GATHERING STORM

Snow gently gathers on the worn red canoe across the pond layering her in white; she's upside-down, as is my spiritual life. Liking structure and predictability, but experiencing chaos is confusing. Plans change, I make my way somewhere only to find I am hopelessly lost. God gently whispers, "you will be late, but you will arrive when I will."

 Jesus's prayer haunts me, "Not My will, but Your will be done." John 22:42 So simple to simply pray when we don't go near our will- keeping prayer for others, ourselves, our situation, but not seeking purity of our intentions and motivations.

I would enjoy another white water rafting trip with the family; I don't want a bigger boat alone on a deeper lake. So it is in our interior life; the invitation is to deep water yet we long to hang back on safe shores.

Yesterday this came to me:

"I, the Lord, am blocking your will; it is as if you were out to sea and would like to go to Cancun, but I have caused a great storm in your soul, and not only can you not go, but you do not know where you are and cannot find the familiar sails to use, neither can you find the rigging to make fast your boat in the tempest. You question the destination you desired, but neither do you know to where you should set sail. Ride out this storm in your soul. Trust Me in it." 

Have you been there, facing the storm within but desperately searching for a little red canoe or shore or safety? I want to scream, "good luck!" but know what is true: "Be still and know I am God." Psalm 46:10 

I wonder what your storm is? Be assured, God will meet you in it.

Medicine from Sacred Writing:

"God has displayed no slight token of His providential care by having preserved you whole and unharmed...Now if He has not permitted any shipwreck to take place in the midst of so much rough water, much more will He preserve your soul in calm weather and lighten your burden."

John Chrysostom Fourth Century

DRINKING AGAIN

Streams of living water. I wonder. Could it be that prayer is more a drink of water than a conversation. I know prayer is a two way conversation with God, I understand. But what if we admitted that our words are so inadequate for our needs and those of family and friends? Imagine yourself praying before God, but instead of speaking you bring your whole heart and all your needs and just kneel before Him. Then, you find God asks you to, "drink from His mercy," to be filled with His love for yourself and the one you pray for.

Like Michelangelo's Pieta  we hold our hurting, broken loved ones in our arms- but there is more. We can bring those we love to God, carrying them in our arms, asking Him for mercy; we have no words, only love as we carefully hold another, broken as they or we may be, and carry them to a loving Father.

Sometimes people are wrapped so tightly in our hearts that we cannot actually give them to God, (or we are too angry, too hurt or too bitter), for this we must drink deeply from the streams of living water within us. Just as a forest pool in January reflects the coming dusk and the trees, so when we look deeply into the pool of God's love within us we will reflect His love. We "know and rely on the God has for us," 1 John 4:16, and this will give us freedom and courage to give others to God. Maybe we will be brave enough to leave ourselves in God's hands as well.

Is there anyone you are praying for? Try giving them to God.

Medicine from Sacred Writings:

"Let us take refuge in the King that is above. Him let us call in to our aid." 

John Chrysostom Fourth Century

WALKING IN THE LIGHT

Drops of rain patter unceasingly outside as the cold fog builds like a cloud coming in; the summer bench sits empty and the branches drip, their snow caps melted by the unseasonably  warm weather. We've had so much thick fog lately, the kind you set out in, but then turn around to the safety of home because it is treacherous finding your way anywhere.

I wonder if our spiritual lives are so different? Perhaps when the way is clear the journey is simply a matter of one foot in front of the other; but when things get foggy, how are we to go on? Survival.

Like the birds of winter we find a feeder and we meet our needs, what that source might be is entirely our choice. Even when we do not know our way we still must somehow make provision for ourselves. Especially when the path seems uncertain we look inward and there find cisterns in our souls we run to when we are thirsty or tired or hungry- things that comfort and seem to sustain us. 

And there is also a fountain, filled with living water and we must choose. When life empties us and crushes us, or the way seems blocked by an uncertain fog, will we fill ourselves in the old ways that are so familiar, or will we dare to draw near to the fountain of living water within us, seeking truth and healing?

Medicine from Sacred Writings:

"Many are the streams of that fountain which the Comforter sends forth, and the Son is the Mediator...opening our minds. This fountain is a fountain of light, spouting forth rays of truth." 

John Chrysostom Fourth Century

" For with You, God, is the fountain of life. In your light we see light." Psalm 36:9

LEANING

We've a beautiful frozen pond in our backyard where snow is falling once again covering the skating rink we enjoyed on New Year's Day. Leaning against the deck railing, the shovel waits to be put into service once again. Somehow the idea of this tool leaning there waiting to be used draws me to my spiritual reality: I lean on so many things, do you?

Mostly I lean on my own understanding. As I was praying this came:

"My Child, I have come to dwell in your home; worries and distractions keep you from seeing Me. I never leave you or forsake you, child, but when you begin to let the cares of the world overwhelm you, you cannot see Me. Look with the eyes of your heart, child. Do not lean on your own understanding. When you descend with the stairs of your mind and try to live in your own strength it all goes so poorly, doesn't it, child? This is how I want you to begin each and every morning: with mercy. You need mercy for the morning, mercy for the day, mercy for each person. I would have you know My mercy and wisdom deep within you."

Under the deep layers of snow and ice the life of the pond rests: the turtles, fish, and river otters; and in my soul, beneath the swirling demands of the day lie the deeper truths of God.  I cannot muster mercy on my own; I do not possess in myself what God would ask for, but as I wrestle I find He gives what He would require. 

My garden rake and hoe are still outside, but they cannot wield any power this season. My understanding, my way of seeing things does not always serve me. I can ask God to give me eyes to see, wisdom to put away the tools that no longer work and grace to look deeper than the surface. 

What are you leaning on?

Medicine from Sacred Scripture:

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean  not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5, 6

NEED A FRIEND?

 

Ever just need a cozy fireside chat with a good friend? Something about a conversation with one who understands us and thinks the best of us cheers our hearts and warms us in ways little else can. Someone who journeys with us carries our memories in their hearts as well, and the blessing becomes remembering together the faithfulness and love we have been given.

I imagine God lighting a fire in my soul where He invites me to remember with Him. "See, Child, My mercies are new every morning. I am faithful and true; My love for you is higher than the heavens and deeper than the deepest sea. Come, let Me show you how to live and love and have your being. You cannot lean on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Me and I will direct your path. I will upset your plans, bring more than you think you can handle, but it comes from My hand. Trust Me."

  
It is almost as if God invites us to a daily feast where He longs to, "satisfies us with the finest of wheat." Psalm 147:1 and cheer us with His friendship. When the older boys left home for college our huge family table seemed too big for the four of us, but our youngest insisted that we keep the leaf in because the small table made her miss her brothers more. I wonder if God misses us.

Is there a place in your heart where God could meet you?

Medicine from Sacred Writings:


"By this grace we have become the beloved of God, no longer as servants, but as sons and friends."

John Chrysostom  Fourth Century

SURPRISED BY GRACE

 

Long lift lines, packed parking lots and expensive tickets made the mountain unappealing, so we trudged north through the notch up to Bretton Woods; we had packed no lunch, so we ambled into the Mount Washington for a late brunch. The feast that met us was truly spectacular.

Graces come to us from the hand of our loving Father; we need only ask for eyes to see. What was to be a stressful day at a busy mountain turned into a refreshing late morning at a resort. The winter scene, the wreaths and vestiges of Christmas fed a part of our hearts we didn't know hungered.

Truly the day was a gift of grace from God the Father. I wonder if you are in need of grace? Ask God and He will supply grace upon grace.

Medicine from Sacred Writings:

"And of His fullness we all have received grace upon grace..." John 1:16 God Himself is the very Fountain and Root of all good, very Life and very Light, and very Truth, not retaining within Himself the riches of His good things, but overflowing with them unto all others." 

John Chrysostom Fourth Century

NEW YEAR'S INVITATION

Snowflakes piling up as they tumble from the sky fill the air with swirling white. I wonder if memories are like this? Could it be that every meal, every conversation, each picture and playful moment pile up in our minds and we find ourselves wrapped in love as the world is wrapped in white?

Our days have been full of family, friends, food, wonder, and winter. I can barely breathe for the pace of life, and then this verse comes crashing through my calendar.

“From His fullness we all have received grace upon grace.”

I know this is a theological statement about God and His Son, but our theology must be lived in our reality: God comes to us, Emmanuel, and says, “I am here with you- giving you grace upon grace. Draw from My fullness for your emptiness, lean on Me in your weakness, Come to Me and know grace and love.”

The blessing of a family rich in love and time crammed with precious memories like so many snowflakes in a snowstorm trains us to see God and good and love. Some have not had this foundation, so we must share. We come close to the heart of God and find our place in life when we give love and the grace of God so that others might hear the same invitation to receive grace from the fullness of God’s heart.

“From His fullness we have received grace upon grace. The Law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; it is God, the Only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made Him known.” John 1:16-18

So will you, will I, accept the invitation to grace this New Year?

“I long to flood your life with grace- each moment of every day you can know My Presence with you and dwell close to My heart. I long for the fullness of My love to fill you.Trust Me, Child.”

Medicine from Sacred Scripture

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are.” 1 John 3:1