Tag Archives: Presence
Protected: Soaked in Wonder
Protected: Washed with Peace
Neighborhood Landscapes
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I love driving into our neighborhood. The road passes over a creek, trees stretch their arms to the sky, and sometimes a hawk flies into view or deer stand still in the landscape. I have a sense of communion with each of our neighbors who are shaped and formed by this same landscape. We see one other daily while walking our dogs, driving to work, attending to our lawns and caring for our children. When the wildness of creation tosses a snowstorm our way, we shovel and share eggs and milk as needed. At times, the landscape becomes still and invites us to do the same. We share a common and connected life with our neighbors.
My active role in the church has given me another neighborhood to dwell in. We are clergy and laity, women and men who are shaped and formed by the particular landscape of tradition. The common life we share is under tremendous strain. We cross bridges and climb over fences in order to reach others cut off by social and cultural divides hoping to share the landscape of God’s love which we confess is so deep and so vast that even we cannot fully grasp it.
I am fully convinced that what the church needs, in fact, what the global neighborhood needs, is to practice resting silently in the One who shapes and forms us by grace, forgiveness and mercy. As we become part of that landscape, we might find our connected, common life is already here.
Pilgrimage
Celtic spirituality offers us some added disciplines to grow in our understanding of God’s faithfulness. For the ancient Celtic monks, pilgrimage was the art of leaving the comfortable and familiar of home to encounter God. Pilgrimage was often used as a way to share the gospel or to walk in the footsteps of a holy person. Many Jews and Christians participate in pilgrimage by traveling to Israel. Pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the pillars of Islam. We do not need to travel to the place where our faith originated to accomplish pilgrimage. When on pilgrimage, the exposure to creation reveals the Divine Presence through plants, animals, landscapes and natural designs. Each person we meet on the road may carry a divine message.
Pilgrimage begins with preparation. Where are we going and why? We prepare our hearts and minds by establishing an intent, a reason for becoming a pilgrim. Do we have a yearning that needs to be addressed? Is it to watch for God’s Spirit in the world? Or is it to learn about faithful saints, or spiritual leaders? Preparing helps us to set aside other aspects of our life so we can give our full attention to the Spirit that beckons us on the journey. The act of physical packing only the essentials of what we will need is part of pilgrimage. During your time of preparation, be sure to plan a couple of stops during your pilgrimage to visit a special place or take time for reflection.
I believe that we can take on a pilgrim’s heart each time we leave home to accomplish our daily activities. If we leave home expecting to encounter God, there is a good chance we will be open to noticing God every day. No matter what the challenges of our circumstances at work or at school, with our health or our relationships, we can be pilgrims learning from those who walked the path before us. The best part of pilgrimage is bringing home the boon. What did we find while we were away from the comfortable and familiar? Sharing what we learn with others deepens our understanding.
During this Lenten season, I encourage you to practice the discipline of pilgrimage, leaving home for the unknown might open the path for an encounter with the Divine.
Protected: This Spacious Day
Fasting Is Slowing
Lent is the season to grow in our relationship with God. Prayer and fasting are good starting places for attending to God’s presence in our lives. Fasting from things other than food can be very helpful in providing us time to focus instead on God. Where do you spend your free time? How you spend your free time reveals where your priorities are. Often, we find ourselves wasting time without realizing it. Television, gossip magazines, Facebook, Twitter, internet games not to mention addictions like alcohol, pornography and gambling steal our time.
Listening in silence is one way to fast. It invites us to let go of our many distractions. Do not try to evacuate your mind, rather listen for the word that continues to surface that reveals the Divine. Use the Simple Prayers on this site to lead you into a time of silence.
Replace the things that steal your time with an intent to notice God in simple activities like taking a walk, breathing consciously will re-establish the connection between your body and spirit. Practice taking each step gently as an effort to offer peace in our world.
Fasting in these ways can actually produce a slowing. We notice things we otherwise might overlook. Fasting is not very comfortable, because it reminds us how empty we are. I encourage you to empty out, my friends, slow down and fill up on the presence of God.
Protected:
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.
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.
Janet Salbert 