Lord, give me humility in which alone is rest, and deliver me from pride which is the heaviest of burdens. Possess my whole heart and soul with the simplicity of love. Occupy my whole life with the one thought and the one desire of love, that I may love not for the sake of
Silence is a time to rest in God. Lean into God, trusting that being with him in silence will loosen your rootedness in the world and plant you by streams of living water. It can form your life even if it doesn't solve your life. (Adele Calhoun)
Be the reason I feel loved
when I catch my own reflection
or feel my own self-loathing
fluttering in my stomach.
Calm my mind,
lift my spirit,
make this dumb, ordinary day
my prayer of thanks.
Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie
For this ordinary day
Lord, here I am.
How strange it is,
that some days feel like hurricanes
and others like glassy seas
and others like nothing much at all.
Today is a cosmic shrug.
God, be bread.
Be water.
Be laundry.
Be the coffee cup in my hands
and the reason to calm down in traffic.
Be the gentler tone in my insistence today
that people pick up after themselves for once.
๐งต To be a spiritual friend one must have detachment, discretion, and discernment, with all that prepares for those gifts. Spiritual companionship is a gentle art, demanding a willingness to listen as if one had a third ear attuned to the inner self.
he or she is a means, not an end. It is important for me not to think too highly of myself in this relationship, but to stand in awe of what God is doing in the life of the other person. Often this requires me to get out of the way.
What I love about the Pentecostal tradition is the belief that if we create space (esp in our gatherings) God will meet us in power.
What I love about the Contemplative tradition is the belief that if we create space (esp interior space) God will meet us in stillness.
I was thinking this morning how weโre all disciples of someone. Of some entity. Some doctrine. I was thinking how quickly you can tell these days which news networks weโre discipled by. Iโm not just talking about one in particular. Take your pick. We the people have become we the parrots. No nuance. No critical thinking. No inconvenient listening. No attempts to understand other views. Just parrots.
We have chosen the narrow way alright. Just not the narrow way Jesus meant. His narrow way opens wide our heartโs capacity to love (even our enemies!) and our mindโs capacity to consider others as more important than ourselves. If we hate more people and spew more derision than we did 5 years ago, we may believe in Jesus but make no mistake. We are not his disciples.
@BethMooreLPM I miss this tradition. I grew in a episcopal church and they had a time of celebration like that. It was also a time that anyone who had a reason of thanksgiving could come to the altar.
@PrestonSprinkle 1. Sensible shoes (all 4 books of the series) by Sharon Garlough Brown
2. Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Haley Barton
3. Anxious people by Fredrick Backman