Sunday Reflection on a Monday: Living the good news

Today's reflection is brought to you by

Luke 4:16-21.

Jesus, 

my brother and friend,

what if we all owned the fact

that we are children

of our Living God

the way you did?

It's become hard

for me to believe

that you came so we can

worship and glorify you.

If I'm reading you right,

you came to challenge us,

your family members,

your beloved community,

to fulfill God's promises

as you did!

What if I believed

that Isaiah's words applied to me

the way you believed 

they applied to you?

The Spirit of the Lord is upon ME

because You have anointed ME

to bring good news to the poor.

You have sent ME

to proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,

to proclaim the year of Your favour.

What if we all believed this of ourselves?

What if we worked to make it true, 

the way you did?

What kind of world would this be?

Help us to be more like you,

to live out your good news

in a world that needs it.

+Amen.

Sunday reflection on a Monday: An undivided heart

Image by Jay (my words)

Today's reflection is brought to you by
Hebrews 4: 12-13, a day late because I forgot to hit the publish button! Oops.

Your word,
O God,
is your living and active self,
a sword
that comes to separate me
from my illusions.

Too often
I divide what you have made
into opposing camps,
forgetting
that without darkness,
light cannot exist,
that joy is sweeter
once I've known sorrow,
and that my soul
needs its body
in spite of its aging
and imperfections.

But you see clearly
where my real divisions are.

You understand me
better than I know my own mind.

Depending on the day,
my divided heart fools me
into thinking myself and others
better or worse than we really are,
but you see through me
and love me
in spite of my illusions.

Though it be painful,
show me the places
where I need to grow,
to love,
and to live
according to your will for me

Give me
an undivided heart,
and lead me to wholeness.

Let me forget myself
and follow you alone.

+Amen.

Sunday Reflection on a Monday: First fruits

Today's reflection is brought to you by
James 1: 17-27.

You,
O God,
are the source of all perfect gifts
and all generosity.

When we give,
it is your bounty that we are giving;
nothing
that we have to give is ours
because you created
everything.

All our freedom,
memories,
knowledge,
possessions,
gifts,
and talents,
are your presence in us,
meant to be shared.

We are to offer ourselves
like the first fruits of harvest
laid on your altar.

We are to give ourselves
by serving you
in those who are today's widows and orphans:
our sisters and brothers in need,
and receiving the gifts of self
that they offer us in return.

We are to be
"quick to listen,
slow to speak,
slow to anger..."
and more than hearers of your word,
but doers.

Otherwise,
there is no point to any religion.

Help us all to share ourselves
without concern for what it costs us,
and without thought of any reward.

Doing everything and giving all
for love of you,
in love with you and your creation,
is already enough.

+Amen.

* * * * * 

This Sunday reflection is a bit late because it is harvest season. We picked over 60 gallons of pears this Labour Day weekend, and would be happy to share our first fruits with anyone who would like some!!! Send me an email (contact info on the sidebar) if you need an address to come and get them (bring your own container).

You are the vine

This reflection is brought to you by
John 15:1-8.

You are the vine
and we are the branches.

Apart from you
we don't exist;
we are nothing;
we have nothing;
we can do nothing.

But since you are everything,
and have given us all that we need,
we can bear your fruit
in our reaching out to others,
in our love for those on the fringes,
in our care for creation,
and in the hope you give that we can share with the world.

In other words, we're MUCH better than fine.

Thank you for choosing us to live in you.

+Amen

Seeking Wisdom

O Wisdom,
we find you in all your goodness, beauty and truth
when we allow love to lead us.

O God of Wisdom
how quickly you show yourself
when we allow you
to work in us,
to do what is right and just.

You wait
patiently
for us to seek you --
even as you are constantly seeking us.

You appear on our path
and meet us in our minds
whenever we see you
and love you
in all that surrounds us.

When we act with compassion
Wisdom is in us
and we are in Wisdom;
you are in us
and we are in you.

Help us to remain in you always.

+Amen.

When life gets a little overwhelming

My Sunday reflection is a day late this week because there's a lot to carry right now. One of our daughters has been suffering due to low iron levels and related health issues, our youngest is finding life challenging in other ways, and last week, my in-laws, who live 500 km (300 miles) away, went through a health crisis of their own, leaving us feeling a bit helpless to come up with assistance for them in a hurry. Thank goodness neighbours and friends stepped in to help out for the time it took my husband's brothers to drive to be with them.

This weekend, Lee and I made the five-and-a-half-hour journey to help out with cooking and other things that needed attention, leaving our kids to fend for themselves (fortunately, they're of an age to manage life without us for the most part). I was on call to help Lee's mom through Saturday night/Sunday morning, and felt like a bit of zombie when we arrived home last night with just enough time for me to pull together a few things for last night's ecumenical prayer, have supper, and drive to the church that was hosting the prayer.

I was feeling overwhelmed, exhausted and somewhat grumpy when I arrived. Some kind of Mother's Day this was turning out to be, I was thinking. But the community that gathered for the prayer and the music we sang together put everything into perspective once again, especially the Taizé chant below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN_mDJQud5A

Retourne, mon âme à ton repos,
car le Seigneur ta fait du bien.
Il a gardé mon âme de la mort.
Il essuira pour toujours les larmes de nos yeux. 

Return, my soul, to your rest,
for the Lord has been good to you.
God rescued my soul from death.
God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.

It was a perfect reminder that we are all loved and cared for even when we're feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, or grumpy. Hands much gentler than our own will wipe away our tears and hold us to God's heart, and serenity will return. It always does when we turn our struggles over to the Source of everything.

Thank you, God!

Sunday reflection on a Monday: Practicing detachment

I've been thinking a lot about detachment lately, and how easy it is to become wrapped up in situations beyond our control. Really, almost everything is beyond our control, but we've convinced ourselves otherwise. So we imagine that we are in charge, that we call the shots, and when things don't work that way -- well, I don't know about you, but I get tied up in knots.

All of the readings at church this past Sunday were about detachment. The reading from the Book of Wisdom (9:13-18) reminded us that "our designs are likely to fail" but that God sees that "the paths of those on earth were set right, and people were taught what pleases you and were saved by wisdom." In Paul's Letter to Philemon (9-17), he is letting go of Onesimus, a "beloved brother" who has come to mean much to him. And in Luke's Gospel (14:25-33), Jesus is encouraging us to give up our attachments to connections and possessions in order to live in freedom as children of God.

"Let go and Let God" is a phrase I feel like I've heard all my life, but it still isn't easy. As a well-established worry-wart (and mother), I find it hard to turn off my brain and hand the worrying over to God, not to mention detaching from my possessions, my judgments, my thought patterns, my EGO! And yet, I know that if I can become less attached to all those things, entrusting them all to the One who really is in charge, I'll be much more at peace.

So this week, I am going to work on detachment, even as I deal with some problems in my daily existence. And I'm going to share a little video here, a guided meditation that was created by the Honest Guys, because I appreciate the fact that they've put it out there for free in an effort to help people who are working on letting go. It's a non-religious meditation with its heart in the right place.

Is there anything you're trying to let go?