A Prayer for UKRAINE
Prayer based on Psalm 17:6-9
We call on you, our God, for you will answer us;
turn your ear to us and hear our prayer.
Show Ukraine the wonders of your great love,
you who save by your right hand
those who take refuge in you from their foes.
Keep them as the apple of your eye;
hide them in the shadow of your wings
from the wicked who are out to destroy them,
from the mortal enemies who surround them.
hide them in the shadow of your wings.
Show them the wonders of your great love.
Fill them with your great peace. AMEN
Pray with your Cup
Grab you coffee cup and pray
Lord we pray for peace!
We pray for all who are working for peace…
For diplomats, for leaders and those standing up in the streets throughout the world.
We pray for protection, wisdom and strength.
We pray against the greed, the desire for power at all costs, and wicked destruction happening in our world.
End the violence Lord.
Help us to be peacemakers in our families, neighborhoods, and our communities today and everyday. AMEN
As you hold your cup and drink your coffee/tea today…
We know that the you Creator God hold the people of Ukraine in the palm of your hand ??
And you hold the people of Russia working for peace too.
As we hold our cups today wes pray for peace to overflow and change the hearts of those who want war.
As we hold our cup Lord God, hold onto the people who are fleeing for safety
Hold onto the people who are hiding and scared.
Hold on to those who cannot leave.
God of our refuge Be a refuge! Hold them in your Love.
We stand in the gap for our sisters and brothers in Ukraine.
We ask for miracles, Hold us and Hold them. In your Name AMEN
As you use your cup, Drink in God’s peace and continue to pray for the end of violence and for peace in Ukraine and throughout our world.
by Laurie Klein
May I start with a confession?
I hate my limp. Lately, militant arthritis is on the rampage, sidelining me from activities I’ve taken for granted. Like walking. Standing. Dancing and running.
I’m tired of foot-stabbing pains; weary of rest, elevation, and various potions. O to swap these dicey ankles, arches, and digits for the bounding gait of a deer! I miss snowshoeing alongside the local doe who leaves deep, weaving, heart-shaped tracks. Those indentations look blue as my mood.
Woebegone, restless, hoping to distract myself, I google “hooves”—and discover anatomical wonders.
Who’d ever guess deer hooves are comprised of keratin, like our fingernails? Who knew that, like our ears, they never stop growing?
Lord, use my limitations; enlarge my soul.
I also learn the deer hoof is a working trinity.
- Compact horn absorbs shock.
- Elongated, cloven toes function like our middle and ring finger.
- Dew claws enhance agility, like our pointer and pinky.
Three-in-One God, thank you for hands that still work.
Hooves also reduce contact with the ground, lessening friction. Enhancing speed. And exactitude. Braving a cliff or rugged terrain, a deer only needs two stable footings at a time: Smaller back hooves naturally track with those up front.
Help me follow in your steps, Lord. Be my balance, my surefooted joy.
But how does the soul—limping or hale—make headway when facing crippling pain and dismay? When praying for suffering people, a struggling planet?
Perhaps you feel it too. During these times of violent uprisings and moral decline, our equilibrium falters.
Remembering the verse about “hind’s feet in high places,” I reread Habakkuk. The minor 7th-century prophet expresses his frustration concerning the lack of justice in the land, God’s seeming inaction. Turns out Habakkuk is echoing David’s words, first recorded in 2 Samuel 22:34 and Psalm 18:33. Expressing his backlog of complaints helps him forge ahead, with a fresh outlook. It gives me a lift, too.
“. . . yet I will rejoice in the LORD,” Habakkuk writes, “I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights” (Habakkuk 3:18, 19a, NIV).
How marvelous that, long ago, God embedded this truth within nature. Hooves enable pivots, when needed. They work in tandem with the ingenious “springing ligament,” which pulls taut, then snaps backward as the deer goes airborne, supercharging grace with power.
Soul, never forget: your God invented leaping.
I won’t be making any 8-foot jumps over obstacles in my path. I’ll never hit 40 mph. I can’t solve the world’s myriad woes. But the deer remind me that, in Christ, the soul can spring—even sitting down.
What keeps your soul nimble during rough times?
John Michael Talbot sings Hind’s Feet on High Places
Deer feeding: Photo by Jonnelle Yankovich on Unsplash
Deer leaping: Photo by Matthijs van Heerikhuize on Unsplash
Whatever season your garden is in – winter, summer, spring, or fall – there is something to enjoy and tasks to accomplish. And there is spirituality to put into practice! Find God and community through the richness of soil and the shared values of growth. We have many resources available to help – click here to explore!
by Sue Duby
While most of my days “unfold” without a fully scripted agenda, Friday mornings are different. My phone calendar chimes with a non-negotiable, every-week coffee date with “history friend” Joanne. A “must-do.” A place to swap family updates. Moments to confess places where our hearts, relationships, and personal journeys need “tweaking.” 3 hours of chatter, while sipping lattes. Laughing . . . a lot. Exercising my verbal processing, until I have few words left (I later tell Chuck with a smile, “I saved you from lots of listening!!”).
Last week, Joanne tossed out our “ponder question” for the week. “I’m reading a book that talks about flourishing. What does that mean anyway?”
Immediately, I pictured my garden. Thanks to hours of digging, dumping yards of compost and mulch, repairing irrigation lines, and ripping out tired plants, our buddy Mitch paved the way for us to create. Now, anything we plant grows without effort, blooms like crazy, and makes me smile. Flourishing.
Grandsons on the baseball field. Stealing bases like jackrabbits. Slugging a few home runs. Cheering on teammates. All “spill over” from the foundation of a secure and safe home, Dad’s encouraging words, and coaches focused on character over success. Flourishing.
Morgan with her creative design business. Birthed from crazy, bold steps. Leaving a secure job to travel the globe for a year of missions training. Returning with a vision to champion “redemptive brands” that give back. Matching her designs and client needs with passion, heart, and soul. Following whispers from Him along the way, in growing trust. Flourishing.
Then. . .Joanne’s challenge. “So . . . when have you felt that you flourished?” I wrestled against my first thought for a moment, then blurted out – ”My season as Operations Director on a medical ship in Caribbean!!!” One of the all-time most challenging, crazy, “pull out my hair” eighteen months of my entire life. Hurricane evacuations (two), engine failures (close to rocks, stuck on an island), crew shortages, drydock escapades, and perpetual out-of-control days. And yet, in the midst of it all, a sense of “firing on all cylinders”, creating, organizing, thriving with the unknowns, and clinging to Him for wisdom every single moment. Acutely aware of His presence, grace and protection at all times. Flourishing.
Flourishing happens when “a particularly favorable environment” produces healthy and vigorous growth or development. It makes sense when I dig in my rich garden soil or watch grandsons nurtured by loving parents. But, when life is hard, when my footing feels wobbly, when challenges feel overwhelming . . . how am I to still flourish?
Perhaps, it’s not what we do to create space for flourishing or what we can see that makes us feel secure and ready to charge ahead. Flourishing moments are not defined by “I did this, I succeeded here, I won this award, people noticed me here.” Instead, it’s all about WHO is with me, always paving the way with love, coupled with my choice to listen, follow and trust Him. Where I choose to firmly hold on to Him as my solid anchor. Then, the moments are ripe for flourishing!
What delight comes to the one who follows God’s ways!
He won’t walk in step with the wicked,
nor share the sinner’s way,
nor be found sitting in the scorner’s seat.
2 His passion is to remain true to the Word of “I AM,”
meditating day and night on the true revelation of light.
3 He will be standing firm like a flourishing tree
planted by God’s design,
deeply rooted by the brooks of bliss,
bearing fruit in every season of life.
He is never dry, never fainting,
ever blessed, ever prosperous.
Back to that attentive listening ear and a heart that continually asks, “Lord, show me, today. . .Your way!” Pondering and choosing to follow. Then, He “plants” us, enabling us to stand firm (my own efforts to “stand firm” never seem to last!). From that planting, we “yield . . . fruit in its season” (NIV). We flourish.
Matthew Henry paints a delightful picture of those who “follow” Him:
“. . . they bring forth their fruit (that which is required of them), in due season, when it is most beautiful and most useful, improving every opportunity of doing good and doing it in its proper time.” Matthew Henry
Waiting and patience – a part of the journey. His timing of that season (Father really does know best!) coupled with His knowledge of our “frame” (He crafted us each uniquely) leads to our flourishing at just the right moments.
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
13 planted in the house of the Lord,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green,
15 proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;
he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”
May we continue to listen, trust and follow Him, as we delight in fresh, flourishing moments.
It’s not too late! Just a few days left to sign up for THIS Saturday’s Lenten retreat! Join Christine Sine and Lilly Lewin as we learn to lay down our grief and gather our joys through the journey of Lent. This retreat will be LIVE via zoom from 9:30 am PT to 12:30 pm PT. Click here for more details or to sign up!
by Laurie Klein
Our prayer group settles into the waiting silence. We inhale more slowly. Exhale fully. The woman guiding our meditation beckons us deeper . . .
“Picture yourself receiving a gift,” she says, “something to support your spiritual journey.”
Secretly, I hope for a jeweled lantern. A stargazer lily. A leaping gazelle.
Not an inchworm.
In my mind’s eye the creature is roughly the length of my fingertip, spineless, yet intrepid, and green as the first lettuce leaves unfurling in May. I flex my hand. The image persists, so vivid it almost tickles.
As if poised for travel down to my palm, my pretend companion raises its head. So, I expect the front end to lead. But the hind legs launch micro-steps and . . . hump! goes the legless, ungainly middle. Then the back feet anchor themselves, giving the front legs their turn.
Seems the inchworm gauges its progress in units, using its own body. A wave of affection stirs me. Here is a small-world Olympian bent on testing its limits.
Is this a prompt to listen more to my body? Or perhaps “Aspire to more” is the message.
Words spoken by 17th century philosopher/theologian Robert Boyle come to mind:
“The book of nature is a fine and large piece of tapestry rolled up,
which we are not able to see all at once,
but must be content to wait for the discovery of its beauty, and symmetry,
little by little, as it gradually comes
to be more and more unfolded, or displayed.”
Perhaps the gift goes deeper, intersecting with patience. Will I accept—even celebrate—my soul’s incremental headway?
In the 1952 movie, Hans Christian Anderson, starring Danny Kaye, local school children glumly intone arithmetic sums in a minor key. Anderson, rebuffed by their crotchety schoolmaster for waving at them, notices a caterpillar moving among the flowers, then sings:
Inchworm, inchworm (two and two are four)
Measuring the marigolds (four and four are eight)
Seems to me, you’d stop and see (eight and eight are sixteen)
How beautiful they are (sixteen and sixteen are thirty-two)
I feel warned. Eager for measurable spiritual growth, I tend to hyper-focus on well-meaning religious regimens or 3-step how-tos. Sometimes I miss the wonders unfolding around me. Rote learning works, but visitations of grace—like the inchworm—endlessly appear, to surprise and instruct me.
Will I pay attention? I long for Spirit-led plans, postures, and gestures, knowing they may be less than dignified.
Inchworms alternately crawl, pause in a looped omega shape, even stand, swaying, on stubby legs. Some species can roll and leap. When danger threatens, they impersonate twigs. Or they spin silken threads and bungee jump into the air; hitchhike on the wind to a juicy new leaf.
Hunger, peril, and beauty evoke diverse actions and postures in me too, as I . . .
- double-take
- sway
- bow
- tremble
- re-anchor
- arise
- stretch
- create
- twirl
- soar
Looping and lurching, the journey unfolds: always, those next awkward steps, that tenuous middle ground, then the moment of modest progress. Repeat. And sometimes, a setback, another chance to regroup. And repeat . . .
What a gift! Charming, tender, impelled—the inchworm points the way.
_________________________
“Inchworm,” by Frank Loesser
Danny Kaye plays Hans Christian Anderson here.
Photo by Ekaterina Shevchenko on Unsplash
Tomorrow! Christine and Lilly will talk about Celtic Christianity, as Lilly has the opportunity to attend a retreat with John Philip Newell! Join Christine Sine and Lilly Lewin on Wednesday, February 23rd 2022 at 9 am PT (check my timezone) for our next FB Live happening on our Godspace Light Community Facebook Group! Can’t make it? No worries–we upload the sessions on our youtube channel so you can still enjoy the lively discussions and interesting topics. And catch us live for the next session–happening here!
Last Wednesday, I facilitated the last of a book study series I’d been leading on The Gift of Wonder. Each participant brought some slices of apple and a small amount of honey to dip them in. We ate them as we talked about the sweetness that we gained from community interaction through the sessions. For all of us, wonder brightened our winter days and strengthened our spirits as we moved forward towards the spring.
What astonished me was how much I enjoyed these apple slices. And the honey, which came from a good friend who keeps bees, was the most delicious I have ever tasted. This must be like the wild honey that John the Baptist ate during his sojourn in the desert, I thought. Maybe Jesus ate it too.
If you remember, John the Baptist lived and preached in the desert and survived on locusts and honey – apparently a common diet for desert wanderers and hermits. It may sound gross to us, but locusts are considered a delicacy in some cultures. Evidently, they are quite nutritious, full of protein, and when combined with honey, considered to be the food of the Gods. Simple but delicious food, just like the manna that God gifted to the Hebrews in the desert.
We are heading into the wilderness of Lent, a place we need to retreat to regularly so that we learn to follow God more fully. Some of us feel we have lived in a perpetual wilderness for the last 2 years. We think of a wilderness experience as a time of austerity, and in some ways it is, but we also need to recognize that in the wilderness God provides delicious food, sweet and nutritious.
Once I took my first bite of those apples and honey on Wednesday night I couldn’t stop until the plate was empty. They really were delicious and nourishing just like the food – both spiritual and physical – God sustained most of us with over the last couple of years. In the midst of heartache and distress there was much beauty to be uncovered we just need to pause, beautify our gaze, and take notice of what is all around us.
In preparation for our Lenten retreat: Finding Beauty in the Ashes of Lent on Saturday, I have been re-reading John O’Donohue’s book Beauty. Talk about sweet sustenance for my soul and so much wisdom that helps me understand the fruit of the journey we have been on. I will talk more about this on Saturday, so make sure you sign up but here are just a couple of his insights to end with. Good preparation for Saturday, and as you reflect on the quotes ask yourself:
What is the sweet but nourishing food God provided you with? What luminescence of beauty was uncovered for you as a result?
If our style of looking becomes beautiful, then beauty will become visible and shine forth for us…. When we beautify our gaze, the grace of hidden beauty becomes our joy and our sanctuary. (Beauty, 19)
When beauty touches our lives, the moment becomes luminous. Theses grace-moments are gifts that surprise us. When we look beyond the moment to our life journey, perhaps we can choose a new rhythm of journeying which would be more conscious of beauty and more open to inviting her to disclose herself to us in all the situations we travel through (Beauty, 23)
Greed for destination obliterates the journey. The digital desire for the single instant schools the mind in false priority. Each instant proclaims its own authority and the present image demands the complete attention of the eye….. The mechanics of electronic imaging reverses the incarnation of real encounter. But a great journey needs plenty of time. It should not be rushed; if it is, your life becomes a kind of abstract package tour devoid of beauty and meaning. There is such constant whirr of movement that you never know where you are. You have no time to give yourself to the present experience. When you accumulate experiences at such a tempo everything becomes thin. Consequently, you become ever more absent from your life and this fosters emptiness that haunts the heart (Beauty, 27)
When you regain a sense of your life as a journey of discovery you return to rhythm with yourself. When you take the time to travel with reverence, a richer like unfolds before you. Moments of beauty begin to braid your days. When your mind becomes more acquainted with reverence, the light, grace, and elegance of beauty find you more frequently (Beauty, 28)
NOTE: As an Amazon Associate I receive a small amount for purchases made through appropriate links.
It’s not too late! Just a few days left to sign up for THIS Saturday’s Lenten retreat! Join Christine Sine and Lilly Lewin as we learn to lay down our grief and gather our joys through the journey of Lent. This retreat will be LIVE via zoom from 9:30 am PT to 12:30 pm PT. Click here for more details or to sign up!
A contemplative service with music in the spirit of Taize. Carrie Grace Littauer, prayer leader, with music by Kester Limner and Andy Myers.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-710-756 with additional notes below:
“Even In Sorrow”
Composed by Kester Limner in March 2020 for the people of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Seattle, shared under the Creative Commons License, Attribution (CC-BY)
“Nothing Can Ever”,”Atme In Uns”,”God is Forgiveness”
Copyright and all rights reserved by GIA/Les Presses de Taizé
Thank you for praying with us! www.saintandrewsseattle.org
by June Friesen
Love your pet – one may respond I love my pet every day so why do I need a day to remind me to do it? Sometimes maybe it is just a time to remind us how much we would miss not having a pet close by, one that loves us unconditionally. As I think of animals, whether they are pets or not I am reminded that God created them. When God created them ‘He said, “It is good.”
God spoke: “Swarm, Ocean, with fish and all sea life!
Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!”
God created the huge whales, all the swarm of life in the waters,
And every kind and species of flying birds.
God saw that it was good.
God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean!
Birds, reproduce on Earth!”
It was evening, it was morning—24-25 God spoke: “Earth, generate life! Every sort and kind:
cattle and reptiles and wild animals—all kinds.”
And there it was: wild animals of every kind,
Cattle of all kinds, every sort of reptile and bug.
God saw that it was good.
If we read on in this chapter, God also told Adam and Eve after He created them that they were to care for the animals. God continued to show His care for animals in the story of Noah and the ark because God did not just put Noah and his family in the ark; no, He told Noah to take two of every animal, a male and female (Genesis 6 – 9). When I look at these verses I see that not only did God create the animals, He also cared enough for them to preserve their species when He covered the earth with floodwaters. One may ask, why did God create animals in the first place? And another question that may surface is the one that involves God requiring animals to be sacrificed because of the wrong choices that people made (but that is for another day).
In Matthew 12 Jesus confronted the religious leaders about their criticism of Him by challenging them with these words about a lamb: “He replied, “Is there a person here who, finding one of your lambs fallen into a ravine, wouldn’t, even though it was a Sabbath, pull it out? Surely kindness to people is as legal as kindness to animals!” Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” He held it out and it was healed. The Pharisees walked out furious, sputtering about how they were going to ruin Jesus.” Another time Jesus commented on the dog(s) that came to lick the sore of the beggar who was sick.
As I grew up being a pet lover, always having dogs, as the first photo shows – I soon learned as a little child how a dog was loving and caring at all times. When I felt sad, I remember going and laying down with my dog, in fact, we had a golden lab named Brownie, who was like a caregiver for me in some respects. If I was outside on the farm and wandered off she always was with me. All my father had to do was call her, and when she came, he said, “Where is June?” and off she would go and lead him to wherever I was.
The recent pets in our lives have been Czech Shepherds. Abigail and Rusty were our first two and below you will see Sasha who is our current shepherd. Since we live in a townhouse with no yard, she gets three walks each day and a total of anywhere to 2.5 – 4 miles in total. She is one who makes sure she gets loved ‘every day’ and not just on National Love Your Pet Day. At times I find myself thinking that during my lifetime the loyalty and concern of the dogs I/we have had is indeed a real reminder of how much God cares for each one of us. Here is a neat aside: Dog spelled backward is God.
There are other pets that people have – many people have cats and they are furry and friendly too. Here is one of my friend’s cats who definitely is loved as well. Cats have a special way that God has gifted them to say they are happy with us – we usually call it purring. It is definitely a gentle and possibly even a calming sound they share as they snuggle close and receive those precious pats and caressing.
I would like to close today by sharing about another pet that graced our home for about 3 years. This is Angel. And yes, Angel is a bird.
My husband was just returning home from a doctor’s appointment. He had already called me and told me that the news of the biopsy was cancer, however it was in the very early stage. As he pulled up in his parking space outside our townhouse and opened his car door, there at his feet was this very bird. He bent down and the bird let him pick him up without flying away or fighting him. He brought him into the house and I am like, “What am I going to do with him? I do not have a cage.” I found a small box, poked some holes in it, and put him inside. And then I took my son and we went to the pet store to get this bird a home. Our son picked out some toys, saying we should give him special things to have in his little cage. We came home and I prepared his little home with goodies, water, and toys. My husband named him, ‘Angel.’ We shared this story with many as they visitied us over the next 2 -3 years. Angel blessed our home with his presence, singing at times and at other times, just a quiet presence. Because he was very active it was hard to clean his cage. One day, a few months ago, he managed to get out of the cage as I was cleaning it and away he flew. I was so sad. And when I told my husband what happened he was sad as well. And then God dropped a thought into my spirit and I said to my husband, “Do you think Angel knew that you recently were told that your blood work showed that there was no longer any sign of cancer, that the treatment was very effective? Do you think that he thought his job at our house was finished and he needed to go on his next mission of mercy?” And so it was that I began to pray for whoever found our ‘Angel’ and that he too will indeed be an ‘Angel’ for them.
And so I encourage each one of you, whether you have a pet or not, to thank God today for the gift of animals in our lives. Some of them serve very special purposes in our lives especially those that serve as service dogs. And yes, I believe that God would also encourage us to pray for the animals around us and again especially those that provide care as well as therapy for people of all ages.
As I close today I share with you one of my writings of a few years (2014) back called a Garden of Love.
A GARDEN OF LOVE
I believe that God has created a garden of love for all,
And in that garden there is a special place for all of our loving faithful pets
To romp and to play forever and aye.
How could they ever deserve anything but the best for their example to us of God’s faithfulness to the end.
I believe that when God created the world way back when He knew that He would need a special garden just designed for human’s very faithful friends, their pets…
And so it has trees and treats, balls and frisbees,
Lost of soft green grass in which to roll and rest.
And when their faithful journey on earth is finished they find their place in the Garden of Love –
The reward of showing humankind the unconditional love like God has for us all.
Photo of cat used with permission of Gina Pollard; all other photos and writing by June Friesen. Scripture is from The Message translation.
Christine and Lilly will talk about Celtic Christianity, as Lilly has the opportunity to attend a retreat with John Philip Newell! Join Christine Sine and Lilly Lewin on Wednesday, February 23rd 2022 at 9 am PT (check my timezone) for our next FB Live happening on our Godspace Light Community Facebook Group! Can’t make it? No worries–we upload the sessions on our youtube channel so you can still enjoy the lively discussions and interesting topics. And catch us live for the next session–happening here!
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