By Jenny Gehman
reprinted with permission from Anabaptist World magazine
My mother wore a large safety pin on her shirt every day for four years — the years when Donald Trump was president of the United States. Believing his presidency served as a threat to those living on the margins, specifically to those in the disabled, BIPOC and LGBTQ communities, my sweet Mama wanted to communicate to them (and to all) that they would be safe in her presence. That she would do them no harm. Her safety pin served as a visible representation of this desire and commitment.
I recently gathered up the courage to ask my adult son how he thought other people felt in my presence. He replied with an immediacy that surprised me. Safe, he said, as if right on cue. His answer took my breath away and brought tears to my eyes. Of all the things he could have said! This was a gift and a grace.
I’m under no illusion that this is how it has always been or still is today on any consistent basis. I am all too aware that, in my presence, others have felt at times condemned, judged or, God forbid, belittled, shamed, insignificant or unacceptable.
Perhaps it would do me well to wear my mother’s safety pin, not so much as an outward sign to others but as a reminder to my own dear self to remain a safe space for others to land.
Over the years, I have come to believe that the center of hospitality, about which I am passionate, is not about the creation of delicious food, beautiful tables or spotless homes. It is about the creation of safety.
In hospitality, the helpful questions to ask are not so much, “What can I cook for dinner? or “How should I decorate my home?” but “What can I do to help you feel safe?” “What do you need in order to feel safe here, with me, with us?”
Have you noticed? It’s becoming harder to feel safe in this world of ours. Just yesterday a friend who recently returned to the U.S. after 20-plus years in Ireland relayed to me a rising panic she felt to get out of here and back to her European home. Back, she said, to a place where people don’t carry guns, where kids are not killed for knocking on doors or pulling into driveways or just plain going to school. Back to where going to the bank or the grocery store would not pose a threat to her life. I hear her loud and clear. The threats she feels are all too real.
So tell me, please, how do we welcome the stranger, those foreign to us in one way or another, when we feel threatened by them? The sad answer is: We cannot. When we feel threatened (and not just physically), we close ourselves off or arm ourselves up. We walk around in a defensive posture, and we shoot one another with bullets and blame. Our fear makes us unsafe for others.
One thing I struggle with about -Jesus is the way he seemed to have zero interest or investment in self- protection. It intrigues me, but mostly irks me. I’d rather not follow him there.
When we prioritize our own safety and security, we close our doors and lock them twice. We view others with suspicion. We keep our guard up and our weapons close. We are more concerned with keeping others out than welcoming them in. Not only in our personal lives or homes, but in our churches, communities, and countries.
We are strongly bordered and highly boundaried. Bumping up against barbed wire doesn’t feel very welcoming to those coming our way.
Extending hospitality is not always a neat affair in a tidy, controlled environment. Not everyone is easy to welcome. Hospitality is always holy but sometimes hard.
Who, because of their ideologies or identities, feels like a threat to us? To whom are our minds, hearts, churches or communities closed? Who are those bumping up against our barbed wire, and what are we going to do about them? For them? Whose safety will be paramount, ours or theirs?
“Welcome one another, therefore,” the Apostle Paul said, “just as Christ has welcomed you” (Romans 15:7, NRSV).
How do others feel in our presence? What can we do to help them feel safe?
Looking for hospitality inspiration? We have an entire resource page dedicated to hospitality. Find recipes and reflections on numerous hospitality topics, including Celtic hospitality, prayers, and liturgies. Click on Hospitality for more!
When you hear the word DISCIPLE what do you think of ? Do you think of the twelve disciples in the Bible? Do you think about being a disciple of Jesus yourself? What does being a disciple actually mean or look like? What do we do and how do we act and take action as a disciple of Jesus?
Think about when Jesus invited people to become his disciples.
Jesus invited them to become Followers.
To become pilgrims with him on the road.
Learning
Listening
Noticing
Getting his dirt on them!
Come Follow Me! Was the Invitation from Jesus.
Not come memorize more verses, or believe more things, or know more doctrine.
Come Follow Me!
Do the things I am doing.
Love the people I love.
Heal, touch, listen to the least of these.
Be with those the religious leaders thought were sinners.
Learn to love God and Love Others.
Love and forgive your enemies.
Old and Young, tax collectors, fishermen, zealots, women and men, all became Followers,
All were invited to be his DISCIPLES ….FOLLOWERS
Those who were learning to walk in his ways and do the things he did.
“The idea of discipleship can be summed up with one biblical key word: imitation. To be a disciple meant you were following a rabbi, a teacher. But the goal of a disciple wasn’t merely to master the rabbi’s teachings; instead, it was to master his way of life: how he prayed, studied, taught, served the poor and lived out his relationship with God day to day.
Jesus himself said that, when a disciple is fully trained, he becomes “like his teacher” (Lk 6:40). When St. Paul formed disciples, he exhorted them not just to remember his teachings but also to follow his way of living: “Be imitators of me as I am of Christ” (1 Cor 11:1). He exhorted them to lead others in the same way (2 Tim 2:2).
The word the Bible uses for “disciple” is mathetes, which means “learner.”The ancient Jews had a saying that captures this idea of discipleship and transformation. They said that if you find a good rabbi, you should “cover yourself in the dust of his feet and drink in his words thirstily.” Sri goes on to explain:
The expression probably draws on a well-known sight for ancient Jews: disciples were known for walking behind their rabbi, following him so closely that they would become covered with the dust kicked up from his sandals.This would have been a powerful image for what should happen in the disciple’s life spiritually.
Disciples were expected to follow the rabbi so closely that they would be covered with their master’s whole way of thinking, living and acting.
Edward Sri, Into His Likeness: Be Transformed as a Disciple (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2017).
Whose dust are you walking in theses days?
What kind of dust are you getting on you?
Are you walking far behind Jesus? or Up close getting his dust on you?
Or are you trying to run ahead of the The Rabbi, out on your own so you aren’t dirty at all?
How are you learning to live more and more like Jesus?
As you walk around your neighborhood, or take a walk in the woods this week, notice the dirt and dust on the path.
Consider the Path you are on physically and metaphorically.
Consider the rabbi your are following…Is it Jesus or something/someone else?
Who does your life look like?
How is your dust?
How are you following Jesus these days?
Are you getting His dust on you?
Are you close enough to get His dust on you?
Or are you so far away that you don’t look anything like Jesus right now?
What can you do this summer to get more dust of Jesus on you?
I grew up with a very different view of being a disciple. one of rules to follow, stuff to memorize, etc. Not enough action in loving my neighbor or doing the things Jesus did…I wasn’t encouraged to live out the sermon on the mount, the beatitudes. That was just a nice sermon, sadly not a way of living. I want to be about loving my neighbor of all colors and creeds and standing up for equality and taking action for justice. I want to be a FOLLOWER, a DISCIPLE who is covered in the dust of Rabbi Jesus.
quote found HERE https://focusequip.org/in-the-dust-of-the-rabbi-living-as-a-disciple-of-jesus/
You need help in getting dusty with Jesus this summer, you can kick start your practices by downloading THE GIFT of SACRED SUMMER . Includes practices that take five minutes and deep dives too…Gift of Silence, Rest, Play, Etc. For Individuals, family and small groups as well as a church kit here.
by June Friesen
My friend the dove found me when I was about twelve years old. It was actually a pair of doves that decided to build a nest on a branch in a pine tree on the path to our mailbox. I probably would not ever have discovered them except that one time I heard them fly away with their little sound they often made. I was not sure where they had flown from but I chose to quietly watch and soon one of them returned and I saw a nest. I then observed that there were eggs in the nest. A few weeks later there were little blind babies in the nest. I carefully watched these adult doves care for these little ones and then one day it happened the nest was empty. It was kind of a sad day but I was thankful for the opportunity I had to watch them grow. The other observation I made was how flimsy the nest was – and yet the babies did not fall out.
So what made me think of doves at this time? The above photo was a ‘moment for me’ at the zoo last week. This dove so peacefully sat among people coming and going – preening his feathers and observing that yes, there were people walking by yet few stopped to pay any attention. Since it was also the weekend that we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit and the dove is often associated with the Holy Spirit my spirit was stirred. While at Pentecost the dove is not mentioned when the Spirit descended upon Jesus at His baptism it was in the form of a dove.
Matthew 3: 15 But Jesus insisted. “Do it. God’s work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism.” So John did it. 16-17 The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God’s Spirit—it looked like a dove—descending and landing on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: “This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.”
There is another story in the Scriptures that references a dove and that is the story of Noah and the ark.
Genesis 8:6-12 After forty days Noah opened the window that he had built into the ship.
7-9 He sent out a raven; it flew back and forth waiting for the floodwaters to dry up. Then he sent a dove to check on the flood conditions, but it couldn’t even find a place to perch—water still covered the Earth. Noah reached out and caught it, brought it back into the ship.
10-11 He waited seven more days and sent out the dove again. It came back in the evening with a freshly picked olive leaf in its beak. Noah knew that the flood was about finished.
12 He waited another seven days and sent the dove out a third time. This time it didn’t come back.
The dove needed enough security to be able to not only have a tree in which to rest and nest but it needed a food supply. Obviously when the dove did not return it then meant that there was ground that was now showing through the receding waters. If you watch and observe doves as I have the opportunity to do you will find that they like being on the ground. They rest in the grass, they peck around and scratch in the grass looking for nibbles of seeds, maybe some pieces of grass, little bugs etc. The one distinction that I have observed over the many years of my life is that the dove is indeed a bird of peacefulness. Even when they are surprised or fear danger they often times just gently fly away without a lot of noise. Sometimes they have a little chatter they make but not often. Today I choose to share with you a little message that I imagine a dove could bring to anyone of us from God.
MY GIFT TO YOU IS PEACE
I see you are worrying deep within –
And at times I can see it on your face as well –
God in His wisdom desires that You place your complete trust in Him
As He knows everything – and He has a great and wonderful plan.
You see when He created my ancestors so long ago
And placed them in the Garden of Eden –
He commissioned us with a gentle way to fly,
As well as a gentle voice
That twitters a bit sometimes
But most of all it is a gentle cooing, if you but take the time to listen.
I do not know if you get out into gardens
Or gentle groves of trees –
But I, my family and friends, we can be found in many of these places
Just enjoying life as God provides and cares for us.
Some people even have some of my friends in their homes,
For them it is a comfort to have that presence nearby reminding them of the Spirit –
And they love and care for my friends making sure they have food and water
And are not bothered by predators.
It is my prayer today that as you read the story I have shared
That you will see us doves in a different way –
May you find as you pass by our homes, our resting places,
As you hear our gentle wings and especially our gentle cooing
Your spirit will bask in the Spirit’s love and peace
And may you know how special you are to God.
Your friend – the Dove.
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by Sue Duby
After hearty agreement that we didn’t feel like our normal Sunday hike, Chuck and I tossed aside our mutual guilt and headed to Starbucks. Settled in comfy chairs, sipping our coffee in the sunshine, we both fixed our eyes on the same scene.
4 young teenage girls, happily light-stepping it to their car. All in a row. Matching strides that kept them in sync. All in summer dresses, all the same length. All with long, straight locks cascading past their shoulders. All holding “Grande” sized cups in their right hands. Beautiful. Yet something inside me wanted to gently whisper their way, “You don’t have to look the same. You’re one of a kind. Just celebrate you!”.
A few days later, I found myself on a quiet back porch, again in a comfy chair sipping coffee. This time, solo, on my 3 day “silent retreat” (not difficult to master the “silent” part, when nobody else is around!).
I soaked in the solitude, listened and observed. A symphony of sounds echoed through the forest behind, back and forth across the landscape. Whistles. Caws. Squawks. Chatter. Squeaks. Tweets. Not one of them the same. Cries from chickadees, cardinals, robins, blue jays and more. So many shapes, sizes and voices.
Then, my eyes fixed upon the forest. A prickly kind of fir tree boasted dusty green needles and brown threads of disease. A thick flush of lime green leaves, bigger than my hands, waved in the breeze just down the hill. A tall, slender, “looking dead” trunk, sported a solo, bushy green “topper” 60 feet up. Much like a shorn poodle with a curly head! Another bare one seemed to cry out, “I’ve had a rough winter!”. Yet, a bundle of fresh green leaves at the base whispered, “I’m going to make it!”.
So many differences. Anywhere we look. Any focus, whether it’s people, birds or trees. All part of His handiwork. His craftsmanship. His way of reminding us, “Unique is to be treasured”.
I found myself smiling, with a nudge to pause and ask, “What makes me unique?”. So, I took the challenge.
- I have curly hair. Only discovered in my 60’s (life could have been so much easier!!!) No more curling iron, brushes, rollers, or “tools of the week”! Just a weekly wash, quick dry, fluff with my fingers and I’m off to face the day.
- I’m a black and white girl, love following rules, drive for clear answers and delight in solving puzzles. At the same time, I’m creative. Get restless with the “same old” anything. Love exploring without agenda. “Free flow” beats a scripted list of activities any day!
- My big toes are big. Chuck says, “Those are dangerous!”. Watch out if I accidentally bump you with one. I just smile and say, “Thank you Dad!” (his were even worse).
- I’m the oldest in a family of all boy cousins on my Dad’s side. Torture on holiday celebrations, shifting between the boring grownups in the living room and the wild, screaming boys in the basement!
- I love simple. Explaining algebra in a way that lights up a student’s face. Continually removing clutter from any room. Serving the same “chicken in a dish with everything” for any guests (shhh…. Don’t tell!).
Unique means “being the only one”. “Being without like or equal”. “Being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else.”
We most often think of ourselves as “unique” to mean “different”. And that “D” word seems to carry a negative vibe. Different, when I want to be like others or change the parts that are mine alone. The truth is, we each ARE unique. His plan, not ours. An unchangeable fact.
Thank goodness!! How dull and boring life would be, if we actually were all alike. No variation. No interesting qualities that would draw us to be friends. No differences to share in community, making a masterful, “only He could do it”, vibrant whole.
Remembering the tapestry of friends I’ve met across the globe, my heart bursts. All different in so many ways. All special. All a wonder. All unique. I am not like a one of them, and yet, a valued part of the whole.
Everything God created is good, and to be received with thanks. Nothing is to be sneered at and thrown out.
I Timothy 4:4 MSG
We know that all creation is beautiful to God and there is nothing to be refused if it is received with gratitude.
I Timothy 4:4 TPT
We are His creation. Formed and fashioned with care, purpose and love. No mistakes in the process. All bringing pleasure to Him.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Psalm 139:14 NIV
I thank you, God, for making me so mysteriously complex!
Everything you so is marvelously breathtaking.
It simply amazes me to think about it!
Psalm 139:14 TPT
May we ponder and celebrate the many ways we each display His unique handiwork. May we embrace with joy and thanksgiving, His good, delightful and treasured creation in each of us.
Did you know that alongside Christine Sine’s book The Gift of Wonder, we have many resources available to you? The free downloadable bonus packet or beautiful prayer cards featuring prayers from the book, for example – something to hold and behold! Or perhaps you’d like to journey through the book alongside a retreat – we have that too! You can check it all out in our shop!
It’s been quite a weekend. Sunday on the liturgical calendar was Trinity Sunday, and I went out looking at all the trinitarian symbols in my garden that remind me that the very nature of God is woven into the world around me. At the Mennonite Church we are now attending it is called Covenanting Sunday and this year I gave my resounding yes to the covenant they ask us to live by. Its as I said in my Meditation Monday: Covenanting for a Just Peace theologically we have been Anabaptists for a long time. It was just a matter of accepting the challenge and moving churches.
Saturday was also the full moon, known in this part of the country as the Strawberry Moon. Mary De Jong explains: “The name originates from North America, were native tribes associated the rising of the June Moon with the blossoming of berries. To the Algonquin tribes, June was synonymous with strawberries. The Farmer’s Almanac said: “At this time of year, when spring turns to summer and the flowers of May begin to fade, berries burst forth from bushes.” You might enjoy her wonderful Full Moon Wheel available as a free gift from her website. Wonderful to see our strawberries thriving too. It reminds me of the post I wrote a couple of years ago about strawberries, which as you know only produce for a short season. In Meditation Monday: The Gift of strawberries, I talked about this and what it means to produce fruit in season.
Last week I talked about the different designations I like to give the months of the year so that I know how to focus my spiritual practices. Interestingly there are many wheels, we can explore. As well as the Native American wheel Mary uses, there is the Chinese Lunar calendar and at least one for the southern hemisphere. Part of what I love about this concept is the recognition that the naming has local significance. It needs to be adapted whenever we move to another location. We all need that kind of flexibility to the way we adapt our spiritual focus and practices. I love the work that Mary De Jong does around this theme. You might like to check out her Wild Summer course.
The whole garden is thriving at the moment. We have 28 beautiful looking tomato plants in our new tomato enclosure, as well as several more scattered in pots throughout the garden. There is loads of lettuce, arugula, broccoli and radishes in our new raised beds and basil in my creatively improvised planters. This weekend I will plant squash and hopefully we will be ready for a bountiful summer. I must confess the wonder of the garden continues to distract me from work on Godspace and other projects I should be working, but I sense this is an important season in which I am meant to be delighting in the beauty of God’s creation and allowing it to refill my spirit and soul. There are a few things stirring in my imagination that I suspect will emerge by the end of the summer however.
fLast week’s post on Godspace were particularly inspiring for me. I loved Bethany Dearborn Hiser’s post Breath of Life, on the translation of the Lord’s prayer from Aramaic and Lilly Lewin’s Freerange Friday: Sitting down with the Trinity is also a must read, as is Jeannie Kendall’s Reflections on Ordinary Time and Ordinary Things. Probably the most profoundly impacting post for me this year was by our new writer Jenny Gehman on the Holy Host. It could have been called The Weeping Years, as she shares vulnerably from her own life and struggles.
This week I am reading two books that I am excited about. The tenth anniversary edition of Brene Brown’s The Gift of Imperfection is fascinating. I read the original book 10 years ago but very definitely need this refreshing new version, with lots of time to reflect on what I read. Lacy Finn Borgo’s Faith Like a Child is also worth a read. I feel it makes a good companion book to my own The Gift of Wonder. We have so much to learn from kids. This is an ongoing area of exploration and delight for me.
Whether you are looking forward to summer or to winter, I hope that this season is one of much delight and spiritual refreshment for you. My poem today is adapted from one I wrote several years ago that I call my strawberry poem and it seemed appropriate for the day.
God of abundant provision,
May we go out
Into your world,
And bear fruit,
Fit for the season,
In which it ripens.
Let us savour its flavor,
And enjoy its sweetness.
God of generosity,
May we go out
Into your world,
And bear fruit,
That will last,
As long as you intend it to.
Fruit that will nourish, sustain and grow us,
In the ways you created it to.
God may we go out
Into your world,
And bear fruit,
That will build your eternal world,
Of goodness and love and peace.
 Want to experience more of the awe and wonder that God offers us? Check out the Gift of Wonder Online Retreat by Christine Sine. This retreat allows for 180 days of access for only $39.99 so you can move through the sessions at your own pace. |
by Christine Sine
Yesterday was Covenanting Sunday at Seattle Mennonite Church which we are currently attending. For the first time I publicly offered my “yes” to their congregational covenant affirming my commitment to the church and its beliefs.
This was not an easy decision for me. Even though we have occasionally visited the Mennonite church over the last 30 years, our commitment, until last year was to our local Episcopal congregation. Moving pushed me outside my comfort zone. I loved the sanctuary at St Andrews which we attended for the last 15 years, and the liturgical worship which fed my soul. In some ways, however, I realize that my enjoyment of worship, without a sense of commitment to action made me complacent and satisfied in places that I should not have been.
Tom and I have always been more drawn to Anabaptist theology and its focus on living into the ways of Jesus. The core of the Anabaptist faith is that living as citizens of the kingdom of God by obeying New Testament commands (like those found in the Sermon on the Mount) is essential to the Christian faith; holding right beliefs is also important, but not as important as holy living.
Since I worked in the refugee camps in Thailand in the mid-1980s, and was given a book entitled From Saigon to Shalom, I have been attracted to the images of the shalom kingdom of God that is very much at the heart of Anabaptist theology. The result of my many years of study was my booklet Shalom and the Wholeness of God, though I continue to grow in my understanding of what God’s peaceable kingdom means and what it means to live today towards a just peace.
Attending the Seattle Mennonite Church over this last year has opened up new areas of understanding. I love that we recite a land acknowledgement at the beginning of each service. It is not just a statement of belief in the wrongness of how Native peoples have been treated,. It is an invitation to engage in the issue. I love too that we light a peace lamp each week and pray for a “just peace” for all peoples and for creation. I have learned too about the Coalition for Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery and the important work being done to overcome the patterns of oppression throughout history that still continue to dispossess Indigenous Peoples of their lands.
Standing up and committing to this covenant is a challenging though also enriching commitment for me. I hope that I will continue to grow and learn over the coming years. I hope you enjoy reading through the covenant I agreed to and the practices it encourages.
Congregational Covenant Seattle Mennonite Church
As an Anabaptist community of God’s people,
we at Seattle Mennonite Church receive with joy and humility
the mystery of God’s grace, truth and love.
In response to God’s initiation, we make this covenant
with God and with each other, to join in worship, praise, and service.
We affirm our faith in God, the source
of life and love, the Creator of the world.
We commit ourselves to follow Jesus Christ,
who reconciles and reveals God to us through the Holy Spirit.
We welcome God’s Spirit to transform, empower and guide us,
as together we discern and follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We pledge to care for each other, including our children, nurturing the gifts of each person,
and living towards just, nonviolent, and transformative relationships in community.
We renounce evil, both personal and corporate,
and join God’s plan for healing the earth, and bringing just peace to its people.
We accept God’s call to share the good news of transforming love,
and welcome others to faith in God and belonging
into Jesus Christ’s beloved community.
We encourage and pray for each other as we live out this covenant which gives us hope
for the time when God brings all of creation into wholeness
and an end to all suffering.
Affirmed at an SMC congregational meeting, March 22, 2015.
Congregational Practices – Seattle Mennonite Church
We believe our Covenant calls us to the following practices in this time and context:
1. Active participation in congregational life
a. Worship – God calls us to be the church together. We encourage participants to honor
their gifts for teaching, preaching, leading, responding, and otherwise contributing to
our corporate worship.
b. Discernment – members are encouraged to practice personal spiritual discernment in
order to faithfully contribute to discerning God’s will for the congregation.
c. Hospitality – members are called to care for each other through table fellowship,
sharing our lives and spiritual journeys, and ongoing prayer.
2. Ongoing spiritual transformation
a. Spiritual practices – in addition to participation in Sunday worship, we engage other
avenues of spiritual growth such as practicing spiritual disciplines; attending spiritual
retreats; meeting with a spiritual director; and regularly reviewing our stewardship of
time, money, gifts, and other facets of faithful living.
b. Spiritual formation of children – we seek to lead children to life in Christ through love,
care, formation in the Gospel of Jesus, and embodiment together of the Way.
c. Spiritual journey – we encourage each other to publicly claim and proclaim faith in God,
and we also grant each other the freedom necessary for searching and questioning.
d. Giving and receiving counsel – we believe we are not an island unto ourselves but need
the larger body of Christ for our mutual growth.
3. Acting on our commitment to the Gospel of Just Peace.
a. Relationships – our commitment to peacemaking begins with fostering healthy
relationships. We commit to practicing Christian love and faithfulness in our primary
relationships, supporting healthy marriages and families, and seeking reconciliation in
situations of brokenness.
b. Economics – continue to actively live out our calling to engage in God’s jubilee
economy.
c. Creation care – we commit to grow in understanding our impact on God’s creation, to
act to reduce the adverse effects of our actions, and to celebrate and support the rich
diversity of all creation.
d. Justice for oppressed people – we advocate for concerns local and global, act on our
biblical convictions against war / militarism and for particular presence and response to
the poor, to immigrants and to all who are dispossessed. We are a congregation which
actively seeks inclusion for our LGBTQ kin.
The points listed under each practice are not meant to define the totality of how we engage a particular
practice. They are meant to highlight key aspects of that practice to which members are committed.
Also, we intend for this list of practices to be periodically reviewed and for changes to be made as we
discern new ways in which God is calling us to faithful discipleship
by Bethany Hiser
I recently came across this Lord’s Prayer, translated from the Original Aramaic and I thought it quite powerful!
I invite you to take a few deep breaths before reading it, ground your feet on the floor, and read it slowly.
Prayer for Meditation
Lord’s Prayer (in Original Aramaic)
Abwûn Oh Thou, from whom the breath of life comes,
d’bwaschmâja who fills all realms of sound, light and vibration.
Nethkâdasch schmach May Your light be experienced in my utmost holiest.
Têtê malkuthach. Your Heavenly Domain approaches.
Nehwê tzevjânach aikâna d’bwaschmâja af b’arha. Let Your will come true – in the universe (all that vibrates) just as on earth (that is material and dense).
Hawvlân lachma d’sûnkanân jaomâna. Give us wisdom (understanding, assistance) for our daily need,
Waschboklân chaubên wachtahên aikâna daf chnân schwoken l’chaijabên. detach the fetters of faults that bind us, (karma) like we let go the guilt of others.
Wela tachlân l’nesjuna Let us not be lost in superficial things (materialism, common temptations),
ela patzân min bischa. but let us be freed from that what keeps us off from our true purpose.
Metol dilachie malkutha wahaila wateschbuchta l’ahlâm almîn. From You comes the all-working will, the lively strength to act, the song that beautifies all and renews itself from age to age.
Amên. Sealed in trust, faith and truth. (I confirm with my entire being)
Notice how you feel.
What images or words stand out to you?
Repeat that word slowly to yourself, allowing it to become nourishment.
Engage with God, asking questions, inviting reflection on how this word is speaking to your life right now.
Inhale. Exhale.
As you have space, sit for a few minutes in silence.
Bethany Hiser
Bethany works as the Director of Soul Care for Northwest Family Life, and is the author of From Burned Out to Beloved: Soul Care for Wounded Healers. As a bilingual social worker, chaplain, and pastoral advocate, Hiser has worked in a variety of ministry and social service settings with people affected by addiction, sexual exploitation, incarceration, and immigration.
After experiencing her own burnout, she has become passionate about being a sort of spiritual midwife alongside other helping professionals, as they navigate secondary trauma, move toward groundedness, and uncover their belovedness. She weaves together various contemplative, inner healing, body-based reflections, and recovery tools in the sacred space of individual soul care appointments and workshops. You can find out more about her here https://www.
Bethany lives in San Diego with her husband, Kenny, and their two young daughters.
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