Saturday, September 15, 2018
Open Prayer
Today’s Reflection
PART OF LEARNING to pray continually is to stay open in prayer. Sometimes after we say amen, we check off prayer on our to-do list and shut down the conversation. But God has invited us — called us — to pray without ceasing, to keep the conversation going all day, every day. The hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” is absolutely correct: “What a privilege to carry every thing to God in prayer!”
– Jenny Youngman
Scrambled Starts
Scrambled Starts
Friday, September 14, 2018
Radical Humility
Today’s Reflection
FOR ME, the spiritual journey is not about growing more certain about the world, but rather about embracing more and more the mystery at the heart of everything and living into the great questions of life. In a world where so many people are so very certain about the nature of things, especially in religious circles about who God includes and excludes, I believe unknowing calls us to a radical humility.
– Weavings, May/June/July 2015
Thursday, September 13, 2018
Posted: 12 Sep 2018 10:01 PM PDT
Today’s Reflection
I GAZE out the window at the oak tree my children and grandchildren used to climb.
Now that I am alone, the memories of this house comfort me.
I wish I could roll back the clock to an earlier time when laughter and music filled these rooms, but I can’t.
On days when I feel sad and lonely, I find comfort in the familiarity of home. My home.
The kitchen window overlooks the crape myrtle that blooms every spring.
The squeaky screen door announces a neighbor’s arrival.
The workshop smells of oil and wood shavings.
My family members think it is time for me to move, but I cannot imagine my life compressed into a single-room apartment.
I have tried to digest their concerns—
I need more help; I can no longer live safely on my own; I am alone; my home is too expensive to maintain.
I know they mean well, but the idea of moving brings anxiety and fear.
O Lord, I don’t know what to do.
How can I leave the place that brings so much joy to what time I have left?
Comfort me, God, and give me direction.
Now that I am alone, the memories of this house comfort me.
I wish I could roll back the clock to an earlier time when laughter and music filled these rooms, but I can’t.
On days when I feel sad and lonely, I find comfort in the familiarity of home. My home.
The kitchen window overlooks the crape myrtle that blooms every spring.
The squeaky screen door announces a neighbor’s arrival.
The workshop smells of oil and wood shavings.
My family members think it is time for me to move, but I cannot imagine my life compressed into a single-room apartment.
I have tried to digest their concerns—
I need more help; I can no longer live safely on my own; I am alone; my home is too expensive to maintain.
I know they mean well, but the idea of moving brings anxiety and fear.
O Lord, I don’t know what to do.
How can I leave the place that brings so much joy to what time I have left?
Comfort me, God, and give me direction.
–
Voices of Aging
Voices of Aging
Comfort Me, God
Today’s Reflection
I GAZE out the window at the oak tree my children and grandchildren used to climb.
Now that I am alone, the memories of this house comfort me.
I wish I could roll back the clock to an earlier time when laughter and music filled these rooms, but I can’t.
On days when I feel sad and lonely, I find comfort in the familiarity of home. My home.
The kitchen window overlooks the crape myrtle that blooms every spring.
The squeaky screen door announces a neighbor’s arrival.
The workshop smells of oil and wood shavings.
My family members think it is time for me to move, but I cannot imagine my life compressed into a single-room apartment.
I have tried to digest their concerns—
I need more help; I can no longer live safely on my own; I am alone; my home is too expensive to maintain.
I know they mean well, but the idea of moving brings anxiety and fear.
O Lord, I don’t know what to do.
How can I leave the place that brings so much joy to what time I have left?
Comfort me, God, and give me direction.
Now that I am alone, the memories of this house comfort me.
I wish I could roll back the clock to an earlier time when laughter and music filled these rooms, but I can’t.
On days when I feel sad and lonely, I find comfort in the familiarity of home. My home.
The kitchen window overlooks the crape myrtle that blooms every spring.
The squeaky screen door announces a neighbor’s arrival.
The workshop smells of oil and wood shavings.
My family members think it is time for me to move, but I cannot imagine my life compressed into a single-room apartment.
I have tried to digest their concerns—
I need more help; I can no longer live safely on my own; I am alone; my home is too expensive to maintain.
I know they mean well, but the idea of moving brings anxiety and fear.
O Lord, I don’t know what to do.
How can I leave the place that brings so much joy to what time I have left?
Comfort me, God, and give me direction.
–
Voices of Aging
From page 53 of Voices of Aging: Adult Children and AginVoices of Aging
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
The Upper Room
Today’s Reflection
TIME (or rather, the lack of it) is a great source of worry for many. For some reason, you may have the idea that there isn’t enough time to go around. Twenty-four hours in a day are too few to do what needs to be done. Twenty-five or even twenty-six hours would do the trick. Perhaps you wish for a forty-day month!
Where did we get the idea that time is a finite commodity? The psalmist says, “A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night” (Ps. 90:4). God’s time is an infinite quantity. Time is a divine gift — limitless and beyond counting. How does that thought change your perspective on time? Are you suddenly feeling less rushed and harried?
When all is said and done, the only time you really have is this moment. The past moment is gone; the future moment is yet to come. A lot can happen between this moment and the next: a phone call could change your life; a heart attack could take it away. You have only this moment to concern you. If you’re feeling anxious about time, take this moment and pray that God will give you the time you need to do what needs to be done. Time is God’s gift, and when you become mindful of this gift, you’ll be surprised to find that the time you need is suddenly there. It’s as if the clock is slowed down or that the minutes stretch out before you, limitless and abundant.
– Patricia Wilson
Freedom from Worry
Freedom from Worry
Monday, September 10, 2018
Today’s Reflection
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Posted: 09 Sep 2018 10:01 PM PDT
– Excerpt is from “Standing Firm” by Parker J. Palmer
Hope |
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