Dear Friends,
When you think of the wind…what comes to mind? A cool, gentle breeze on a hot summer night? A strong, whipping wind reshaping the landscape of the winter snow? A forceful hurricane? Wind can be soothing, calming, cooling, warming but it can also be frightfully sudden and strong. We sure can’t see the wind but we can see and feel its effects. I believe the same holds true for the movement of the Spirit in and around us.
Sometimes the nudging and tugging of the Sacred on our hearts fills us with calming warmth – a knowing that we are deeply loved by our Creator just as we are. Sometimes those tuggings are more disturbing – to us. Those are the times we feel pulled to go out of our element – to try something new, to move in a new direction, to risk – for the sake of goodness. And sometimes it takes a very strong wind, so to speak, for the Spirit to get our attention. But…
The Breath of the Sacred calls to and is within us all. It doesn’t matter who we are, what beliefs we subscribe to, what our status or position in life may be, we are ALL infused with the Sacred Wind within and around. What are the signs in and around that will cause us to notice that just as “he breathed on them” (the disciples in John 20:22) he also breathes on us every single day?
Peace on the Journey
29 May 2009
22 May 2009
Remembering: 24 May 2009
Dear Friends,
With Memorial Day being celebrated this weekend, cemeteries are busy places this week. Many go to replace winter decorations with new ones or plant flowers at the grav
es of their loved ones. Tombstones of veterans are marked with the country’s flag. As I made the hour and a half trek to pay a visit to my dad’s grave this week for that same purpose, I couldn’t help being flooded with memories – some difficult ones but many good ones. I feel a connection through remembering that will never be broken. And as I stood there remembering, something inside pushed me toward the here and now.
In Acts (1:9-11) Jesus ascended and while his disciples were watching intently, two men clothed in white appeared and asked, “Why are you standing there looking at the sky?” My initial reaction to the question is, “Why not?” Their friend, teacher, mentor had just vanished from their sight and they would not see him again. Why do we go to visit our departed loved ones at cemeteries and mausoleums and perhaps linger for a while? I think to remember – them, their life, their connection with us that continues through our remembering. Ah, but there’s more to the question of the white-clad men than the simple and obvious. Perhaps it’s an invitation to take our memories and remembering and put them into action – to continue the good of the life that once was physically with us.
Especially this weekend, may we be grateful for all who served to ensure our freedom and for all no longer with us in this life as we decorate and plant and linger and remember.
Peace on the Journey
With Memorial Day being celebrated this weekend, cemeteries are busy places this week. Many go to replace winter decorations with new ones or plant flowers at the grav
es of their loved ones. Tombstones of veterans are marked with the country’s flag. As I made the hour and a half trek to pay a visit to my dad’s grave this week for that same purpose, I couldn’t help being flooded with memories – some difficult ones but many good ones. I feel a connection through remembering that will never be broken. And as I stood there remembering, something inside pushed me toward the here and now.In Acts (1:9-11) Jesus ascended and while his disciples were watching intently, two men clothed in white appeared and asked, “Why are you standing there looking at the sky?” My initial reaction to the question is, “Why not?” Their friend, teacher, mentor had just vanished from their sight and they would not see him again. Why do we go to visit our departed loved ones at cemeteries and mausoleums and perhaps linger for a while? I think to remember – them, their life, their connection with us that continues through our remembering. Ah, but there’s more to the question of the white-clad men than the simple and obvious. Perhaps it’s an invitation to take our memories and remembering and put them into action – to continue the good of the life that once was physically with us.
Especially this weekend, may we be grateful for all who served to ensure our freedom and for all no longer with us in this life as we decorate and plant and linger and remember.
Peace on the Journey
16 May 2009
Love: 17 May 2009
Dear Friends,
A few weeks ago I watched as the pair of Eastern bluebirds diligently went about building their nest in our little white birdhouse. All day long they went back and forth from the birdhouse to points in our yard bringing new pieces of dried grass and tiny twigs for the nest. In a days’ time they had filled the birdhouse and the female had fashioned a wonderful nest in which to lay her three small, blue eggs. Now that the female spends most of the day in the house, keeping the eggs warm, her partner busies himself by continuing to keep watch and bringing her food. If bluebirds can feel love, this dance of working together for one purpose, imaged love to me.
Yesterday the oriole pair that nest in our neighbor’s huge elm tree paid a few visits
to my window-hung hummingbird feeder. It’s a pretty comical sight to see these huge, colorful birds (as compared to the tiny hummingbirds) land on the feeder and attempt to drink the nectar. The male appeared to be quite the gentleman, allowing his lady to repeatedly land on the feeder while he stood watch on the deck rail. If orioles can feel love, the male’s act of chivalry in allowing his partner to gain the sustenance of the nectar first imaged love to me.
The second reading and the gospel from the lectionary this weekend speak of love (1 John 4:7-10 and John 15:9-17). We find in these scripture snippets the beautiful words that God loved us first. We did nothing to earn this Sacred Love; we were born out of and into it. Our task, and response, is made pretty clear: we are to return this love to our Creator and spread our love around the world – our world, however large or small that may be for us.
Sometimes it’s difficult to wrap our heads around the deep and unconditional love of our Sacred Lover – for us, for others, for all of creation. There will pretty much always be people in our lives who push our buttons – perhaps through actions and/or words that are not kind or helpful, thus betraying or destroying our trust. We live in a society that thrives on competition and humanly-defined success. At times, often perhaps, we can fall into the trap of doling out our love and trust to those WE deem worthy – by OUR standards. After all, who wants to feel hurt and betrayed?
But…those are the times I take a look at the nature surrounding our rural abode. It is in the beholding of the rhythmic movement of seasons and activities of creatures and plant life that reminds me of how sacred and cared for all of life is. The lawn is filled with weeds. The dandelion crop is especially abundant this year. And yet amid the sea of green grass, even these dandelions, which many people strive so hard to eliminate from their yards, are a sign of the beautiful and colorful tapestry of the Master Weaver of life and love. Even, and perhaps especially, what we see as weeds are but another reminder of how much we and all of creation is loved.
Peace on the Journey
A few weeks ago I watched as the pair of Eastern bluebirds diligently went about building their nest in our little white birdhouse. All day long they went back and forth from the birdhouse to points in our yard bringing new pieces of dried grass and tiny twigs for the nest. In a days’ time they had filled the birdhouse and the female had fashioned a wonderful nest in which to lay her three small, blue eggs. Now that the female spends most of the day in the house, keeping the eggs warm, her partner busies himself by continuing to keep watch and bringing her food. If bluebirds can feel love, this dance of working together for one purpose, imaged love to me.
Yesterday the oriole pair that nest in our neighbor’s huge elm tree paid a few visits
to my window-hung hummingbird feeder. It’s a pretty comical sight to see these huge, colorful birds (as compared to the tiny hummingbirds) land on the feeder and attempt to drink the nectar. The male appeared to be quite the gentleman, allowing his lady to repeatedly land on the feeder while he stood watch on the deck rail. If orioles can feel love, the male’s act of chivalry in allowing his partner to gain the sustenance of the nectar first imaged love to me.The second reading and the gospel from the lectionary this weekend speak of love (1 John 4:7-10 and John 15:9-17). We find in these scripture snippets the beautiful words that God loved us first. We did nothing to earn this Sacred Love; we were born out of and into it. Our task, and response, is made pretty clear: we are to return this love to our Creator and spread our love around the world – our world, however large or small that may be for us.
Sometimes it’s difficult to wrap our heads around the deep and unconditional love of our Sacred Lover – for us, for others, for all of creation. There will pretty much always be people in our lives who push our buttons – perhaps through actions and/or words that are not kind or helpful, thus betraying or destroying our trust. We live in a society that thrives on competition and humanly-defined success. At times, often perhaps, we can fall into the trap of doling out our love and trust to those WE deem worthy – by OUR standards. After all, who wants to feel hurt and betrayed?
But…those are the times I take a look at the nature surrounding our rural abode. It is in the beholding of the rhythmic movement of seasons and activities of creatures and plant life that reminds me of how sacred and cared for all of life is. The lawn is filled with weeds. The dandelion crop is especially abundant this year. And yet amid the sea of green grass, even these dandelions, which many people strive so hard to eliminate from their yards, are a sign of the beautiful and colorful tapestry of the Master Weaver of life and love. Even, and perhaps especially, what we see as weeds are but another reminder of how much we and all of creation is loved.
Peace on the Journey
08 May 2009
Vines: 10 May 2009
Dear Friends,
It felt right to change the title of this blog to “Awakenings” (though the web address remains the same). After all, as noted in the description on the left, what is written here seeks to invite us to ponder and discover how the sacredness of all that surrounds us and how the Sacred One connects and intersects with our life. In our contemplation of what we see and experience as we seek deeper meaning and spiritual comfort, nourishment and growth on our journey I believe we all experience some level of new awareness in heart and soul. Sometimes it may be barely noticeable but at times there are great “Ah Ha!” moments – our own awakenings and epiphanies.
A good many years ago, as a novice gardener, I noticed a vine of some sort growing and taking up much space in the vegetable garden. It grew so quickly and appeared to send out new shoots from its massive root system almost daily. It was really difficult to keep this vine under control and soon it threatened the growth and very life of the tender vegetables plants despite my continuing attempts to “weed it out”.
Way back in the 1950’s my grandmother had another vine. This one was growing on a trellis on the south side of her house. It also flourished and brought forth beautiful flow
ers upon which I caught sight of the first hummingbird I had ever seen. Grandmother had deliberately planted this vine and trained it to climb the trellis. It provided nourishment – for the hummingbirds that frequently visited its flowers, for the eyes of the beholders through its beautiful and colorful display, and for this young child who first awakened to the interplay and inter-connectedness of nature.
This weekend the gospel (John 15:1-8) is a snippet of a much longer discourse and in the piece we read today, we learn about vines and branches – Jesus the true vine, nurtured so to speak by the Ultimate, Sacred “vine grower”, and we in turn the branches. And fruitful branches at that when we remain faithful in following our Sacred Gardener and grow to be our authentic selves, casting off (or pruning away) all that binds us to hiding behind our false selves – ego, power, control, arrogance, etc. Not an easy or particularly painless task given our society’s push toward achieving success (defined in many ways) in our own right. And once again this too is a life-long journey for there are people, places and things – even ourselves – that will attempt to obstruct us along the way in our search for our true selves – who we really are and who our Sacred Creator intends us to be. There will be those who entice us with the “right/proper” way to be and live and worship…by their standards, because of their status, in the name of their rules, and in the process creating an either/or dilemma for us – one in which we may be drawn away from growing as a branch on and finding nourishment and meaning from the “true vine” into a game of “following the leader” of human construct. Hmm… The choice is ours…who shall we follow? Which vine do we choose?
Peace on the Journey
It felt right to change the title of this blog to “Awakenings” (though the web address remains the same). After all, as noted in the description on the left, what is written here seeks to invite us to ponder and discover how the sacredness of all that surrounds us and how the Sacred One connects and intersects with our life. In our contemplation of what we see and experience as we seek deeper meaning and spiritual comfort, nourishment and growth on our journey I believe we all experience some level of new awareness in heart and soul. Sometimes it may be barely noticeable but at times there are great “Ah Ha!” moments – our own awakenings and epiphanies.
A good many years ago, as a novice gardener, I noticed a vine of some sort growing and taking up much space in the vegetable garden. It grew so quickly and appeared to send out new shoots from its massive root system almost daily. It was really difficult to keep this vine under control and soon it threatened the growth and very life of the tender vegetables plants despite my continuing attempts to “weed it out”.
Way back in the 1950’s my grandmother had another vine. This one was growing on a trellis on the south side of her house. It also flourished and brought forth beautiful flow
ers upon which I caught sight of the first hummingbird I had ever seen. Grandmother had deliberately planted this vine and trained it to climb the trellis. It provided nourishment – for the hummingbirds that frequently visited its flowers, for the eyes of the beholders through its beautiful and colorful display, and for this young child who first awakened to the interplay and inter-connectedness of nature.This weekend the gospel (John 15:1-8) is a snippet of a much longer discourse and in the piece we read today, we learn about vines and branches – Jesus the true vine, nurtured so to speak by the Ultimate, Sacred “vine grower”, and we in turn the branches. And fruitful branches at that when we remain faithful in following our Sacred Gardener and grow to be our authentic selves, casting off (or pruning away) all that binds us to hiding behind our false selves – ego, power, control, arrogance, etc. Not an easy or particularly painless task given our society’s push toward achieving success (defined in many ways) in our own right. And once again this too is a life-long journey for there are people, places and things – even ourselves – that will attempt to obstruct us along the way in our search for our true selves – who we really are and who our Sacred Creator intends us to be. There will be those who entice us with the “right/proper” way to be and live and worship…by their standards, because of their status, in the name of their rules, and in the process creating an either/or dilemma for us – one in which we may be drawn away from growing as a branch on and finding nourishment and meaning from the “true vine” into a game of “following the leader” of human construct. Hmm… The choice is ours…who shall we follow? Which vine do we choose?
Peace on the Journey
02 May 2009
Questioning: 3 May 2009
Dear Friends,
There are times in life when we take pause to ask ourselves some really tough questions. Sometimes the questions have to do with our life as it is or as it was – How did I get here? Where am I going? What direction should I take next? Sometimes our questions are deeper because we find our previous belief systems do not fit as perfectly now as they did when we were younger. Questions may arise such as: What is my image of God now? Where are places to go or people to connect with where there is freedom of thought and expression? Sometimes we find ourselves enmeshed in deep grieving, desperately searching for answers to: Who am I now? Who am I now without this (person or thing) in my life? Where is the Sacred Comforter? We search and search for answers and perhaps go looking in places where we think we’ll find them – in other people, in books, on the Internet. It’s amazing how much “self-help” media is out there promising all the tools and answers for us to have a good and/or successful life. I say, yeah right. In our search for meaning, the first place to consider beginning (and maybe ending) looking is within ourselves. Deep inside we know who we are (we don’t need anyone else to tell us that) and what we are able to do. Deep inside we already know it is not the latest fad or flashy speaker or writer that will provide us with what we seek. No one can even pretend to know these answers for us, and if they say they do, consider that it may be their means of controling us. Our deepest questioning is a journey we take alone, though we can, at times and if we are willing, ask a trusted companion to walk along with us.
At some point we may come to realize we do have a constant companion – the Sacred One always walks with us no matter our circumstances, no matter how good (or bad) we or others think we are. There is NOTHING that can separate us from our Creator.
The image of the Good Shepherd in this weekend’s gospel (John 10:11-18) prodded me to consult the dictionary. Good: of high quality, suitable, skilled, kind, virtuous, honorable, pleasant, beneficial, favorable, genuine, obedient. Shepherd: one who provides guidance and care. These are among the dictionary definitions of those two words.
If we truly believe we are eternally connected to the Creator of all, we have at our constant disposal the One who will perfectly fit these human-constructed definitions and provide us with the comfort, care, guidance and love we seek.
Peace on the Journey
There are times in life when we take pause to ask ourselves some really tough questions. Sometimes the questions have to do with our life as it is or as it was – How did I get here? Where am I going? What direction should I take next? Sometimes our questions are deeper because we find our previous belief systems do not fit as perfectly now as they did when we were younger. Questions may arise such as: What is my image of God now? Where are places to go or people to connect with where there is freedom of thought and expression? Sometimes we find ourselves enmeshed in deep grieving, desperately searching for answers to: Who am I now? Who am I now without this (person or thing) in my life? Where is the Sacred Comforter? We search and search for answers and perhaps go looking in places where we think we’ll find them – in other people, in books, on the Internet. It’s amazing how much “self-help” media is out there promising all the tools and answers for us to have a good and/or successful life. I say, yeah right. In our search for meaning, the first place to consider beginning (and maybe ending) looking is within ourselves. Deep inside we know who we are (we don’t need anyone else to tell us that) and what we are able to do. Deep inside we already know it is not the latest fad or flashy speaker or writer that will provide us with what we seek. No one can even pretend to know these answers for us, and if they say they do, consider that it may be their means of controling us. Our deepest questioning is a journey we take alone, though we can, at times and if we are willing, ask a trusted companion to walk along with us.
At some point we may come to realize we do have a constant companion – the Sacred One always walks with us no matter our circumstances, no matter how good (or bad) we or others think we are. There is NOTHING that can separate us from our Creator.
The image of the Good Shepherd in this weekend’s gospel (John 10:11-18) prodded me to consult the dictionary. Good: of high quality, suitable, skilled, kind, virtuous, honorable, pleasant, beneficial, favorable, genuine, obedient. Shepherd: one who provides guidance and care. These are among the dictionary definitions of those two words.
If we truly believe we are eternally connected to the Creator of all, we have at our constant disposal the One who will perfectly fit these human-constructed definitions and provide us with the comfort, care, guidance and love we seek.
Peace on the Journey
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