Author Archives: Janet Salbert
Birthing Time
Reply
January 2
Birthing God, who designed the cyclical seasons of the earth,
Your Presence in this moment beckons us to focus on the needs of this new day. And like any other day, we are grateful for the rhythmic nurture you provide. You shape us through both the mundane and the extraordinary events that mark our time. You deliver us in our work and in our play. Whether we are close or far away, may this New Year be rich in the gifts we return to you. Amen.
Protected:
Hope is Here
Hope is not wishful thinking, it is not wanting things to turn out a certain way. Hope is accepting all that is here and responding in trust for the future. Mary is our symbol of hope this season. Mary openly received the direction to head down an unknown road. She was affirmed through the messengers sent to join her on the way. She continued on, knowing that Joseph and Elizabeth were aware of all that was happening within her.
Hope is strengthened through sharing with others. Joseph held Mary’s hand the whole journey long, himself hoping for what was ahead. It was not easier or more comfortable, their questions was not answered immediately.
In fact, I am not sure you can have hope without vulnerability. What are you hoping for? Who is holding your hand? What is affirming you as you respond? These are the questions of the season.
We are not merely to survive this season. Hope is here.
Advent Waiting
The season of Advent is upon us. This is a season of waiting. As we wait,
we watch. We seek God’s active presence coming into the world. Maybe we are watching world news and want to see peace. Maybe we are waiting with a sick relative and want to see healing. Perhaps we are waiting with children and want to see love open wide in family life. Some of us wait by ourselves,
looking for a glimpse of Jesus coming toward us.
Waiting and prayer have a lot in common. Waiting is not inactive. We wait
with an openness to respond. We wait with a heart ready to help. We wait to
have God move us to share love. Christians most often have the dilemma
between choosing between two good options. Maybe this year we need to choose an option that helps us admit we need God to accomplish it. Maybe we need to choose to do the thing that moves us to more fully experience God’s presence and power at work in our lives. Maybe this is what it means for Christ to come again.
Wednesday Simple Prayer 2012
White Chocolate Bread Pudding
Made for us while on mission in 2007 doing Katrina Relief from the fabulous cooks and crew at Camp Hope in Vancleave, Ms.
Slice French bread, around 16 slices best broken in pieces and placed in an oblong Pyrex or casserole dish lightly buttered.
5 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 quart milk
1 stick melted butter
1 T vanilla
Mix the above and pour over bread, sprinkle with cinnamon, go heavy on that sprinkle! Bake one hour at 350 degrees.
Topping
1 stick butter
I cup white chocolate chips, or 8-10 oz white baking chocolate, I use both Ghiradelli chips and Bakers white chocolate squares
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 t vanilla
6 t water
Melt butter and white chocolate in microwave for 2 minutes. Remove, stir and add powdered sugar, vanilla and water. Heat another minute, remove and stir until smooth and creamy, then pour over bread pudding as it comes out of the oven. Serve warm.
Turning The Grateful Season into The Great Full Season
Some days it just doesn’t seem like we have enough, not enough time, not enough energy or support, not enough love. When disappointment runs deep, we cannot help but ask, “Where are you, God?”
If we dare, if we take courage and look beyond our limitations, stepping out into uncertainty, sure of only the One, there we find surprising mystery, there is the grace. At first, maybe a drop, and then a trickle, that leads us to the fountain of mercy and goodness that God intends. For each one of us, God’s plan is different, but we are all caught up in a universal experience of what is means to be human. Thanks be to our Lord Jesus, God knows the human experience intimately. And taught us thanksgiving anyway. “On the night in which we was betrayed, Jesus took bread and gave thanks.” (1 Corinthians 11:23) Amazing. Jesus knew his circumstances were dire, he knew he was headed to suffer and he did so with thanksgiving.
I don’t believe we get to the Great Full Season, until we have passed by the grateful season. We give thanks for everything, no matter how fleeting. No matter what our situation, we bless God and give thanks. Giving thanks helps us to gain new perspective, to see things we had not seen before. The Great Full Season arrives when we are able to let go of what we think we need, and find God in the dark, find God in the autumns of our lives when things are falling away. Let us enter the Great Full Season, placing our full trust in the fullness of glory that lies ahead.
And Then, Gone
The grackles came today,
One by one, perching on half-leafed limbs,
Announcing their arrival with small, squeaky chirps… at the silence.
Many hundreds, playfully filling our trees.
Moving in one direction, not resting for too long.
Suddenly, they took flight, a
Black cloud filling the air, their free forming air-shape dancing in space.
Beauty unfurled across the sky
Rising and falling, turning
And swaying, laughing at the earth,
And then, gone.
Hamewith
Years ago, I wandered into a used book store and found a treasure, titled “Hamewith,” a collection of poetry by Charles Murray published in 1918. The poetry is written in Gaelic and there is a glossary in the back for translating. Hamewith translated from the Gaelic means ‘homewards’ and Murray describes it like this:
“Hamewith- the road that is never dreary,
Back where the heart is a’ the time.”
The heart of our home is a large stone fireplace that burns real logs that we retrieve from fallen trees in the woods. The hearth provides warmth and quickly becomes a gathering place in our home. Today, leaves are fading, falling off the trees and an Autumn chill has set in. This evening, we are gathered around a glowing hearth.
When life gets chilly, colors fade and disappointments begin to decay, what turns your heart homeward?
At times, we find it hard to live in human skin, hard to deal with the human condition both within and around us. Our restless questions move us to look for answers outside of ourselves far beyond our reach. Finding the road home no matter what the circumstances requires that we look deep within and give room for our true selves to grow. Intimacy with God develops when the glow of light appears in the center of our being and what has been alien and unknown becomes a gathering place for mercy and peace.
May your road home never be dreary and may your heart ever dwell in the soft glow and warmth of Love.
Janet Salbert 