As we continue to enter into 2020, we have all, I hope gotten our year off to a good start and now we are able to focus on how to sustain ourselves throughout the coming seasons. We had some incredible posts from our friends on our last theme.
Lent starts February 26th, but apart from that we thought that we would like Lent to flow out of our spiritual practices for the whole of the year. Hilary has been reading Henri Nowen’s Heart Speaks to Heart and I as usual, have my John O’Donohue books out. She has been inspired by the concept of the heart beat of God, and I am once more contemplating the concept of eternal breath. So we thought that we would combine what inspires us as we create a new theme on Godspace:
The Heart Beat of God & Rhythm of Eternal Breath
We wanted to leave this a little wide open for our writing community as they have started to send in reflections on their heart beats and rhythms of eternal breath. However today, as a place to start spend a few minutes meditating on this quote from Henri Nouwen that Hilary has been reading in his book, “Heart Speaks to Heart”:
“You did everything to show us your love and your Father’s love. You became a small, dependent child to show us yourself in your weakness; you became a refugee in Egypt to show us your solidarity with all who are driven from their homes; you grew up in obedience to your parents to show us how close you are as we search for true identity; you worked for many years as a simple carpenter to show us how you wanted to be with us in our daily work; you were tempted in the desert to show us how to resist the forces of evil around us; you surrounded yourself with the disciples to show us how to share our vision with others and to work together in ministry; you preached the word of God to show us your truth and how to become, ourselves, witnesses to truth; you healed the sick and raised the dead to show us that your presence gave life to the whole person, body and soul; you were transfigured to show us your divine splendor; you went the long road of suffering and death to show us that you did not want to remain an outsider even in the most painful of all human experiences. You, the eternal Word of the Father, kept making choices that brought you closer and closer to us, to reveal to us the boundless love of your heart.”
One of the practices I have been thinking about that speaks to me both of the boundless love of God’s heart and the power of God’s eternal breath is the Lord’s prayer. A few years ago we published a whole series of posts of the Lord’s prayer for today. I wrote this adaptation and have been re-reading and adapting it this week. I also found a number of other versions that have been created over the years, some of which you can find here (and don’t miss Andrew Jones’ blogger’s version). So we will be exploring this as well.
We look forward to this new theme, The heart beat of God & Rhythm of Eternal Breath on Godspace and we wanted to invite you on this new journey with us!
by Christine Sine
I am often inspired by the scriptures I read each morning as well as by the books that I am constantly perusing. This week has been a particularly enriching one from this perspective. A quote from John O’Donohue’s To Bless The Space Between Us: May the eternal in me welcome the wonder of this day, and Psalm 25:3 in The Passion Translation I entwine my heart with God’s have both firmly lodged in my brain. Each morning I sit in their presence, savoring them, drinking in their richness and inviting them to to take root deep in my heart.
As I sit in this still dark, winter place I breathe in their fragrance and other words rise to meet them, resonating in my soul and spreading through my body. Questions swirl though my mind and I invite you to join me in meditating on them:
What would happen if I did entwine my heart with God’s every morning.
What would it be like if I wrapped my life into God’s eternal purposes and allowed the divine breath to fill and inspire me?
I wrote the words in my art journal and made a list of what came to mind. If I entwined my heart with God’s…
I would not fret or fear.
I would be attentive to every moment, to every person, and to every thing. I would notice what usually goes unnoticed and find joy in the simple everyday events of life. I would hold onto the love of God at the very centre of my being. I would invite this love to govern my every action and direct my every step.
It is easy for me to write these words, but hard for me to practice them. This week I will continue to recite what is becoming a timely mantra for me: I entwine my heart with God’s. The eternal in me welcomes the wonder of this day. I will sit in the stillness of these words each morning and allow them to penetrate my soul.
Here is the poem that my quiet reflection has already given birth to:
Awed I sit,
In the silence of the dawn
The miracles of God
embrace me.
Leaves dappled,
with purple and green and white.
Sunlight shining through the clouds.
Infinite variety,
Untold complexity.
Not autumn this
But fruit of every glance.
It stops me in my tracks
With gasps of delight.
I entwine my heart with God’s.
Love comes,
Light shines
The eternal in me
welcomes the wonder of this day.
(Christine Sine January 2020)
What words, scripture verses or images are nourishing your soul this week?
Kong See Fatt Chai: Reflection on Lunar Chinese New Year by Alex Tang —
The greatest annual human migration on earth often goes unnoticed by the world. Every year, between January 10 to February 18, billions of Chinese people will rush home to celebrate the Lunar New Year Spring Festival with their families. This year CNN estimated 3 billion people are making the trip by rail, cars, air, and sea. This tradition to spend the dinner with their families (reunion dinner) on Chinese Lunar New Year eve is the major festive event on the Chinese calendar. Spring is a time of new birth, where the old year is left behind, and a new year is welcomed. The Chinese will make sure all debts are paid before the year ends. This is similar to the Jewish Passover and Jubilee festival.
The seasons of death and rebirth is deeply ingrained into the Chinese culture due to their close observation of the four seasons. The ancient Chinese are monotheistic. They worship a one god called Shang Di, whose attributes are very similar to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Unfortunately, under the Emperor Qin Huang Ti, the dragon replace Shang Di as the center of worship, and he himself become the ‘ancestral dragon’. The dragon, in Chinese culture, is regarded as good and beneficent, unlike the dragon/serpent in the West. Thus the Chinese people was deceived and undergoes generations of intense suffering and pain under the Deceiver. We have only to look at their long history of suffering under their Dragon Emperors, warlords, and recent history under the Communists.
Every Lunar Chinese New Year brings a theme of hope. A new year with a fresh start. The possibility of being better than the previous year. That is why it is such an important Chinese festival. And why so many Chinese make their annual long journey home. Some will travel days or weeks. It is to be with family at the close of the old year, and to welcome, hopefully a better year, with family. During the New Year day, the Chinese wish each other “Kong Hee Fatt Chai” meaning “wishing you prosperity in health and wealth”.
Every New Year brings hope of spiritual renewals. Isaiah notes that the Messiah will deliver the peoples from darkness including the Chinese people!
Isaiah 49:12 (NKJV)
12 Surely these shall come from afar; Look! Those from the north and the west, And these from the land of Sinim.”
The Hebrew word Sinim in the Mesoretic text means Chinese. Most scholars find it strange that Isaiah will mention Chinese so they look around for a similar sounding tribe. They found a tribe, the Syennites, who lived near the Aswan, which is in the south.
Isaiah 49:12 (NIV)
12 See, they will come from afar— some from the north, some from the west, some from the region of Aswan.”
The only reason Aswan was chosen is because the translators and scholars was trying to fit everything into the context of what Isaiah was saying. Isaiah mentioned north and west. It was the translators and scholars who chose the Syennites (south) instead of the Chinese (east). It is strange that they did not look east. Nevertheless, Jesus will deliver the Chinese people from the darkness and this new decade will see a powerful movement of the Holy Spirit among a country which is unleashing another level of persecution on Christians and other religious traditions. Out of this refining fire will come a stronger Church; one purified by suffering and pain. The Lunar Chinese New Year brings hope. Hope for new beginnings, new life, and a prosperous new year.
Alex Tang is a pediatrician, educator, author, and spiritual director. Please visit his website Kairos Spiritual Formation www.kairos2.com and befriend him on Facebook
By Denise Moore —
Last week my husband and I drove down the mountain to Fort Collins to attend the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. March & Celebration. I was really excited to gather with a diverse group of folks to celebrate the life of a man who was so instrumental in the Civil Rights Movement and also to bring awareness to the fact that much still needs to be done.
It doesn’t really seem like much. Most likely it won’t make a real difference in anyone’s life except perhaps my own. When I look at my heroes of activism like the ones shown on the card in the picture above, I am awed by the contributions they each made. The card was given to me by a dear friend and coworker who happened to be a dedicated activist herself and spent 50 years as a member of Sisters of St. Agnes. The heart shaped rock was left at my door years ago by two neighbor girls. It reminds me that my purpose is to love. Love fuels my desire for justice; it fueled Sister Judith’s desire for justice as well. What can I do? Can I really make a difference? There is no way I will ever be like Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, and Dorothy Day. Then I am reminded that I have been made for a purpose. We are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives. (Eph. 2: 10 CEB Translation) Perhaps my life destiny isn’t one of grandeur and fame. Truthfully, I’m fine with that but I do want to make a difference in my world.
Sometimes when we look at the great leaders in any movement, we asked ourselves, “What difference can I make?” The fact is, we many never know what impact our actions have on those around us. Dorothy Day said, “We can change the world. We can throw our pebble in the pond and be confident that its’ ever widening circle will reach around the world.”
A few years ago we went to the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in in Atlanta, GA. This mural is painted on a wall at this center and serves as a backdrop to the statue of Gandhi. This mural is a powerful reminder to me…Dr. King could not have done what he did without the thousands of “regular” folk who supported his leading. When you look at the this mural it highlights Dr. King but it also highlights all of the unknown people who marched and protested and sacrificed for the civil rights of others. Some of these people even gave up their lives for the cause. Regular people like you and me found the issue of human rights so important that they realized the good thing God had planned for their life was to live their life…walk daily…in pursuit of civil rights.
One such man was Jerry Pogue. I had just been hired for the BEST job ever as the director of a small nonprofit called The Quest For Social Justice (now part of Mobile Interfaith Conference https://mobileareainterfaith.org/) and was attending a Bridges dinner that we sponsored. The idea behind these quarterly dinners was that if people of diverse cultures gather around a table with facilitated discussion, bridges will be built. I was lucky enough to be seated at a table with Jerry. The topic that year was “law enforcement” and after a local sheriff’s talk about racial profiling, the table facilitator asked Jerry if he had ever been racially profiled. Jerry, a gentle giant with a deep southern voice, replied, “Well, I’ve been arrested nine times but it was always for something I did.” He went on to spend the next forty minutes telling stories of his work as an organizer for MLK. I kept pinching myself, amazed that I was getting paid for this sacred experience.
Jerry told us that of the nine times he was arrested he went to the emergency room three of those times before heading to jail. He had been beaten so badly that he required medical attention. I asked him how he took the beating without fighting back and he told us that he had literally grown up in a church. His father was a minister and he watched time and time again as his father helped people in need. He told us that as they beat him, he kept telling himself that there would be people in jail who needed his help and if he was in solitary confinement (where they would have put trouble makers) that he wouldn’t be able to help them. He also said that Dr. King had drilled it into them that if they fought back then they would negate the message they were trying to bring. “Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.”and “Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.” Martin Luther King, Jr. Jerry was an ordinary man who did extraordinary things (you can read his obituary here which gives a detailed description of Jerry’s impactful yet ordinary life).
We don’t have to take great steps towards civil rights, we only have to take daily, small steps in our ordinary lives…and that makes all the difference.
by Christine Sine
I am currently working on a new series of prayer cards – this one consists of some of my breathing prayers, one of my favourite types of prayers to write. It has provided a great opportunity not just to remind myself of some of these prayers, but also to refresh my memory on the importance of such prayers and the breathing exercises that can so richly enhance their use. Below is an excerpt from one of my previous books Return to Our Senses: Reimagining How We Pray, where I first explored this type of prayer.
The Jesus Prayer
It was the Desert Fathers and Mothers withdrawing into the Egyptian desert about three centuries after Christ to pray and meditate on God’s word, who really developed breath prayers as a spiritual discipline. Evidently they would often sit outside their cells weaving baskets and contemplating Christ’s presence in quiet solitude meditating on short, one breath prayers. They breathed in God’s word slowly and deeply, reverently repeating the prayer over and over, letting it permeate their minds and descend into their hearts. Sometimes they would breathe their prayer before going to sleep at night, repeating it until it lodged deep in their souls. When they woke in the morning the prayer was still on their lips.
Many scholars believe that the Desert Fathers and Mothers picked up one of the most common prayers of the Psalmist: “Lord, have mercy” and developed it into a breath prayer that later became known as the Jesus Prayer. Sometimes it is expanded as “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. For more information visit Soul Shepherding.
Richard Rohr feels that the very name Yahweh is designed to sound like breathing. We breathe in and out YH WH from the moment we are born, until we die. Each breath we take is a reminder of the God who created our universe.
Not surprisingly, many of us continue to find breathing prayers provide wonderfully enriching ways to deepen our intimacy with God. Some breathing prayers, like the name YHWH and the Jesus prayer, are simple exercises in breathing in and out that calm our spirits and center our attention on the God who is life and love. They usually involve the use of a simple word or phrase from scripture. Here is one example of a well used breath prayer that draws from Psalm 23. Breathe in slowly and deeply as you whisper or think: “The Lord is my Shepherd…” Hold your breath and your consciousness of God’s presence… And then exhale as you whisper or think: “…I shall not want.”
Other breathing prayers are more complex. They can be used to remind us of the incredible transformation that God has initiated and will one day bring to completion in all of us. Other breathing prayers remind us of our commitment to see God’s world transformed into a place peace and abundance for all. Still other breathing prayers can draw us into that intimate place of communion with a God who loves us more deeply than we can ever imagine.
Expand Your Breathing Practices
Over the last few years I have composed a number of breathing prayers that move beyond the simple calming and centering of the Jesus prayer. Some, like this next prayer are wonderful reminders for me of the characteristics of the God’s whose breath I inhale. At the same time they encourage me, as I exhale, to expel from myself all that is not of God.
Breathing prayers are not about emptying ourselves so that we feel a void inside. They are about renewing our minds by saturating ourselves with the presence of God. I like to imagine that the outward breath creates a new space for God to fill. The inward breath draws something new of God’s character into me. As I breathe this prayer I visualize myself breathing in a little more of God and who God intends me to be and letting go of some of what is not of God.
Breathe out empty yourself: of hate, of fear, of anxiety,
Breathe in fill yourself with love, with life, with mercy.
Breathe out empty yourself of busyness, of selfishness of greed,
Breathe in fill yourself with peace, with joy, with hope.
Breathe out empty yourself of idolatry, of self worship, of false gods,
Breathe in fill yourself with God, with Christ, with the Holy Spirit.
Breathing prayers can also form an important foundation for our engagement in the pain and suffering of God’s world. I wrote the following prayer to remind myself that breath cannot be held to oneself. We must breathe it back out into the world. I am called to be both a contemplative and an activist and I as I take notice of my breathing I am reminded constantly of that.
Breathe in the love of God,
Breathe out and share it with the world.
Breathe in the peace of God,
Breathe out and share it with the world.
Breathe in the life of God,
Breathe out and share it with the world.
Breathe in all that is of God,
Breathe out and share it with the world.
Obviously this is a very different understanding of the outward breath than I described above. This double meaning is very much in keeping with the physical act of breathing out however. We breathe out to expel toxic substances from your body, cleansing and renewing our blood. That outgoing breath can also be a source of life to others however. Mouth to mouth resuscitation depends on this. That breath which cleanses and renews our bodies, holds something of the life giving presence of God which goes back out into the world to renew the life of others.
Yesterday I received this email from Pastor June who has been working through The Gift of Wonder with a special group. I love the creativity that the book has inspired and am grateful for the ways that June and others are using it. Her email reminded me that I have not yet shared the Gift of Wonder Bonus Packet we have just made available.
This note is so long overdue but it is imperative that I write and let you know a snippet of how my Gift of Wonder group is doing. It has been an interesting for sure. It has caught some of them maybe a little off guard when I challenge them with assignments – but then to see the wonder and creativity that they get into – it is such a blessing. The last time we met, two weeks ago today, (we meet every other week) we did the chapter with the seed bomb assignment. Since it is indeed a challenge as to where we would be able to throw them we discussed other options. I thought – how about putting little notes/words in a balloon and giving them to people randomly. One lady, who will miss tonight because of illness, did just that. She put ten notes in a balloon and gave them to a lady who lives in the same complex as she does whose best friend recently died. She told the lady to pop the balloon for a surprise – after the lady followed the instructions she had hugs and thanks for the lady who gave it to her. (They both live in a senior housing project).
Painting of rocks has also been something that has intrigued several of them. Two of them have found painted rocks when they have been out – one outside a restaurant and one in the parking lot at a grocery store. A couple of them have hid rocks. An interesting share by one of the ladies who lost her husband quickly at the age of 63 (she is 56) after she has been in the group was that she had hid a painted rock in plain site on a park bench where many people were walking by and no one even noticed or paid any attention as she watched for a while. She observed, “How can people be so unobservant?” We discussed how many of us are the same or were the same before I started challenging them to do the book activities – ‘take a walk, and what do you see?’
This book has given me the opportunity to also challenge people gently to think about God being a part of their lives. Some of them have been extremely hurt by the church/church leaders and really struggle with a relationship with God for themselves. One lady who I did not know at all, brought by her friend is opening to the fact that the reality of God is possible.
Because of the creativity that is emerging from the book we have put together a special bonus packet which describes some of the exercises in more detail and makes suggestions from some of the creative ideas that it has inspired in others. Enjoy and please send your own feedback. I would love to hear what the reading of my book has stirred in your life.
Gift of Wonder Bonus Download
Also don’t forget that if you have not yet purchased your copy of The Gift of Wonder it is available from these outlets:
or you can also order The Gift of Wonder with our beautiful prayer cards only available through the Godspace store.
Gift of Wonder Bundle
by Christine Sine
Saturday was my 69th birthday. Not a big milestone you might think and a seemingly inauspicious event on my journey through life. Yet this has been a very special celebration and as I enter my 70th year on this beautiful God inspired and God created world, it makes me realize how special every day and every celebration is.
Part of what this weekend, and in fact the whole week that went before it has taught me is how important it is to keep my eyes and ears open for the special things that God is saying and doing in my life. It has reinforced how important the times of reflection and contemplation are and the joys that come to us when we seek to be fully attentive to the presence of God.
The card above was drawn for me by my dear friend Kim who is recovering from heart transplant surgery. It started as a doodle with her non dominant hand which she then colored. Hopefully you can see the dancing figure that has now become my image and dream for Kim. She still needs a walker, but I pray for the day when she will be able to dance as free and joyously as this figure.
Kim, an expressive art’s therapist inspired me greatly when I was writing The Gift of Wonder, so to receive this card, one of her first poems and reflective doodles in months was incredibly special and it will sit on my desk, an ongoing inspiration to me, for many months to come.
Inside was this poem that Kim wrote for me:
I dance…
not the finesse of a flamenca
or the thrust of tango,
but with wobbly legs
uncertain
where am I, who am I?
With great gulps of air,
finding a breath rhythm to keep me going.
I follow new born heart,
butterflied with wonder,
waiting in now
arms reach out to dance, hug,
to hold my shaky fingers and hands
as if to say, “LIVE!”
Kim’s journey over the last few months has been slow and arduous yet it has also been an inspiration for many. It was wonderful to be able to celebrate with her and her husband as she came to spend her first night home since her ordeal began.
Notice the glowing Lights
With Kathy Escobar at The Refuge
Kathy’s finger labyrinth – trust the path
The weekend before, I was in Colorado. A weekend with Kathy Escobar, conducting a workshop at The Refuge allowed lots of time to talk. I felt that her finger labyrinth summed up much of what we talked about – Trust the path! What an important reminder for all of us. At one point Kathy asked me:
WHAT DO YOU LACK IN YOUR LIFE?
What an important question for all of us to ask periodically, not so that we can make a great list of all the things we would like to have but so we can evaluate where we are at and what we think God would like us to journey towards.
My answer: NOTHING. Life is not perfect. There are struggles and challenges, but when I look at what really matters, I lack nothing. I hope you can say the same.
From there I journeyed to Estes Park with Godspace bloggers Michael and Denise Moore. What a privilege to get some face to face time with these special people. Again we talked, and talked and talked. Kindred spirits on the journey through life.On my last morning with the Denise and I took a long walk through the town and around a lake. We began in the dark and the first photo I took was of a fairytale land of winter lights. It summed up my feelings this week – a wonderland of God’s light shining around me as journey into this 70th year. Some of it is shining directly from God as the light of the moon does (or at least that is how it feels) and some of it is shining in the “trees” – the people around me. All of it providing a rich and enriching glow of God’s presence.
Lights in Estes Park Colorado
Take a few minutes to sit and think about the lights that shine around you. Maybe life is difficult for you at the moment. Maybe it is easy, but for all of us there are lights shining that aids our journey. What and who provides that rich glow of God’s presence at this time?
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