I woke up this morning and realized I'd skipped my Sacred Space time for yesterday.  So today I read two Scripture readings-- yesterday's and today's.

I know why I forgot yesterday.  Had to drive Nigel (our dog) down to my sister's house on the Cape very early in the morning so she can dog-sit him while we're gone for a couple of days.

I was trying to "beat the storm"-- left the house around 6:00am and so lost my usual early morning time to pray and reflect.  

It's hard to find that time again once it's lost.  The day plows onward and before I know it, my head hits the pillow.

What do you do when you miss a day or two?

On the pages for this week, Feb 17-23, Sacred Space book says, 

"In prayer we are reminded rather than changed."  

I'm not sure I agree with this. 

Partly because I know I need changing much more than simple reminding. It's true, I do "forget" about God sometimes when I am particularly stressed, but prayer does more than remind me.  

Prayer reorients me, turns me around, gets me back on my feet, clarifies my own wrongdoing, and makes me look at my world with different perspective.  

What do you think?

on Matthew 20:17-19

I guess I never thought too extensively about the suffering and trauma Jesus must have gone through PRIOR to his arrest... knowing what was to happen and being able to stop it but choosing to be obedient all the way to the end.  The anticipation of something bad in some ways is almost worse than the actual something dreaded.

And I'm a bit embarrassed that the image in our book (p. 47) of Aslan walking alone into the hands of the White Witch made more of an impact on me than the passage from Matthew 20.  Thank you, C.S. Lewis!!!

How about you?

The passage for today (Isaiah 1:16-17) is fairly straightforward.  But I like how Scripture so often tells us what to get rid of AND what to replace it with.  

For me, is much harder to simply get rid of a behavior than it is to replace a bad behavior with a good one.  More helpful to tell myself:  "Do this instead!" rather than simply "Don't do that!"

For example:  "Don't drive so fast!" is a good idea.  But more effective for me is "See how much more efficiently you can consume fuel when you pay attention to your speed, acceleration, etc.!"  Not that it works all the time.  But it's helping.

Next time you see me buzz past you in the fast lane on 128, you can remind me of this.

;-)

what goes around...

My grandmother had a lot of unique turns of phrase, but one that she said a lot (and which is not unique to her by any means) was:  "What goes around, comes around."  This would usually be said when hearing bad news about someone who, in her mind, deserved it.

"What goes around, comes around."  He got what he deserved, that is.

Jesus puts it this way:  "A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back."  

I guess the image of a measure of flour or grain also made me think of my grandmother, who was an amazing bread baker.  

"The measure you give will be the measure you get back."  Jesus says this in the context of judging and/or forgiving others.  The measure of judgment I give to others will be the measure of judgment I get back from others.  So judging others without mercy may create a climate of judging one another without mercy?  Is this what Jesus means?

What do you think?

family resemblances

Since today is my birthday I came to today's text with particular anticipation:  

what would be God's word for me today!?

Well, it is "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."  

Why?  "So that you may be children of your Father in heaven."  

I'm understanding this not as a qualification for being a child of my Father in heaven, but more as a result of being a child of my Father in heaven.  

My sister and brother-in-law took me out to dinner last night for my birthday.  (Rob is very ill with a flu).  People often remark when they see my sister and I, "Are you two sisters?  You look so much alike!"  There is a definite family resemblance.

And I guess this passage makes me think there is to be a "family resemblance" in the family of God, too.  God the Father "makes the sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."  God the Father doesn't play favorites, doesn't just give good things to the players on "His" team, but gives equally to all.  

As a daughter of God the Father I should bear some "family resemblance"-- I am to model the grace and kindness and generosity of spirit that God himself shows to all people-- even those who dislike me.  

Happy birthday!

good gifts

Sometimes God's word for the day jumps out at me, sparkles and shimmers and overflows with richness and image and truth and insight and energy.

Other times, like today, it just sits there in my mind and heart and lies down. 

Not because of anything to do with the Word, but because of me-- where I'm at, what I'm wrestling with, how I feel or what is on my mind.  

This portion of today's reading is what I'm pondering:  "If you, then, ... know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him?"  

I think I know what God "should" give me.  This is so often how I pray.  

Today I will try to thank God the Father for what I (and we)  have already received from Him and ask for the good things that He wants to give me (and us).

 

the word of the Lord came a second time...

Jonah blew it the first time the word of the Lord came to him.  He ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction.  But "The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time...."  

The word of the Lord to Jonah hadn't changed.  But Jonah had.

Two actions came to mind for me this morning when I read this passage.  Two different ways I have heard "the word of the Lord" clearly indicating specific actions to me, and I've been trying to avoid both of them.

My goal is to take action regarding them today.  I'd rather not.  But I don't want to risk a.) hearing from the Lord a third time or b.) not hearing from the Lord at all.

What did you think about the passage for today?

hunger & nourishment everyday

Yesterday's reading and today's both reference hunger and provision.  

In Matthew 25:31-40, Jesus speaks of "when [he] was hungry and [we-- his hearers] gave him food," and then today's reading ("Give us this day our daily bread") speaks of our hunger and of God giving us food/bread.

I read recently about how iron deficiency and an over-abundance of iron can have some similar symptoms.  (Lack of iron, I think, can have "desire to chew ice" as a symptom).

It makes me think about how a lack of spiritual nourishment and an over-abundance of physical nourishment can have some similar symptoms.  

Lack of spiritual nourishment = loss of compassion for others, self-centeredness, a shrinking world-view.  

Over-abundance of physical nourishment = loss of compassion for others, self-centeredness, a shrinking world-view. 

God gives us nourishment-- every day-- but we have to receive it.  How often do I "chew ice"-- seek nourishment from that which is unsatisfying-- instead of waiting patiently to receive what I need for the day?

Any thoughts?

an acceptable day to the Lord

Today's reading is unsettling for me.  

God's call through the prophet Isaiah to "loose the bonds of injustice...to share [my] bread with the hungry, to bring the homeless poor into [my] house"-- hurts because I do so little to obey it.  This is part of the repentance and renewal aspect of Lent-- and I don't much like it.

But I got stuck on the first half of the passage the first few times I read through it this morning. Because it hit home I had trouble getting past it.  

After re-reading it and slowing down enough to read the second half, I found God's gracious promise for those who obey:  "Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.  Then you shall call and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am."

What injustice in the world do I notice?  What human oppression breaks my heart?  

That is where I need to start today.

taking up my cross...

...whatever that means.  In the Sacred Space reading for today from Luke 9, Jesus said, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me."  

I've been mulling over what "taking up my cross daily" means for me right now.  

What does it mean, to "take up my cross daily"?  What did it mean when Jesus Himself took up His cross?  Partly it meant He actively entered into what He knew He had to do, even though it was not something anyone would choose for themselves.  

In Luke, Jesus makes this statement directly after telling His disciples that He must undergo great suffering, rejection, death and ultimately resurrection.  

So Jesus' words to me, to  "take up my cross daily," follows on His words about His own suffering, His rejection, His death and His resurrection.

Do I seek the world's acceptance and success?  Or do I seek to let go of my "control" of my life and give it all over to Jesus?  

What do you think?

Ash Wednesday reflections

Though I could scrub off the remnants of ashes on my forehead last night, I could not get the themes of repentance and renewal out of my mind.

Where else will I hear the truth about who I am-- a sinner in need of grace, a broken person in need of wholeness, a thirsty soul in need of living water-- ?  

And if I don't hear the truth about who I am, how can I even begin to know who God is?  Who Jesus is?  What Easter means?