By Hilary Horn —
As we continue our theme, What Does Our Soul Long to Do? I thought that these tools offered from Saint Ignatius of Loyola would be fitting to share on Godspace this week. We live in a world where there sometimes the clarity between truth and fallacy isn’t always lucid. We can easily be enticed by false teachers and the culture of the world. Often it is hard to discern what direction we should go or what God has for us next. We have to recognize that we need to grow in discernment and let the Holy Spirit help us navigate with wisdom.
Ignatius of Loyola
To “discern” means to try to figure out what God wants us to do. It’s not always easy. Sometimes our soul may long for something, but it may not be the right choice. How do we know? Fortunately, St. Ignatius of Loyola offers time-tested guidelines for the discernment of spirits to help us discover what God is calling us to do in the big and small decisions of our lives – including vocational discernment (a place I am currently navigating) – that are extremely practical and helpful for both personal discernment as well as in helping others discern what God is calling them to.
Here’s what Ignatius suggests you consider to ask as you practice discernment:
- Is this decision faithful to scripture and the historical understanding of the church?
- Does this decision manifest the fruit of the Holy Spirit within the individual and community?
- Is this decision characterized by a genuine sense of peace relationally with God?
- Does this decision promote reconciliation rather than divisiveness?
- Has this decision process been engaged with integrity and considered/weighed with others we trust?
Here’s a great prayer from St. Ignatius of Loyola if you are interested too!
by Christine Sine
I have been in Chicago for the last few days and this afternoon following my final meeting decided go for a walk. The oak trees lining the street where I am living are magnificent and as I walked I admired their beauty and reflected on the richness of my experiences.
What a week. It is good to take time after an intensive like this not just to reflect back on what has been done but also to give thanks for it, so I thought that I would apply the questions I put together for the gratitude scavenger hunt to help me process the wonderful experiences that I have had.
I am grateful for friends
Grateful for Al and Janice Tizon
I know that this not one of the questions but being a relational person I have to start with giving thanks for friends. I love it when I am able to combine a time of ministry like this with time with friends – on this trip long term friends that have enriched my life over many years, as well as the son of my best friend whom I rarely see. He lives in Chicago and was able to free up time Friday night to be with me.
Name someone that makes your life better.
There are so many people who have made my life better this week that it is hard to select just one but at the top of the list is Lori Neff the marketing manager at IVP who arranged for me to visit their office, organized a podcast interview, made it possible for me to meet the staff and brainstormed ideas for how to continue getting the word out about The Gift of Wonder.
Name something you are particularly proud of.
I am very grateful for and proud of the opportunities I have to share what God has placed on my heart. I loved doing this workshop at Grace Covenant church on Saturday. It was such fun.
Workshop participants
What makes you laugh?
When we went on our awe and wonder walk during the workshop all I picked up was a few leaves, but one of the participants returned with a cognac bottle another with a bag of marihuana. At least that’s what they told us. Evidently there was still some cognac in the bottle when it was picked up but it was empty when it got back to the church…. and we never saw the bag of marihuana at all. It just disappeared. I am not sure if this qualifies for a gratitude moment, but it certainly made me laugh and I think that all laughter qualifies for gratitude.
Name one beautiful thing you are grateful for.
Beautiful tree lined street
I am very grateful for the magnificent trees along the street that I am staying and for the health and resilience to walk admiring the beauty.
What are you grateful for that you would like to share with someone else?
Grateful for creativity in all its diverse forms
I am grateful for the creativity of participants at my workshop. Watching people paint, doodle, whittle and color was fascinating.
What is something unusual you are grateful for?
Drying Linden flower
This was a hard one for me. Unusual or just different, I am still grateful for the fallen leaves splotched with black spots of virus and for the linden flower, now dry but still with its unusual formation all of which show the incredible creativity of our God
What is something unique that you are grateful for?
Unique creativity of each person
I am amazed by how uniquely each person expresses their creativity. We are all different, gifted with unique gifts from God.
This has been a wonderful way to finish off my visit to Chicago. As I back my back ready to fly home tomorrow I am filled with gratitude for all I have done and all I have seen.
What about you? Have you done your gratitude hunt this week?
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by June Friesen
Luke 22: 39-46
39 Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. 40 There he told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.” 41 He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed,42 “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” 43 Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. 44 He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. 45 At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief. 46 “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation.”
Sadness…..pain…….alone…….fear…….wanting an escape…….in need of strength……in need of courage……admitting to His Father how hard it was to move forward and face this journey……a journey that must be completed……a journey where there was no other road…..a journey that would tax not only his humanity but also his soverignity……a journey that would be the only answer to the mistake/choice of humanity in the Garden of Eden…….a journey that is one of unconditional love with forgiveness for every, absolutely every sin humanity could ever concieve and/or commit against God and against each other….hoping someone on earth would care a little bit…..understand a little bit……humanity….so selfish….so self-centered…
Jesus: experiencing life on this earth so that He would be able to relate to our brokenness, sadness, and fears. Yes, He desires for us to remember the brokenness He experienced for us but more than that He wants us to know, embrace and live in the victory of the resurrection power He gives to each one of His followers.
Today as we celebrate with our brothers and sisters world wide as followers of Jesus help us O God, our Father, to be renewed in our walk with You and Your Son. May Your holy Spirit find a welcome home within each one of us but not only a welcome home but a vessel who desires to be truly empowered with godly living. May we bring hope like never before to everyone that we meet and may your healing love flow freely through our being in all our words, actions and expressions. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
(This photo is of Jesus in the Garden praying at the Stations of the Cross in Yarnell, Arizona)
June Friesen
World Communion Sunday is a celebration observed by several Christian denominations, taking place on the first Sunday of every October, that promotes Christian unity and ecumenical cooperation. It focuses on an observance of the eucharist. The tradition was begun in 1933 by Hugh Thomson Kerr who ministered in the Shadyside Presbyterian Church. According to Presbyterian Outlook:
Davitt S. Bell (the late Clerk of Session and church historian at Shadyside) recalled that Dr. Kerr first conceived the notion of World Communion Sunday during his year as moderator of the General Assembly (1930). Dr. Kerr’s younger son, the Rev. Dr. Donald Craig Kerr, who is pastor emeritus of the Roland Park Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, was sixteen in 1933. He has related that World Communion Sunday grew out of the Division of Stewardship at Shadyside. It was their attempt to bring churches together in a service of Christian unity—in which everyone might receive both inspiration and information, and above all, to know how important the Church of Jesus Christ is, and how each congregation is interconnected one with another.[2]
It was then adopted throughout the US Presbyterian Church in 1936 and subsequently spread to other denominations. In 1940, the Federal Council of Churches (now the National Council of Churches), endorsed World Communion Sunday and began to promote it to Christian churches worldwide. (More information and resources here and here)
Loving Jesus
You broke bread
With your Companions
In the Upper Room
On the night before
Your broken body
Hung upon the Cross
So that our brokenness
May be made whole.
As we break bread
Together today
May we remember
Your sacrifice and offer
All our prayers
For our broken world
Still in need of your healing.
Loving Jesus
You broke bread
With the Companions
You walked alongside
On the Road to Emmaus
When you accepted
Their invitation to come
Home with them and stay.
As we invite you
To join us today
At our table –
Our host and guest –
Come alongside us
We pray….
Bless the bread
We break and share.
Unite us with all
Your Companions
Across the world
Who profess their love
For you – our healer,
Companion and Saviour.
(C) Carol Dixon
For World Communion Sunday 2019
Carol Dixon lives in Northumberland, UK and is a lay preacher in the United Reformed Church and a Friend of St Cuthbert’s, Lindisfarne. She is a Companion of Brother Lawrence and writes for the Iona Community Wild Goose Publications. Her prayers and hymns have also appeared in the URC Prayer Handbook, HymnQuest, and the Church of Scotland Church Hymnary 4. She is a wife and mother and enjoys playing with her grandchildren & touring the countryside with her husband in their caravette.
By Lilly Lewin
Moving is Messy. Messy on so many levels. Moving is hard work… hard on emotions, hard on your body, and hard on the mind too. It’s a process that takes time, even if you are just moving down the street or across town. It always takes longer than you think it will.
There is grief & loss in moving. And sometimes the fatigue & grief can block any joy you might have at a fresh start or new adventure.
It’s even harder when you have lived somewhere for a very long time.
When you’ve put down deep roots in a place and made so many memories they are hard to count.
We all need to have grace for ourselves and others in making a move. We need to acknowledge the messiness. We need to take time for the grief. We need to expect unexpected feelings to arise. We need to give ourselves permission to be exhausted and out of sorts. It is OK. It’s really OK not to be yourself.
And realize that you can, and must take care of yourself in the midst of it all.
Take Breaks.
Watch or do something that makes you laugh.
Do something creative or something that brings you joy.
Do something other than packing & sorting.
Go see a movie or take a long walk.
Maybe even take a long weekend away from the mess.
This is the “hard good “of moving. The time, the effort, the exhaustion. The hope, as well as the buyer’s remorse.
When you really like where you’ve lived, it’s much harder to make a move. It’s always easier to move from a place that doesn’t seem to fit, or a place you’ve outgrown, or a place you no longer feel at home. I’m in the midst of this now with my mom and dad. My parents are moving from the home they have shared for forty five years to a retirement community. Not everyone gets the gift of living in the same place for a long time. Not everyone gets to live in a place of beauty. They have received both.
Mom and Dad’s home is a thinplace to me and it will be hard for me to say goodbye too.
Thankfully we have a bit of time to day goodbye. Thankfully it’s ok to be sad, and emotional, and uncertain in the midst of the messiness of the transition and letting go. Moving is just messy! We just need to love ourselves in the midst of it all!
How about you? How do the words “We are moving” make you feel? Do you get excited for the next adventure? Or does this phrase fill you with dread at the thought of leaving the familiar and having to do all the work to get ready?
Consider some of the moves you’ve made in your own life. Have you moved a lot? or almost never? How did you feel? What did you dread? What did you look forward to? What have you learned from the moving?
What are the gifts of where you are now? What are the things you treasure about where you live? Spend some time thanking God for this place and the people you value.
Any one in your life moving house now? What tangible things can you do to help them? Can you find boxes, or help pack them? Can you bring them a meal or help babysit so they can keep packing? Even an encouraging phone call or text can help make the messiness of moving a bit better.
Moving into the New Year. This week our Jewish friends celebrated Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. We have a tradition at our church thinplace of celebrating a bit of this holiday too. It’s an opportunity to repent and make a fresh start. It’s an opportunity to be thankful and move into a new season. Are there new places, new areas that Jesus might be inviting you to move into in this new season? New relationships, new practices, new opportunities that you might be avoiding? Any housecleaning or de-cluttering that needs to happen in your life as you move into a new season and a new year? What rooms in your heart are you being invited to de-clutter? What old patterns of belief or behavior are you being asked to move beyond?
Take some time to talk to Jesus about this.
A Rosh Hashanah tradition is to cast bread crumbs over a body of water. You can take pieces of bread to a stream or pond and let them go as a symbol of letting go of all the things that are weighing you down, or keeping you stuck, all the sins that entangle you….giving these things to the Living Water to carry away for you. If you don’t live near a stream, you can use a bowl of water and break the bread into pieces and put them into the water as a symbol of giving these things to Jesus to carry and wash away. You can do this as a family or a small group too. 
And as you move into October, remember the sweetness of God and how much you are loved just as you are, right where you are! In the midst of boxes or in a totally clean house! Under piles of homework or piles of laundry. Jesus is with you and inviting you to move towards him . Taste and see that the Lord is Good. Use Apples and Honey (another Rosh Hashanah tradition) to remind you of the sweet love God has for you! and as a prayer for a sweet new year! You can gather your friends, family, roommates or small group around the table. Take time to talk about how God is moving in your life right now. Talk about your dreams for the next season ahead. Dip the apple slice into the honey as symbol of receiving the sweetness of the year and season ahead with God.
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
by Christine Sine
It’s only the beginning of October and the Cascades and Olympics already have a fresh coat of snow, the wind is whipping up and the rain has definitely returned. Outside my office window there is already a beautiful display of red and gold and I am tempted to get out and collect some leaves to decorate our dining room table with.
I love this changing of the seasons and once again I wanted to incorporate it in a special way into my spiritual observances and those of our community. I wanted to relax and have some fun and invite you to join e once again. Reading this article about the consequences of loss of play in our lives made me realize how important it is for all of us to incorporate fun, playful activities into our spiritual lives whenever possible. Writing The Gift of Wonder and engaging in some of the exercises I discuss throughout the book has similarly encouraged me.
A couple of years ago our community members all painted leaves an autumn spiritual practice. It was such fun practice that I plan to do it again this year. It is also a great way to give thanks for the changing seasons and richness that they bring to our lives. So wanted to remind you of the process too and so thought you would appreciate me reposting this.
SUPPLIES
Autumn leaves
Paint pens
Mod Podge Water Based Sealer – I like this high gloss one. It makes the leaves look shiny and they last for a good couple of months.
I had fun collecting a bunch of different shapes and different colours, delighted as I did so at how awesome it was to notice something I had not noticed for a long time. The different shapes and sizes, the vibrant, and sometimes fading colours of autumn, the poignant reminder that all things have a season, was life giving. Some of the leaves I immediately sealed with Mod Podge water based sealer, but most of them I pressed for a couple of days and then laid them out with my paint pens for everyone to admire and then decorate.
I suggested people reflect on the question In the changing seasons what am I hoping for? It was good to both acknowledge the change that is rapidly approaching as we enter the festive season and talk about our hopes and expectations. Just expressing these out loud can help make them a reality.
Leaf painting is not as popular as rock painting, but there are a lot of people out there giving it a go so I printed out some examples from Pinterest, to inspire us. I was amazed at both the creativity that emerged and the inspiration for the future that was expressed.
The nice thing about this is that you don’t need to wait for autumn. Those of you in the southern hemisphere could devise a similar exercise with emerging spring leaves. Or you might like to do a leaf rubbing in your journal while you sit quietly and reflect on your leaf. There are a huge range of possibilities, all of them fun!
One person drew a pattern of concentric circles on her leaves, expressing her desire to become more centred over the coming months. Another copied some of the colourful patterns in the photos I provided, finding relaxation and rest in the calm of the exercise. Another drew a picture of their hopes for their family on one side of a leaf and of their desires for their ministry on the other. I painted along the leaf skeletons, some with lines others with dots, feeling as I did so that my hopes and expectations for the coming season are not fully formed.
At the end we coated our leaves in Mod Podge water based sealer. It brought back the vibrancy of the colours and kept the leaves a little more flexible than the acrylic sealer did. I laid my leaves out on the dining room tableland they lasted well through Thanksgiving, providing me with a reminder of my need to continue thinking about my hopes and expectations for this season.
What is your Response?
What are your hopes and expectations for the coming festive season? Is there a fun, creative and reflective exercise that you could plan over the next few days that would help you to think about these? Is there something you could do to help you focus on your hopes and expectations for the future?
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by Christine Sine
This week I began my gratitude scavenger hunt. Yes I know I am a bit early for the “Season of Gratitude” that I talked about but I don’t think that we can ever express too much gratitude.
What Am I Grateful For In My Life?
So this week I started with “What am I grateful for in my life”. My original plan was to fill up a page in my new gratitude journal with items I am grateful for. The trouble is that there are so many that I think I will have the whole book full before I am done. And I didn’t even need to go on much of a scavenger hunt.
I started with general aspects of my life – resilience, health, faith, talents, achievements, love of nature, risk taking and many more soon filled the first page.
Then I moved on to memories – such a special area of gratitude, so many memories from my childhood, my days at university, on the Anastasis, through 28 years of marriage. I am so grateful for the many blessings in my life.
Next I thought about my relationship with Tom – again I am overwhelmed with gratitude – for love that has grown, for hospitality shared, for joy in each other and for the delight of adventuring together, retreating together, doing ministry together and laugh together at the antics of our silly dog Goldie to name but a few.
Who Has Made My Life Better?
Now I am stuck – my question “Who has made my life better?” has resulted in such a list of friends, family, mentors, and spiritual companions that my heart is overflowing.
Now its time to do a collage but how can I possibly put all this together? I can’t so I decided to cheat a little and put together a collage of photos from the last year – just a few of the people who make my life better in so many ways.
OK so this doesn’t really look like the list of suggested instructions for a scavenger hunt that I gave you last week but this is meant to be a focus on gratitude not on the scavenger hunt.
Have You Started Your Gratitude Season Yet?
So have you started your gratitude season yet? What have you thought about this week that you are grateful to God for?
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