Find a comfortable place in which to sit. Cut out as many distractions as possible. Focus on your breathing. Take a deep slow breath in from the depths of your abdomen and hold it for a moment. Then breathe out slowly. Relax your body and your mind.
Read the prayer above imagining the presence of God surrounding you. Read it again and visualize Christ walking beside you as a friend, guiding and comforting you.
What is Your Response?
How aware are you of the surrounding presence of God? How do you respond to the idea of God as companion and friend?
Iona cross with Bishop’s house in distance
The photos above were taken on the island of Iona off the West Coast of Scotland, where Columba established a monastery in the 6th century. My husband I are very attracted to this stream of Christianity which believed that all things were under the lordship of Christ, and all aspects of life were ways to share in God’s purposes.
Belief that the One who called them to conduct the affairs of the kingdom was actually with them and enfolding them as Father, Son and Spirit kept them from dividing life into sacred and secular realms. Spiritual and material, heaven and earth were seen as so interpenetrating that Celts embraced a unique sense of time. Eternity was always present in some way and invited people’s awareness, gratitude and praise. Time itself was seen as God’s creation and gift, so that ordinary moments could share in the rhythms of God’s reign (Drinking from the Wells of New Creation, Kerry Dearborn, 126)
What Is Your Response?
Read through this quote several times. What glimpses of God’s eternal world have you caught sight of today? Sit quietly in the presence of that gift. Offer prayers of gratitude and praise to God. Write down your response.
Finish your time of reflection by watching this following Celtic blessing by John O’Donohue.
A couple of days ago the sunrise out our front window was absolutely breathtaking. I rarely notice it because my office where I spend most of my time during the day, faces west. However at this time of the year, the sun is usually emerging when we sit down for breakfast. I take so many photos of sunsets that it is wonderful to be reminded that the beginning of the day is just as breathtaking. I thought it would make a perfect background for this prayer which is my favourite from the week. After all the sky and the changing light of the sun is one way that God speaks to me.
This morning I took some photos of my candle and its reflection in the window. I noticed that if the camera focused on the candle the reflection dimmed. If I focused it on the reflection the candle dimmed and all the messiness of my desk emerged in the photo.
As I sat here contemplating it I wondered: How often do I focus on the reflection of God’s light rather than on the light itself? How often does the clutter in my life distract me from God’s true light?
I know that sometimes reflections are beautiful and enhance a scene, and even this morning it was the reflection that had me reaching for my camera. But at times, like this morning, focusing on the reflection can distract me from God too. And if you are wondering yes it did that to me this morning. I was distracted from my morning prayer rituals wanting to capture the reflection before the light of the day brightened and the reflection itself disappeared.
So what is distracting you from the true light of God today?
It is time to get ready for Lent. Ash Wednesday is February 18th, and as usual I need your help in providing daily reflections for the season. This year our theme is Stop Playing Games and Join God’s Reconciling Work During Lent.
The good news of the gospel is God’s desire to reconcile all things to Godself. This is an holistic plan, that embraces not just our inner transformation and reconciliation to God but restoration of creation, the making of peace where there is enmity, healing where there is brokenness and renewal wherever the image of God is distorted. Our creator has begun a process of redemption to restore all things to what they were meant to be.
For in him (Christ) all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross (Col 1:19-20)
The question is how do we get there? As Kerry Dearborn asks in her inspiring new book Drinking from the Wells of New Creation What transforms approaches to reconciliation from being empty verbal niceties or guilt-assauging “quick fixes” to dynamic expressions of the gospel? (68)
She believes that through the Holy Spirit, God’s love has flooded our hearts, united us with God and empowered us to participate in the reconciliation established by God through Christ’s life, death and resurrection. She goes on to explain that it is the imagination that opens the heart’s floodgates to both receive and release the Spirit’s love to others. First the imagination is the solvent breaking down old ways of seeing the world. Second its creative facility offers us a new vision of life and hope, reshaping our desires and expectations around God’s vision of reconciliation. Third its integrative power connects heart, mind and body to this new vision and catalyzes responses. (69)
It is this good news and the power of the imagination to reshape and transform our responses so that God’s great plan for reconciliation becomes central to all we are and do, that we want to engage in through Mustard Seed Associates’ programs this year. I also plan to make it the central theme of our Lenten reflections.
This is a big topic and one that we will obviously only be able to scratch the surface of. There are so many areas in which we need to see reconciliation. God longs for us to draw close and embrace the inner restoration and reconciliation to the image of God within us. God also desires racial reconciliation, economic reconciliation and reconciliation to the land and our calling to be good stewards are but a few of the areas we hope to touch on.
As we begin our journey together I am reminded of Native American activist Richard Twiss who, not long before he died said to me: “We don’t want you to invite us to your table we want you to invite us to sit down and create a new table together.” In the same spirit, Diana Butler bass says: Tolerance allows divergent opinions to exist; hospitality welcomes and invites others into dialogue in a spirit of love and trust.
For reconciliation there must be open collaboration and hospitality that opens our hearts and our minds to the reconciling love of God. That is just what we want to do and we hope that you will join us on the journey.
As I prepare for a series like this I am reminded of the story of the great banquet feast where the servants go out into the highways and byways to invite people to attend.
So this is your invitation to you to come to the banquet feast. Stir your imagination and allow the Holy Spirit to inspire you. Do you have a story of reconciliation – within yourself, to God, to others, or to God’s world you would like to share? Sign up to contribute to the Lenten blog series this year. Leave a comment below and I will send you details of how to submit your article.
Do you know of others whose stories should be told during Lent this year? Invite them to be a part of this too.
I have just finished reading Kathy Escobar’s new book Faith Shift. It is a great read particularly for those who do not feel comfortable in their church or faith tradition.
Kathy points out that growth and change are natural parts of our relationship with God. She helps us to understand and feel comfortable with being spiritual refugees, unpacking the stages most of us experience as we question, let go of and hopefully reform our faith. She talks about fusing, shifting, unravelling, severing,returning and ongoing rebuilding, sharing stories and practical insights that can help all of us move onward in our spiritual journeys.
As I reflected on Kathy’s experiences, I realized that faith shifting has been a way of life for me. I embraced the charismatic movement in Australia, unravelled in the refugee camps in Thailand and have rebuilt numerous times through the exploration of new streams of faith and spiritual life.
Every time I am confronted with a new injustice, or a new faith perspective, I start to faith shift again. Each time I find God unveils a new aspect of Godself and my image of God shimmers with new vibrancy.
As Kathy says at the end of her book:
The path for spiritual refugees like us rarely leads back to where we were. Usually it takes us around the next corner, and the next, further and further into the unknown, into diversity, mystery and freedom. (200)
That is certainly my experience. Learning to trust the path ahead even though we are not sure where it will take us is scary, but it is also exciting, because it does lead us toward a bigger, better relationship with God, others and ourselves. It opens up for us a greater understanding of a God who is far bigger and better than we can ever imagine.
Thank you Kathy for vulnerability and willingness to share honestly your struggles and journey. It has blessed me and I am sure will bless many others too.
For more information on the book check out this great interview Jamie Arpin-Ricci did with Kathy.
Sunday was my birthday and I decided that it was time to rearrange the sacred space in which I sit each morning to reflect, meditate and study the scriptures. The Christmas season is well past so I have put away my nativity sets and Advent icons but Lent is still a few weeks away and for some reason the season of epiphany just does not have the symbols I wanted to help me focus. To be honest I struggled a little with what to use as the focal point for this season and for a while wondered if I should bother at all. Then I realized, for me birthdays are a time for remembering and I decided my sacred space needed to reflect that.
As you can see I ended up with a fairly eclectic collection of items – a family photo, a new orchid we bought for my birthday, a couple of the rocks I have painted as meditation exercises and some of my rock and shell collection, what I call my gathered memories. Then I added a cross made for me by a young friend a few years ago and some of the objects I have collected from mission organizations I have been involved in. Last I added a candle to light my way each morning.
In Numbers 15:38-40 God talks to the Israelites about the importance of remembering, and like me, the Israelites needed objects to help them remember.
“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God.
So over the next few weeks I will bask in the memories of friends and family, of gathered things and good deeds done.
Any space can be made into a sacred space, it just takes a little time and intentionality. It takes time to reflect on what is important to both us and God. It takes intentionality to review what we sense God is saying and work to bring it into being. And it takes intentionality to stick with what we set up and use it in the ways we feel God is directing us.
What helps you remember the special people and special events in your life? When was the last time you set aside space and time to remember and thank God for these people and events?
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