by Christine Sine
This week has been a fun week for me as I have been filming our new Spirituality of Gardening on line course which will be available at the end of the month. As well as that, on Thursday evening I participated in another discussion on Evelyn Underhill’s meditation on The Lord’s Prayer. We focused on the phrase “hallowed be thy name” and talked about how rarely we spend time focusing on God and hallowing the holy, majestic and awe-inspiring nature of divine love.
In the midst however, we were all struggling with how challenging it is to believe in a God of love when so many are struggling and in pain. All of us confront the question “Is GOD a monster or the Savior of the world?” So often when we think like this God catches us up short and says: “Do you think you care more than I do? Do you think your sense of justice and mercy are greater than mine?” As Tom Herrick reminded us “the view we have of God is coloured by the state of our souls.” And none of us have souls that are pure.
However I still find that when I am confronted with these kinds of questions I need coping mechanisms that work and as I look to the future I find that a new song is emerging for me to live by.
In the past I have started my day with gratitude towards God but now I realize that gratitude for what I perceive God has done can taint my view of God too. The place I need to start my day is with that phrase “hallowed be thy name”.
Focusing on “hallowed be thy name” first thing in the morning is writing a new song on my heart. And the longer I spend focusing on the holy, majestic and omnipotent God we serve the better I do throughout the rest of the day. When I began this practice it was just a couple of minutes and then I was on to something else – usually gratitude or prayers for someone I was concerned about, but sometimes just on to distraction of my iPhone screen. So it is no wonder that when I faced difficult questions of God’s control and sovereignty that I struggled.
Awe and wonder walk
Now Tom and I follow our morning devotions with a 2 mile “awe and wonder walk” around the neighborhood…. Kind of extending our “hallowed be thy name practice. We point out to each other the things that give us a sense of awe and of course with the beautiful array of spring flowers at the moment that is not hard. However I have also found that changing my focus each week – so that one week I reflect on color and beauty, another on fragrance, another on texture and so on can also help. I have even had a week of focusing on the weeds in the pavement cracks – reminding myself that even here God plants gardens and beauty.
So now my gratitude practice happens over the breakfast table with that foundational assurance of the holiness and majesty of God. Tom and I share about what we are grateful for… and then we pray for others. Even those prayers have been reconfigured as I change my view of God. A friend once told me that when she prays for disasters, struggling people and crisis situations she starts with “what is God already doing to respond to this situation? How can I join in?”
I find that changing my perspective from “why did God let this happen” (an unanswerable question that I often think gives us an excuse to do nothing) to “What are the God sightings in the midst of it”? totally changes my perspective of the situation and my perspective of God in the midst of it. It is a joy to join God in the work that God is already accomplishing through the gifts and efforts of others. It is a joy too to realize that I am not alone in the efforts. Our magnificent and awe inspiring God has a whole host of labourers responding in the midst of crisis.
I am posting the Taize contemplative service for the Sixth Sunday of Easter from Saint Andrews Episcopal church in Seattle. I continue to find these enriching and nourishing and am pleased to see how many of you do too. I encourage you to visit their YouTube channel and check out the other resources for prayer and worship they provide, . Fr. Rich Weyls, Rector, prayer leader, with music by Kester Limner and Andy Myers. Permission to web stream or podcast music in this service is granted under One License number A-710-756. www.saintandrewsseattle.org
The heart has its tributaries,
rivers deep, carved through stony ground.
And the heart has its flowering branches,
The heart has its heights,
where the view is worth the walk. And the closed path
opens out.
Yes, from the hill,
where vistas unwrap like scrolls laid out upon the ground,
I see how the landscape reflects the hidden self’s core.
And why not?
Why should the view without not be a sort of mirror,
or map to navigate by.
I think I will see my heart
in how the rivers flow and connect.
In how the trees will rise up from inhospitable ground.
I will watch the way
hills fold, mount up
to fall like ocean’s waves.
And the sudden view,
that surprises through the trees, will reveal how the heart
has its many layers
of pages.
Different scenes,
that hold threads of continuity
like words crossing a divide.
Yes, the heart has its tributaries,
and the landscape is the hidden self, exposed.
Maybe that’s why
catching a glimpse
of ourselves,
is like looking through clouds at a long familiar face.
And connection,
feels like rivers might
as they flood out to the sea’s edge, and find themselves a small part of something entirely whole.
Copyright Ana Lisa de Jong – Living Tree Poetry
To read more from Talking About the Sun – Poetry from Nature, click the free product below to download.
Maybe there is a garden in my thoughts.
I know my soul,
in deciding what to do,
will follow the way of light through the trees,
will seek the singing bird.
Will kneel in the loam and thank the fallow earth for seeds, trust the winds.
Yes, there is a garden in my thoughts. And I learn the seasons
by watching the leaves.
There is no noise,
but the breeze brushing the foliage, the bird’s call,
its forage for food amongst leaf mulch, the rustling of the
earthen floor.
And I realise, everything is here, death, birth,
the spaciousness of life.
The rooted things,
that remind us to plant ourselves, branch out to a shape defined
by who we are,
the replication of cells, the grace gift, enough.
The pattern of leaves,
and the direction of veins –
a path to follow from root to tip.
And the singing bird,
making a home in the universe.
There is a garden in my thoughts.
Poetry for a Pandemic – Ana Lisa de Jong
Download the free collection through our store by clicking below.
By Lilly Lewin
When I need to process things, it helps me to draw/sketch and color.
I drew the picture above a couple of days ago & it’s inviting me to pay attention & take notice of what I am feeling in the middle of all that is this pandemic.
Also, this drawing sparks many questions for me to ponder and talk to Jesus about as I imagine the treasure chest, the ocean, the seashore, etc.
Maybe some of these questions can help you slow down & notice too.
In the midst of #covid19, what are you experiencing in these strange new seas we are navigating?
What are the hidden treasures you are discovering during this crazy season?
What are you learning about yourself during quarantine?
Are you swimming or treading water?
What have you discovered buried, but now surfacing?
What are the sharks that have circled you?
What have been the beautiful fish to enjoy?
What “shells” have you collected along the way?
What treasures have you found?
Could you find some treasure buried in the depth of the ocean of uncertainty?
Could the treasure chest of gifts be bigger than the fears, frustrations, and uncertainties beneath the waves?
Ask Jesus to show you.
This reminds me that
where your treasure is, there will your heart be too.
I’m reminded that
Jesus walked on water
Jesus calmed the stormy seas
Jesus provided an abundance of fish for his friends after they’d fished all night and not caught anything.
And Jesus already has the breakfast cooked on the beach ready for you and me to receive.
What does this sketch say to you today?
What images are speaking to you in the midst of covid19?
Why not get your crayons or markers out and do some coloring this weekend and invite the Holy Spirit to inspire you!
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
by Tom Sine
I celebrated the “good news that a huge number in both…Gen Y & Z want to make a difference in our troubled times”…in my last book, Live Like You Give a Damn!: Join the Changemaking Celebration.
While most pastors are aware that Pew Researchers tell us that Gen Y and Z are the “nones and the dones”, the generations that are increasingly choosing not to affiliate with the church, few seem to be aware of the good news they bring to this daunting time.
Because Gen Y and Z are the first digital generations, they are much more aware and concerned about environmental, racial and economic justice and a very high percentage of them really do “give a damn!”. I am convinced if we invited their desire to work for constructive change in our neighborhoods they might find our churches more interesting.
However, I am experiencing a growing sense of alarm for the future of Gen Y & Z as they are facing not only the Corona Pandemic but increasingly a global economic recession as well. Millennials launched their lives during the recession of 2008-2009 and there are many of them in their 40s that are still struggling to get their lives started. Numbers of them postponed getting married, starting families, going to college and purchasing homes.
This recession is likely to be much worse. It will continue to make it tough for millennials…headed into their 40s to get started. It could be even worse for Gen Z, numbers of whom will be graduating from college into a decade where employment is going to very hard to find. For those that didn’t go to college, it is going to be even tougher finding work and getting their lives started.
“We Need National Service. Now.”, declares David Brooks in his recent New York Times article. He makes a very compelling case for needing to influence the Republicans and Democrats in the Senate to put them to work in a national service program to help our country to recover from the twin crises of our most destructive pandemic and what could become our worst recession.
“Dr. Tom Friedman, former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said we will need some 300,000 contact tracers alone. Senator Chris Coons has a bill working its way through the Senate that would double the number of AmeriCorps from 75,000 to 150,000.” They are providing a living wage and are trained in community empowerment. For example, a number of them are trained in educational empowerment and tutor in inner city schools.
Also, for students or recent grads looking for an opportunity to make a difference during the summer, there are a number of Christian opportunities. For example, InterVarsity Justice and Mission has summer opportunities. Responding as followers of Jesus to COVID-19, there are opportunities in the US and internationally that students or recent grads need to check out at InterVarsity’s Justice and Missions Program’s Response.
As we all learn to compassionately deal with the range of daunting challenges impacting us and our neighbors, it is urgently important that we we don’t forget Generation Next. A very high percentage of both Gen Y and Z would welcome the opportunity to be invited to groups like AmeirCorps or groups like Intervarsity to use their lives and gifts to make a little difference in times like these. Let’s all find ways to help them launch lives of compassionate changemaking in response to these turbulent times.
New book by Tom Sine and Dwight Friesen called 2020s Foresight: Three Vital Practices for Thriving in a Decade of Accelerating Change will be released in September 2020 by Fortress Press.
by James Amadon
One welcome blessing in the midst of the current coronavirus disruption is that I am not racing through the early morning to get the kids out of bed, out the door, and into school. These days the older two sleep in, rolling out of bed and into the first online learning session of the day in one fluid motion. My youngest, at six years old, is incapable of sleeping in; he and I are usually the first ones downstairs. One such morning in early March, we decided to grab a few blankets, step out the front door, and sit in the two red Adirondack chairs that grace our front porch.
We now do this on most mornings, and have given the practice a name: “Red Chair Time.” It involves sliding into our chairs, arranging blankets to keep us warm, and watching the day emerge as we sip our coffee and orange juice. Conversation is in whispers as we notice which birds are singing loudly, count how many bunnies emerge from the underbrush, and debate what color the sky most resembles. We also talk about dinosaurs and tell knock-knock jokes, both of which add to the sacredness of the moment. Occasionally we talk about what is going on in the wider world and who we might pray for that day. Mostly we just sit and take it all in.
At some point schools will open and the kids will go back. The morning race will start again. I will be sad to let go of Red Chair Time, and hope that there will be opportunities to come back to it in the future. For now, though, I receive it as a gift that invites the two of us to greet these strange days with wonder and gratitude.
Question to ponder:
- Have you found something similar to “Red Chair Time?”
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