Meditations – Late 2009

Meditations 2009 – Daily Affirmations

For over five years now I have risen daily before dawn and sat in stillness after reading a verse of scripture. What follows is the fruit of that quiet time that I want to share with you. As you will see the format remains the same. Someone suggested that I share this with a wider audience — my family and friends.

December 30, 2009

Scripture

Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. The Lord called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, 'Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 1 Samuel 3:7-9

Prayer

Teach me to answer promptly, Here I am; you called me.

Response

Notice that the words you called me are not stated as a question. There is a confidence, even boldness present. Your teaching this morning is to encourage you to step forward, and not be the one in the crowd who when asked looks around as if someone else is indicated. Come forward even if you are not sure of the assignment, or whether in your assessment you are qualified to perform.

See Samuel as a model of responsiveness. Catch his alertness. He is awake; he is conscious – traits for you to emulate. And he does not wait for dawn and full understanding, but responds on trust and openness. So you have experienced at times with your children who were willing to respond to your direction.

In prayer adopt a sense of listening for guidance in your life, as you embark on a new day, and now a new year. What a phrase to repeat at the outset of your prayer and one to place you immediately in my presence – Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.

All for this morning.

December 29, 2009

 

Scripture

My mouth will tell of your righteousness, of your salvation all day long, though I know not its measure. Psalm 71:15

Prayer

As I sit in the dark stillness – a wind whistling outside my window from the ocean – the words I know not its measure attract me. Bring me closer to understanding.

Response

So too it is when you look over the expanse of the sea to the horizon and beyond, you cannot comprehend the expanse laid out before you. All I ask you to accept is that my love is boundless and intimate. Intimate in that my love is not assigned to groups, or populations, or sects – but to you individually. It is not an as if you were alone in drawing my attention; rather, you are alone – this very moment.

Allow your eyes to widen in wonder; the peripheral vision of your heart to expand into a dimension-less appreciation of this love. And this love is distinguished as no other by my intense listening – a special gift to you of which you become aware as you grown in wisdom and grace. Can you yet appreciate that in this stillness there is not one curvature of your body that I am not familiar; not one anxiety – even those not mentioned – that I do not share; not one dream that I am not in?

If you were to catch an inkling of the measure of my love, you would sit opposite me, as it were, this morning, and allow me to fill your heart with a measure of the love bounty of which the psalmist writes. Don’t do anything – no questions, no stirring, or mind-chatter; be still in the darkness where you will find light.

All for this morning.

December 27, 2009

 

Scripture

He also said: “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain – first the stalk, and then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.” Mark 4:26-29

Prayer

Help me to understand better the unfolding in my life where the miracle occurs when I am least conscious.

Response

And here I have been imploring you not to fall asleep. Yet your prayer reflects an understanding deeper than you realize. There is a time to appreciate the working of grace in your life that can be compared to the diligent worker who scatters the seed on the ground and finds time to rest. A holiday season is a special time to observe the fruits of your labor without attempting to fill every moment with activity aimed at rushing the growing season.

This is also a time to fill the silence of your heart with a joy that transcends earthly concerns and obligations, allowing you to become ever more deeply aware of my enriching peace that touches you in a space where minutes and hours and days and years are just words to describe phantoms that seek to disturb your peace.

In life you are called to scatter the seed – seed found in listening in pray, observing the magnificence that surrounds, discerning those in need, generously giving – not lending – of yourself, and reflecting my joy in your every action; you are called to rest; you are called to the harvest and to share what you have received even if you were not so diligent in the planting. Yes, this season is a time to listen.

All for this morning.

December 26, 2009

 

Scripture

The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of the earth. Psalm 97:5, 2009

Prayer

This day following the hectic activity of the season, restore in me a sense of your Oneness.

Response

Good selection – the word oneness. It is in oneness that all efforts to distinguish and define dissolve in the realization that all is connected in harmony. This is the new consciousness you seek. The mountains like wax flow before the Lord. Allow the image of the Psalmist to capture your heart – since your mind is unable to comprehend the scene except as a natural catastrophe.

In this season the Oneness of the Lord is demonstrated, is announced – just like mountains melting like wax. Don’t go back to business as usual; take in the events of these last days as happening in your life – you the witness – as a sign of this oneness where time is present. You are the witness of the mountains melting, so don’t turn your gaze away. Think for a moment on what this means to you. How will your day differ? What priorities will fade to be replaced by others that acknowledge the Lord’s Oneness?

Do you have to be reminded that each day holds the promise of a mountains melting like wax? What about experiencing a severe rain storm chill last night that melts into a gentle fog unseasonably warm this morning; or, how about seemingly insoluble obstacles in life melting into opportunities unforeseen beforehand; or, a reconciliation that was considered unimaginable; or, a healing unanticipated; or, a peace declared without warning among vicious opponents? Stay awake – don’t go back to sleep.

All for this morning.

December 23, 2009

Scripture

 

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion: “Your God reigns!” Isaiah 52:7

 

Prayer

 

I can almost see the scene that Isaiah described, but more importantly I sense the words this morning as if he just penned them. Help me to cultivate that sense of anticipation that goes beyond an historical event.

Response

Lift your gaze and you too will see the footsteps of one approaching down the mountain slope toward you, bringing good news. What would that news be? The mountain pass is open; or shelter from the elements waits just up ahead; your friends are gathered to greet you; or you are not lost?

But what if the news brought to you was not reserved for you but rather someone announcing to all with authority that peace is to reign over all creation; that those in conflict whether with another or with themselves would pause and be almost throttled into consciousness – no longer able to feign slumber; that no longer would you refer to a script to respond to the events of life, but rather be moved spontaneously from the heart, evidenced by acts of supreme sacrifice?

This is a time in your life as no other for you to rejoice. You have not been forgotten. In fact a special emissary has been dispatched this very moment, in this very time, to proclaim with great authority, Your God reigns! He approaches over the top of the snow clad mountain summit with the news. Awake! Celebrate! Serve! Witness! So what do you do with the news? Please, don’t go back to sleep.

All for this morning.

December 21, 2009

Scripture

 

“And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” Luke 1:76-79

 

Prayer

 

My attention is drawn to the last words – guide our feet into the path of peace. Speak more of the path of peace.

Response

With wars and violence raging beyond your borders as well within, it is easy to misplace your orientation to this path. It is as if you have discovered with some regret that upon setting out on a journey the personally drawn map that was given to you has been left behind. Rather than retrace your steps, pause for a moment and realize that the map is imprinted on your heart. How else to negotiate your way through the desert as John once did?

You have the knowledge of salvation, not in some textbook that you most lug about, but in the precept of forgiveness that ranges so far, to include your own transgressions as well as a growing capacity to forgive those around you. Forgiveness is so bold, deliberate, and severs the tie to convention. Forgiveness needs no acknowledgement from those you forgive, yet in the process you come to know that your transgressions are also forgiven by One So Powerful.

See the rising sun this morning as a light from heaven, and in your actions today go in peace and discover ways to direct that light into the shadows where those in despair linger – even as they busy themselves, or so it seems.

All for this morning.

December 20, 2009

Scripture

And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me – holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rules from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendents forever, even as he said to our fathers.” Luke 1:48-55

 

Prayer

 

As I sit here quietly in the dark of morning, I am transported to my youth and the recitation of the Magnificat that began when I was Christopher’s age. Help me not to be among those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

Response

Take a moment to listen in silence to my word this morning. Allow your breathing to be in harmony with the wind that still whistles intermittently at your window as if carrying the full texture of your youth into the present. Allowing the fullness of your life to blossom in this moment – with all of its experiences; you are most assuredly not to become scattered. Rather you to enter in a keen state of awakening and consciousness.

Now, reread the Magnificat and allow the words to become personal as if you recorded them. Who can dispute that your soul glorifies the Lord; your spirit rejoices in God your Savior; or great things have been done for you when least expected; he scatters the proud in their inmost thoughts; he has lifted up the humble; he has showered you with abundant grace when least expected or deserved. Rejoice!

All for this morning.

December 19, 2009

Scripture

“(F)or (John) will be great in the sight of the Lord. He will never take wine or fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many of the people of Israel he will bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous – to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Luke 1:15-17

 

Prayer

 

What sort of a man was John – not taking wine, filled with the Holy Spirit from birth, in the power of Elijah, turning the hearts of fathers to the children, the disobedient to wisdom, and all the time preparing the way of the Lord?

Response

You asked the right questions this stormy morning with the wind gusts and rain heralding a new dawn of consciousness. John was touched as so many of you are with a recognition that extends beyond what you have read, studied, or have been told. You might sometimes consider that his actions and life were all proscribed by his training or the influence of elders or even by the angel Gabriel. All influenced him but realize that he was filled with the Holy Spirit. He acted directly upon that influence – that touch. Notice I said acted directly. His preparation and influence prompted resolute, unquestioning service. He becomes your model.

So for you today, anticipate as did John the coming of the Lord into your hearts with new vigor. Turn the hearts of those around you – the uninitiated, the young and old, who look anxiously about for guidance or direction. And do this gently, not with the arrogance of certainty but with the humility displayed by a seeker of the wisdom, so was John nourished in the desert.

But most of all be filled with joy as you make ready to receive the Lord this very moment that extends into eternity. Enter a dimension that leaves the bluster of storm, wind, and rain aside and experience in the process an awakening that far exceeds any sunrise on a placid morning. So too you will feel the power of Elijah circulating in your veins, perhaps allowing you to catch just a hint of who this John was and what tossed him into the turmoil of his time to be remembered this morning two thousand years later.

All for this morning.

December 18, 2009

Scripture

After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished. Luke 2:46-48

 

Prayer

 

Help me to be astonished when I discover Christ within.

Response

This verse catches your attention – though you have read it many times and it is celebrated as one of the joyous mysteries in the rosary prayers. This morning your attention is snatched at the deepest level in realizing that all the wandering of your life leads back home – to within – where you experience the Christ presence, freely, generously sharing the wisdom of the Father; and this sharing is not with a crowd of onlookers, but with you.

This is not a time to castigate yourself with questions like, “why didn’t I return earlier?” or “what did I miss?” No, this is the time and the season to listen with a new consciousness and alertness refined by the search. Though you might think you have earned the right to kick back and relax now, to the contrary this special time is reserved for each of you to prosper in my presence. So don’t miss a moment. Bring all the bruises, cares, and joys to this listening post, and you too will be astonished beyond what you have had been diligently and not so diligently searching.

So today, prepare to return home and discover my presence within you. Don’t miss this joy reserved exclusively for you in my word, spoken on your heart in an intimacy of love you have not experienced until now.

All for this morning.

December 17, 2009

Scripture

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? Psalm22:1

 

Prayer

My attention is caught by the use of the word why. Help me to comprehend the question at a deeper level.

Response

Another way of asking would be what is happening to me or what purpose is served? And that is a profound question; one that does not challenge but accepts present circumstances, whatever they might be; but rather seeks enlightenment, to discover the purpose served in one’s life, requests a look behind the scenes, so to speak.

Do not hesitate to pose in prayer your why’s and listen intently to the responses you receive in stillness. A good practice is to reflect upon your life and consider other occasions when events seemed beyond your comprehension, and you wondered why. Inevitably, you probably didn’t stay around long enough for the answer. However, now, so many or not so many years later, you perceive a soul development within that you can attribute to that time or circumstance – as much as you cringe to think back on the pain endured.

In your silent or verbal dialogue in prayer, asking a question even if you don’t expect an explanation that you fully understand yet or one that will relieve the agony of the soul growth you are experiencing within or observing in a loved one, realize that all will become manifest and you will have that moment of enlightenment, consciousness, that you all seek.

All for this morning.

December 16, 2009

Scripture

 

So he replied to the messengers: “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Luke 7:22

 

Prayer

 

 

Help me to understand that these words are meant for me today and not simply an historical recounting of miracles.

Response

Indeed, you have caught the message for this morning. In your midst, whether across the bay or across the room, or many miles distant in a foreign land, the blind in spirit have their sight restored, the lame experience the strength of new resolve, those clouded in shame are reborn; my message is heard for the first time by those thought deaf, the dead in spirit and belief are resurrected, and those without hope are given hope.

Yes, these words are meant for you in the dark chill before dawn with the wind whistling outside your window, and not reserved for an examination of history two thousand years ago. Come to realize that you are the agents that bring about these countless miracles of change in my grace as you walk about in your day.

See today with fresh eyes; hear as if your hearing has just been restored; walk with confidence in your marketplace; exhibit new life in your actions; and most important – touch the downcast.

All for this morning.

December 14, 2009

Scripture

 

“I am Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8

 

Prayer

 

What would it take for me to catch this familiar phrase as its depth?

Response

First, understand that these words are stitches in a fabric that is fashioned for you to wear. In whatever quandary you find yourself, whenever you puzzle over solutions that seem to escape you, take comfort in the warmth providing by knowing the Lord God is the Alpha and Omega – the beginning and end of all time folded into the present.

As stitch work, realize you are being given a hint of the eternal dimension where there is no need to keep the silhouettes of the past in mind as you embrace at soul depth my love in the present. All is known even before you are able to utter words to express a prayer. All is known. Most importantly for you to ponder – you are known. Isn’t it time to put on this new garment and see what you discover about who you are – as you are known?

This is a powerful verse that resounds from the highest summit, in the deepest valley, across the widest sea, in the faceless desert for only one purpose; and that is to bring you to a place of reverent stillness so you can hear more clearly my words and receive most deeply my comfort.

All for this morning.

December 13, 2009

Scripture

 

“I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” Matthew 25:36

 

Prayer

 

Another coincidence of life – I was returning home late – or was it early – from a service project when I heard a program on National Public Radio about a prison ministry. Help me to be generous in the time I spend with the downtrodden or those who despair.

Response

As I have reminded you many times, there are no coincidences in life. A dawning consciousness picks up the repetitions and lessons of life – the slumbering suffer a form of unconsciousness unfairly attributed to the aging process. You could have in your weariness switched the dials to light music –but you didn’t. Anticipate with surprise what is unfolding in your life – all the events and circumstances for which you did not plan or even prepare for.

All you will discover, if you haven’t already, that all, repeat all, the soul refining lessons that you encounter daily – even if you miss them – revolve around ministering to the needy, especially those from whom you would prefer to be distant – the poor in body and spirit, the sick and elderly, the incarcerated – both in body and spirit. Ask again the question, why am I here? And discover the answer is service. You don’t have to be of the cloth to serve or minister, if you didn’t know that already. And those you serve don’t have to be strangers. It is sometimes more challenging to serve – in the broadest of interpretations, those with whom you are almost all too familiar, as a friend or family member.

For today, attune your sight to those in need and respond generously.

All for this morning.

December 12, 2009

Scripture

 

As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’” Matthew 11:7-10

 

Prayer

 

Bring me to the desert with purpose.

Response

Without seeking to disturb you – except into consciousness – you are in the desert. And yes the reeds are blowing in the wind and if you are not alert, your eyes will simply watch the reeds moving back and forth and back and forth. It takes so little effort to observe, to be distracted by movement – mesmerizing in fact. The daily routine into which you are adjusted is that reed moving silently across the desert landscape.

Jolted awake, ask yourself what you are doing in the desert? Why are you here? What is your purpose? Whose voice do you hear more distinctly than the loudest seasonal choir when you are still? With what that question stirs in you, doesn’t a path reveal itself to you and doesn’t a guide accompany – no less recognizable than a prophet dressed in tatters who beckons for you to follow?

>Ask yourself today, what did you go out into the desert to see? Sense that hidden thirst that words are inadequate to capture. And realize that in even in the articulation of the question, some relief in my grace is experienced. Awake, you taste the vintage wine that passes through your lips. Be still.

All for this morning.

December 11, 2009

Scripture

 

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. Psalm 118:8

 

Prayer

 

Help me to understand more deeply what is meant by refuge.

Response

Ah, here dwell on refuge and when in life you have experienced refuge. Refuge can be a tent on a height in the Himalayas, a friend who offers you company in a time of great loss, the room of a retreat house during a weekend of prayer and reflection, and a time reserved to be in my company in the quiet of your home before dawn.

Refuge needs no special place, no special or even reserved time; yet, it is a deliberate, conscious act, decision, to be in my presence. Sometimes, events and circumstances are such that one is not even aware that the door to the shelter has been opened as one stumbles in to take a seat by a fire, leaving the raging elements outside.

>Taking refuge in the Lord is the most natural and supernatural act one can perform. No need to look over one’s shoulder and wonder what others might think who linger in the elements; though calling out encouragement to them to discover this place of refuge is blessed. Find refuge in my presence this day.

All for this morning.

December 9, 2009

Scripture: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Mathew 11:28

Prayer: How is it when you wake in the middle of the night, the rain pounding against the glass pane? I know; I was awakened. Give me rest.

Response: Before you become too concerned about the lack of sleep, hear that wind as someone who is not missing the depth of an experience. The waves of rain, the wind hurtling in the darkness – and all while most are sleeping – unconscious one could say to the vibrancy of creation.  Consider this awakening a special reminder that was made clear this morning in the breaking of a routine, a pattern.

The special reminder is contained in the opening words of this verse – come to me. Is there a simpler formula for you to comprehend? Come to me in deliberate prayer – that is, when you are caught unprepared as now when all about you – in your home, in your local area, along the coast, are in repose unaware of the tumult outside. Come to me spontaneously and listen to your heart murmurings that serve to echo my presence.

I will give you rest – the rest that calms the seas, the elements, and the scattered thoughts that intrude. What a special moment. Here alone with no fear of your phone ringing, you sit calmly measuring each word, listening intently, especially conscious of my presence.

All for this early morning.

December 7, 2009

Scripture

The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God. Isaiah 35:1-2

 

Prayer

Cultivate in me that same anticipation.

Response

It takes so little; in fact your immediate response to the imagery provided is a walk in the desert after a light rain and observing the almost immediate appearance of the crocus and other desert blossoms. Bring that imagery to fruition by considering how a light, even steady, rain in life eventually leads to a field of blossoms – most unexpected. All that is required is to cultivate in dawning consciousness fearlessness to venture out into what was once a parched and desolate region of your soul.

In this season, measure your footsteps and listen for the footsteps approaching. This is a season to celebrate a communion, a reunion of the heart in my grace. Your journey in the desert is not without worth; allow the clouds overhead anticipate for you the rain that cleanses and heals – and blossoms your soul.

In these days attune your hearing and adjust your vision to catch the first crocuses that bud in your life – at your very step. Don’t walk by without noticing, without pausing to kneel in wonder at how such a fragile blossom could emerge from the desolate plain. Kept note in these approaching days of the surprise and blessings that you encounter. Shout for joy!

All for this morning.

December 5, 2009

Scripture

 

Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:20-21

 

Prayer

 

Help me to hear the voice intended for me and not try to overhear the guidance intended for another.

Response

Once you stood in a crowded room – as when you attended a reception with conversations swirling about, some in foreign languages – attempting to comprehend meanings and events outside of you. Now, you are seating in a comfortable chamber of stillness as a storm rages beyond the windows of your home where my voice resonates in clarity and purpose, previously marked with noise and clatter. Once you spent effort dispensing what you thought you heard that applied for another; now, you listen deeply for my guidance for you. Once you judged; now you are learning to accept.

It is in the bread of adversity and the water of affliction that you are nourished for the journey that might appear to the observer to be difficult, but for each of you brings deep and lasting joy in my grace. Consider the promise – your teachers will be hidden no more. Take comfort in knowing my counsel is as close as I am this morning.

All for this morning.

December 4, 2009

Scripture

 

In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll; and out of the gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see. Isaiah 29:18

 

Prayer

 

Help me to hear and to see.

Response

Rather pray for that day. And that day is this morning. Seated in the dark you listen to the words that bring light to the gloom of darkness. Listening attentively and reflecting, even pondering, is a transformative experience where you are transported beyond the realms of the earth bound. It’s as if that helium balloon ready for transcontinental flight is cut loose to reach the wind drafts that will pull you higher across ranging, frost clad cliffs. It is at this time that you are caught in almost an ecstasy of knowing, inexplicable to recount in mere words.

Yes, your prayer is to transform your hearing into an acuity that distinguishes every breath and color transformation – as if colors sounded – and they do. Eyes closed your seeing is beyond expectation and experience. And all you have to do is to be in this moment. What a simple formula for those who seek solutions.

Take note this day of hearing experiences when you heard words or gestures that routinely were lost to you in the clatter of your own concerns, or saw scenes emerge from what you believed was a blank canvas. Then ask yourself the question – why?

All for this morning.

December 2, 2009

Scripture

On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations. Isaiah 25:7

Prayer

Free me from the shroud of unconsciousness.

Response

Are you ready to be conscious? Free of the comfort called ignorance or worse the lack of inquiry and of seeking. The shroud that enmeshes you seems transparent, but it is not as it keeps the light from you in the dim corridors of your biases, restricts your vision to your toes that plod in deep sand. The shroud might seem to protect you from the elements, but in fact keeps you from experiencing the refreshing breeze of my grace.

Without the shroud you can embark on the quest that awaits – wherever you find yourself and whatever age or circumstance. This quest is even more breath-taking than negotiating gingerly a trail across a glacier in the Himalayas, more vibrant than moving beneath a canopy of trees as the rainy season approaches, more thrilling than awaiting the opening of a chute above a wide landscape. What distinguishes consciousness is that you perceive in each moment and in each encounter an opportunity to serve and to touched as well by your traveling companions whether standing opposite or many miles distant – known to you intimately or strangers who await their chance to meet you even in prayer.

So today allow the shroud to slip off your shoulders; step free from its entanglements; look about with wonder and fresh eyes. Take note of the scene as if you were to sketch the lines on the faces that you encounter; and most of all be engaged in making a difference.

All for this morning.

December 1, 2009

Scripture

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. Isaiah 11: 3-5

Prayer

Help me to dress in his fashion.

Response

What a powerful image that is presented to you this morning, still dark with the beam of a full moon visible across the water. Distant in time these words reach you in a present time reserved for you. If you listen quietly in stillness you can hear his muffled footsteps as he approaches. In silence you can observe the sweep of presence. Not much need of words you discover; no need to expect resolutions according to your design. Simply be present and delight in the invitation that brings a dawning consciousness in you to catch the scene that you surely would have missed.

See his gaze turned to the needy, to the poor of the earth. Listen closely for the breath of his lips and so too be clothed in righteousness and cinch the sash of faithfulness as a declaration of allegiance.

In this season prepare yourself for the surprise represented in the coming. Appreciate that this is not merely a recollection of an historical event but rather the welcome to a new dawning in your life and environment, however hostile it might be on the fringes of world turmoil. It is a time to raise your eyes to his presence in your life and to serve. If you missed it – this is also a time of celebration.

All for this morning.

November 30, 2009

Scripture:

The centurion replied: “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.” Matthew 8:8

Prayer:

This verse is so familiar from my youth. Bring me to a deeper appreciation of the words.

Response:

Yes, this verse has reverberated in your heart for many, many years. What catches you is the simple and direct faith of someone in authority and in fact one who could have enforced authority over Jesus on a worldly plane. But that isn’t what we are dealing with, is it? The centurion got it. He sorted through all the pretenses and shadows of society and reached the essential message for you today and every day.

First, the centurion showed true humility in his prayer, yes prayer. This deep call for help was not for him but for another – and a servant at that. Second, the all-powerful centurion was taking on the role of servant in pleading for help. Remember this as you turn from self to pray for and serve those in your minds – however distant they may be or even unfamiliar to you by name or circumstance. Third, let go of how you want to see the results; allow an unfolding to occur that could well and will surprise you. Have faith that you are heard – in the silence of this moment you know that you are heard. Fourth, all prayer is about healing. All prayer is about healing – I repeat.

For today, repeat this verse when you can, realizing that although you do not deserve the visitor to come under your roof, he enters and attends to your every need, however distracted, busy, humbled you might be.

All for this morning.

November 25, 2009

Scripture

Many people will come and say, “Come let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” Isaiah 2:3

Prayer

Let me catch each day the enthusiasm of this verse.

Response

Yes, you are being encouraged to get on your feet and accompany others to the mountain where you will hear the words of encouragement as you walk my paths. Note that Isaiah speaks of paths. And so, you have found in your life the diverse paths that all lead to the mountain of the Lord. You are right to identify the enthusiasm, the energy of the listeners. Put everything aside, all those distractions that one assigns so much worth and come along in the company of other like souls. There is nothing orderly about this call, meaning you shouldn’t say wait until . . . And yes your companions are a cherished blessing.

What will the Lord teach? Stretched out in the meadow below the mountain, you will hear about service to those around you on this journey and to those who are still attending to their distractions and did not accompany; you will hear about compassion as it relates especially to those who struggle in darkness; you will learn of unconditional love – where it isn’t all about you; you will learn about generosity that only knows the present circumstances and is not fearful of the future; you will witness joy that subsumes the darkness in light; and you will hear about commitment to an ideal, your ideal, your mission, the purpose of your life.

Remember that the lessons that one learns do not end with the hearing. There is the path back to one’s environment and community. However, depending upon how carefully you listened and absorbed the teaching, your steps will be lighter, your laughter more spontaneous, and your connection to those around you more authentic. So there – imagine you are returning from the mountain top, estimate how you have changed.

All for this morning.

November 23, 2009

Scripture

Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” Genesis 21:5-7

 

Prayer

Let me see the laughter in my life though I am shy a hundred years.

Response

First, see that the laughter is reserved for each of you, in all your circumstances. It is the twist of fate, you would call it, the bizarre happening, an unfolding that you see as totally unexpected that ultimately brings laughter. Why? Because as you are reading your story as an observer, you come upon conclusions, as they are, that surprise you and others who have been reading over your shoulder.

Who would have thought? is the line that usually gives a hint of this surprise ending of sorts – and in the bigger scheme of things, a broader interpretation of life’s journey, no incident or happening escapes this observation – even those that bring tears to one’s eyes. Yet, those very incidents are also the source of light and laughter to the transitions of life.

A good way to enter this sense of wonder that surrounds you and largely goes unnoticed is to repeat the words who would have thought? and see what surfaces. Don’t be surprised, if laughter erupts – or at least a smile unfolds. You will find that even those events that are remembered for the grief experienced will give way to a gentle recognition of the laughter that fills your life.

All for this morning.

November 22, 2009

Scripture

Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. Matthew 12:13

Prayer

Sometimes I miss your invitation, or is it a command, to stretch out to be healed. Help me to understand more deeply this verse.

Response

It is good to reflect on the various applications of the act of stretching. Indeed, one stretches before and even after exercise – especially after a grueling race; in praise on a mountaintop or on the beach alone at sunrise; in times of need when one seeks assistance, even restoration; and of course in prayer when, though tempted to divine the future, one remains steadfast in the present, witnessing the unfolding, outstretched and vulnerable.

To stretch out in search of healing is an admission that all one’s puzzling-out of the circumstances in one’s life – be they health, finances, relationships, professional endeavors, even faith – would remain puzzles without that touch within one’s reach in my grace and love.

Of course, the alternative is also possible. The man could have decided not to extend his hand, departed the scene, and lived the rest of his life disfigured. Stretching out in prayer is an admission, a plea for assistance and serves as an opening to receive the healing grace one seeks.

All for this morning.

November 19, 2009

Scripture

"Give us counsel, render a decision. Make your shadow like night— at high noon. Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees.” Isaiah 16:3

Prayer: Shed your light upon this verse.

Response

Listen deeply and you will not find yourself betrayed. In fact, decisions of the momentous import will emerge in a clarity that you had missed earlier. It is important to phrase the question so that you understand what was once a quandary. You will find that engaging the light in my grace all will become self-evident.

Counsel is my grace that is always being showered upon you. This counsel is not so much interested in what you should not do, but rather directs your path to new discoveries of the heart in service – even if the service aspects remain unseen for a time.

So the words of Isaiah – Make your shadow like night – at high noon – challenge your understanding. Like night – at high noon is a phrase similar to a >em>koan that occupies your mind to allow your heart to discover my presence in stillness. My counsel is a heart presence in grace that accompanies all your deliberations and provides guidance as a solitary lantern in a darkened corridor indicating the path for the refugees seeking reunion.

All for this morning.

November 17

Scripture:

"Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens—what can you do? They are deeper than the depths of the grave – what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.” Job 11:7-9

Prayer:

Rising at 3 a.m. to view meteor showers with my son, help me never to dull to the panorama of your creation.

Response:

If you allow it, your consciousness will range creation; whisk you through endless time and space, so that you catch a hint of the magnificence in reverence that is spread before, above, and below you. How can violence, greed, and thoughtlessness reign in the presence of the divine?

The answer is, it cannot, once you pause and perhaps encourage others to pause within the mysteries that surround you. Priceless is it to sit in silence, eyes scanning the firmament for explosions of light, meteors flashing in a seeming instant of time, soundlessly.

But you don’t have to wake so early to catch these explosions of light – see them in the wry smile of a child, the call from a loved one, the whisper heard in prayer, the surprise that greets you each day, unexpected as the meteors that burst so far above you at 3 a.m..

All for this morning.

November 15, 2009

Scripture

They close up their callous hearts, and their mouths speak with arrogance. Psalm 17:10

Prayer

Check me when I speak with arrogance and disregard.

Response

Thankfully, the arrogance of your youth has diminished, which incidentally is a natural progression except for those whose gray hair does not match dawning wisdom and compassion. The key to understanding this verse at a deeper level is to dwell on one’s heart, not mind – even or especially a troubled mind. For in heart strength, the mind is relegated to its role as river pilot as it assesses wind direction, tides, water depth, while the heart determines direction and destination for the pilot to follow.

Heart strength is manifest in a peripheral vision one acquires that takes in a wider landscape surrounding; in an emerging intuition that once lay slumbering but now anticipates and is sensitive to what is occurring just around the next corner of life; in a courage that confronts fear of whatever color, language, belief, or culture and discovers a power in love; in recognition of a Spirit breath that infuses hope in all conditions that once signaled despair.

One recognizes heart-strength in all the creative pursuits of life – from sitting quietly, studiously capturing a structure in a line drawing; leading a meeting to encourage the full expression of those present; encouraging children to articulate and pursue their dreams; encouraging the infirm to heal; consoling the vanquished in spirit; and yes, composing a poem or verse that reflects the inner dimension. A prayer to utter when one observes a slip into past distraction is, Heal my calloused heart.

All for this morning.

November 14, 2009

Scripture

What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth? Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it? Job 38: 24-26

Prayer

Take me to that place where the lightning is dispersed.

Response

After endless days and nights of rain and wind and surf, surely it makes sense to ask, what is the source; if not, what is the purpose; or, when does it end? For you the dull repetition drowns out your expectations of control. You can only accept and wait with hope an unfolding that brings relief to the repetition. But is the lesson relief, or does the weather pattern you are experiencing break your last resistance to future expectations, and force you deeper into the present moment from which you flee?

In the darkness and stillness before a gray dawn that is promised, the source that you seek reigns – and rains – supreme in all majesty. Above noise and silence, mantled in the windswept rain from the sea, present in emptiness, pulsing in stillness – you are in the place where the lightning is dispersed.

Quite extraordinary isn’t it? All that searching – in books and travel and discussion and debate – the source is within you. No need to wander; simply accept.

All for this morning.

November 13, 2009

Scripture

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:4

Prayer

Word of a friend’s loss brought these words back to me as I recall the depth of their meaning at a time of my loss. Help me to understand more deeply this promise.

Response

This morning focus on the old order of things has passed away. Embrace that promise; allow it to resonate throughout your frame as if struck by a lightning strike on a dismal morning of rain and wind. The old order is fading as the rumble of the storm surf subsides.

In that interval of life between the old and the new there is cause to hope, to pray, to be resolute and firm in anticipation of the great joy unfolding. Realize that this joy is present in knowing that separation unfolds into union; loss leads to a deeper love, sometimes unexpressed, for those that have past and equally significant those who are with you; and so importantly helps you to accept your own transition however distant in years it might be, though in truth an instant, if you were capable of measuring eternity.

A passing allows the rich fruit of contemplation, encouraging you to ponder the question as to your mission in this life and assessing kindly the mission of those who have departed in my love. Rich is the tapestry of life bounded by death; vibrant are the colors, especially those that might have seemed to fade with the years – yet prove in the end with their subtlety to hint at the mystery of life after life that awaits you all.

All for this morning.

November 11, 2009

Scripture

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1

Prayer

On this day of what would be my mother’s 91st birthday, help me to see in the cloud a host of those long past.

Response

Your sight improves in stillness as does your hearing free of the clatter that surrounds. As much as you might ignore the communion of saints, you are one of just such a communion that is not limited to those you can touch. The analogy might be a reunion with a close friend or relative whom you have not seen in years and then you come together, and it is as if the years of separation evaporate – and they do because you were never separate except on a conscious level.

So it is with the cloud of witnesses that includes ancestors who have only heard of you. But this verse is not limited to clouds. You are encouraged to run as you once did along desolate trails that climbed and descended for miles; and run with perseverance, pushing yourself, exploring new regions of the soul – avoiding at the same time those tree roots that lay just below the leaves that cover the trail – so as not to trip.

You are running the race marked out for you, so don’t keep looking over your shoulder to see who is catching up to you; rather keep focused on your course, your race; gather up your second wind; and seek the reward that awaits your perseverance just beyond the next turn – even if your steps are not as swift as they once were in youth.

All for today.

November 9, 2009

Scripture

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. And he asked me, “Son of Man, can these bones live?” I said, O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” Ezekiel 37:1-3

Prayer

May I ever be in awe of you.

Response

Is the origin of the wind and waters any less amazing to you than to read about a vast valley of dry bones, the bones of slain warriors that are prophesized to rise again? Ezekiel’s response to the question is O Sovereign Lord, you alone know. Your lesson for today is contained in those words.

When you experience in your life or view in others circumstances that seem incomprehensible, incongruous, understand deeply that your Sovereign Lord, who rules the wind and a turbulent surf, lifts the fog of morning and in your life, knows – at a level without levels – the deepest urging of his love.

Respond to the call, be present, to be led into the middle valley of your life and witness desolation, accepting that your Sovereign Lord knows the outcome in the fullness of time in your life and the lives of those around you, and afar. Consider the meaning of sovereign, for sovereign he rules your days and lives, even if you might be oblivious to the unfolding in what you considered dried, lifeless bones as new life is breathed upon them.

All for this morning.

November 7, 2009

Scripture: “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:19

 

Prayer: I wonder why I resist accepting these words at face value. How else could they be understood? Create a simplicity of faith within me.

Response: You are no different than the child that hesitates to open a surprise for fear that it isn’t the surprise requested. It is past time for your prayers to become now bold and to be witnessed – and that is what a companion or two does for each of you. Prayer is an opportunity to reveal who you are without the disguise – for your companions to be similarly seen and heard.

Recall those occasions when events might have overwhelmed you – loss, rejection, health, relationship, or children of whatever age issues.  Consider the support you experienced when you allowed yourself to be so open and vulnerable. Yes, such prayers can pour forth in a church setting, but consider how much more powerful sometimes they seem when this communion occurs in a quiet moment in a crowded public place.

Now, don’t think I was going to avoid the solemn promise. Whatever you ask for will be accomplished, will unfold in your life, and you will be the judge of this not someone sitting across the room. So pray diligently, softly, soul-fully, in communion with a friend, companion, child, relative, or anyone else who crosses your path, and discover the surprise awaiting you.

All for this day.

November 5, 2009

Scripture:

‘“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’” "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?’” Matthew 25:35-37

Prayer:

Lord, lead me to righteousness in all that I am becoming.

Each day is an invitation to visit the sick and imprisoned in spirit. You don’t have to seek entry into a hospital or a guarded facility to discover those in need. In fact, the more desperately ill have not been confined it seems and have no guarantee that they will be nourished in body and definitely not in spirit.

So you are let loose into a train station of boundless corridors and observe those who hurry aimlessly in all directions as to convince themselves of their purpose, their busy-ness, as they gaze about nervously. Perhaps they have misplaced their tickets, or their train has already departed.

These are the hungry, the thirsty, the strangers, the needy, the imprisoned and they call to you to be acknowledged and not ignored or forgotten. These are the ones who fight despair and wonder of their purpose, even if behind a clouded vision of consciousness or even pretense. See if you can identify two or three such travelers in your walk through the central train station of your life today –and then decide what you can do to visit them in their prison.

All for this morning

November 3, 2009

Scripture

While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him. Luke 5:12-13

Prayer Help me to understand the rejection that the diseased man felt and the acceptance and healing of Jesus.

Response

You don’t have to go back in time to experience or hear about rejection. It is all about you, though it seems more justified when disease is involved because one’s baser instincts of survival and fear are involved. But don’t dwell on survival and fear, rather consider, ponder deeply the immediacy of Jesus’ healing. Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. How is that for a model to emulate?

Recall your days in India and seeing first hand Mother Teresa’s band of healers and servants to the destitute. It almost seemed as if their smiles, gentleness, and service were their inoculations from the diseases that ravaged these poor souls.

You don’t have to enter a ward isolated with those diagnosed with an infectious disease to ease the feeling of rejection that covered the man who fell to his face before Jesus – more than even the leprosy. Those suffering from rejection are in your midst. Take time to notice one or two today and be a minister, extend your hand.

All for this morning.

November 1, 2009

Scripture

I your am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand statutes. Psalm 119:125

Prayer

Yes, discernment is what I ask.

Response

Discernment is not as complicated as you might think. The process is hastened with acceptance – yes, acceptance – of who you are becoming and accepting it. For discernment, you have to let go of who you thought yourself to be and who those around you might still consider you or wish you to be. Then, you will discover a clear path to follow – but it requires letting go.

You are blessed with discernment when you pause and look out upon the scene spread before you, events unfolding in your life without judgment – it might be the aging process that none can avoid, illness, responsibilities that ensnare you at times, relationships that you seek to improve, and yes, finances as well. Gaze over this painting of your life as you would an impressionist masterpiece on a museum wall – eyes narrowed to catch movement in the brush strokes.

In this reflection, recognize in my grace those elements of your life that are genuine, authentic for you at this stage in your journey. Without this pause, you allow yourself to be buffeted aimlessly by winds and even rain. So for this morning, take a moment to jot down the elements of this masterpiece – your life – that represent in the deepest recesses of your soul who is unfolding, and embrace that reality. That is discernment. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

All for this morning.

October 29, 2009

Scripture

He made darkness his canopy around him – the dark rain clouds of the sky. 2 Samuel 22:12

Prayer Thick, dark clouds surround this morning as I look upon the water, bring me to a pause.

Response

If you were to gaze more deeply at the scene you might just see the lifting of the grays with hints of blue, the movement of the water as an unfolding in your life, the stillness abounding yet as an invitation to prayer, even reflection.

When have you been more aware of the silence, the calm, even serenity, but now, where the time of minutes has lost meaning in the sound of the breeze, its rhythm, outside your window? Now is the time to be still and listen, and in your listening you will seek out the grays to find brilliance. Another paradox.

At times like this you have arrived at a way station and invited to take off your pack and be refreshed in a timeless zone where there are no cell phones to interrupt or worries to intrude; where you are in my presence in the darkness amidst rain clouds all about on the horizon.

All for this morning.

October 28, 2009

Scripture

By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jar; he puts the deep into storehouses. Psalm 33:6-7

Prayer

Help me to become enthralled with your presence.

Response

Your inability to grasp yet with human words such magnificence requires these poetic representations whose purpose is to spur you to wonder. Allow your mind to leave you – yes, leave you – and sit still in wonder. Whether you are outside looking up at the full panoply of stars overhead, or in a mall catching the movement and energy of so many souls, see the connection. The same God who breathed effortlessly the stars as your canopy, fashioned you to be there to observe and wonder.

And what do you wonder about? A good question to start with is, who are you and are becoming? Don’t labor over calculating the years of change. Just look, examine yourself now with all the scars that are fashioning you into the unique sculptured work of art you are becoming. It doesn’t hurt to pull from your memory a faded photograph that you have stored away, but don’t linger there because it is fading for a reason.

At the same time that you become overwhelmed with a hint of God’s power, bring into your soul an appreciation of His graciousness, love, tenderness, compassion, forgiveness, and presence; then, conclude for this time the reflection with a recognition that you are encouraged and fortified with His grace to be gracious, loving, tender, compassionate, forgiving in your service to others.

All for this morning.

October 26, 2009

Scripture

Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." . . . "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see.” "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. Mark 10:46-52

Prayer

I too want to see.

Response

Well, you begin with admitting that you are blind, that you don’t know what lies before you, though you have expended so much energy trying to control, even determine, what lies ahead. It is in accepting that you do not know that you gain sight. And what makes up this sight, you might ask; or, how do you know you can see? Sounds like a silly question, after all how would you except something strange – miraculous – that happens to you like Bartimaeus who went in an instant from sightless to a follower of Jesus in His last days.

Again, what makes up the sight that you seek? Instead of groping along a darkened corridor of alternatives and doubt, your stride lengthens though you might still hunch your shoulders to avoid hitting your head on an unseen rafter. You no longer search for alternate corridors that spiral off the path that you are on. You engage those you encounter and accompany openly without fear of discovery – because indeed you have been discovered. No rebuke can silence you.

Be on the road, your road today. Take in all that unfolds especially those events and experiences that when you were blind you would have ignored or not seen. See what lessons are there for you, especially in mentoring, guiding, learning from those who gather around you along the road. Jericho to Jerusalem is your trek.

All for this morning.

October 25, 2009

Scripture

How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? 1 Thessalonians 3:9

Prayer

Cultivate in me thankfulness for all my mentors who led me, sometimes unknowingly, to you in pray.

Response

A worthy thought and prayer that begins this day, leading to a recollection of those individuals that you recall from your earliest memories to your most recent encounter with someone moved by the Spirit to touch you. It is as if you are walking on a road with a crowd of family, friends, and strangers who reach toward you and generously share what they carry for this journey with no thought that they will run short of sustenance. So it is in your life that these wayfarers have shared from the heart their insights, questions, joys, and encouragement, as well as their sorrows, losses, and fears – food to nourish the soul in all seasons.

Of importance is to recognize these gifts and to offer thanksgiving. Yes, as you know there are no coincidences. The stranger who happens to be standing around the bend in the road of a particularly arduous climb was waiting to offer solace though unaware of the significance of the encounter. How many times did a call, note, gesture, smile provide encouragement, joy, or insight that up until then you had been missing. Thank God for these encounters and realize that on another level, of which you seemingly are still unaware, you form a communion of love with them.

For today, select nine such mentors who have contributed to the place that you now stand or sit in my presence, and give thanks for them.

All for this morning.

October 24, 2009

Scripture

My soul waits for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. Psalm 130:5-6

Prayer

As I once waited impatiently for the dawn so many years ago during a job I held in college, help that impatience turn to patience.

Response

Then like now, you knew then and know now the dawn will rise, even if not on your weary schedule. It is in the waiting – even impatiently at times – that you come into your strength though there are times when your strength seems sapped after what you consider a sleepless night. It is a paradox for you to consider.

n waiting you add definition to the intimacy that you seek, though – again paradoxically – you realize that it is not about you, your timing, or your situation. Instead, in waiting you seek an ever widening circle in which to serve, love, encourage. In waiting, your ailments of whatever nature – physical, professional, financial, fear, loss, even years – recede from sight, diminish, as if a healing has taken place – and it has, represented in a joy that overcomes you quite unexpectedly.

Waiting represents the aging of a fine wine – and you are that wine. Be conscious of this time, celebrate this occasion in your life, and become ever alert to the advancing dawn in your life.

All for this morning.

October 23, 2009

Scripture

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Colossians 3:12

 

Prayer

Again, such a simple and clear direction, but help me to put on the specifics of this dress.

Response

Sometimes, it is more difficult to display the specifics with those close to you. Strangers have expectation or timing, therefore whatever you express is a surprise that will or will not be appreciated – not that appreciation is an element of the gifts you bring. But with those close to you, at least in sentiment, your familiarity allows you to assume that you are compassionate, kind, humble – think of listening, gentle – think of not judging, and patient. You need no further word for patience.

So with strangers, the timing is all yours, they would never know the difference. The challenge is with family, friends, and associates who know you. That’s where courage is called for especially with those who might have offended you, or you them; with those who simply through familiarity and frequent even daily contact you don’t pause to see opportunities for listening, gentleness, and, of course, patience.

Today, see if in dealing with those you see every day, or would if you were set back in time, you can express the gift of this insight to them personally, in the written word, or in a phone conversation. To remind you, repeat silently over the course of the day, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. And if there are too many words for you to remember, select one for you focus this day.

All for this morning.

October 22, 2009

Scripture

Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. I Corinthians 14:8-9

Prayer

Help me to hear the clear call.

Response

Yes, that is the challenge. With so many voices and trumpets sounding in your life, you might ask how to distinguish between them. Actually, it is not as difficult as you might imagine. You see there is a steady call that you are able to distinguish; you have heard it now for many years. And clear to you is the trumpet sounding. It is usually extraordinarily clear sounding as if from a mountain height in the distance when you have calmly concluded that there are no alternatives to debate whether it be in service, responsibility, offering forgiveness, and, of course, in matters of the heart. At such times, your attention and hearing are keyed to the trumpet sounding.

Realize also that there are times when you too sound the trumpet for those listening, even if you might consider that you are playing solo in a distant glen, alone with your thoughts and reflections. And what is heard by someone unseen serves as a connection, recognition in fact, of a shared journey. It is a shared journey with those who sit still and listen, though they speak in a different tongue, share a different culture, or even skin shade.

So today, allow your call to be crisp and clear in the opportunities of service you encounter, your commitment to responsibilities you shoulder, extending forgiveness to even those not present, and do be engaged in the quiet workings of love.

All for today.

Scripture

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 1 James 1:17

 

Prayer

Help me to take stock of the gifts that are presented to me daily.

Response

First, you must get beyond the shadows of distraction to perceive the gifts. For example, this morning, though it so early, long before many wake for the first time to see what time it is in the dark of morning, your mind is already beginning to churn with thoughts of what awaits your attention. Put them aside as you would a blanket that is restricting you, or a canopy keeping you from seeing the stars. Once you do this and it is your choice, the gifts form a clarity in your consciousness as you become aware of the blessings that surround you and are revitalized daily in your consciousness, if not in your body.

Out from under the canopy, you become expectant and curious to see star formations – blessings, those perfect gifts in your life – that you might have missed, or seem to be forming for the first time in the heavens. Heavenly lights above you descending into your range of awareness to enlighten you and your every moment – even in the dark, and are especially resilient on mornings such as these when you wondered at first why you were up so early.

For today, expectant, measure those perfect gifts that are delivered, as it were, to you. Be curious as to how many and in what guise will they be wrapped. Will it be in the words from a stranger or someone dear, a touch or gesture, an opportunity to render service to one discouraged who expects nothing or little, a prayer uttered without prompting, a phrase read that seemed to be selected especially for you that moment? Each day you are called from under the canopy to see and receive the magnificence that awaits you. Wake early.

All for this morning.

October 18, 2009

Scripture

“May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. 1 Kings 29

 

Prayer

Increase, if you will, my confidence in prayer.

Response

It might help, if you came to realize that your prayers are not to be directed toward a temple, but are to arise from the very depths within you. You sit at the seat of a temple and your prayers resound as an ancient chant within you, thundering sometimes against the ragged walls of your being in the dark. And all the while, my eyes are open and ears tuned to catch every sound, plea, and breath that measures your depth.

Right now, your voice is rising in the darkness before dawn when all about you is still. It is not so much that my eyes and ears are alert to your concerns, but rather you realize and are conscious to your own state of being. It is as if before you is a wooden slate empty of past concerns, awaiting your words to be etched on it for eternity.

So you see, you don’t have to be in the vicinity of a temple – you could be sitting this moment huddled on a windswept precipice overlooking a desolate region of the globe. Utter from the heart, voiceless if you prefer, your prayer of intent. Let me assure you that the prayer does not leave your consciousness before I see the stirring in your soul and hear the murmuring of your heart. How is that for reception? And more importantly, your prayer is answered in that instant. All that is required are for your eyes to be open and your ears to be alert to hear my response.

All for this morning.

October 17, 2009

Scripture

You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn. Psalm 18:36

 

Prayer

Thank you for the single verse that catches my attention each day.

Response

Think of the race you watched the other day in the rain and how it became treacherous and slippery for the runners when the path – deep in mud — narrowed. So my grace, as the verse proclaims, widens the path, increases your spiritual peripheral vision, and you understand my will and your purpose in the proper perspective. You really are freed, not herded down a narrow alley, but invited along a well-lit corridor to the banquet hall.

In my grace, you will not stumble, your ankles will not turn, as long as you observe the path before you, appreciate that you are not enchained; but hold responsibility for your footsteps, sometimes in the mud. I promise you that you won’t lose a shoe as some of the runners did that day. The path invites your flow, not rigid memorized steps. I have widened your path so that you can dance down it as if no one is watching. Indeed, for some, a narrow path with no choices is preferred, but beware – it is on just such a path that you will turn your ankle.

For today, approach each task, event, person encountered, memory recalled, as another opportunity to demonstrate the freedom in my grace that you receive – and abundantly. What if there are folks walking toe to heel watching you? How many do you think you might influence to leave the line and shower my love on this wider journey – and not turn their ankles besides?

All for this morning.

October 16, 2009

Scripture

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26

 

Prayer

Help me to understand this transformation of which you speak.

Response

As it turns out, it is never too late for the transformation, and yes that it is what the verse describes, to occur. Age, education, and position in life do not inhibit its affect on you. This transformation is a remaking of you so that those who might have known you intimately in the past no longer recognize you, though they still insist that they do. This change is not a gradual one, but occurs as a complete metamorphosis, though you might not even recognize who you have become, much like taking your car for servicing and discovering later that much more than an oil change has been performed.

Consider how you gradually come to realize the transformation. Is it a new patience, a listening that occurs where only words were exchanged previously, a generosity of spirit that seeks no recompense, a stillness of spirit that knows no intrusion, a palpable connection to the source of love, a grace-fullness? Or do you come to an appreciation of the overhaul in the lengthening hours of wakefulness?

For this day, do your own inventory of the rehabilitation – transformation – that has occurred in your aging frame, not in the minutes taken off a run down the beach but in the service you render to other travelers on that same beach.

All for this morning.

October 14, 2009

Scripture

Scripture: “I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.” Luke 11:8

 

Prayer

What does it take for boldness in my prayer?

Response

Some verses later, you are told to knock at the door and it will be opened – and to knock at any hour, like now in the dark with the wind blustering outside in the first chill. In prayer there is no need to ask for the outcome; rather more important is to announce yourself. Yes, the words I am here serve as a sufficient announcement, especially appropriate when you are yet unable to express who is emerging from the depth of your being. And, you should know that you are recognized.

Yes, the test of our relationship is that words are not necessary to fulfill the communication on a soul level. Think back when in a love relationship there were times, many occasions in fact, when sitting in silence you experienced an exchange that words would only have shattered with sound. So it is now. You have knocked in silence and discover you have been heard.

Today, be bold in seeking answers to those unuttered prayers. Acknowledge as the door opens who you are without the disguise you don for all to see. And you will be surprised again and again by the greeting you receive – again and again. Remember the words he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

All for this evening.

October 12, 2009

Scripture

"And it shall be to me a name, and a joy, and a praise, and a gladness before all the nations of the earth, that shall hear of all the good things which I will do to them: and they shall fear and be troubled for all the good things, and for all the peace that I will make for them." Jeremiah 33:9

 

Prayer

Why be troubled for all the good things? Teach me.

Response

Be careful you do not adopt the pattern that if one does something for you, you must repay the favor – even if you don’t have the resources. Well, at the outset, you don’t have the where-with-all to repay in kind the blessings bestowed continuously and abundantly upon you. There is not even a measure available to calculate the favor. All you can do in all circumstances, yes in all circumstances, is to say thank you in praise. In all circumstances includes of course the obvious blessings of love, relationship, health, sufficiency by any standard, and on and on, but especially in circumstances that the blessing is more subtle, when you are called upon to reach deep within you for the resources that are instantly – in real time – available to you before you even have the energy to groan. Take note of this truth in your life.

What you discover in both sides – as you calculate them – is abounding joy, and this truth you can also track in your life, if you are conscious. There is no sorrow which does not plumb a fount of joy you have not experienced earlier, have nothing to compare it to. It’s as if you have been dropped off after a deep loss to view for the first time a sunrise unparalleled in your experience, or in the experience of anyone to whom you describe it. Remember, I said, if you are conscious. Reason enough, if you needed one, to wake.

Take to heart literally the peace that I will make for you. Peace! Imagine that. A peace that infiltrates through all your sinews, and creates a calm and peace that you haven’t felt previously, except perhaps after a race, when exhausted, you accept that all is well with you and the universe. It a euphoria of sorts, but at a soul level, and this means long-lasting. That is the depth of my love for you.

All for this evening.

October 11, 2009

Scripture

Blessed is the man whom God corrects . . . For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you. . . .You will come to the grave in full vigor, like sheaves gathered in season. Job 5:17-26

Prayer

So rich in imagery Job took me deep in reflection. Help me to assimilate what I read and meditated on.

Response

Blessed be the man whom God corrects says it all for you this morning. All the dream fragments of your life are measured in this blessing. In the stillness that sweeps around you, know fully the blessing you receive daily, like a vessel setting sail each day on a new voyage of discovery.

The blessing includes the incomprehensible events and experiences and expressions like a covenant with the stones of the field until you recall a peace established or foresee one consummated with a once feared adversary – a reconciliation never imagined. And covenant means you are a participant – so it is not only observing the reconciliation occurring, but participating in it as well.

Finally, the rich imagery, you will come to the grave in full vigor. What a blessing! What evidence for all to acknowledge the blessing. This of course does not mean bursting the finish line tape like in youth – but it can; full vigor includes those who can no longer walk that distance of youth, nor even comprehend it now, but are present to redeem the fruit, the reward, of this special covenant conveyed, it seems, eons ago.

All for this morning.

 

Scripture

He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.’”

 

Tell me about parables – a deeper meaning.

Response

Life is a parable. All about you are signs to recognize and to interpret for your life. Relationships, circumstances, the weather encountered, the challenges, setbacks, successes, and the scenes you observe either directly or in what you read and hear about. All signs to bring you to the eternal questions that never lose their impact on a watchful soul: Where did I come from; why am I here; where am I going?

And it is within those questions that the parable of life is answered for each – and the answers have been given to you as an eye chart examination so that you can check your vision. As I have said so often this life experience is not meant to be complicated, nor does a secret society have to be formed to protect the answers to life. All I ask is that you throw off the seeds of doubt and embrace the truth in your service and forgiveness and love.

This day live with the answers that are clear to you. Be open to the message that you hear however faintly. Select those symbols that surround you, like the water, the whistle of a breeze, relationships that ever deepen, clouds forming that drift eastward, the lingering smell of bacon, and the Word opened on your table. See these symbols as a patchwork, a quilt that forms and maps your path to a deeper place where the secret of the kingdom of God has been given you.

A final word or two, Be inside.

All for this morning.

 

“But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”John 3:21

 

Truth – light, bring me deeper into your meaning.

 

Truth should be no mystery to you. First, what it is not. It is not answers you studied in a text book or heard from an authority – necessarily. It is not always self-evident, especially when you have difficulty pulling off the cobwebs of your own intentions. Truth is not single dimensional, that is, it is not a one word answer to your question. Though, it is also not a deliberation, like on the one hand, or on the other.

Truth resides within the sanctuary of your soul. Truth is not carved into a stone cliff. It is more a glistening sunrise on a placid mountain lake that is observed. The only form truth takes is in your actions of service, compassion, love, forgiveness. Truth is self-evident for all to see, even by those who linger by choice in the shadows. Truth is an invitation to be free from the constraints of deceit. Truth is life eternal to which you are called and to which you become conscious as you awaken in my love.

For today, imagine that this is the first time you have heard these words that are especially repeated to you this morning. Sense the light flowing over you as you stand or sit in the audience. Now consider what you will do next with this light aglow as you are for the remainder of the day.

All for this morning.

October 7, 2009

Scripture

Above all, you must understand the no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:20-21

 

Prayer

Help me to hear you in the darkness that precedes the dawn.

Response

Simply listen. The Holy Spirit touches you all in a breeze-like touch of your heart. The touch is especially felt in stillness when you are attentive and yearning to hear my word. You often come to this place when your logical mind, assembling tasks and solutions, has reached an impasse that can be compared to a log jam on a wide river moving swiftly from the forest. Yes, when you are clogged with weariness, overwhelmed with purpose, uncertain as to the length of the river that I speak to you above the sound of the trembling timbers crushing together.

And those words are worth you recalling. I speak with simplicity and in phrases of the heart that fit your situation exactly as if there was no one sitting about the timbers in the middle of the river. I flood you with encouragement, perception, a cunning – yes cunning – that serves you to become resilient in the face of adversity – whether it be of health, finances, or whatever your circumstances. This flooding is like a wind rising at your back that serves to create a path for the blocking timbers so that they continue their journey and yours to the sea – as you are all journeying to the open sea.

Just so, you are carried atop rough bark timbers, called to be nimble as you anticipate the next jam and wrestle it free as you glide ever swifter around the bends in what appears to you an endless river – yet its quickening pace alerts you to the destination before you. Listen intently to my words at this time though all about you seems to clamor for your attention, to distract you, as you are carried along by the Holy Spirit.

All for this morning.

October 4, 2009

Scripture

Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. Acts 9:40

 

Prayer

Help me to grasp this transit.

Response

You ask for much this morning. Instead of focusing on the body in this scene, keep present the spirit that manifested itself in answer to Peter’s sincere prayer which was not about him or his reputation or even converts to this new faith. Rather Peter prayed for the loved ones who had yet to bid farewell to a faithful sister in their midst and for this reason they grieved deeply. And so it is with you who grieve, regretting that you did not appreciate the presence in body of a loved one now departed.

This verse paints as a delicate icon for you to retain in your heart that spirit is not restrained by a body that ceases to function – and sometimes not so well with all the aches some experience. Spirit really is, truly, for real, without doubt, eternal and lingers in a communion of love, in a communion of saints, with me. Sometimes you need a reminder of this truth and that is why Peter prayed sincerely and returned to ease the grieving cycle experienced by those in her communion.

Don’t trouble yourself with considering how long she remained with her soul mates; rather see Tabitha as evidence of life after life and the life to which you are invited is for eternity, not determined by age wrinkles, infirmity, or disease. Accident, good or bad, has no impact on the eternity that is dawning in your consciousness right this moment. In some sense, for those of you able to grasp this truth, Tabitha demonstrated the ease and flow in this communion, in this awakening consciousness of the spirit.

All for this morning.

October 2, 2009

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:25

 

Response

To keep in step, you must listen, observe, and respond to the signs unfolding in your life, all facets of your life – in your relationship with loved ones and with those that you encounter – you think by chance, in your activity during your waking hours and what lingers in your heart as being undone, and even in your dreams. Such reflection contributes greatly to an increasing capacity to be in the present where you sense the Spirit moving in and through your life. It’s as when you set sail on a journey and feel for the first time the sail filling with my grace.

Keeping instep also means accepting the losses too, as a more intricate step, but one that demonstrates a developing mastery of an intricate life-move that you thought beyond your capacity. While not without effort, your grace in suffering especially elevates your dance to an artistic level and quality you once observed in others at a distance; and conversely – is it a paradox? – discovered that grace in suffering gives expression to a joy whose depth you rarely experienced previously.

This assurance that you are in-step with the Spirit is given to you in a quiet moment – like now – when the silence is only touched by your fingertips on the keyboard in rhythm; nothing awaits your attention but this present moment – time eternal in my love.

All for this day – or should I say for this moment?

September 30, 2009

“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:10

 

Response

Compassion is love that needs no response. It is genuine, authentic, and as I say in this verse is unshakable. This love is constant and cannot be deterred. It is present even when you act without thought – when you are less than conscious. In a sense it is silent like a companion, who remains alongside your cot while you toss, gripped by phantoms of your own imagination. And I am there when you do wake – and I promise that you do wake to my love.

Reflect also upon this covenant of peace that forms the basis of our intimate relationship. Consider how in any relationship you seek that peace and indeed experience it at times – sometimes, it seems, in retrospect, for the life of the relationship. Our covenant – and it becomes mutual – as your consciousness rises – knows no end, or stated without negatives, is for eternity and that eternity is now – no waiting to shed what you think you possess at the moment. What an extraordinary truth for you to bring into the depth of your soul – we are bound this moment as one for eternity in peace and love.

You are the fish swimming about in a vast ocean of love and with growing awareness you see yourself less traveling alone in the vast emptiness of the sea, but as one exploring the mystical body of love made manifest in your life – a life you begin to share in consciousness with others in service. You see, with consciousness, it is not all about you.

All for this morning.

September 28, 2009

Scripture

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:35-36

 

Help me to be in the flow of the scenes depicted in these verses.

Response

For a moment, focus on the crowds. It would not be too much of a stretch for you to see yourself in the crowd of that day. There are times when you might feel a similar sense of being harassed and helpless, though you have been trained not to admit it and clearly not to show it to those hastening about in the same crowd. Envision the swirl of people, the shouts of activity, sometimes of jubilation, but also of frustration, and purposelessness. That is what Jesus observed and he did so with deep, deep compassion.

Do your best not to treat this and similar scenes depicted in the verses before you, to be historical, that is, to be studied as you would scenes on a fragmented piece of pottery just unearthed. No these scenes are yours today. The sounds of acclaim and despair, frustration and accomplishment, mix and rise above the crescendo of your heart that simply seeks comfort.

What a blessing that you can pierce through the harassment you experience at times, the helplessness that you might feel to change the circumstances that seem to impose their will, and see the overpowering compassion, love, and guidance that is at your fingertips – like just this moment. And in this pause, this piercing prompts a healing as effective and as complete as what those from the crowd surrounding him experienced as they rushed to touch his garment.

All for this morning.

September 27, 2009

Scripture

We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is in serving, let him serve; if it is in teaching, let him teach; if it is in encouraging, let him encourage; if it is in contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is in leadership, let him govern diligently; if it in showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. Romans 12:6-8

 

Oh, to identify my gifts and to use them.

Response

This mention of gifts is not meant to be all-inclusive. Further, it is meant to prompt you to be reflective, to pause in your rushing about and ask why am I here, is there a purpose? And this applies, even if you no longer rush about. You will notice that none of the gifts mentioned require any physical activity – even that of service. You are not creating your own resume or reviewing someone else’s to fill a job position. These verses are taking you to another realm of being where you cannot claim that you are not qualified.

Rather, it is as if you are waiting on a street corner for work, but it is work of the spirit inspired by my grace. And you are asked who among you can prophesize, serve, teach, encourage, contribute, lead, govern, show mercy? Hands raise hesitantly – even yours – all around you. You wait to be acknowledged or selected for the positions to be filled. The response is immediate from him who is asking. You are all selected – embrace the gifts freely given in my grace and do so, that is, prophesize, serve, teach, encourage, contribute, lead, govern, show mercy. The positions are filled; the crowd disperses.

and the gifts are not to be assembled in a guarded chamber; they are to be invested in your market place even in a bear market. The return on investment is astronomical – and I choose this word with the root astro deliberately. So this day, bring your gifts forward for all to witness through the effects infused in each.

All for this morning.

September 26, 2009

Scripture:

 

 

Tell me of your favor.

Response

Keep in focus the words, in the time of my favor, because my timing is what you often overlook as you plunge to the last page of the book without the preparation unfolding in the first pages. Consider forty years ago rushing to read the pages of the present in your life. You would not have believed what was to transpire from a youth’s perspective. So don’t turn over or attempt to glean the last pages in your book, even from the perspective of so many years of experience.

Instead, take in deeply my words, my promise; I will answer your prayers; I will reward your listening in stillness; I will help you to comprehend my will for you in your life and ease your concern about those for whom you pray. You see there is a bound between us that sometimes you dismiss as pious words spoken lightly and with a repetition that dulls their significance.

You are present at a time of special awakening. You are less likely to accept what has been or said because it has been or said. You live in a time of renewal when forests that had been declared private are being opened and assigned for self-discovery along paths that once were cluttered with underbrush and overgrowth in their desolation. This is the reassignment of which Isaiah writes and the inheritance is your growing awareness.

All for this morning.

September 23, 2009

Scripture:

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what he ancients were commended for. Hebrews 11:1

Such a familiar verse, yet one that when I reread it I pause. Help me to be sure.

Response

The verse catches your attention because you sometimes mix the meanings of faith and hope. Faith is the culminating act of confidence and love. It is when you conclude all your struggles in the mind and allow the heart to rule with a certainty and confidence the mind never allowed. Faith is a grip that becomes stronger and stronger in all climes and circumstances.

Hope is a refinement that occurs in you in my grace when you stand aside, discriminate, and distinguish among the life alternatives that have always been presented and available. And in that growing consciousness you formulate a hope that becomes clearer as you wake and you will find that nothing will disturb that hope – no time passing, not aging, loss; nor will you be distracted or confused in times of prosperity or poverty. Hope is a bearing you take with confidence on a starless night. And you should know that with a clarity of purpose comes an unshakeable certainty in faith.

So for today, identify that hope – especially one hidden to you because you hesitate to voice it even in your heart – and allow your faith to grow into a beacon that invites you closer with each step you take, in each moment you experience, to realizing that hope.

All for this morning.

September 22, 2009

Scripture:I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done. Psalm 118.17

I pause with this verse. Is it to be taken literally?

Response

There before you is an essential truth. No need to attempt to qualify or quantify its meaning, to assign a measure of time. You will not die though your physical body longs for the speed to dash down a beach with endless stamina. You will not die – what an incredible notion you think. And if you will not die, nor with those that surround you, those who passed from your physical sight, and even those who are not visible to you, like your newly arrived granddaughter.

You are called to a celebration – and don’t concern yourself over the invitation list. Accepting the call asks of you only that you shed all doubt, free yourself from that mind that is still stacking and counting pebbles in the corner. Proclaim the truth of my love that surrounds you in your acceptance.

In the most impossible – at least apparently so to you – circumstances, my promise is that you will not die as your minds stacks pebbles. For today repeat as your mantra, I will not die but live. Knowing that, decide for today what you are going to do with that news.

All for this morning.

September 21, 2009

Scripture:

Stir me from my slumber.

Response

Here Ezekiel recounts an experience that shook him from his slumber. How else to explain his reaction? How else to explain the importance he assigned to the event? Consider the detail he recalled and recorded. And this was no lunatic, but someone to be dispatched to the Israelites.

When have you experienced a similarly powerful event in your life that impelled you forward in a direction that you might have considered, but had hesitated, reluctant to move from your stationary position? The imagery today gives color to such events of the past, but more importantly to the path before you that now, this very moment, literary sounds in brilliant color a command of the heart to follow.

Listen, hear, the crescendo of grace that crashes around you – all for the purpose of rousing you. While you might not be called to lead the Israelites, have no doubt that you are being called to become alert to my presence in your life – not to entertain you with graphics but to stir you to full consciousness. See what happens then – you awake!

All for this morning.

September 20, 2009

Scripture:

Teach me about fire.

Response

It is not unusual that fire pops into your mind after viewing the brilliant sunrise, and that you didn’t seem to recall the word in the context of this verse earlier. Fire represents the awesome power of God – the brilliance as this morning sunrise, the mystery looking into flickering flames – a mesmerizing affect, the warmth, the chilling power if left unchecked, searing quality as dead undergrowth is cleared from what will become a bountiful field. Fire is also used in the branding process and you might see that you are so marked by the fire of the Spirit.

This fire of which I speak promotes truth that is already known to you in the deepest recesses of your heart. And the truth comes to reflect authenticity in all your actions even as you risk stepping out of the shadow of social compromise into compassion and service.

The fire of what the verse speaks is positioned as if on a mountain top for all to see. It is a beacon guiding you all home, however far you have wandered. It is not discriminatory but welcomes all to a blazing fire of love in whatever condition, circumstances – emotional, physical, economical, cultural, and even political, the young, old, infirm, healthy, schooled and unschooled, the social outcasts and the supposed elite. You see the fire that John speaks of is unquenchable in its desire to touch you all with my love and in the process to change you as you wake in consciousness.

All for this morning.

September 19, 2009

Scripture:

What an assurance, what a promise, especially this morning when I am without words.

Response

What intimacy this verse assures you. Recall being in the presence of a loved one when conversation slipped into silence and the intimacy seemed more intense. There is at such times a union in love that at times you might experience or even long for; yet each day, each moment that intimacy is shared with me, yes this very moment.

Before you can even struggle to find the words that can adequately express your prayer, I answer that very prayer – not with sound-byte words, but expansive words of the spirit that touch your spirit, replete with understanding so that you immediately catch that a communications line/connection is established. If you accept the truth, the communications line was and is never broken. No matter where you think you are – on a remote outpost on a drifting ice floe, in the middle of a city surrounded by towering buildings, your cell phone works, and the clarity of my words to you in grace are evidence of this.

And no matter how you ramble on, lose your train of thought, or search to express yourself, I will hear and not tire. For this morning, you have two choices: sit quietly without even attempting to express your prayer, or use your vocabulary to formulate your deepest yearning – aloud, whispering, even shouting – and I will hear. But always remember – I will also answer.

All for this morning.

September 18, 2009

Scripture:

Help me to see the miracles in my own life.

Response

Rather than rewind the tape of the past, consider the miracles that unfold each day, no less dramatic than restoring physical sight long deprived of the gift, and I am not talking about dramatic encounters where you have escaped serious injury, but I could. Focus on those daily occurrences during which your sight is restored. Think of when you notice as if for the first time the pain, agony, loss of someone who has been alongside you emotionally for years or someone whose story you encounter in the newspaper, or in a conversation with someone. I am not talking about a casual reference to the pain where your reaction is limited to pity, or relief that it wasn’t you. No, I am talking about a deep sense of the loss where you feel, experience a deep empathy that you might even disguise from those in your midst. Clearly such instances are not limited to grief and sorrow, but equally include incidences of rapturous joy.

In your journey your soul sight is also being restored in my grace. It’s a slow process and many spend much time see only trees talking around. But have faith that my grace continues to be administered and you will experience a light within you that reaches out from you to touch those in distress and joy and you . . .

Like you just experienced interrupted by the phone call you just received on your cell phone from Addis Ababa from your daughter as she shared their joy in their new adoptive daughter who they bring home on the weekend. Though so many miles and time zones different, your sight is being restored in boundless joy. Now the question for all of you is: restored from when?

All for this morning.

September 16, 2009

Scripture:

Speak to me this morning about how my mind is to be steadfast.

Response

First, let me discuss perfect peace. When you are able to pause and enter the chamber of your heart even though all about you clamors for attention, you are on your way to discovering the peace that awaits you all. It is as if you get up from the cluttered table of your mind, and go outside with a cup of freshly brewed coffee to view the sunrise.

Being steadfast is allowing yourself to hear the prompting of your heart amid the chorus of discordant sounds that swirl about and demand attention, to smile in recognition, and to enjoy a respite that you fully embrace. That is the sense of being steadfast in all seasons.

You must train yourself as you would for any endeavor or contest to respond with alacrity to such promptings and withdraw if even for minutes to this place that I have prepared for you. Shedding your mind of all distraction, you will hear a message specially worded for you this day if you listen.

All for this morning.

September 15, 2009

Scripture:

Teach me not to shout or raise my voice in the streets, and not snuff out a smoldering wick whether carried by my neighbor or myself.

Response

Call out from the heart as if you were on one of those islands situated in the middle of a sea. Call out in joy or dismay, without words or in prayer, but call out. And if you do so you will learn to bring to flame the smoldering ember, you will learn to walk in a field without bruising a reed. The lesson of these verses is to follow the model of one who is gentle, light, and compassionate, not given to clamor and tumult.

Spend some quiet time – yes, time not centered on the noise you can generate, but rather the presence you bring as an observer in what is unfolding before you in your life and which you cannot take credit for creating. Give thanks for the graces that you, yes you, have received so often when in the quiet of your soul you were challenged by your loneliness.

These verses represent a victory of extraordinary proportions where the humble, modest, nurturing, gentle, caring soul demonstrates strength of character while the raucous and the loud continue to batter hollow drums. Follow the silent footsteps moving before you up the path.

All for this morning.

September 13, 2009

Scripture:

I feel like slipping into the crowd of those who are patient and hope I go unnoticed. Help me with patient endurance.

Response

Yes, you and many others do likewise, yet just hearing – even for the first time – that you are urged and even further to endure patiently the left turns, then the right turns, and sometimes the reversals in your life. In time, and I mean present time, all of these changes in direction serve to burnish the prism of your soul. Who of you cannot look over your life with a present time perspective and discern the depth of your transition into life.

And all you are required, yes required, to be is one of patient endurance, faithfully awaiting the transformation that is this moment taking place. The temptation is to try to catch a glimpse of the finished product, like having your hair cut or styled – that is those who still have hair – without your reflection before you to observe each strand of hair removed. Well, it may be a disappointment, but there is no finished product in the present, or in eternity. So discard that memory of the 25 year old, however you looked or the energy you possessed.

Patient endurance is cultivating in my grace acceptance, letting go, faith, and attentiveness. With patient endurance you awaken and can’t believe that there ever was a time when you have not been as conscious. Patient endurance ultimately is a song of praise that at best was formerly trapped in symbols and letters without meaning or utterance. Patient endurance is a knowing smile.

All for this morning.

September 12, 2009

Scripture:

Help me to be open to those who would remain strangers, if I allow it.

Response

It is not difficult to picture the scene this morning, especially with your daughter and your son-in-law traveling to Ethiopia to bring home their adopted daughter. See how Philip responds to the Holy Spirit’s urgings though there is always at first a flicker of hesitation in your questions like, is this what I want to do, is this what I should do, what if I am rejected?

Notice how Philip meets the Ethiopian where he is – in his chariot, reading the verses of scripture that he selected and was reading aloud – and to that he responds at the Ethiopian’s request by announcing the good news about Jesus. And it is the Ethiopian who asks, why I shouldn’t be baptized

Everything is unfolding in the fullness of time and all that is required of you is to be patient, be alert, and respond to this unfolding in your life, even if you find yourself in a strange land, difficult circumstances, or faced with challenging decisions. At such times, stop the chariot of your life and walk down to the water.

All for this morning.

September 11, 2009

Scripture:

Help me to comprehend the presence of time in the flow of your words.

Response

It is not so much the time stands still, but is fulfilled in the truth revealed in this verse. How for you to grasp the notion of eternity without faith, the notion of the One without releasing the mind from numbers and boundaries? And yet you are called to witness quietly without clamor, sharing your hesitancy and well as your conviction, reaching deep within to fathom the mystery of life-death-life with those that busy themselves to distraction.

You are my witnesses. To what? A life resolution that proved so elusive? A healing that reached far beyond and through what you had prayed? A bursting love – my love – that defied preconditions, constraints, or expectations? Clarity of purpose when life seemed fragmented?

Belief and understanding sustain you. They are the essential ingredients of a life fulfilled in my love; the sentinels ever alert on the battlements; the garment to be worn in all climes, all seasons of life – in adversity as in celebration, alone or in company. Take to heart that you are my witnesses.

All for this morning.

September 10, 2009

Scripture:

The rain is beating down on sweeping gusts before dawn, unexpected to me and minutes before I returned home. Help me to bring this experience in and be in tune with these verses.

Response

Life is a flow out and in, measuring steps amidst seeming calm, calamity and celebration. There is a rhythm missed by those who would prefer to stand stationary in the sun. In all seasons there is manifestation of my presence and love, calling you inward . . . in all seasons and circumstances. It is through that call inward that your vision improves, your steps become more determined, your trust and hope enlightened. Yes, enlightened.

Just before your eyes, perhaps just ahead on what sometimes appears to be a dimly lit path, I wait for you, beckoning you forward. There are times when you see me clearly, others I become a hint of whom you seek behind a sheet of rain. There is nothing routine in this venture, or adventure, but this is sure – with heart eyes open you will experience miraculous signs and wonders, all for the singular purpose of bringing you out and in as promised.

Sit in silence sometime today and acknowledge the unexpected outs and ins of your life and your continuing journey in awakening consciousness.

All for this morning.

September 8, 2009

Scripture:

Perhaps the constant rain prompts me this morning to probe Noah’s patience.

Response

Noah’s patience is prompted by notions of survival and not just for him. Notice how he is reasoned, meticulous, and careful in probing what is unfolding before him. His intended future is dry land where the occupants of the ark can be released, but he doesn’t rush it, nor impose his will or control on the results of this devastating rain. He waits in consciousness for clarity.

So perhaps there is something for you this morning as you wait in the sometimes endless rain of tasks to do and simply be and allow the unfolding of events as you observe in stillness for the waters to recede. In your eagerness to stand on dry land, don’t plunge too soon off the ark, but observe the signs in your life, even release your dove to see if it returns with an olive leaf.

Think for a moment – what would you dispatch, if not a dove, to tell you that the waters are receding; that sadness has receded before joy, frustration before accomplishment, dullness before acuity, chatter before listening, self-absorption before service and love?

All for this morning.

September 7, 2009

Scripture:

Help my speech, in fact, help me to be gracious.

Response First, spend a moment in what gracious means. The meaning of words that flow so easily from your lips is often times misplaced. To be gracious is to speak from your heart in full recognition and respect for the persons or person to whom your comment is meant. Don’t spend too much time analyzing this lest you become tongue-tied.

This might surprise you, but graciousness is a sign of consciousness. In graciousness you have ascended from the grunts of ego and survival; you display a courageousness that might appear counter-intuitive to survival, even success – yet you risk displaying this awareness often not recognized by those you encounter. What do you risk? The answer is being vulnerable.

Now the real question is what do you gain? In your vulnerability and graciousness you are befriended by the all powerful king. Befriended – not as one observed in a large mass of people walking by, but called to stand alongside the king. You choose the side. Quite extraordinary and the invitation is extended each day in graciousness.

All for this morning.

September 5, 2009

Scripture: How could I have missed this verse, or at least not recalled it? Help me to get the totality of your presence.

Response

It’s no surprise. Poets and artists serve in directing your attention or gaze at the common phrase or sight to renew your awareness to my presence. Like taking a different direction on a walk, as you did this morning, all the angles of the scenes spread out before you command a new look, a new appreciation of what you would have classified earlier as routine or commonplace.

My presence is not commonplace but all present, not confining but freedom granting, not stagnant but as a rushing stream, not quiet but as lightening commanding attention. There is no escape and nothing from which to escape. You do not yet comprehend that you are already in union in my love and grace.

And there are times when like a poet you too snare a truth swimming in deep waters. Though you might struggle, you bring it to shore, proud of your achievement, only to be reminded to share the catch in service with those who might still search for deep water.

All for this morning.

September 4, 2009

Scripture:

Help me to honor those who passed on the word of life to me.

Response

Indeed, your ancestors, wherever they were at the time and however many centuries ago, you should honor them for passing on this delicate vessel of their faith from one to another reaching ever forward until you received it. You should be thankful that after holding it without thinking for a while, your curiosity – it was grace – caused you to examine more closely this treasure that bore the scrapes and dents of the ages. If you looked closely, you would see that smudged handprints of ancestors in faith that reached across time to entrust you with this message of love and service.

You might not think that you were delivered from the lion’s mouth, but don’t be so quick. You too have been entrusted with this battered, burnished treasure that you hold most close, and you too have had a lion or two considering causing harm. Yet, you too, have – not had – the Lord at your side. And, if you missed it, that is your strength. Quite surprising it should be to you, given the calamity sometimes of life.

Yes, the Lord will rescue you from every snare you encounter on an unfamiliar road in all hours and seasons of the year – and for one purpose: to bring you safely to his heavenly kingdom. Think today of a journey alone on a moonless night, holding tight a treasure, and knowing with full assurance and confidence that you will arrive at your destination safely. Well, that is it. Give praise.

All for this morning.

September 3, 2009

Scripture:

Help me to understand those times when I seem to be alone.

Response

Yes, seem to be alone. Those time are most precious though you would be first to say enough. That is when you must clearly get a glimpse of who you are and are becoming. It is as if you become the observer of your own soul, the soul that is unfolding in my grace. If you were a father, it would be like measuring the growth of your son, and the son turns out of be you! How is that for an image upon which to reflect?

Don’t dismiss the miraculous signs that surround you in all aspects of your life. Near and far, you all sit through a cacophony of miraculous clamor in your lives. When alone, fearing abandonment sometimes, the wonder breaks through when you least expect it – in a smile that reaches across a room, a melody that recalls a loss from which you are healing, in a bagel that you are toasting for son who is taking a seemingly endless shower. All you have to do is pause and look around you whatever your circumstances and trials.

So is that the test that I ask of you so that I can know everything in your heart? I think not. Rather, it is a test so that you can know everything in your heart – and it is an open book test.

All for this morning.

September 2, 2009

Scripture:

Help me to be explicit in praise.

Response

Your explicitness is to be within the range of your talents tied to consciousness. Reading this in the darkness before dawn, aren’t you tempted to walk out onto your deck and wake your neighbors? Don’t. The explicitness I seek is first recognition in your heart of my healing, forgiving, and loving grace. It is as if sitting on your deck, a delivery truck drives up suddenly to present you with a treasure addressed to you – one that you hadn’t expected and one of inestimable worth.

With recognition that might have come through spontaneous laughter that erupts in the company of a loved one, in a breeze that cools a torrid forehead, in a flow you experience where previously all you encountered was resistance, in relief to mental or physical anxiety or pain, or in words that break through the sobriety of routine.

Recognition is the aha or I see you are there moment. And in that moment praise God in his sanctuary that can be the inner chamber of your heart. No need to wake your neighbors with a tambourine or a trumpet. Instead try a smile or a listening ear. So much for you to learn about praise and so much time to do so – now.

All for this morning.

September 1, 2009

Scripture:

Instruct me in overcoming will.

Response

The lesson for you today is what does it take to overcome your will? Put another way, what does it take to do the right thing even when you are alone with your thoughts? I am not speaking of some dramatic action that is contrary to a routine derived from a moral behavior. No, I am talking about reaching out beyond your shadow to a person in stress whether the stress is evident due to tattered clothing or not so evident through the tension one carries in the eyes. Overcoming one’s will is overcoming one’s comfort zone, to explore the precincts of compassion far beyond the boundaries of your mind.

The book of life symbolizes a recording of awakened consciousness. It’s as if when you become conscious, your name is included among all the others over time that got it – understood and accepted my love – and then as quickly reached out to dispense that love – gave it.

Please don’t make this selection or any other in this book, more esoteric that it is meant to be. Take what it says to you for today, this moment. I encourage you to be dressed in white, to be worthy, put aside your will in service, and in love. Sounds direct, doesn’t it? And for that, you will be acknowledged beyond what you could ever have imagined or anticipated.

All for this morning.

August 30, 2009

Scripture:

About beginnings and ends, teach me.

Response

As you wrap your mind around Alpha and Omega, you are still unable to grasp the profundity presented in this verse. The beginning for you connotes a stop on a rail line where a journey begins, and the end as the terminus of your journey. See if you are able to consider or reflect upon Alpha as a beginning not in linear time or distance. Difficult, or impossible, isn’t it? Alpha is an origin that is. It is the I AM that shocks your heart into consciousness of presence. Instead of considering yourself as marked in time, see yourself standing before a corridor of time that expands with your expanding consciousness.

This Presence enfolds you in grace and love, as a brilliant sunrise flows over you as if you were seated quietly above the tumult of your life on a mountain top cleared of debris. Your vision expands beyond the valley below, across the rivers and peaks that were once seen as only shadows in a dark fog.

This Almighty communicates love, inspires compassion, and presses you for service, understanding, and forgiveness – and all in the fullness of a time with no beginning or end. Not heady but heart-filled thoughts this morning.

All for this morning.

August 29, 2009

Scripture:

Continue to move me, Lord.

Response

Let me turn your attention to the movements in your life. You already know that the movements that have the greatest impact – that command your attention – are those that you would not, could not have anticipated. A God-movement can be the shattering finale to a bombastic symphony or its beginning, or sometimes an encore. A God-movement, you might prefer God-moment, shoves you sometimes not so delicately from your repose, and invites you, prods you to enter your private chamber.

How many times have you been surprised to come upon a couple of lines in a book, even in Scripture, or heard a melody, caught a scent on a breeze that evoked a memory long past, free of the tumult of that moment? Your response is that of a soul touched by my love though you can’t quite explain what is happening, or define the dimensions of that love. It is in that moment that you seek your private room into which you might even invite an intimate friend. Silence reigns here.

It is in this movement that your prayer is most deep. No words are called for, no thoughts, no rationalizations — in fact, your mind is on idle as your heart opens – some might say, breaks open. You are all Josephs who come to learn through your life experiences and in my grace where that solitary chamber is located. Spend a moment in time in the chamber the next time you are so moved.

All for this morning.

August 28, 2009

Scripture:

Encourage my efforts in prayer.

Response

Good prayer that serves a clear channel as you listen at a heart-soul level. Pray in thanksgiving for those mentors in your life up who up until now have contributed to your ability to read and equally important, what to read. What a gift you received in that you can snatch moments alone to have your eyes glance over symbols that form in your mind a meaning that transcends this earthy existence.

Indeed you are blessed. A mantle of love in my grace descends over you and rises within you as with these words of prophesy. The message that you receive in this quiet period is that the time is near. Indeed, present and conscious, time is near and in a real sense you experience a period that is without boundaries. Don’t be tempted to observe a clock. Be still and receive a hint of eternity in a never ending moment where I can touch you quietly as those far distant in space do likewise regardless of their dimension of time. This is the time for them – those loved ones and mentors – to crowd-space around you. Blessed are those who discover this stillness and return to it often to listen in appearance alone, but in truth in an endless communion of love.

The Book of Revelation is well-named. So approach it as you have, gently and not holding tightly at your side the tomes of scholars. I will reach you where you are.

All for this morning.

August 27, 2009

Scripture:

I don’t feel especially warlike this morning. In fact, I might feel a bit fainthearted. Help me to realize your presence.

Response

Don’t you find it reassuring that just when you don’t feel especially reassured that my voice seems most clear and not filtered through the gloss of shallow confidence. You are experiencing this early morning a consciousness that seems contrary to how you want to feel. Because you see, most of you are much more comfortable asleep.

While you may not be going into battle, you are going forth in a new world and in a new moment. Everything is unfolding before you. All you hoped to control and arrange is lost and it is as if you are going over the rise of the hill and seeing stretched before you a panorama you did not expect. And all you are asked to be – nothing to do – is be authentic not fainthearted. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? You don’t have to rummage through your pack for instructions. In fact, you are asked to shed your pack.

But realize that you are not lost in an empty desert. No need to be terrified or panic because, and this is so important to realize no matter how often you read or hear these words, For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you . . . How much more reassurance do you need? And he is just not an idle companion, but accompanies to give you victory.

All for this morning.

August 25, 2009

Scripture:

Lord, help me not to consider alternative.

Response

There is a comfort meant in the word remain. It connotes a long standing relationship that is destined for eternity. It’s like finding a companion after a long day’s march or in a tidy comfortable inn for a quiet dinner, or on mountain top observing a sunset – and discovering he’s always been with you and has no intention of deserting you. There’s an intimacy that transcends the physical, a connectedness that can’t be explained, and if you paused in heart you would acknowledge that your soul’s desire is to remain no wherever this journey leads.

Remain in me are words that provide you a hint that you are going places – not for the rich and famous – but to allow in you an unfolding of my love, though I must tell you the circumstances of this unfolding will surprise you. And you can say that in a real sense, you will be carried –not to suggest that you are helpless, but rather to ensure that you don’t miss anything along the way – from the homeless man begging at the street corner, the callousness of bigotry and bias, the blankness in relationship, the tender love of the generous, the humility of the once powerful, the contriteness of the sinner. No, remain in me, and you will miss nothing, experience the full dimension of my love.

And of course you see that you are remaining, not in a hot house, but in the field on a vine beneath the sun, wind, rain, experiencing even frost, to demonstrate my love in your yield, and all in its proper time, proper season. Remain in me.

All for this morning.

August 24, 2009

Scripture:

Seems so straightforward. Help me to understand this verse at a deeper level and not simply slide my eyes across the words.

Response

Yes, the model held out to you offers no difficulty in interpretation – nothing lost in translation, you might say. But let’s explore what is being said to you. In devoting oneself to the apostles’ or anyone else’s teaching, it means that you are reserving some time to absorb that teaching. That does not have to mean attending classes each night, but it could mean gathering regularly to discuss and share insights into the teaching. You choose the day, time, and regularity. And I gave you a hint about fellowship because in gathering, whether you appreciate it or not, you are in the sincerest form of fellowship. Fellowship is also discovered – yes, it’s a discovery – when you stumble across a like-minded seeker and share and listen to a recounting of the journey you all are on. I use the word discover because surely you recall exchanges and deep communication with a stranger at a reception when you expected incorrectly that conversation would be all about the weather or some other unthreatening topic and it turned out to be otherwise. And the otherwise of such conversations can be measured in the fact that many years later you can still recall the conversation and not the weather.

The breaking of bread is more than attendance at a church service. At a minimum, it is participation – there is that fellowship again, and at the deepest level it is descending to the deepest level you have discovered within and participating in the experience of what the breaking of bread signifies and becomes in your life. If this teaching is too deep for you in the darkness before dawn, let me guide you: you participate in my teaching with forgiveness, in compassion, through humility, and in faith that all will be revealed to you in time through my grace and love.

Finally, what about prayer? That is the best and reserved for last. If you can nod affirmatively that you understand about teaching, fellowship, and the breaking of bread, don’t think that isn’t more to learn about prayer. All of the latter are without purpose – repeat those words – if they do not push you, prod you, encourage you, and invite you to prayer – deep communion with me. So pray.

All for this morning.

August 22, 2009

Scripture:

Help me to hear the prophetic message.

Response

That is hardly a difficult request. The message is seared into your soul . . . into your consciousness that never slumbers. Your only responsibility is to match the consciousness of your soul in your actions. And please don’t scan your memory for the laying on of hands by the elders. Accept that in grace you have been transformed. Pause here and consider the impact that these words should and will have on you.

You have been selected in whatever circumstances that you find yourself to reverence your gift in the marketplaces of the world even if the one to which you are called is two miles and not two thousand miles distant. And in reverencing with no prepared script you are to manifest my love. Sounds simple, uncomplicated, direct doesn’t it? That’s what makes it prophetic. You have been given the page number to find the answers to the puzzle you have been struggling to complete. So turn the page.

Don’t neglect diligence in your life. Consider that you are on an endless journey – and you are – and no purpose is served by always asking, how much further? Leave it others to comment on your journey when you have passed over a hill out of their sight – at least as they observed you. Instead stay in the moment of each step you take diligently, sometimes even gingerly, keeping constant your gift of inestimable worth.

All for this morning.

August 21, 2009

Scripture:

In examining my heart and mind, let me know what you find.

Response

Do you think that I will find something that you missed? I doubt that. As I examine your heart and mind, take time to do the same. Bring both in the alignment you seek, and you will – in my grace. You see in the examination you become awake. Yes, your consciousness is aroused from its self-inflicted slumber during which you would prefer to deny any deliberateness to your folly. And what do I mean by folly? Times when you allow yourself to drift and do not become engaged in the mastery of sailing on an open sea; or when you wander across a barren landscape in search of a road, though you have a map in your pocket, an inner guidance system, that would orient you.

Now awake, that is the state that awaits you. Each time you are awake you know its properties. It seems that you become a visionary of the heart; senses beyond what you comprehend as senses bring you to a perceptiveness and awareness not experienced earlier. And during those somewhat rare occasions, you examine your heart and mind as I do in love.

So what is there for you to do? I am not talking about doing anything. Rather you are being encouraged to sit still for a moment and make-believe – as you would say as a child – you are examining this heart and mind that is you. And once the examination is complete – I don’t expect you to remain inert for long – incorporate that knowledge into every step and gesture, thought and prayer, laugh and tear that now awake you are prompted to be.

All for this morning.

August 20, 2009

Scripture:

Help me to hear clearly your voice today.

Response

You wish it were as easy at times, but it is. Whenever you are able and willing to shed or filter the distractions, the noise pollution each life allows itself – almost as a chocolate indulgence – my voice and counsel are clear. Your distraction is caused in part in thinking that life is linear time. What else is it, you quickly ask? Linear time fills quickly with what you perceive you should have done, you could have done, instead of considering this moment in time as singular. Yes, this moment is singular and if it helps you to grasp the truth, see the illusions of the past and future as the wispy clouds that trail off before you turn your attention to the present.

Filtering out the incessant noises that command your attention, you hear with clarity my words as you hear them now. I am the guide you discover when you are at cross-roads and ponder left, right, or straight-ahead. Take heart – I am not in disguise, but speak plainly and with authority, and, so important, you recognize the truth of my direction. And if you can, please dispel the notion of fear that prompts so many to turn left or right. You are guided in love, a love that is gentle, forgiving, compassionate, and understanding. Leave fear to those who are wrapped up in the linear time of should of and could of.

A further word about my path – it unfolds in present time, yet is an eternal adventure. Can you put aside linear time for a moment, let your mind let go, and your heart take command. You are on an eternal adventure that knows no time of past and future. It is as if you entered a boundless – without walls – cathedral and though in the open the choir and accompaniment, the acoustics have never been more clear. That is my path as you wander effortlessly guided by and in my love.

All for this morning.

August 19, 2009

Scripture:

This verse is seared into my memory. Bring me to prayer.

Response

Think of this verse swirling about the world as you sit in the darkness this morning, spoken in different languages by believers of different ages, different prejudices, different diets, different circumstances; some will not wake the next morning, others will lose a loved one, yet the pray begins for all. As you see, the opening words – for that matter the closing words as well – are easily understood. The only requirement is for you to pay attention in your heart to each word – and even that is not required; the words are anointed and bring you my grace even if you are numb for whatever reason.

Allow the word hallowed to reverberate in your mind and heart. It is a call to silence and listening, listening to the silence that surrounds you now to a depth that you might even distinguish the sound of the galaxies in the far heavens. Hear the sound of the millions that are uttering this phrase in unison with your whisper. Sense the community that surrounds you in praise.

And don’t allow the mystery to escape you. Though these words are familiar, the words call attention to union – your union in the mystery of my love. How astounding! Suddenly in that instant you are not alone in your prayer but rather another special voice, gesture, in a choir that stretches and expands through time to this present moment. Putting a memorized pace aside, complete the prayer now in reverence and discover the blessings that flow in abundance upon you.

All for this morning.

August 18, 2009

Scripture:

I feel this morning I should be taking notes . . . righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Help me to absorb the lesson for today.

Response

Perhaps, we should begin with endurance. Traveling on a road or a mountain path is a wonderful image for you to retain when it comes to endurance. Alone, there is no one to complain to except to utter aloud your weariness as to when the path levels off. However, with your very words or just exhaled breath, how many times have you looked up and observed with wonder my presence in creation – like this morning with the almost eclipsed orange moon against the black horizon over the ocean – and then resumed your journey?

That is endurance and it is with a purpose. Now, in answer to the question, why, enters faith because in the deepest recesses of your being you already know why. And in your answer, even if limited to a nod or a compression of your lips, there is recognition of my love; and surprising even yourself, gentleness overcomes the resistance to the journey before you. In that instant your peripheral vision improves and you seek ways to manifest my righteousness and honor in all your tasks measured in the steps you take, now more deliberately and – this is important to retain – more consciously.

So you see there is no need to take notes. You receive daily my guidance that is found in what Timothy writes –not wrote – for you this morning.

All for this morning.

August 17, 2009

Scripture:

Love, rescue, and protection – what more can I ask?

Response

It’s that simple, isn’t it? Whatever circumstance you might face – at the edge of glacier in the Himalayas, trapped in the basement of your loneliness, adrift on a sea awaiting a breeze – my love, rescue, and protection are present.

Long life is not to be measured in years and wrinkles, but in this moment. It is now that I deliver you from despair. And what’s more, I honor you. Think about that! You who come to pay homage are the one who is honored. Shouldn’t that surprise you? Then, act surprised. Widen your eyes – the windows to your heart – with wonder of my love for you. Do your best not to perform as others expect, but as you are guided in my love.

Call upon me throughout your day as if you were checking a radio transmission link. I am not suggesting some bizarre behavior. Rather I am encouraging you to align your long life in this moment to me and in return you will learn something about salvation that awaits you in this moment and for eternity.

All for this morning.

August 15, 2009

Scripture:

Perhaps, no more familiar line in Scripture; help me to pause with these words.

Response

The scene presented is surely one to reflect upon. And just your capacity to take the scene in adds even more power to what is transpiring. This is not about the creation of a pot to adorn a shelf, but the creation of the potter himself. It forces one back to a first cause and then one must stop to praise the essential act of creation without a plausible cause except the generous spontaneous act of the Creator, and you are the result.

And he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life –are words to dwell on, especially as you ask the question, Why? Especially, worthy this morning as you sit and listen to your own rhythmic breaths in and out without interruption, assuming to yourself it has always been that way, since you have not known it to be different, and assuming that it will always be that way, since you have not known it to be otherwise. Squeezed within this lifetime of breaths is the answer to the question – Why?. Only you can answer it, don’t leave it to another, though another can validate the answer with a nod, smile, touch.

For today, enjoy that breath of life with which you have been graced and in your actions this day act out the answer to the question – why? –- in full consciousness of the gift of life.

All for this morning.

August 13, 2009

Scripture:

Help me to understand grief.

Response

A better question is how to understand the joy that will follow grief in your faith and my love. Grief and loss place you in the very middle of your sorrow. It’s as if you are sitting in a closet and the door is closed and all you can hear are the muffled words of those around you who seek to share your burden and implore you for your encouragement as well. In the closet, time seems to stand still and it does by an imagined future being snatched from you. It is when the crescendo of grief pauses and you see that that future you crafted was an illusion. Time at this still point allows you to wander into a channel called eternity.

There past and future commingle with the present, barriers of time do disappear, relationships formed are ever-lasting though an interlude of separation interrupts. Like paint strokes on a canvas you see lines resumed on a dimension so exalted that you are hard-pressed to explain to the quizzical at your side. How to explain a presence, an understanding and love, that manifests on a journey that sometimes seems endless.

For today, spend a moment on the words I will see you again. Just know that it follows that you will rejoice and be joyful with a secret understanding that love, yes love, is eternal – and how else to know love, confirm love, as eternal except through those that proceed you, though you grieve.

All for this morning.

August 12, 2009

Scripture:

Teach me patient endurance.

Response

You have no problem with endurance, it seems, but modify endurance with patience is the challenge. Patient endurance requires an absolute commitment to be in the present with no eye over the horizon as to when relief arrives. In patient endurance, you learn and demonstrate faith – faith that what you have hoped for, prayed for, does happen in your life. It could be a prayer for a family member or friend, a situation that seems irresolvable. Patient endurance gives you time to gain a perspective or an insight that you might have missed, a healing within you or the person prayed for that is occurring.

Patient endurance is quieting down in a theater waiting for the curtain to rise though you thought the performance was to begin several minutes earlier. Patience endurance is not fixed to your timing and in that sense always prepares you for inevitable surprise.

Patient endurance requires – while you are waiting for the outcome of your prayers to unfold – obedience and unwavering faith, allowing for the suspension of time in your mind-deliberations.

All for this morning.

August 11, 2009

Scripture:

I woke from a stark dream where I was on a height and wondered if I were alone. Give voice to my praise this morning.

Response

Reflect on that instant when in a dream state you thought yourself abandoned. Consider how that feeling of loneliness and even despair can grip and does so many rushing about lonely on a crowded street when they are awake. It is as if the chatter of life is lost in a dimension of a lifeless silence.

Recall Jesus being encouraged by Satan to leap from the precipice, and read his response.

Jesus answered him: It is written: Do not put your God to the test. Matthew 4:7

These verses hold such promise and the formula could not be more simple: trust in the Lord’s unfailing – yes unfailing – love; rejoice to the depths of your soul that you are not perched on a precipice alone in all creation; sing in praise, wake the dawn, dispel the darkness – and why – because the Lord has drenched you in his grace and blessings. All you have to do is to feel the rain of his love as you would if walking without umbrella or apparel in a summer downpour.

All for this morning.

August 9, 2009

Scripture:

Sometimes I feel that I should record Jesus’ words and play them back when life gets too frenetic. Help the message here stay with me.

Response

Take verse as the quiet words exchanged with a close friend after a dinner party or social event. The invitation when so much looms on the horizon to accomplish is to find a quiet place and get some rest. It doesn’t have to mean that you need to sleep – but it might. More often, you will find that withdrawal from the hubbub of life’s activities and responsibilities for an instant of time measured by the quiet place you select and a determination to be without distraction restores your harmony of spirit. Paradoxically, you will also discover that while it seems that you are taking care of yourself, and you are, you find that the nourishment you receive is actually for those you serve in love.

The key to this verse is discovering the quiet place – and please don’t think it must be a set location, though routinely that might help. The quiet place again is one of spirit that allows you, encourages you to pause and allow the film of your life to rewind. In the rewinding there is nothing to do put be in the stillness – a stillness of spirit that does not depend upon activity and accomplishment for recognition.

Quiet place and rest also describe a breathing pattern that promotes well-being – not well-doing. In well-being you gain a perspective of a life that rushes by too quickly while the film is running.

All for this morning.

August 8, 2009

Scripture: Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; let them sing before the Lord, for he come to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity. Psalm 98:7-9

Prayer: This day marks my forty-fifth wedding anniversary. Help me to catch the jubilation in these verses.

Response: What you have before you is an other-worldly sentiment to where the psalmist is leading. What if the seas could resound, the rivers clap their hands, the mountains sing? Yet, it is so. The invitation this morning is for you to suspend the literalness of your existence – the rising – retiring, checklists, plans, actions, possessions, needs, wants, even concerns and anxieties; and go to a place where you hear the sea resounding to its depths and yours as well; where in the turbulence of a river you feel its clapping to your core; and from those distant granite mountains you listen to their singing in choir, the breath of sound reaching you on the winds. Can you sense now the jubilation for the Lord has come; He is present? Yes, to judge the world but note these most important words in righteousness; and the people with equity.

Have you noticed how nature in its broadest sense is aware of what is occurring, about to happen, as seen through the flight of animals long before a tsunami; a chance mixture in a laboratory that unfolds a healing remedy; a weather pattern that portends drought or a flood? See the interconnectedness of your existence and be jubilant with all the signs before you of my presence.

Now, you ask, is there a connection with your anniversary date? Of course! In listening, you see that the visual plane upon which you tarry holds only a hint of the interconnectedness in eternity where anniversaries are marked with a soul-sound of joy that creates new stars and seas, changes the course of rivers and then once again, and catapults mountains. Remember for today – in righteousness and with equity.

All for this morning.

August 6, 2009

Scripture:

Prompted by a display last night of lightening that lit the area and the storm’s aftermath this morning, these words catch my attention.

Response:

The message contained in this tight verse is that no one will be able to deny his coming. More important this moment is to accept that you cannot deny his coming into your life. Even when you close your eyes tight, the flash of light is visible though you might have attempted to shut down your consciousness. The question to ask is why? Is it because you don’t want to be disappointed to discover that with heart- eyes open you might have been experiencing flashes of hope in the night and you don’t want to discover otherwise?

Just as lightening can create a magnificent light show to illuminate a darkened room with blinds pulled, so my grace reaches you in the flashes of my love that announce my presence wherever your room is located, with whom ever you share the room, or occupy it alone with your thoughts. There is simply no avoiding my pursuit on the lightning flashes that erupt without warning.

So for today, consider why you are being so closely pursued, even when you grip your eyes closed against the light that penetrates all. That light announces my presence not as yesterday’s storm, but today’s manifestation of love in your life.

All for this morning.

August 5, 2009

Scripture:

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

Prayer

It seems that Scripture is filled with familiar verses whose meaning I have not fully absorbed. Help me to hold this verse close in all its meaning.

Response:

In the landscape of your life you seek to move one figure to another position, alter the color of the canvas hurriedly, hardly catch the action of the scene, the panorama presented, the inter-relationships offered, and most of all miss the purpose of this masterpiece before you. Perhaps, it will help, if you sit back only this morning and gain that perspective allowed the observer within you.

The dazzling scene before you, your life, with every possible circumstance you could mention, creates the vehicle of acceptance in God’s will for you. What does that mean? Indeed, you are in the scene before you with as much vitality as you can muster. Awareness, growing awareness, contributes to an acceptance or is it detachment that invites the grace of God to alter or shade the colors that surround your circumstances and those around you – however distant. What you considered beyond your imagination is realized in a subtle brush stroke, a hint of color, or an introduction of a theme long forgotten that brings the masterpiece to meaning, your meaning however modest or humble.

When the observer within you awakes to new consciousness in my love, frustration is replaced with patience; sorrow with joy, despair becomes hope, seemingly endless days become instant moments of praise, weariness is shed replaced with new heart energy. All this awaits you when you truly embrace the truth that with God all things are possible.

All for this morning.

August 4, 2009

Scripture:

“You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.” Hebrews 1:9

Prayer

How do these words relate to my journey?

Response:

The theologians among you would limit this verse to a description of Jesus. For this morning, allow yourself to share in the good news and accept that you too have received an anointing with the oil of joy. Is it difficult for you to accept that in adversity be in a joyful spirit? Clearly, I don’t suggest that you dismiss sorrow, disappointment, grief, and even failure – whatever you consider failure to be; yet I am asking you to embrace the joy never diminished within you, ever peaceful, ever observing and in union with the One Source of love. That is what anointing means: you have been made one in my love.

The oil of joy is special. Once applied it penetrates to your very soul and you know it; and though others cannot see the application they experience, even witness it, in your performance each day – in your righteousness, that is, doing what you know is right, embracing the truth and exhibiting that truth, the lightness you carry all the way into the dreariness of those burdened down with sadness and discontent.

Don’t dwell on being set above anyone, rather accept that with this oil of joy you will be seen and you might discover that unconsciously in the crowd of life you too are anointing with the oil of joy just in your presence and love of righteousness. Remember: once applied, the oil penetrates to your very soul and you know it.

All for this morning.

August 3, 2009

Scripture:

A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.” Isaiah 40:3

Prayer

In the silence before dawn, help me to hear the voice.

Response:

Deserts take on the meaning of your experience. For most, it represents the lack of water, the heat during the day – frigid temperatures at night, a landscape that offers few details for the uninitiated to navigate, silence, a sense of being overwhelmed by its expansiveness, details of daily life reduced to locating water and protection from the sun. And I could go on.

For today be overwhelmed in my love. You are in a desert but you are there to find yourself free from the road signs that lead nowhere; you do thirst in this region, but it is that thirst of my word that sustains you, leads you to travel further, attracts you; overwhelmed by its expansiveness, you take each step in the present and no longer calculate the future; and the silence that reigns is the silence that you find alone this morning where my voice is clear, each syllable of love resonating throughout and within you.

So for today, anticipate the adventure of your desert where you prepare the way for the Lord in your silence and prayer.

All for this morning.

August 2, 2009

Scripture:

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his love endures forever. 1 Chronicles 16

Prayer

Take this verse and me to a deeper understanding.

Response:

Two different sentiments that provide no more than a faint outline on a charcoal sketch. The Lord is good is the first. Take this common overused word, good, in whatever is your native language. Consider times when you have paused after viewing a quiet act of service, generosity, loyalty, support, presence. Do you recall how you said or thought to yourself, that person is good? No thought of reward motivates the person, the generous act or steadfastness often causes you to keep searching for a self-serving motivation since you fall short so often in acting and being similarly.

Ezra concludes from all that he had observed and considered that the Lord is that good – a good that is in fact inestimable, a good that knows no limits, a good ever spontaneous and responsive to your needs. Allow yourself to be transported beyond your mundane cares and concerns to a contemplation of what it means to be in touch with a God who is good, and just doesn’t act that way intermittently as if on stage.

Now, the second thought I want to leave you with is what it means for love to endure forever. Perhaps, you need first a primer on the meaning of the love. You have known or know love when you are out of the picture; when the flow of that energy you can call a manifestation of love bursts the ego’s constraints and you are one with a source impossible to define with words and impossible to confine with the artificial restrictions of time and space. Love is a transcendent union or communion with those who have past, who are yet to be, and are present in your lives. Pretty deep for an early Sunday morning. But you asked for a deeper understanding. Forever is your word in whatever language that tries however feebly to depict a timeless dimension of my love. Forever.

All for this morning.

August 1, 2009

Scripture:

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says. Revelations 2:29

Help me to accept the invitation.

Response:

What could be simpler? You are not even asked to take notes, to have alongside a dictionary or a volume filled with footnotes. Instead you are being given guidance that takes up no room in your sack of valuables. Listen! In listening you are transported to another realm far beyond the exigencies of your daily drama. And what you hear is a Word that is always relevant to you and to where you are – and don’t limit the where to a physical location.

Without even asking – though of course you are encouraged to do so in prayer – you have at your fingertips the ultimate search engine that does even require you to enter in the query. All you are required to do is be in a listening heart. Sounds effortless, doesn’t it?

Hear that first whisper of dawn, a new beginning, in the stirring of the birds, the rustle of the breeze, the sounds of an unseen animal in the thicket, footsteps along the road, and even the light rising as if pulled higher by an unseen hand. Cultivate the gift in my grace of listening, anticipating the Spirit and hear the message he offers to you each day. You don’t have to take notes; it will be repeated throughout this day and the next.ever.

All for this morning.

Prayer

Prayer

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