Greetings Friends!
On any given day we are faced with many choices, whether we are conscious of that fact or not. Even the smallest of things cause us to make a choice: whether or not to hit the snooze alarm for the second or third time, what to wear for the day, if we should have one or two cups of morning coffee or tea, what to eat for breakfast, what to make for dinner, if we should answer the phone when the caller ID says "blocked call". We make choices (and admittedly not always good ones) in the foods we pick off the grocery shelves. These are the "little" choices of any given day. And then there are the bigger choices in life: who to befriend, which charity to support, options for healthcare, how to save to offer ourselves a more secure future. There may be times when we wish we could be granted our deepest desires. And if we could have our wishes granted, what would those desires be? Answering that question could serve as a reality check - at least for me - for the answer lies at the heart of what we truly value.
Consider the invitation of God in saying, "Ask something of me and I will give it to you" - the invitation extended to Solomon (1 Kings 3: 5-12). I believe God does offer us this same opportunity on many occasions, even daily. Solomon, and we, could have asked for a great number of things - possessions, status, financial security, to name at few. But even in his youth, his then worldly/kingly inexperience, if you will,Solomon asked for something of great value - wisdom - the wisdom to know what is right and just and the wisdom to live life with an understanding heart. If we take the time of consider what is truly important in life, is not Solomon's request also the prudent request we also should make to God? Should we not also ask God to help us discern the right choices to make in matters both small and large? Should we not also ask for an understanding heart so that we can have the grace to serve those that cross our path in life with live and compassion?
Let us always strive to embrace that which truly matters: God's deep and abiding love for each of us and allow that love to shine brightly in all we are and do.
Peace on the Journey
27 July 2008
20 July 2008
20 July 2008
Greetings Friends!
My goodness, summer is half over! Already the store shelves are filled with school supplies - signaling that very soon school will begin and the busyness of our lives will once again pick up pace. Whether or not we have school-age children, it just seems fall becomes a busy season for many of us. Thus I find it even more pressing in my own life to take some of the time left of this summer season to pause and enjoy before the "work" of fall begins - the clearing of leaves from our yards, the cleaning out of the the garden, the readying of the house for the winter months to come. Just the mere thought of all those things causes me to long for the quietness and what I have come to consider a "lost art".
In our day and age of technology, many scheduled activities, and fast-paced living, I muse over what it must have been like in the days before television, radio, telephone, cars, etc. During my own childhood years, Sunday afternoons were spent visiting elder relatives. Conversation, playfulness, and, of course, Aunt Edna's famous chicken dinner and Aunt Agnes' melt-in-you-mouth molasses cookies to top off the day were the norm. Woven within those weekly excursions to the country farm, were stories - stories of what was going on in each person's life, stories of relatives who lived far away, stories of ancestors long gone from earthly life, stories of immigration from the "old country". This is the "lost art" of which I speak - that of story telling. How often these days do we take the time to engage in telling the stories or our life - past, present, and future; our memories and our dreams and visions? I could be wring, but I dare say not nearly enough.
As a young child sitting on grandma's lap I would often ask, "Grandma, what was it like when you were my age?" And grandma would tell me in ways she knew my young mind could understand. This is how Jesus taught in our gospel today (Matthew 13:24-43)- in parables, stories... "The kingdom of God is like...a man who sowed good seed...a mustard seed...yeast". He explained what God's kingdom was like, not in some high theological language, but in words and ways that everyone would be able to understand. And not only that, through his parables Jesus also taught that the kingdom was not some pie in the sky idea but was and is within the grasp of everyone and is indeed already here as well as "not yet".
Let us take time to listen to and ponder the stories, the parables, of Jesus and find within them the knowledge of who we are and we we are to be. These are the stories of the abundant love God has for each and every one of us!
Peace on the Journey
My goodness, summer is half over! Already the store shelves are filled with school supplies - signaling that very soon school will begin and the busyness of our lives will once again pick up pace. Whether or not we have school-age children, it just seems fall becomes a busy season for many of us. Thus I find it even more pressing in my own life to take some of the time left of this summer season to pause and enjoy before the "work" of fall begins - the clearing of leaves from our yards, the cleaning out of the the garden, the readying of the house for the winter months to come. Just the mere thought of all those things causes me to long for the quietness and what I have come to consider a "lost art".
In our day and age of technology, many scheduled activities, and fast-paced living, I muse over what it must have been like in the days before television, radio, telephone, cars, etc. During my own childhood years, Sunday afternoons were spent visiting elder relatives. Conversation, playfulness, and, of course, Aunt Edna's famous chicken dinner and Aunt Agnes' melt-in-you-mouth molasses cookies to top off the day were the norm. Woven within those weekly excursions to the country farm, were stories - stories of what was going on in each person's life, stories of relatives who lived far away, stories of ancestors long gone from earthly life, stories of immigration from the "old country". This is the "lost art" of which I speak - that of story telling. How often these days do we take the time to engage in telling the stories or our life - past, present, and future; our memories and our dreams and visions? I could be wring, but I dare say not nearly enough.
As a young child sitting on grandma's lap I would often ask, "Grandma, what was it like when you were my age?" And grandma would tell me in ways she knew my young mind could understand. This is how Jesus taught in our gospel today (Matthew 13:24-43)- in parables, stories... "The kingdom of God is like...a man who sowed good seed...a mustard seed...yeast". He explained what God's kingdom was like, not in some high theological language, but in words and ways that everyone would be able to understand. And not only that, through his parables Jesus also taught that the kingdom was not some pie in the sky idea but was and is within the grasp of everyone and is indeed already here as well as "not yet".
Let us take time to listen to and ponder the stories, the parables, of Jesus and find within them the knowledge of who we are and we we are to be. These are the stories of the abundant love God has for each and every one of us!
Peace on the Journey
13 July 2008
6 & 13 July 2008
Greetings Friends!
Several years ago, when I had the opportunity to take a course in homiletics (preaching), we were told, "Sometimes you just have to talk about the 'tough stuff'". This weekend's Gospel (July 13th; Matthew 13: 1-23) brings to mind some of that "tough stuff" through the familiar parable about the sower and begs us to ask ourselves, "What is my soil like? - What lies at the core of my heart?"
One day last week in the checkout line at the grocery store, the cashier announced my bill as "X" dollars and some odd cents. Well, I had no change with me that day and handed her all paper money. The woman behind me said, "Don't worry, I have the change covered" and proceeded to give the cashier the correct amount of change. I was totally shocked, and pleased, by this act of kindness and generosity from someone I did not know. After leaving the store, I stopped to put gas in the car. There was a long line of people waiting to pay the cashier. I decided to allow the person behind me to pay ahead of me but much to my dismay, this person just pushed ahead of me, thwarting my well-laid plan to share the kindness I had received at the grocery checkout. The lesson is simple: kindness received can lead to kindness given. The condition of our soil does indeed become evident in how we view and respond to others at a relational level, and often is an indicator of how we view and embrace our relationship with God.
It's all about seeing and hearing - noticing the attitudes and values we hold in our hearts and lives, listening for and to the voice of God within our hearts and our world, and discerning where we may need to tend to our inner soil so that we can respond in love to both our passionate God and to those we encounter.
May we walk with each other as a community of faith, allowing the Spirit's life-giving breath to touch our lives and hearts.
Peace on the Journey
Several years ago, when I had the opportunity to take a course in homiletics (preaching), we were told, "Sometimes you just have to talk about the 'tough stuff'". This weekend's Gospel (July 13th; Matthew 13: 1-23) brings to mind some of that "tough stuff" through the familiar parable about the sower and begs us to ask ourselves, "What is my soil like? - What lies at the core of my heart?"
One day last week in the checkout line at the grocery store, the cashier announced my bill as "X" dollars and some odd cents. Well, I had no change with me that day and handed her all paper money. The woman behind me said, "Don't worry, I have the change covered" and proceeded to give the cashier the correct amount of change. I was totally shocked, and pleased, by this act of kindness and generosity from someone I did not know. After leaving the store, I stopped to put gas in the car. There was a long line of people waiting to pay the cashier. I decided to allow the person behind me to pay ahead of me but much to my dismay, this person just pushed ahead of me, thwarting my well-laid plan to share the kindness I had received at the grocery checkout. The lesson is simple: kindness received can lead to kindness given. The condition of our soil does indeed become evident in how we view and respond to others at a relational level, and often is an indicator of how we view and embrace our relationship with God.
It's all about seeing and hearing - noticing the attitudes and values we hold in our hearts and lives, listening for and to the voice of God within our hearts and our world, and discerning where we may need to tend to our inner soil so that we can respond in love to both our passionate God and to those we encounter.
May we walk with each other as a community of faith, allowing the Spirit's life-giving breath to touch our lives and hearts.
Peace on the Journey
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)