remembering to pray (Lent 1, Friday)

What is your prayer today?

A prayer for this day (Lent 1, Thursday)

What a strange world this is, O God.

A world where migrants get a brief Disney cruise before being detained. What deck class were they afforded, I wonder?

A world where air strikes in Syria hit the sick, the dying and the helpers.

Will you forgive us for what we do to each other?

Will you forgive our aggressions - both petty and profound?

Will the time come when there are no strangers or enemies or classes or targets?

God, I hope so.

(written by: Rev. Whitney Wilkinson)

The spacious world of God (Lent 1, Wednesday)

Prayer is the way we work our way out of the comfortable but cramped world of self and into the spacious world of God.
- Eugene Peterson

O God, Give us the courage to live in such a way that our inner space grows and our comfort decreases.

We can not do this alone (Lent 1, Tuesday)

For thousands of years we have gathered in circle - around fires, around bodies, around alters - because we can't do this alone. 

~W. Muller

We meet together week in and week out. We struggle with one another. We bear with one another. We open our spirits to extend grace to one another again and again and again. The community of the people of God is a broken community. (We always have been) But, we are made holy because the Spirit of God is among us. We are made new when we give ourselves to each other...because we were never meant to be alone.

God is already working (Lent 1, Monday)

The people of God are the hands and feet of God in the world. 

We are "little Christs" bringing light into the darkness, bringing hope to the hopeless, bringing healing to the wounded and hurting and the broken. 

True Confessions: Statements like these scare me. When I think about them I begin to feel small and hopeless and powerless. I can even begin to wonder:

How can I be the light of Christ? My candle barely flickers.
How can I bring healing? There are many days when I can not see past my own wounds.
How can I bring hope? I could never admit how often I feel hopeless.

Then, of course, there is the question of where do I even begin.

The response to all of these fears and concerns is always the same. We do not bring God into the world. God is always here. God is always working. God is always healing.

We just have to open our eyes and hearts to see and join in.

A prayer for this day:

May I have vision and Courage to join God in the places [God's] already working rather than feel responsible for bringing [God] with me. 
~ Justin McRoberts

Beloved: the name is the starting place (Lent 1, Sunday)

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the Wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. 
Luke 4:1-2

Over the fall and the winter, Josiah has become enamored with watching football. He delights in clapping at the television saying go go or ohh ball or come on or throwing his hands in the air as he proclaims touchdown. I blame his father.  What my 18 month old son does not realize is that it is all over. Yesterday, he kept looking toward the television and saying  come on even though there was no football to be found.

We ended up turning on the television and watched downhill skiing. Apparently it was just as good because Josiah pulled out all his sports words with and proclaimed them with joy. As we were watching skiing, I remembered Picabo Street, a skier who famously named herself.  As the boys watched sports, I began to wonder what I would have named myself. I am certain I would not have settled on Amy even though I can not imagine another name at this point.

What would you have named yourself? 

As the text above begins, Jesus is entering the wilderness for a 40 day period of fasting and prayer. He contends with the devil - he contends with brokenness and evil and the inner voices which always seek to tear us down. But, he enters the desert still sopping wet with from the waters of baptism. A baptism where he was named by God, Beloved. 

I imagine that knowing who he was, was strength for him in the desert. I imagine that his name, Beloved, rang in his ears again and again and again as he contented with the bareness found in a desert - literal and spiritual. The thing is, Beloved  is not just God's name for Jesus. Beloved is God's name for you and me as well.

Whichever roads you may travel over the next few days and weeks, my prayer is this: that you may know that your name is Beloved.

Beloved Is Where We Begin

If you would enter

into the wilderness,

do not begin

without a blessing.

without hearing

who you are:

Beloved,

named by the One

who has traveled this path

before you.

without letting it echo

in your ears,

and if you find

it is hard

to let it into your heart,

do not despair.

That is what

this journey is for.

this blessing will free you

from danger,

from fear,

from hunger

or thirst,

from the scorching

of sun

or the fall

of the night.

that on this path

there will be help.

that on this way

there will be rest.

that you will know

the strange graces

that come to our aid

only on a road

such as this,

that fly to meet us

bearing comfort

and strength,

that come alongside us

for no other cause

than to lean themselves

toward our ear

and with their

curious insistence

whisper our name:

Beloved.

Beloved.

from Circle of Grace

Do not leave

Do not go

I cannot promise

But I can tell you

I can tell you

I can tell you

Beloved.

The Painting and Poem were created by the ever talented Jan Richardson. 

A Prayer to Welcome the Sabbath (Lent 1, Sunday)

::Prayer to Welcome the Sabbath::

Lord of Creation,
create in us a new rhythm of life
composed of hours that sustain rather than stress,
of days that deliver rather than destroy,
of time that tickles rather than tackles.

Lord of Liberation,
by the rhythm of your truth, set us free
from the bondage and baggage that breaks us,
from the Pharaohs and fellows who fail us,
from the plans and pursuits that prey upon us.

Lord of Resurrection,
may we be raised into rhythms of your new life,
dead to deceitful calendars,
dead to fleeting friend requests,
dead to the empty peace of our accomplishments.

To our packed-full planners, we bid, "Peace!"
To our over-caffeinated consciences, we say, "Cease!"
To our suffocating selves, Lord, grant us release.

Drowning in a sea of deadlines and death chimes,
we rest in you, our lifeline.

By your ever-restful grace,
allow us to enter your Sabbath rest
as your Sabbath rest enters into us.

In the name of our Creator,
our Liberator,
our Resurrection and Life,
we pray.
Amen

Taken from: Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne et. all.

Church is Cancelled:: Sunday, February 14, 2016

Hello All,

I just wanted to post a note letting everyone know that church is cancelled tomorrow morning, February 14, 2016.

Your pastor from Texas can not even begin to imagine a windchill of -35. It sounds like a frozen death to me. Please stay inside. Please care for yourselves and check on your neighbors.

As always, I am available by phone or email or text.

Hugs and Prayers,

Amy

One Jazzy Saturday in Lent

A musical reflection for a very cold Saturday. 

The Trumpet Child

by: Over the Rhine 

The trumpet child will blow his horn
Will blast the sky till it's reborn
With Gabriel's power and Satchmo's grace

He will surprise the human race

The trumpet he will use to blow
Is being fashioned out of fire
The mouthpiece is a glowing coal
The bell a burst of wild desire

The trumpet child will riff on love
Thelonious notes from up above
He'll improvise a kingdom come
Accompanied by a different drum

The trumpet child will banquet here
Until the lost are truly found
A thousand days, a thousand years
Nobody knows for sure how long

The rich forget about their gold
The meek and mild are strangely bold
A lion lies beside a lamb
And licks a murderer's outstretched hand

The trumpet child will lift a glass
His bride now leaning in at last
His final aim to fill with joy
The earth that man all but destroyed

Life itself...

Sometimes we just need to breathe in and breathe out. We just need to let the noise filling our hearts and minds fall away. Sometimes all we need is to view life through a wider lens. 

“Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery it is. In the boredom and pain of it, no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it, because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.” 

~Fredrick Buechner, Now and Then: A Memoir of Vocation 

Giving Up on Lent (The Reflection for the first Thursday in Lent)

Every.single.year I end up overhearing conversations about what people are "giving up" for Lent. Inevitably these conversations revolve around giving up chocolate or alcohol or donuts or soda or.... My constant encouragement is that Lent is more than just what we give up, it is an invitation to create space in our lives to experience God and God's grace differently than we do during the normal hustle and bustle of life. Lent is a season when we deliberately slow down. When we deliberately exhale. When we open our ears and hearts to listen to the rhythms of grace that surround us.

If you are not sure how you want to practice Lent this year, I offer this graphic. It is wonderful and lovely and brilliant. I shamelessly stole it from our friend, Rev. Whitney Wilkinson. Since the graphic is small, I have typed it up in a list below. Read it over, if you are like me you might find a thing or two that has taken root in your life (almost without notice or intention) that you know you want to "give up" for the health of your spirit.

 

 



1. Fear of Failure
2. Your Comfort Zone
3. Feelings of Unworthiness
4. Impatience
5. Retirement
6. People Pleasing
7. Comparison
8. Blame
9. Guilt
10. Over-commitment
11. Lack of Wise Counsel
12. Finger Pointing
13. Entitlement
14. Apathy
15. Hatred
16. Negativity
17. The Spirit of Poverty
18. Going through the Motions
19. Complaint
20. The Pursuit of Happiness
21. Bitterness
22. Distraction
23. Giving Up
24. Mediocrity
25. Destructive Speech
26. Busyness
27. Loneliness
28. Disunity
29. the Quick Fix
30. Worry
31. Idolizing
32. Resistance to Change
33. Pride
34. A Small View of God
35. Envy
36. Ungratefulness
37. Selfish Ambition
38. Self-Sufficiency
39. Sorrow
40. My Life

Ash Wednesday (on the First Friday of Lent)

One of the Saints and Prophets who speaks into my soul is Rev. Jan Richardson, pastor, prophet, poet, artist. The blessings she writes are prayers that end up pouring out of my own heart. Today, I wanted to offer you one of her paintings and her blessing for Ash Wednesday. If you were at our Ash Wednesday Service, it might sound familiar to you.

A Blessing for Ash Wednesday
All those days
you felt like dust,
like dirt,
as if all you had to do
was turn your face
toward the wind
and be scattered
to the four corners
or swept away
by the smallest breath
as insubstantial—
did you not know
what the Holy One
can do with dust?
This is the day
we freely say
we are scorched.
This is the hour
we are marked
by what has made it
through the burning.
This is the moment
we ask for the blessing
that lives within
the ancient ashes,
that makes its home
inside the soil of
this sacred earth.
So let us be marked
not for sorrow.
And let us be marked
not for shame.
Let us be marked
not for false humility
or for thinking
we are less
than we are
but for claiming
what God can do
within the dust,
within the dirt,
within the stuff
of which the world
is made
and the stars that blaze
in our bones
and the galaxies that spiral
inside the smudge
we bear.
—Jan Richardson
from Circle of Grace

Our Lenten Journey

Hi Friends,

During this season of Lent, I wanted to create space for us to reflect together. I invite you to join me on this journey. I am planning to create a daily post so check back in. (Yes, I know I am getting started a bit late and that does not bode well...but I have high hopes!)

I have also mentioned Jim Kast-Keat's 30 Seconds or Less podcast. Josh and I will both be contributing to his Lent Series. Jim is inviting anyone and everyone to get acquainted with each book of the Bible via a 30 second podcast every day. Each day will feature a different book of the Bible and a different voice offering a summary of that book and a reflection on it. Its like a 30 second sermon. (Everyone's dream come true!) Go here to get started! http://thirtysecondsorless.net/30secondbible/

It is a joy and pleasure to walk together during this season of Lent.
Blessings and Prayers,

Amy