Evening Walk, Day 12

The warmer spring nights beckon us to take walks around the neighborhood. Tonight we found ourselves winding around our neighborhood noticing flowers and trees and garden gnomes as we listened to the chatter of a 2.5 year old.  We normally miss so many little pieces as we zoom by in our car. We returned home to see our bunny eating her dinner. Grace comes in simple pleasures.

Don't Worry, Day 11

We've been going to the library on Saturday mornings. Usually, we pick out books for Josiah. Last week, I brought home a book for myself. Felicity by Mary Oliver. The poem below if from her book.


Don't Worry
by: Mary Oliver

Things take the time they take. Don't
     worry.
How many roads did St. Augustine follow
     before he became St. Augustine?

Prayers Echoed, Day 10

Sunday afternoon I joined with other ministers and delegates from other churches in the Central Association of the UCC for our yearly business meeting. 

- Lifting my heart in prayer and in silence with a room full of friends and strangers. There was something about the combination of silence and words, stillness and movement that reminded me of this simple, powerful truth: God is the presence who permeates all of life. God is with us when we pray. God is with us as we live. 

Rain and colors, Day 7

- A short walk on a rainy afternoon that left me a little wetter than I hoped. It seems the falling rain mixed with the brilliant colors of Spring are exactly what my heart needed today.

- The grace offered to oneself in setting a goal that was never going to be met met along with the practice of dusting yourself off to keep going. Nice to see y'all on Day 7.

Blessings Offered, Day 2

Tonight at yoga, the instructor shared this poem with the class. The words reverberated inside my heart. My friends, Love surrounds us.

Beannacht (Blessing) - for Josie

by: John O'Donohue

On the day when
The weight deadens
On your shoulders
And you stumble,
May the clay dance
To balance you.

And when your eyes
Freeze behind
The grey window
And the ghost of loss
Gets into you,
May a flock of colours,
Indigo, red, green
And azure blue,
Come to awaken in you
A meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays
In the currach of thought
And a stain of ocean
Blackens beneath you,
May there come across the waters
A path of yellow moonlight
To bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
May the clarity of light be yours,
May the fluency of the ocean be yours,
May the protection of the ancestors be yours.

And so may a slow
Wind work these words
Of love around you,
An invisible cloak
To mind your life.

Nest, Day 1

Every day we look and listen for the sounds of new baby birds. One day, they will be here. Until then, we will watch and wait. I suppose that is something of a lesson for all of life.

Paying attention

A note of invitation: Over the next few weeks, I am making an effort to watch out for something writer Madeline L'Engle calls glimpses of grace, the holy moments we encounter everyday. These moments are always there. They are always calling to us to open our eyes and hearts and pay attention. Paying attention, of course, is the trick of it all. Please join me in paying attention through this Easter seasons. Your holy moments might not look quite like mine and that is ok because they are your holy moments. In the end, my friends, I do not think that it matters if we remember every single moment. What matters is that we recognize God as our companion on the journey, walking alongside us every day.

Will you join me? Will you take the time to notice one or two holy moments tucked away in the ordinary of your day?