way I want, but come they will. At that point I will deal with the answers in the best way I can.

Lord, You have always been with me through the valleys & mountain peaks of this life. I know You never leave me. I ask You to show me what I need to see/know & lead my body to healing as only You can heal. I rest in Your healing arms. In faith I seal this with Amen, Amen, & Amen

Pruning

I was thinking today about Jesus' thoughts on being the branches of his vine & also of pruning away what does not bear fruit. Everyone experiences things being pruned away in their lives - sometimes or maybe often in an unexpected & unwanted way.

So, what if our "losses," things pruned away, are actually non-fruit bearing & need to go? What if the pruning is actually good for us & our growth?

It's time to prune the roses again. Maybe the rose bushes don't like the pain of their branches being cut off. If rose bushes had egos, they might not like the barren look they have after pruning. They might pine away for the lush greenery & fragrant & colorful blossoms of last summer. They might not be able to see that the pruning means they will have more greenery & fragrant & colorful blossoms next summer.

What if we're kind of like that? What if we stopped mourning the pruning that happens & relax in faith to know that even more good is being prepared for us? What if we realized that even if we cannot see the next summer of our lives right now, it is made better/more fruitful because of the pruning away of the unfruitful now?

We often hold on to the status quo as if life depended on it. Yet, we want to experience more of God, more that life has to offer -- and that requires letting go of the unfruitful parts of us & of our lives. I wonder if we can celebrate the pruning more, trusting it makes way for greater good?

I am going to contemplate some of my recent pruning experience to try to understand it as unfruitfulness being cut away to make room for the fruitfulness of Spirit. The cut hurts, but the summer is coming.

Father, I am doing my best to embrace Your pruning in my life & to trust that, with the unfruitfulness gone, a way is made clear for an abundant summer. I want to live a life fruitful for you. Here I am Lord. I surrender to Your working in my life. In faith & trust, I seal this with the ancient seal of faith as I say Amen, Amen & Amen.

Holy Christmas

It's Christmas Day here today - the day we celebrate Jesus' birth, even though we don't know exactly when it was. The historic day is not the point. The point is, whatever day it was, there was a day when God became visible via Jesus & his life.

People had long, maybe always, speculated about God, prophecized about God, prayed to God, did various practices said to lead to God, but had not seen God. Now God was visible. People could look into the eyes & life of Jesus Christ & know God.

By his life, by his choices, by the way he walked on earth & by his teachings, humans became privy to the mystical knowledge about the nature of God. We have seen through the veil. We know what it is God wants from us.

What is that? God wants us to receive the great Love He has for us, to Love Him & each other, to forgive, to give, to live a life that glorifies God, to put our spiritual life first, to be the people we are called to be. We must forsake hate, ugliness, meanness, attack, & darkness of all kinds. By being the people who follow Jesus by living as he lived, we then participate in bringing the Kingdom of Heaven into earth.

It is simple, but as we have seen, it is not easy. Perhaps it has been rejected as a way of life by so many because it is so simple, yet difficult. I wonder how each of us could follow in The Great Example, to be "little Christs" as some have said??? What would it take for us to turn to the Light & turn our lives & our planet around??? I know with every fiber of my being that we could do it - it IS possible. But as stubborn humans, we keep turning to darkness, away from The Light. Maybe we could give God a gift back by turning to live as He showed us.

Maybe we could say this year, Merry Christmas, God. Here I am. I give You my life. Lead me to live it as Jesus taught us to live, the way You want us to live.

Father, thank You for becoming visible for our sake. Open every part of us to see You in the life of Jesus & to become followers of Jesus' way to live. Lift us out of darkness & into Your Light. Heal us of our fascination with the way that leads opposite of The Great Example You gave us. Help us know that this is the most important gift ever given, & help us to fully receive Your Gift today. In the sacredness of this day, we seal this prayer in the name of Christ with the ancient seal of faith, Amen, Amen & Amen!

Christmas Thoughts

Christmas is a time for me/us to take the Christmas Story personally as well as theologically, historically & any other way we might take it. Back when I was a pastor, on Christmas Eve I would often speak on this theme. So, how can we take it personally?

The Christ Child is calling out to be born in the cradle of our hearts, in the stable of our lives surrounded by the various & sundry characters that populate our lives. Paul told us that the Christ in you is your hope for glory.

The Christ Child as a separate being is an interesting story, a curious event, something from a long, long time ago with various meanings depending on one's interpretation. Look at all the groups claiming to be Christian, each with variations of the Christian message.

But, the Christ Child born in us today is filled with vitality, impulsion to do & be as He would have us be, breathlessly divine, a current revelation, here & now. Christ alive in us is not a dusty artifact. It is the life we lead.

We take communion & take in the bread & wine as a symbol of Christ entering us, or some say as the actual act of Christ entering us. Yet how many of us are awake to the actual Christ actually coming in to us, to live in us, to guide us, to participate intimately in our lives?

What would our lives be like, how would we speak, how would we act if we were awake to Christ being born in us? What would our world be like if all/even most Christians actually experienced the birth of Christ in the manger of their hearts, in the stable of their lives? Can you imagine?

God, we thank You for a dawning awareness glistening on the edges of our lives. We come to this holy time of year in a new way. We lift up our hearts to offer them to Christ as a birthplace. We offer our lives as a stable for this most incredibly precious event. We willingly come to quench the yearning of our hearts for Your birth in us, for the life we would lead as Your offspring. Here we are Lord. Your will be done in us. We ask in Christ's name & for His sake, Amen

Motherhood Is A Trip

People who don't have or don't raise children, miss a huge lot of adventure, growth, depth, laugher, tears & so much more.

It is kind of interesting which of the gazillion moments of motherhood stick out with extra meaning. I have been pondering one such moment this week. It was October, 1962. It has become known as the "Cuban Missile Crisis."  

I was a single mom at that time with a son not yet 2 years old. I had to temporarily drop out of school & work to support us. The news blared the show down with Russia in Cuba about 90 miles off of our Florida coast & the distinct possibility of a nuclear war. In fact, to many pundits, it seemed highly likely that as we tried to force the missiles out of Cuba, those Russian nuclear warheads would be heading our way. As I listened to the pending disaster, I left work early to go to my son. I cried all the way home. I didn't want my baby to die alone. I held him, rocked him & prayed all night. In the morning, the Russians & Cubans blinked & it seemed we would be safe after all.

So, now my son is a man. Yet there is still a part of my heart holding him, not wanting him to be alone & still praying for him. There is a part of me that is still there in October, 1962. However far he goes from me, my mother's heart still holds him with love & prayer.

Dear God, thank You for the gift of life coming through me. Thank You for holding my children & grandchildren in Your Love. Wherever they are right now, let them feel my love & Your Love. Protect them, guide them, heal them, uplift them & let them know they are never alone. I ask this in the name of Christ. Amen.

Hope

Sometimes it seems that bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth is a lost cause. The small picture at times looks dismal. But this week-end I heard some statistics about the progress Christian groups are making in the world in various ways including bringing clean drinking water to people & reducing the vast numbers of starving children dying from hunger & malnutrition --- rates reduced by 50% in the past 20 years due mostly to Christian groups working for others. I also heard that American television is being watched in Muslim countries, including Christian programs. The people are discovering who we are, end-running around propaganda mills. People are discovering that Christ is far more than the good prophet mentioned in their holy book.

I feel encouraged. Hope is reignited.

Each little thing we do can make a difference. The Christmas gift we can give to the world this year is to find at least one little thing we can do to help bring the kingdom of heaven to earth --- and then do it. We could bring a wave of God's Light to earth together.

Father of us all, we come to You this day with a renewed hope in our hearts. We know it IS possible for Your Kingdom to be made manifest here. We come open to You. Lead us. Guide us to take whatever steps we can to bring forth Your Kingdom here on earth. Lead us to be Your Love & Light wherever we may be. Open our eyes to see what we can do. Grant us the courage to do what we can do. We rejoice in what is about to happen. Thank You, God. In the name of Christ we seal this with the ancient seal of faith, Amen, Amen & Amen