Jul 14 2008
Praying Fingertips
Praying Fingertips- Daily Affirmations
For over three 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.
August 3, 2008
Scripture: But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with it mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. Psalm 131:2
Prayer: I hadn’t thought until now how much there is to reflect upon in this verse. Prod my discernment.
Response: You know instances, even times, when you are stilled without anxiousness. Recognize those times like now before the events of the day press you to move out of the stillness. It is not moving out of the stillness that is to be avoided – for how else can you survive and even flourish. The challenge is to move without anxiousness, without the anxiousness of a child who fears its source of sustenance will be withheld.
Note the image is one of a child that no longer requires its mother’s milk, yet remains with the mother. There is a source of confidence in this scene for the child growing to maturity and the mother acknowledging that growth.
So you see that the child is developing a self-confidence in its relationship with its mother; so you must strive for that same self-confidence with me.
There is trust as the child experiences a new dimension of love where the child is allowed and encouraged separation in a physical sense, yet the mother’s presence as mine is always evident.
The child develops as you do in awareness of what stillness of the soul means by being still. It seems such a simple notion one that you should take to heart – or should I say soul.
And finally, this verse says to you much about your essential being, your soul. Your soul is within and of you. Life is a journey that offers you many challenges but one so often overlooked is to give those around you and your environment a glimpse of that soul, no longer hidden within.
All for this morning.
August 1, 2008
Scripture: By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundation, by understanding he set the heavens in place, by his knowledge the deeps were divided and the clouds let drop the dew. Proverbs 3:19-20
Prayer: In the darkness before dawn, I sometimes overlook your wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. Fill me with your words.
Response: Try, if you can, bring this cosmic description into your own life and your relationship with me. See how my wisdom, understanding, and knowledge preside over your life. For you see, it is my wisdom that covers you and creates your awareness of my presence. I am the mantle that you reach to pull close in stormy weather. And you do this almost by instinct.
And after the storm has passed, or it is still buffeting you, it is my understanding that calms your anxiousness. It is then that you gain a perspective of your life – that is your place in the universe of my love. It is as if you are transported to a safe distance to observe a tumultuous scene and now instead of chaos you see – understand – a pattern of healing.
And through the experience of wisdom and understanding, you acquire a cosmic knowledge, a memory it seems, that you retain and find nourished within you, and this same knowledge – and the insights that accompany you transmit to those around you in your actions of service.
And here you see the cycle of my love in the moisture from the deep that is let loose from the clouds to nourish all my creation.
All for this morning.
July 30, 2008
Scripture: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1
Prayer: Lord, expound a bit on this verse that is bursting with import that I too easily overlook.
Response: Yes, this verse is challenging. Imagine, if you will, that you were walking, or trekking if you prefer, in an isolated area of great beauty. Consider the mesas and buttes of Sedona from which you travelled recently. You are alone and upon reaching an elevation the trail turns and there on the red rock is an ancient Indian painting depicting these words in symbols. You spend time deciphering the message, but once deciphered you are still pressed to understand the words, or perhaps accept them.
Faith is being sure – first, you have to ask yourself when in your life have you been sure of anything. And I am not looking for you to come up with the answer “never.” Have you ever been sure of another’s love and support when difficulties surrounded you? Have you ever relied upon a parent, mentor, counselor, or teacher to guide your development in your youth, and yes as you grew to maturity, and beyond – if that is possible? That is the sureness about which I speak. And the faith is knowing that support is there – like going into a familiar place – even in the dark – and placing your hand on exactly for what you were searching.
And what do I mean with the words of what we hope for? Well, sometimes it seems that what you hope for is hidden way down deep in your heart. You are hesitant to even utter the words aloud or even to whisper them for fear that you will reveal an advanced state of madness to others, or even to yourself. It is important in your maturation to give voice to your hopes, even if they cannot be overheard – though you hear them, because you see, those hopes that are nestled in your heart almost unseen and unheard form the basis of your faith. Your faith – not some memorized formula that others have given to you to repeat. Your hopes form the basis of your faith that proves steadfast in whatever calamity or adversity you face.
These words should catch your attention. How can you be certain of what you do not see? What a contradiction in terms! Your mind seems to be overworking trying to disceCertain of what we do not see.rn a logical explanation. Well, there is no rational explanation for the mind, but there is clarity in the heart once you become still. You should repeat these words whenever you seem overwhelmed, I am certain of what I do not see. While others might consider you mad, rest assured it is only a malady of the heart from which once stricken you will not recover though you will rest in my love.
All for this morning.
July 28, 2008
Scripture: They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the Lord – the grain, the new wine and the oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more. Jeremiah 31:12
Prayer: Perhaps, the thunder storms and all the rain that fell drew me to the words about a well-watered garden. Teach me to shout for joy.
Response: Yes, to shout for joy indicates a certain abandonment that you would do well to cultivate. Put yourself at the top of a summit after a long and sometimes treacherous climb. With all thought of the descent put aside, consider your joy and the full expression that you give to that joy.
Well, that is what I want you to bring into your life today – unbounded joy. Express that joy from the time that you stir and move about in your surroundings. See yourself as the farmer that greets the rain, the thunderous rain, as the end of a drought. Feel how the parched ground is now soft and like a cushion for your feet. This drought was of the spirit and I have showered you this day and every day with my grace.
And look about you and see what I provide. I did not say provided because I want you to remain present. In a spare moment make a list, even if in your mind, of the bounty of your life in spite of your ailments and anxieties. Determine how you can share this bounty with those around you, especially those whose gardens are not as well-watered. And learn how in sharing your bounty even if limited to a gesture, a note, or a call it seems that your bounty overflows. And it does because you reaching out across the boundaries of space and time invite the rains to come – the rains needed to cultivate your garden to abundance.
So the lesson today is on your need to embrace and proclaim my joy, to rejoice in the bounty that I prepare for you daily, and, finally, on the words you will sorrow no more. Sorrow no more! What a challenge! To let go of every worry that seeks to disturb this moment – like every moment – in my presence.
July 25, 2008
Scripture: “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord, I want to see,” he replied. Luke 18:41
Prayer: Lord, that is my prayer as well.
Response: And the question I have for you is, “Why?” Is it just to satisfy the mystery of life, or to foretell some future joy or calamity, or what? It is important for you to explore what prompts this prayer.
As you have read and heard throughout your life, your prayer is already answered. Now comes the difficult part for you – to believe that it is so. That before the last word left your lips, even before the sound of the words formed on your vocal chords, earlier yet – before the un-articulated sense of aloneness gripped you – I restored your sight.
And how is it restored, you ask? And I respond, by your question. Now that is something for you to reflect upon – your very question contains the answer to your prayer.
Oh, is it too early for you this morning to let go of your mind analysis and instead accept into the heart my words that are not meant to puzzle you, but to restore you to full and intimate relationship with me. I am the father who responds deliberately, swiftly, and comprehensively to the prayers of your heart. Read this last sentence again – in fact, read and reflect upon it regularly.
If you missed it – so well known is this verse – I ask what do you want me to do for you. I am inviting you to request an action from me, and an action that is reserved exclusively for you – to see. There is another hint about prayer I should point out to you. Even when you pray for others that you can name or a region of the world that you might not have visited, make it personal. Let me give you an example, “I pray that in this day I be reminded of the suffering of those in combat and I be allowed to link my prayers to theirs to ease their sufferings and those around them,” or “I pray for my close friend or family member; let me be recall the anxiety I feel or have felt in the past to become one with that soul; and in that union ease that suffering.”
Understand that you cannot “see” alone. You see in communion with others. Such prayers become a resounding chorus that is heard in the hearts of those for whom the prayer might not even been directed.
So today see how you now see.
July 23, 2008
Scripture: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
Prayer: Thank you Lord for giving me the impulse to spend some quiet time in prayer.
Response: This morning I want to expand upon your understanding of prayer. As you might have once heard, prayer is not a monologue, but a holy and sanctified dialogue. Please don’t allow your mind to conjure up a scene of priestly robes and dimly lit candles and the breath of incense – though of course ritual has a special place in reverence. No, this morning I wish to expound gently on prayer as dialogue where you enter into a special relationship with me, putting aside all notions of how it is supposed to be.
I ask only that you open your heart to reveal yourself and your concerns, your joys; to confirm your understanding of the insights that I grace you with. Like a little child, in the process of prayer you expand the capacity of “pray” lungs. Not only do I witness this growth but much more importantly, you experience the change. If I can use another analogy, it is as if I have brought you to the edge of a beautiful canyon and nudged you over the side and now watch you fly – somewhat tentatively but flying none the less – no longer earth bound.
In prayer you fly and interact with the wind that is my grace. Sometimes you are terrified it seems when you get caught in a thermal that rushes you up above the cliffs or sees your flight plummet down close to the cliffs from which you entered this experience; and sometimes there is no wind and it takes all your strength to return to the safety of your nest. Understand I am just as present in no-wind and if you listen amidst the churning of your wings my voice will be quite distinct.
Now something about peace – as you become more adept in “flying” you find that it becomes natural. Your focus in the activity is second nature – as you would say – but I say is first nature, focused, deliberate, essential. I use the word essential to remind you that flying is not just about sight-seeing – however beautiful or terrifying the landscape; no, flying – and of course you see the relationship to prayer – is the most important activity for you to perform. As flying leads you to food and nourishment, so too does pray lead you to the nourishment of your soul whether the winds howl or are becalmed.
So the next time your life gets too busy for prayer, I ask you to recall the falcon – and that is what you are – that decides to forego a ride on a thermal for food and instead becomes food for a predator.
All for this morning.
July 20, 2008
Scripture: Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. Isaiah 40:28
Prayer: Though these words seem to end discussion, I do ask why these words leapt into view this morning.
Response: Where would your language be without the word why? Forget for a moment about language, who would you be without your questions? The questions – and they are constant it seems – are your gauge as to how you are doing on the path. I am not suggesting that you are almost there if the questions cease. Rather I am asking you to examine the quality or the essential element of your question as a test for your acceptance. It is one thing to question and continue questioning the existence of injustice in the world, but another – though still important to the questioner – to probe as to why you are facing such turmoil in your own individual lives.
In this short verse you are told with certainty that I am the Creator of the universe – just ponder what that means. If it is too difficult, limit it to the globe upon which you live; if still too difficult, consider the environment in which you reside; if still too complex, drill down to your own immediate circle of activity. Do you see? It is beyond your comprehension, so why – there is that word again – continue to trouble yourself as it applies to what you touch daily, and instead, accept?
Now I welcome your questions about injustice because you know at your deepest level you can do something about it in service, generosity, and love for those afflicted. If there is any purpose in staying informed about what is happening in your local and world community it is to at least be in prayer communion with those that suffer – and then watch for results to confirm your commitment.
Rest assured I do not tire or weary as you experience, sometimes almost daily. I say that to encourage you to rely upon me, my strength, my energy of love for you and in you.
And I guess you will have to take it on faith – repeat that word — faith. You cannot fathom my understanding; though I encourage you and urge you to try. It will be in your effort to understand me that you will find understanding of yourself and it is within you that I reside.
All for this morning.
July 18, 2008
Scripture: Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart. Job 22:21-22
Prayer: So much is contained in these verses that I would and do resist. Help to remove the film from the eyes of my heart.
Response: Isn’t interesting to you that my instruction is only a reinforcement of what you already know from the message that I have planted securely in your heart. When in your life, think about the occasions that just leap from your memory, were you most at peace? If not now, reflect upon this question in the course of the day. You might find those occasions remind you when your relationship was most intimate and sharing, when family was most vibrant – even if chaotic, when you were performing tasks in your daily work of which you were most convinced of their value and the contribution you were able to make – and you might also discover that at such times our dialogue was most clear.
If you want a definition of peace what I have just described is your peace with me despite the chaos that might surround. Yes, and that peace exists even among the tears of forgiveness, the laughter of celebration, the humility of not knowing, the resignation in what the world calls victory as well as defeat. In fact, it is that peace of the active and not slumbering variety of which I speak.
But before I go on, let me say submission is not the submission of defeat, but rather the clear sense that you nourish with my grace that acknowledges my path. In submission you are not arrayed twelve across a road marching in surrender, but rather many more than twelve in union with me witnessing the light within.
And about prosperity, do not spend an inordinate amount of time trying to define in general what prosperity means or specifically what it would mean for you. Understand and accept that right this moment in my love you are prosperous with a wealth of spirit that cannot be taken away. No economic downturn can lessen your prosperity. You will even see a greater return on your investment of your submission and acknowledgement in such times of disorder.
Finally, I ask that you lay up my words in your heart. I ask this not that you can repeat the words from memory, but rather that you reflect, even ponder them and snatch from them my message to you which is one of eternal love.
All for this morning.
July 16, 2008
Scripture: The Lord replied, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33.14
Prayer: Help me to see your presence this day.
Response: It actually does not take much, if you pause and look around, listen to the sound of the birds awakening, or hear the waves chiseling their way relentlessly on the surf, or for a moment catch me in the gap between breaths.
I realize that my constant theme with you is for you to be still. It is a theme and a way of life and a path that I proscribe for you. When you are most still and alert you are most aware of my presence. That is the promise I make to you — note that I did not say made to you. Each moment in time I renew that promise – my presence will go with you.
What does that mean? It means literally that you embody my presence. Imagine if you will being responsible for transporting a treasure of inestimable worth, or better, realizing in the middle of a journey across a barren desert threatened by marauders that you discover along with you is this gem of great worth. Once you recovered from the shock and perhaps even fear of losing it, you would, I hope at this stage of your journey, decide what you would do to ensure that no one takes the treasure from you.
Well, that is where you are. My presence has always been with you, but in your ignorance, arrogance, or simply inattention, you did not realize or appreciate what you carried within. Whether you consider it a burden, whether you judge yourself unworthy, or whatever your reaction is, my presence is within you. You are accompanying me along this trek of life and I you. We are inseparable. Yes, we are inseparable.
Now consider what this means. It means that there is nothing that you will face this day, the decisions that you make, the decisions that you put off, the gentle words that you speak and the not so gentle words you think, are all within earshot of my presence.
Before you become weary just thinking of the pressure this awareness could create, consider the final words of this verse – I will give you rest. For today, I want you to note each moment of rest that you experience today whether it be a stop at a Starbucks, lingering at a stop light, glancing your eyes across the horizon, or whatever you see as what I mean providing you rest. You see I don’t want you to be overwhelmed “transporting” my presence on your journey of life.
All for this morning.
July 14, 2008
Scripture: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13
Prayer: These words are on inscribed on a cross hanging in my home. I pass the cross daily and hardly recalled the words when I searched them out this morning. Inscribe these words on my heart.
Response: First, accept that these words are given to you at all ages of your life – they are not just for someone graduating college or embarking on a career. So you see my plans to prosper you are plans for you this very day. Once you realize this in your heart, all the mystery of the future evaporates into the present.
And more importantly, you will call upon me calmly, deliberately, confidently, without any anxiousness.
And my plans can be likened to a stream running through the mountains. Envision if you can that it is your stream. Yes, you can attempt to thwart it, you can attempt to block it, and you can even exit the stream. However, if you remain poised you will ride it through spectacular scenery and though you will be jostled and are jostled, you will discover that my plans for you include that you become more adept – remember that word – as another turn appears before you or the white water you face seems less daunting.
And it is then that I hear you most clearly and respond to you deeply. Because it is then that you know me from your heart. And it is then that you will realize that I am alongside you, helping you to navigate down this stream, and it is in this descending you will find that you see and hear me most clearly.
So what do you have to do to realize my plans for you? Simply hold on and enjoy the ride of your life – not someone else’s.
All for this morning.
July 11, 2008
Scripture: If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. Psalm 139:11-12
Prayer: I woke earlier than usual. The darkness has a special stillness. Help me in these verses to confound the darkness and confront your presence.
Response: I don’t recommend you making a habit of rising so early, though you can see – and I use this word deliberately – my presence in a most undiluted fashion. Yes, it is good to grip the truth of my presence even at times when you are habitually in repose.
What should it mean for you? Well, first you begin to see that I dictate – perhaps too harsh a word so early – the rhythm of the universe. That means that the center point is not your movement even when you are rolling over to catch another hour or so of sleep. You and as evidenced your actions are folded into the synergism of the universe. What do I mean? Bring into your consciousness the realization that you are one with me. I am the breath that you breathe, the source of your joy, the comforter in your sorrow. And I know you most intimately. I think you would agree that I know you even better than you know yourself. Rest assured – you are not a marionette that I created but a bursting soul energy that encompasses my love and is the capacity to be love fully.
At the deepest level – and we must talk of levels in your body-state – you know what I have just said to you. Yes, you know it and seek oftentimes to ignore it, claim ignorance as you might deliberately look away and posture your soul in a glance of innocence. I say this to you not to reproach you but rather to remind you of the progress and growth you are exhibiting else you would not demonstrate any flicker of recognition in my words. Your mission on this journey is to be fully conscious – a worthy goal and one for which I am supremely patient – where you no longer feign ignorance and embrace the truth with the eyes of your soul fully open in recognition.
Instead of seeking the darkness to hide or to be covert in your soul recognition, seek the darkness to see me clearly, to hear my words spoken softly, and to feel my presence that never diminishes.
All for this morning.
July 5, 2008
Scripture: Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Psalm 103:1
Prayer: Such a simple line. Help the “me” who calls out to my soul take in these words deeply.
Response: It is a truth that you should not overlook if you can that I provide you guidance with and in simplicity. What could be clearer then to ask you, some would say command you, to give praise, and to do it with regularity and spontaneity. Have you considered why this is so? Do you think that, in your meaning of the word, I need your praise? No, but let me offer you a secret that is not much of a secret because it is so obvious. You need to praise, just as you need to love, need to serve, need to think beyond the horizon of your own self-interest.
I ask your praise through this Psalm of David as my gift to you. In just a few words I give you a clue to your salvation, to my love, and I even ask you to confront the you that seems apart from your soul – and in doing so I show you the way to become one. Yes, I am asking you to see that the you who scrambles about almost distracted in your daily tasks is one and the same with the one who reflects and is your origin – your inmost being. This might be too early in the morning for you to ponder this, but at least you have something to return to at a later date. In praise I am asking you to bring the outer and inner most being as one in praise, service, love, and all other words you can conjure up to look beyond yourself from your inmost being to others and ultimately to me.
And clearly I am not limiting your praise to vocal choruses but search for the wordless groans for which there are no words to express. You see in the latter praise – and you must admit some praise is not especially joyous at the time – we meet in the gap of that groan, and I understand and respond in love.
Yes, this morning, you chose a simple line that opens a psalm and I offer you something to contemplate quietly without the aid of an outside discourse. As I have reminded you previously, the answer to your queries resides within.
All for this morning.
July 3, 2008
Scripture: We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you. Psalm 33:20-22
Prayer: It seems that as I get older I recall in the recesses of my mind your words I heard in chant or ceremony so many years ago. Give new meaning to these words this morning.
Response: Yes, in your youth trust and hope did not have the meaning that you are gaining insight now. When you were a youth trust and hope were words chiseled on a stone monument or letters in a faded text. Now they are written on your heart and pulse with the beating of your heart.
In the past trust and hope were concepts for you, now they are a living reality. Trust and hope are your life blood, or should I say soul blood. There is no more distinguishing test of where you are than the degree of your trust and hope.
When you were young you almost considered it a weakness to trust in anything or anyone that you could not control, so too hope seemed to be a desperate state of mind – though it really is all about heart – for one who had not come prepared. Now, the insight that I am giving you is that with the acknowledgement of your weakness, by your inability to control the events of your life, you are arriving at the bedrock of your being and that is trust and hope. Trust that I am with you and guiding you in love and grace, and hope that indeed my love is revealed in your salvation. Notice I did not say will be but rather is revealed in your salvation.
Please don’t overlook that I also say or remind you that your heart is to rejoice in your trust. Try to renew, refresh the capacity to rejoice in your life. It begins by sitting – being with all your attention in the present. Rejoice fully and in that rejoicing you will begin to see the essence of hope and trust. It might be good to remind you that hope and trust really do not have a future meaning. Both connote the present. Your request is granted in the moment you ask.
I have given you something to ponder and reflect upon this morning.
July 1, 2008
Scripture: Then Job replied: “But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. When he is at work in the north, I do not see him, when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him. But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” Psalm 23: 1 & 8-10
Prayer: After a week traveling in all directions in Arizona, I have a sense of Job’s search. Help me to discover you within.
Response: Yes, distance here is used in a figurative sense, as real distance allows you to catch the significance of search and desire. Imagine, if you can, or re-create in your mind the anticipation that you felt as you drifted around a corner along the Colorado River through Glen Canyon and the surprise that awaited you. Nothing predictable – in the rock formations, the vegetation, the bird life that flew over you. Though the raft ride was a symbolic search, you discover that the search is within encouraged by the path or journey you are on.
In a very real sense the raft ride symbolizes the life journey, where or when you do not press the elements of the water flow, but sit poised and alert to what I spread before you. Sometimes your eyes seem to be shut tight in fear, anxiety, even boredom and you miss what I surround you with in all the elements and companions I direct to accompany you.
Come to realize that in your search for me in all directions that I am in your midst. See your life as a ride on a raft that moves without pause, endlessly, as your journey home unfolds. Save your energy to take in fully your life experience and not on trying to divert to what will become a dry canyon. See in your glance the deep and vibrant colors I display for you if only you will give me your attention. See the sunrise and the sunset of your day as brief pauses within which you will journey the four directions almost unaware taken as you are with the panorama that I offer you.
For today, recreate a raft trip in your day, and then when you are proficient in allowing this trip to unfold, take it more deeply within and see what unfolds there.
All for this morning.
June 23, 2008
Scripture: “Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34
Prayer: Help me to keep present and not drift off.
Response: Isn’t it amazing how complicated you make your life. Catch the rhythm; really catch it, of the day. The darkness cedes to the light and the light eases into darkness and the cycle is repeated. That is basic. To give a bit more detail, the night softens to a gray dawn and most days a brilliant sunrise awaits those who can get up on tiptoes that early, and from that the full light and activity occupies you until you slow down to accept the darkness and repose.
Where anxiety enters is when you weigh inordinate options for the day’s activities, splitting moments and activities in your mind, stirring a dialogue among seeming ghosts who clamor for your time and attention. At such times, or even in that agitated stream of activity, go back to the most simple description: the darkness ceding to the influence of the light and the light giving way to rest in darkness.
Take this flow or cycle into your normal day and see how it can influence you so that you are more in control and less reacting to those ghosts that flow in and out of your field of vision seeking to divert your serenity of spirit.
You will discover, if you haven’t already, that this rhythm once adopted provides you a calmness of the heart that promotes your attention on what is important for this moment and you will also discover that you listen with more attention to the murmurings of your heart. It is in your heart that you discover that passion that I nourish when you are still. Ah, at such moments – you will find that this attention span expands – you will hear me and feel my pulse through all your surroundings.
All for this morning.
June 21, 2008
Scripture: “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. John 21:3 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. John 21:6
Prayer: Speak to me of the deeper meaning of these two verses.
Response: Yes, these verses are not all about fishing. First, see that the manifestation of my love is prompted by action. Peter said, “I am going out fishing.” This was not a hobby but how they earned money to live. Action! And his followers, his friends, his colleagues, said that they would go with him. You can almost hear their sandaled feet on the beach dragging their boat into the water. At such times there was not much time to reflect. Though their inner spirit was calm at the moment of hauling the boat to the water’s edge, grabbing the oars, filling the boat with the net, they were performing actions which occupied their lives from dawn to dusk and into the night.
Then they row a hundred yards out and drop the net and wait, and wait and wait. They sense that if there is a catch it is not much. Some even wonder why they acted so on the spur of the moment to accompany Peter. Their fears are confirmed when they raise the net and observe nothing in the net.
And they hear the unsolicited advice of someone standing on the shore – far enough off that they are not sure who it is in the dark – but his words of authority and direction and their own frustration at not hauling in any fish causes them to comply. They are astounded at the catch that follows and recognize in that instant who is calling from the shore.
So in these two verses you are being exhorted, yes, exhorted to act, not precipitously but within the range of your experience, within the community you operate, and trust in faith, await with hope my manifestation in your lives. I am not saying that your experience and your environment will not expand. Who knows you might find yourself confidently fishing, so to speak, in deep water many, many yards from shore.
What does not change, or should not change, is your expectation; put another way, your hope. And that is what distinguishes you in my grace. Life is deciding to go fishing, hauling the dead weight of an oversized vessel to the water, rowing out sufficiently, dropping your nets, and waiting and hoping, and all this in the dark, and of course, awaiting further direction. Incidentally, the direction is always in communion with my love for you. If you hear direction that is not, then of course it is not from me and might even be the clamoring of an anxious mind. Note: I did not say heart.
So that is all for this morning. A very important fishing lesson for even those who think they live far from the sea.
June 19, 2008
Scripture: He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from the beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11
Prayer: Help me to fathom your meaning.
Response: In its time is a key phrase in this verse. And patience is required of you to catch this profound truth that I share with you. Indeed, I have placed eternity in your hearts. You manage to grasp a hint of it when you pause in a moment of reflection and realize that time appears to stand still. Actually, you are at such instants in an eternal moment that has no beginning or end.
This morning as you walked before dawn with the sky just beginning to lighten in the east, you gazed into eternity as you observed a full yellow orange moon. Your rapture was wordless, focused and intent. This is the hint you catch from time to time and you don’t have to go out on a solitary beach to see it or to experience it. However, those moments served to calibrate your antenna, as it were, so that you can pick up indications of the eternity of which I speak in more routine environments.
Fathom is another word I want you to ponder. Plumb, fathom, are words to describe descent and most importantly to be aware of the descent. You are like deep sea divers in training. You begin in shallow water and are always accompanied by an instructor in my grace. As you acclimatize to the water temperature and the increasing depth you begin to see the beauty beyond description and without boundary that is yours. It is yours because it is within you for you to discover – again with my grace.
Set is another word to think about. I did not say that I set it in one particular sect but – and listen to these words – in the hearts of men. Seems inclusive doesn’t it – to include you all? Yet, I also observe that they cannot fathom. I could have said will not fathom.
So today consider the beauty that I make available and accessible to all of you. All you have to be – note I did not say do – is patient.
All for today.
June 18, 2008
Scripture: In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. Isaiah 30:15
Prayer: I am listening this morning for your words.
Response: Repentance and salvation are linked, despite your wish to ignore a need for correction. I have been using of late the word awake in my lessons. Repentance is actually a very natural experience and it begins with becoming conscious. It is like what happens when you judge someone for an action even if you say nothing to that person or even anyone else but nurture the apparent grievance in your heart. And then you discover the circumstances, or the true intent of the individual, and you realize for the first time how incorrect were you in your judgment.
You follow a path, defend a practice, and then discover your true intent hidden in an external flurry of movement. As you repent, feel the deep sorrow for your actions or inaction. You are awake and conscious to your true intentions, and seek to correct – as in a course correction – your life or path direction. I would say that once you become conscious there is no way to avoid repentance. The opposite is true – if you do not feel repentance, you have still not awakened to your circumstances, to my love and salvation. Of course, you have the power to remain in slumber.
In quietness and trust is your strength. This should become for you another mantra when you are tempted to react to circumstances of your life without fully understanding what is happening. Think of the solid mountain standing amidst the fury of a storm. Quiet – not tense – allowing the storm to rage, always trusting that the winds, pelting rain, and lightning will all cease as the morning dawn in the first light of a sunrise. Apply this source of strength in your daily life when the uncertainty of a future encourages consciousness.
Until you wake, I will observe that the wisdom and grace I provide you will go unnoticed or ignored. With my grace, I assure you that your period of repose is coming to an end and you will grasp as if for the first time the aliveness in spirit that you have squandered up until now. And in this awareness you will repent deeply and sincerely.
All for this morning.
June 14, 2008
Scripture: Praise the Lord, O my soul – who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103:5
Prayer: Good things and youth renewed – what is the promise at a deeper meaning?
Response: First, spend a moment on what constitutes your desires. I am not talking about material desires – though you will find fulfillment in the material as a very real confirmation that the path you are on is correct for you. You also discover that as you move in harmony with your soul’s desire and intention, your desires change. They become more ethereal, not weighted down with matter and control.
And that is what unfolds for you in the “good” things that you experience in each moment of your awareness.
And what do you think about your youth being renewed? There is a freshness in you that you might have almost forgotten. It is my promise to you that as you shed the illusions that have captured you in the world you will find that you become truly more youthful. And this youthfulness might not be distinguished by the speed with which you think you can cover a hundred meters, but it is distinguished in how you quickly see each moment as a treasure.
Also, you discover in your youth being renewed that you experience a treasure and peace that you searched for intensely and never found until you in a sense came home and discovered the peace within you, the you that doesn’t age.
And what is there about eagles that make this imagery so poignant? Think of the ground speed that age has diminished and see and experience the speed in the flight of an eagle that you take on coursing through and on the winds. What better image to convey renewed youth than that of an eagle. My only caution to you this day is do not think that I am giving you license to take up hang gliding. Soar in your spirit and you will find it so exhilarating. And finally please appreciate that you are not soaring in the dark but openly and at an altitude for all to see and to become encouraged to take wing also.
In the breeze catch renewed youth, renewed compassion, and renewed commitment to serve.
All for today.
June 12, 2008
Scripture: In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Psalm 81:7
Prayer: Speak to me of thunderclouds.
Response: First let me speak of distress. Without distress you would not pause and gain or seek nourishment. You are like the long distance runner who is maintaining a pace and discards the notion that he needs nourishment, especially water, to continue. Keeping with this image, look around you as you move along the path and spot opportunities to refresh yourself. Remember, it is not the destination as much as the journey you are on. To avoid the nourishment and sustenance and you risk the destination.
So when you are almost overcome with fatigue, look around for the way station. It might be a book, some music, a friend, a landscape, or simply a time when nothing is to be scheduled. This becomes your time and space to be nourished as you know the journey awaits.
And I do rescue you even when you seem to be unconscious to my presence. Sometimes the rescue is not something you would have chosen, but you must agree when you are quiet that the event or experience or even calamity served my purpose.
You paused in your grief, in your loss, in your distress and you were comforted, sustained, and nourished.
You see distress does serve a purpose. It is like the alarm that announces that it is time to awake, to look about, to feel my presence that you will be surprised is always near.
How I answer you is in the surprises that await you. There would be less surprise if you were more conscious. You will discover that my surprises become a bit more subtle as your consciousness expands – like improving your ear to catch the nuances of symphony or better the flavor hidden in a special dish. So if you find that your taste in life is not much different than it was years ago, it means that you have to spend more time in silence.
And I do test you. Not for my purpose, but for you to see, to experience the a-hah moment of wonder and confirmation. Confirmation of what? That is what I want you to ponder this day.
All for this morning.
June 10, 2008
Scripture: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” Matthew 13:44
Prayer: Again with this verse, I have heard it quoted so many times. Please enlighten me to its deeper meaning.
Response: First, note that the verse does not say a treasure but treasure. Treasure encourages your imagination to expand beyond the limits of the mind. In fact, I ask you to conceive of treasure without space boundaries, without material value, and without the limitation of time.
You see, the treasure of which this verse describes is one of eternity, and, this is where you must suspend the insistence of your mind to give precise definition, because the treasure of which I speak is abundant beyond description and is within your grasp – it is within you.
If this is beyond your comprehension this moment, you have not spent sufficient time exploring the field in which you are wandering. And that field is surely the environment in which you live, those with whom you are in relationship and those farther afield – like those for whom you pray. The treasure is in the field on which you tread and my advice is to sell all that will tarnish and disintegrate through age and use, and purchase the field filled with treasure that is within you, I repeat.
Experience in a quiet moment the joy that awaits your discovery. See yourself walking across this field, filled with wonder you are. And notice that this field is available to you but at a price. So as you explored for treasure, now consider the price to be paid. Yes, the field can be purchased, though it will take your sacrifice to accomplish the sale. And the sale price is set as if on a billboard set at the edge of the field – For Sale – All You Have – All You Are!
But consider what a bargain this field – the kingdom of heaven – is and who would not offer all material possessions and pursuits to acquire this treasure? Are you sure?
All for this morning.
June 5, 2008
Scripture: Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love. Psalm 48:9
Prayer: Let me do so in my life.
Response: Consider today that the temple I refer to is your body that carries you through each day. There is no need, in fact I would have you not reserve your prayers for a building, but you know that already. The importance in considering your place of worship to be your body is that I urge you to pray constantly. I am not suggesting that you go around as a zombie uttering prayers. Rather I ask you to maintain steady and ready access to me throughout the day.
Think of how you breathe and perform functions automatically. Well, in the instance of prayer and meditation, incorporate your life in the spirit into your conscious activity and allow what you consider the important tasks of your life like meeting the challenges of the day to your in a sense unconscious life.
I am not looking to disrupt your life but rather fix within you a guidance system that handles what you have considered the most important elements of your life so that you can cherish, cultivate, and nourish the life of the spirit. What does this mean practically, you ask? It means developing routines to give your full attention to matters of the spirit. It might mean taking a period of time – you decide whether it is one minute, five, or longer when you are fully attentive to the spirit within you.
I am not suggesting that you have to be apart, or that you even must maintain a glazed look in your eyes. It is the consciousness that I am calling you to. Think of your alertness when you are in a darkened area and are trying to distinguish a sound. That is the sort of consciousness I am seeking for you to develop, to which to attune your sensibilities.
Now once with that consciousness, meditate, focus on the theme of this lesson, my unfailing love for you. Repeat the word unfailing because, as they say, much of the time the word is lost in translation, your translation. Unfailing love, I repeat to you as you should repeat whenever a doubt creeps in. Why unfailing, you ask? Do I have to justify my love? Surely, you respect my power, the power of my love, to provide this love in a morning shower that might resemble for you monsoon season in India.
For today and ever after, keep the words unfailing love at the very tip of your tongue. Whisper it, shout it if you must – but ensure that you are not on a city street and have people consider you mad. Though I must say, once you fully receive the significance of my meaning you will be considered mad by those who still churn about like robots in their daily activity.
Let me end with these words – Be conscious to my unfailing love. Awake
June 3, 2008
Scripture: How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. Psalm 36:7
Prayer: Help me to confound the truth of your protection.
Response: First, it is important for you to accept that the protection offered to you is that of a winged raptor, and not a pigeon nesting. See in this image fledglings trying out flight for the first time. I want you to catch the boldness in this image and not consider yourself cowering in fear.
Next, I want you to sense the exhilaration of flight — flight – allowing the wind to thrust you on a thermal and yet learning to control with your wings and the shift of your body flight above the clouds of your doubt.
In the shadow of my wings is intended to remind you that I am above you shielding you from all danger. That is not to say that you will not know danger, especially the danger of discouragement, or worse listlessness, sloth.
By refuge, you are to realize that if you wander off too far, scurry back quickly when you sense danger. You see, in flight you are also encouraged to use your senses to anticipate, foretell danger and to make wise decisions, namely to return to the shadow of my wings.
The shadow describes a peacefulness, knowing that all is well in my love.
So today consider the breadth of my love and protection and what awaits you if you climb in flight sufficiently.
June 1, 2008
Scripture: He said to them: “Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.” Mathew 13:52
Prayer: Tell me about the storehouse and the new and old treasures.
Response: There is more to this verse than you see on first or second reading. You are instructed about the kingdom of heaven, though there are times when you might conclude that you were dozing at the time of instruction. And you are the owner of your house, that is, the temple – your body that allows you to navigate through these life experiences and lessons.
Recall a time that you had reason to investigate what was stored in a closet that was so full you avoided even opening the door. Well, imagine what you might have access to with all the gems of wisdom you have gained either as a gift from someone or from your own diligence. And even if you can’t come up with an example, consider how you can access what resides untouched in that storeroom –if only you would open the door and investigate.
The treasures are much more than things to grasp or to hold. The treasures are living and spring to life – it seems – as soon as you glance upon them. In fact, you will find that once you acknowledge the truth contained in a treasure, the treasure is not external to you. You are in union. It might come as a surprise but you are in union, and yet with so many treasures you seem to roam aimlessly around and through the corridors of your heart because you are distracted by what is truly transitory and external to you.
The treasures within your storehouse are all, I repeat all, you require for your journey, the journey you are on right now though this might have even escaped you. New and old denotes a timelessness that I wish you to grasp. Old and new, new and old represent a cycle of nourishment and renewal. See this storehouse as the endless resource I provide you to meet every challenge you encounter. There is nothing awaiting you today for which I did not prepare you. Imagine me as the person you approach in planning your trip into an unknown land. I am the master logistician. You have access to all you need to endure successfully and even flourish on the path. And what’s more, through my grace I remind you of my presence and availability to sustain you.
And see me also this morning as the co-owner of the house who is ever eager to reveal to you treasures new and old that you have overlooked, and in the revelation you come to know the treasure as your own.
All for this morning.
May 30, 2008
Scripture: O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Psalm 63:1
Prayer: Cultivate in me that thirst that prods me to continue to search beyond a dry and weary land.
Response: One might think that I should be cultivating your taste for a fine wine, but then again I might be. You see by inspiring you, I am instilling in you a discrimination of sorts to recognize me and not to resign yourself to a dry and weary land.
Picture yourself about to give up but you recall the sound of a mountain stream, gurgling over rocks as it makes its way to the sea from the highest altitude. You can even recall the cooling and quenching taste of that experience. It is with that recollection that you stand up and continue through the dry and weary land. That recollection is my grace that urges you onward along the path.
Spend some time recalling in your life instances when you experienced the surprise of coming upon that mountain stream and the refreshment it offered even if you have never visited a mountain clime. The stream might be a chance encounter with a friend or a stranger, a visit to a bookstore and discovering a treasure just before you, hearing a musical score for the first time that enraptures you, smelling a flavor from a kitchen that recalls for you a celebration, hearing laughter from an unseen corner and recalling your own laughter.
Your thirst and longing are evidence for you that I surely touched you, that I beckoned and beckon you, and that I encourage you with all the signs that surround you and intersect in your life daily. My presence found in those signs is there to accompany you, to sustain you, to encourage you in whatever and whenever you find yourself in a dry and weary land of your life. You will discover that your stays in such weariness become brief as you move further on the path of your life.
All for this morning.
May 28, 2008
Scripture: Every gift and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17
Prayer: Give me a deeper understanding of your constancy.
Response: That image is well chosen because it describes to you not only my constancy but also that I am right over you. And I remain with you and within you. There are no shifting shadows with which to contend or anticipate. Said another way, there is no interference in my signal to you though your life can create the static or noise that prevents you from hearing me directly. Indeed, it is your choice to turn your attention elsewhere but I see a most constant and consistent return to the station I have set within you.
Shifting shadows also connotes unchanging. By this I do not mean or wish you to think that there is no growth allowed you or that my message is pre-canned. If you can put aside linear thinking, put aside time and space dimension which you experience, and consider that what appears to you unchanging – those heavenly lights without shifting shadows – is actually a portal to eternity that you experience now.
Think of the exhilaration of sweeping down a mountain glacier with no thought of falling or sweeping over the side of the mountain. In that experience you would no longer be concerned with every blade of ice before you but rather you would see for the first time, you would have the capacity to take in the whole scene, without boundaries forced upon you by speed, space, and time boundaries.
So I encourage you to see that you are covered in a sense, in a real sense with my grace that is an unshifting light that seeks to lead you to the exhilaration of my love. And the paradox, there are so many used to confound your mind so you will be still, is that you speed down the glacier in my love when you are still, quiet, reflective, and in an ease of heart.
You would have probably chosen to have me be clearer – or perhaps not so clear – in my imagery and parables and stories and your life experiences, but then you would not have been able to acknowledge growth and even enlightenment in my love in the heavenly light that shines without any shifting shadows.
All for this morning.
May 26, 2008
Scripture: But if I say, “I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.
Prayer: I cannot recall ever reading a fire shut up in my bones. Help me to understand more deeply your meaning.
Response: First be prepared to have a phrase or word in scripture strike you especially one morning, though you might have come across the words previously. A fire shut up in your bones seeks to give expression to the divine spark that is within you, though there are times when you would seek to deny or ignore the significance of this revelation.
The essential message contained in this phrase is not really a mystery unveiled. When you are quiet, I mean soul-quiet, you realize quiet clearly what I am saying. Your only difficulty is attaining that soul-quiet state when you cast aside all thought of “what would others think” if I make bold to penetrate this truth on my own.
And notice I say that my words are shut up in your bones. Think or reflect on that image – fire shut up in bone matter. What a contradiction or rather paradox. The fire you would think would consume the bones, but no, it allows, yes that is the word allows its flame to be contained in the bone matter.
It is for you to release that flame, that light, that love in your material surroundings. And here the paradox or contradiction continues, because once you release the flame you will contribute to the consummation of the material in my love.
You did not think this morning that just a phrase would lead to the conflagration of which I speak. But yes, it does and this conflagration sears away the fear and anger and hatred that up until now consumes so much of your environment.
So this morning I ask you first, to be still and feel that flame within your bones, recognize it, honor it; next, in prayer, reflection, and action release the flame into your environment. In doing do, you will discover that others will be encouraged to do likewise and what started as individual fires will spread for all to see even in the night.
All for this morning.
May 23, 2008
Scripture: When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed about the teaching of the Lord. Acts 13:12
Prayer: A snapshot scene. Lead me to a greater wisdom.
Response: Critical for this verse is the word “saw.” And that is what I encourage you to do – to look around you – at events in your life each day. Seek to develop a discriminating sight that catches the uniqueness of life and the manifestations of my love. Don’t tread along assuming that nothing relates to you.
Consider this proconsul – and you are surrounded by proconsuls. If the truth be known, you are a proconsul. Another word could be special. You are special, though you are much more willing or inclined to observe someone else’s favor. So at least for this day see yourself as special.
Next, catch the light that flickers within you and takes the form of recognition of my presence. The proconsul looked closely at what others would dismiss as madness. With courage he accepted first to himself and then aloud the occurrences that what he witnessed was out of the ordinary and he believed.
Those out-of-the-ordinary events did not cease two thousand years ago or earlier. They ring your every day experiences. All it takes for you to see and not assume. You will find when you dismiss assumptions your life will be filled with surprise – even if some believe that there has been sufficient surprise in their lives in the form of unexpected consequences.
You are the proconsul and are asked to widen your glance, increase your peripheral vision, and in this example direct your light beyond the individual concerns you might be inclined to indulge yourself. Then, seeing almost with new eyes, confirm, believe, and serve. Again, quite simple, requiring first and foremost keen sight to observe what is occurring on your path.
So for today, no assumptions, please. See as if your sight was restored and it is.
May 21, 2008
Scripture: For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. Acts 9:9
Prayer: This verse is also familiar, almost too familiar, to discover a deeper meaning.
Response: The essential meaning is that Saul was required by his temporary incapacitation to be still. And note he did not know it was only to be for three days. I say only because in retrospect you can dismiss the challenge that he faced.
If you are able, take every moment, even when you are thrashing about, to be still and listening. The dramatic circumstances of Saul’s blinding and his anger, perhaps it was fear, that brought him on the road to Damascus, gave him much to consider. More importantly, his anger and fear had to subside and only he could regain control of who he was with what turned out to be, in retrospect, a temporary blindness.
It is good to contemplate such circumstances in your own life though I am not suggesting that you stage such an event. Right not you can be “blind” to what troubles or distracts you – right now in this moment. And you can also exhibit a patience of soul by not jumping up to make a pot of coffee. Simply stay in the silence of the predawn and listen with a fullness that does not allow distractions to intrude.
You can see from the perspective of history what these three days meant to Saul, soon to be baptized Paul. Now, put history aside, and embrace the stillness that I offer with no thought of what you will accomplish or even if there is a next moment. Discover in blindness and stillness your identity and allow that identify to unfold in your purpose. So simple.
I ask you today not to dwell in the historical perspective of this verse, that is, who was it, what did he do later, what are the results today, but rather who are you, what are you doing today?
All for this morning.
May 19, 2008
Scripture: Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among the thorns. Jeremiah 4:3
Prayer: Is it my planting this spring that draws me to this verse? Provide me a deeper insight.
Response: Here I am encouraging you to discover what is unfolding and to be satisfied, declining to churn over in your mind what is of the past. Look at your life this day as an open field that needs turning, breaking up: it needs your touch. Wisely, you have identified what brings pain, even the memory of pain. I am offering you this and every day a new start.
Clearly, I am not suggesting that there is no work, effort in the project of today. The words break up suggests that you experience the hard labor and even strain. I will bring you relief. And once you start there is no stopping. Your field that has been up until now unturned, is to be ploughed. Catch the excitement and the discovery that awaits you.
And yes there is a time dimension. You are invited to plough the field and plant before the rains come. The rains also represent all the distractions that seek to encourage you to delay or avoid the challenge. I want you to greet the rains – even if they appear to be setbacks. Focus again on the surprise, the bounty that awaits you.
And about the thorns, you can understand that working among them will only remind you of the pain you suffered in the past and in doing so you lose your perspective of the present. The thorns also represent not only pain, but delay as you become engulfed among them.
Notice that in this verse I do not talk about the harvest. That will come. For the moment I want your total attention on the task at hand that begins in silence as your eyes scan over the unplowed ground, the dark earth, with all its treasures ready to be released.
All for this morning.
May 17, 2008
Scripture: “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’” Isaiah 65:1
Prayer: So much for me thinking at times that I found you!
Response: My love is discovered when you realize that it is spontaneous and without any merit on your part. You have many examples that point to this love around you. Remember I said point. It is for you to be reminded of the depth of my love when you see such signs in the love that a parent has for its child though the child has done nothing to merit it, in fact, often times quiet the contrary is true.
Do not dwell, however, on the merit aspect of this connection to me, rather see in surprise my presence in your life precisely when you do not expect it, or more accurately you are so distracted by one crisis or another that you are not focused or still sufficiently to see me until it seems I trip you into quiet and you say “aha!”
This verse speaks to you today of my determination to find you in your circumstances. It doesn’t matter where you are, how burdened or successful in the world’s eyes you are, I will reveal myself to you so that you have difficulty turning away without recognizing my presence in your life. You don’t even have to admit it to anyone else, simply know it in the depth of your heart.
Think of a treasure hunt with no idea of what the treasure will be and discovering all the while that you carried the treasure in your heart. It’s like biting into a sandwich and discovering a note from your beloved.—that’s me – who prepared the sandwich.
Feel the relief that you don’t have to pore over documents in a library, or search across continents, or engage wise men in conversation – all you have to do is see how I reveal myself to you especially even though you had not previously called to me.
All for this morning.
May 15, 2008
Scripture: “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:20
Prayer: Help me to accept what I have seen and heard.
Response: How often do you attribute my hand in your life as mere coincidence? It is almost as if you fear that you will trick yourself into belief if you were to see the intimate connection we share daily. What I propose to you is to accept a three-step process.
First be awake to what is happening in your life – everything from health issues, to financial strains or surplus, to relationships and to those who happen upon your scene, to the weather, to everything that living in this world entails – all the experiences. But do this from the vantage point of the present, not burdened by what you can recall from yesterday or even years past.
Next, be alert, some would say be awake, to those instances or incidents that catch your heightened awareness or attention because you say to yourself – isn’t that interesting, or what a coincidence. And a coincidence is not always something you might consider positive. Realize in this exercise there is no positive or negative.
The third step is to leap across your doubt and cynicism and see my hand, or better my presence. No, there is not a set script for each of you, sogive up assuming that I will mouth the words for the play in which you perceive you are performing. No, it your actions that determine the outcome of this production, or better it is you who are progressing along the path – to use another analogy, though I will whisper a word if you are stuck or provide drink to slack your thirst along the way.
What I am asking you to do is to figuratively kneel in my garden and look down at the rich earth, quietly, and in silence. Focus easily and see all that is happening just before your eyes. See the blood worms aerating the soil, the first seeds germinating, the moisture in droplets that seems to have a life of their own, smell the breeze filled with the odor of spring, sense the movement of the birds eager to discover what awaits them in the ground. And see yourself in the midst of this scene as you are in the midst of my creation.
Now when you have knelt long enough observing, not disturbing, see my connection to you in all, I repeat all aspects of your life, and give thanks, not because I need praise, but to allow yourself to witness my love for you all especially and specially – each day. Then, what can keep you from speaking all you have seen and heard?
All for this morning.
May 13, 2008
Scripture: All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone who had need. Acts 2:44-45
Prayer: Lord, I read these words and can’t help but think of economic and political systems that are defunct. Help me to focus on the words: they gave to anyone who had need.
Response: There you have it. Contained in those words is your call to service. And don’t limit your call to food and shelter. Include, notice I did not say that this is an either/or call, food for the spirit.
Give a wider interpretation to selling their possessions and goods. You are asked to share not only your food to those who hunger in the body, but to share your message with those who hunger in the spirit which I am sure you realize is as ravaging, even more so because that feeling of despair ravages the spirit more than the lack of food and sustenance.
So these words are not meant to make you feel guilty that you are not living in a commune. Rather I am calling you to display in action a generosity of spirit in service. Service to whom? Service to the person who comes, maybe even stumbles, across your path, who might be quite well dressed and fed, but hungers for the word you might be able to provide; service in prayer for those in agony and sorrow scattered across the globe who have experienced deep loss; those in your midst whom you recognize by sight but not by the circumstances of their life. Be like the antenna with your alertness to catch – that is to listen to – the subtle signals, the faint signals of someone who has lost the power, if ever it was displayed, to shout a spirit need.
Selling your possessions, if you have missed it, refers much more than material goods. Selling your possessions means moving out behind the costume you wear to minister to those in need. It means revealing who you are and becoming without any regard as to what “people” say. Do I have to remind you that in appearing to the world as powerless you assume a mantle of power that you might never have envisioned.
Service is not forcing yourself on another in need. Most of all it is listening and discerning – a word that captures that pause and conclusion – where the need is and how to provide or contribute to satisfying that need generously. You would not have to go far to find examples of what I am referring with only a brief scan of your news that reports on real and perceived needs daily.
So approach the unfolding day in a listening mode tied to a commitment to serve in whatever capacity needed. Notice, I did not say in whatever capacity you have time for. Ponder this line, but do so free of guilt. Look at the opportunities in both prayer and action which you can contribute. Finally, do not consider your family and those in your immediate community not worthy of your careful attention.
Doing so and being so, you will find that you too live holding everything in common.
May 10. 2008
Scripture: “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.” Joel 2:28
Prayer: Dreams, visions, what’s the difference? As with so much of what I read, the words are easy to understand, but the meaning sometimes escapes me.
Response: Don’t try so hard to distinguish in your mind vision from dream. As you accept your age and what you have gathered along this journey you have been on, see in your heart that dreams represent a certain stillness where you are witness to all that is unfolding. And it is with dreams that you are peaceful, even defenseless, accepting, and vulnerable. Yet in this state you are stronger than you realize in your vulnerability.
For those that are young, visions are the action scenes presented and form almost as plans of action to bring about change. In visioning you take an active part in creating a future. In dreams you accept what is unfolding in an active manner, if that can make sense to you. There is nothing passive about dreams, but rather it is your active acceptance and surrender to my plans for you that fulfill your mission in life to serve.
Both visions and dreams have a harmony that bring to the fore what in visions you are to do and in dreams what you are to be.
In dreams you reach a place in your heart where you acknowledge my presence. In dreams, now listen carefully, you awake. That is another paradox within which meaning is buried or hidden from those who cannot yet sit still in my grace.
So let me say again, in dreams you awake. And please don’t miss it is in the pouring out of the Spirit on all of you that you both have visions and dream.
All for this morning.
May 9, 2008
Scripture: To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another the gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophesy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.” 1 Corinthians 12:8-9
Prayer: Here is another example of words with which I am familiar, yet I know that the essential meaning I sometimes take for granted. Help me to grasp the deeper meaning.
Response: Surely, you catch that these two verses outline a range of influences that the Spirit has on you all as you work your way on the path. And please do not attempt to limit the Spirit’s influence by categorizing each of the gifts mentioned and believe that those gifts are representative of the whole. Think of the Spirit’s influence as evidence that the Spirit each day it prods you to pray, to praise, to awaken, and even provides at times the holy groans that read your heart when you are simply unable to articulate the prayer so deeply felt.
Also, do you best not to look around and say that one has this gift and the other that. The verses are to indicate to you the influence the Spirit has in your life as if a flavor added to what you might consider in yourself a bland liquid or one that needs to be invigorated. If you must, the Spirit adds flavor and carbonation to you when you are flat and stale.
However, I do want you to consider the range of gifts that are shed on you in various degrees as the Spirit determines. Again, don’t try, if you can, figure out why he or she and not me, or why me and not he or she. It is a fruitless exercise, especially since you are attempting in that effort to comprehend with your limited mind – and no insult here – a mystery. You would do better to cultivate a spirit of thanksgiving in your heart for whatever gift or gifts you receive, and as I said above don’t limit it to the gifts mentioned above.
They are not, repeat not, all conclusive. For example, a mighty gift not specifically mentioned above is the gift of selfless service.
Take these gifts of evidence of the Spirit’s presence and interaction in your life. Don’t worry about anyone else. If you can recognize a gift within you – and you each should be able to do so – put aside false modesty – take as witness that you as well as others have been singled out. Do not consider these gifts as exclusive, that is, meant for few. Few or many, if you are focusing on your own gifts, that is more than sufficient to own the gift and to use the gift in appreciation for the grace showered on you.
Finally, these gifts serve to awaken you from your slumber. It is as if the Spirit is moving about you and slapping you awake with the gift that serves as the Spirit’s rod.
May 8, 2008
Scripture: To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another the gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophesy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.” 1 Corinthians 12:8-9
Prayer: Here is another example of words with which I am familiar, yet I know that the essential meaning I sometimes take for granted. Help me to grasp the deeper meaning.
Response: Surely, you catch that these two verses outline a range of influences that the Spirit has on you all as you work your way on the path. And please do not attempt to limit the Spirit’s influence by categorizing each of the gifts mentioned and believe that those gifts are representative of the whole. Think of the Spirit’s influence as evidence that the Spirit each day it prods you to pray, to praise, to awaken, and even provides at times the holy groans that read your heart when you are simply unable to articulate the prayer so deeply felt.
Also, do you best not to look around and say that one has this gift and the other that. The verses are to indicate to you the influence the Spirit has in your life as if a flavor added to what you might consider in yourself a bland liquid or one that needs to be invigorated. If you must, the Spirit adds flavor and carbonation to you when you are flat and stale.
However, I do want you to consider the range of gifts that are shed on you in various degrees as the Spirit determines. Again, don’t try, if you can, figure out why he or she and not me, or why me and not he or she. It is a fruitless exercise, especially since you are attempting in that effort to comprehend with your limited mind – and no insult here – a mystery. You would do better to cultivate a spirit of thanksgiving in your heart for whatever gift or gifts you receive, and as I said above don’t limit it to the gifts mentioned above. They are not, repeat not, all conclusive. For example, a mighty gift not specifically mentioned above is the gift of selfless service.
Take these gifts of evidence of the Spirit’s presence and interaction in your life. Don’t worry about anyone else. If you can recognize a gift within you – and you each should be able to do so – put aside false modesty – take as witness that you as well as others have been singled out. Do not consider these gifts as exclusive, that is, meant for few. Few or many, if you are focusing on your own gifts, that is more than sufficient to own the gift and to use the gift in appreciation for the grace showered on you.
Finally, these gifts serve to awaken you from your slumber. It is as if the Spirit is moving about you and slapping you awake with the gift that serves as the Spirit’s rod.
May 6, 2008
Scripture: I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Romans 8:18
Prayer:
Lord, in this verse please shed your light of understanding on the words glory that will be revealed in us.
Response: Almost unnoticed is the glory that will not so much be revealed to you as in you. You spend so much time looking for the light outside, and you now have discovered I mean to reveal to you the light within.
When you accept this truth for the first time beyond just nodding at the words you will experience an a- hah enlightenment that surprises you, if not more intense, at its simplicity and profundity and promise – all at the same time.
Realizing deeply the truth of these words reverberates throughout your whole being once you get it. With this truth there is nothing to threaten your peace – no, not illness, setbacks, even the approach of death.
How is this glory once revealed to you seen by those around you? I smile to tell you that the light cannot be contained in you once revealed. So you will find, or better, others will see something different and yet something recognizable in the spray of the light crossing their shadow. And so the glory revealed in you prompts others to see the light within each of them in consciousness – there’s that word again.
The glory that is revealed in you can be compared to the balance you feel standing with legs apart or sitting at a desk with your feet firmly planted beneath you. This glory is manifested as a pause – an eternal one – that needs no further declaration or explanation.
So today reach inward for the glory that is becoming manifest and allow the light to be visible in your life today
May 2, 2008
Scripture:Show us your unfailing love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. Psalm 85:7
Prayer: How many times have I heard the words and repeated as a refrain grant us your salvation. Help me this morning catch the essence in a new light.
Response: There are many thoughts and images and words imprinted in your youth that are there for you and to nourish you in your age. This verse is one. What day should not begin with this first praise? Think of a time when you can open your eyes after sleep, perhaps it is still dark, or at least only the gray of the false dawn is showing and you open your conscious moment with Show me your unfailing love, O Lord, this day. You need go no further in morning prayer.
Those words of the psalmist are meant for you this very morning and every morning. It becomes your declaration of truth and of my steadfastness in your life. It becomes your call to consciousness after a night of slumber. Those words can serve to be your alarm clock reminding you that it is past time to declare your intention to see what I place before you each and every day.
Grant me your salvation is not, I repeat not tied to the first clause. I show you my unfailing love each moment and it is not tied to your salvation. The and connecting the two clauses is most important. In the past it served to unite you to the person leading the service. Now it is meant for your conscious relationship.
And a word about salvation – salvation is you becoming conscious to my love and in doing or becoming so your every action, thought, dream, relationship reflects and is consistent with that love. So you see, salvation is a manifestation of who you are and becoming. It is your declaration and confidence in the salvation I have declared.
So open the day with that eager curiosity and expectation Show me your unfailing love and you will discover salvation in your midst.
All for this morning.
April 30, 2008
Scripture:
For when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, no one listened. Isaiah 66:4
Prayer:
Bring me to a place where I do not ignore your call – where I listen to you.
Response:
Call and speak have two different connotations. Both require you to be conscious and not to make as if you are only hearing the wind or a door closing, or the ambient noise living in a city. Call holds a certain urgency, and it is in a call that I urge you into action to serve.
And you can just imagine the diversity of service I call you to. Call is actually doing something about what I instruct you in the many lessons and events of your life. The common reaction – and you all receive my call – is to plug on even harder, unconscious, to your daily routine. Routines are established so you can go about unconscious to the activity performed. Think of your breathing. Another reason I urge you to take and a deep breath and to be conscious of it, though I am not encouraging you to go about life simply being conscious of each breath. In my call, I am attempting to roust you from your slumber. I am seeking to see you awakened, yes, even enlightened through my grace.
So listen to my call. I do not get hoarse. But I do urge you not to become accustomed to the call to the point that you ignore the call to service. Even on the top of a mountain the wind ceases. Don’t wait for a time when you can no longer distinguish between the howling wind and utter calm. Then you have truly fallen further into sleep.
In speaking, I am instructing you, filling your heart with my word and love. Your listening improves vastly when you respond to my call. You will find that then you can sit in stillness and you are able to hear me both in the howling of the wind – that may be turmoil surrounding you – as well as, equally, in the quiet time of meditation where thoughts of your routine do not interfere and you are totally focused on what I am saying to you. My teaching surely incorporates service but also and most importantly leads you to a consciousness that you never imagined possible and for which I destined you.
So you see that calling and speaking to you is all for the purpose of waking you from your slumber. No longer will you find yourself repeating the words of others, but will discover the source of your own wisdom with which I have enriched each of you.
All for this morning.
April 27, 2008
Scripture: For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations. Isaiah 62:11
Prayer: There must be a message here since I was planting just after dawn.
Response: As you are quick to observe, there are no coincidences. Consider the knees of your jeans still wet and muddy, allowing you to retain the gardening image that I present to you this morning. All your work still await the sprouting up that you can do nothing but await after your toil. And it is a continuing toil. In this simple scene whether it be of a farmer who depends upon his livelihood for the seeds to sprout up or you gardeners who bring color around and into your home, there is a faith you demonstrate in the process and it goes further than hoping for rain.
The lesson here is to consider the preparation you make, the determination to keep to the process, your belief that indeed the blossoms will burst forth in time – and all this given witness to the mystery of life. So simple. You need no scholarly treatises to describe the process. It stands out for you each day and not only in the earth you till and plant, but in your every day activity.
Consider each day as a day in my garden. Don’t be surprised, you shouldn’t be, of the hardwork and faith I require. Here’s a challenge for you —don’t even expect that you will be present for the harvest, that is, to see the blossoms. As you cultivate your faith with my grace your knowing of the fruits that await is as real for you as wandering in a garden at the time of its richness – so great is your faith, and I should add your optimism that is reflected in your every action.
Much is written about righteousness and praise. Another word for both is love. As you grow in consciousness and love so natural to you will become full righteousness and praise. And that is the miracle that awaits you in the garden of your heart.
All for this morning.
April 23, 2008
Scripture: “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” John 7:38
Prayer: Help me to see the living water in my life.
Response: This living water of which I speak flows from me and washes over you as if you were a child sitting at the edge of the surf. As a child you will feel the splash and might even close your eyes so much is the glare of the sun and water taken together. What you sometimes, or most times do not comprehend, is that you take these living waters of grace with you and in your day to day actions with others and even alone in prayer. Allow the flow to come out of you.
No worry, you see, the source of the water and grace are limitless. In fact like inhaling and exhaling, you will find that the more generously you share the living waters your capacity, if it were air - lung capacity - expands.
Living waters, my grace riding the Holy Spirit, can not be contained no matter how hard and constricted one might be. So be forewarned, once you drink in the living waters you are changed. There is no turning back, returning to who you were. You are changed and forever, for an eternity.
Sometimes it is difficult for you to realize this truth fully. Every change you experience in the external world is not forever. The most elaborate renovation will need renovation and repair in time. But I am saying to you that reception of the living water changes you forever and only your capacity to drink more of this stream of my love increases in my grace.
So sit by the shore some day and catch the meaning of the images that I have brought to you this morning.
April 21, 2008
Scripture: Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped, then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute’s tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. Isaiah 35:5-6
Prayer: Help me to comprehend more deeply the joy of which you speak.
Response: It is difficult sometimes for you to let go into the joy described because even at an early hour you are planning your day and considering the duties that need to be performed. For a moment, however, put your self in each of the images presented and sense the joy. In doing so, you bring the joy to the surface because it resides within you.
The eyes of the blind - don’t look beyond yourself for an image of a blind person. Distraction is your blindness as if you are determining what to avoid in a darkened room such is your dream state. Turn on the lights of your heart and feel the joy of one whose sight is restored, awakened.
The ears of the deaf unstopped - Hear me as I speak to you. There are times my words are shouted to gain your attention. You know the times, especially when an event in your life stops you still sometimes in wonder, sometimes in grief.
The lame leap like a deer - On your solitary walks reach out and feel the energy coursing in your body, a body fashioned to serve. In acknowledging this surge you discard ponderous thinking and look forward to the next hill.
The mute’s tongue shouts for joy — And here you see praise. Yes, joy is praise. And it is for you to reflect upon the essential elements of your joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert - This is an appropriate image given your walk on the beach just after a thunderous rainstorm. Sense the growth and cleansing that is taking place around you and within. Hear the morning birds that shuddered in their nests but now are joyous.
All the signs are there for you to see and take in, the same that Isaiah sings of. That is a connection for you that transports you all to a realm free of space and time constraints. And don’t miss, please, the foreshadowing of the Christ in these lines - and this foreshadowing is not limited to two thousand years ago but is evident for you today if you will be the blind, deaf, lame, mute that feels the waters rush over.
All for today.
April 18, 2008
Scripture: “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.” John 6:63
Prayer: I could nod in agreement but then I ask why the body is so important to me - its health, appearance, even weight?
Response: I want you to approach each verse of scripture as well as other wisdom literature or words spoken with that same questioning and discrimination.
Clearly, you all understand that without caring for your body you are not able or perhaps indisposed to hear me, and equally important you are unable to add muscle, yes muscle to my service that needs torch bearers to dispel the darkness. So don’t be tempted to remain reclining, listening without action to my pleas for service.
Once you understand what I am saying you should then be able to see that it is the spirit what wafts through your limbs to see the change that I urge you all to make in consciousness.
Jesus spoke with a clarity that is lost when someone takes my word and clothes it in the ego’s call for respect and acknowledgement. When you serve selflessly, without concern for how the words or you look, you speak of and through the Spirit - and it is on those occasions that the darkness is dispelled.
So put into the proper perspective concerns of the flesh when they come against the inspiration of the Spirit. And equally don’t denigrate the body as it performs under your direction my work.
Now having discussed the body and the spirit, ponder who you are.
All for today.
April 15, 2008
Scripture: But he said to them, “It is I, do not be afraid.” Then they were willing to take him into the boat; and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading. John 6:20-21
Prayer: Help me to be willing.
Response: Yes, that is a key phrase - to be willing. Please take those words and the scene that is described in those few words to heart. First, I assure you in life not to be afraid even when you have not prayed to me directly nor have asked for my assistance - as the apostles in the storm tossed boat failed to do. In distress instead of seeking an immediate fix, time spent even a moment in stillness will serve you and you might even hear my assurance as I assured these frightened hearty fishermen.
You can always reject my assistance and continue to rush about fruitlessly in life. It is your call as you might say. However, if you are willing and assist me into your boat, or put another way, open the door because you see I am knocking, then I will come aboard or enter your room whatever analogy suits you.
Now, I am just not a hungry guest - though I am hungry for your love - I come to support you in your particular situation. As you read in this verse, the results are immediate — the boat reached the shore where they were heading. The verse does not say that the boat was righted and headed toward the shore where they were heading. No, the boat reached the shore. Take this in deeply. Reached is a powerful word. No need to report in the next chapter the journey because you know the result of bringing me aboard - you reach your destination.
Now a word about destination. You might not find it was the destination you intended. However, it is the destination you were heading despite all the distractions and detours that you explored. At the deepest level you know where you are heading. All of you must answer in the quiet of your soul. It doesn’t matter where you appear to be going, even if you contribute to that impression by your life. Bring me aboard because I tell you who I am and calm you not to be afraid to discover your true heading and you will discover before long that you have weathered the storm and reached the shore safely.
Read these words of scripture once again and take in their full meaning.
All for this morning.
April 13, 2008
Scripture: Above all, you must understand that 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 Peter1:20-21
Prayer: I am listening after witnessing an extraordinary sunrise that seemed to move north in its brilliance outburst.
Response: As you cannot alter the course of the planets as they circle the sun, so you can’t alter the Spirit as it s rushes like the wind through your life. The Spirit carries you like a kite is carried aloft in a sea breeze. There is not much for you to do but to release your self to travel ever high and in doing so to see your life from that higher perspective.
As you can recall when you resist the flow of the air you find that your flight becomes erratic and if you are not careful results in the kite crashing to the surface. So it is in life. Catch the air currents of my grace and you will experience within a flight of unimagined proportions.
You have within you an inner guidance system, so to speak, that will give you respite when the journey seems disrupted by low energy, illusions and phantoms of the past or future that invade your space. Acknowledging the Spirit you will do well to ride the currents without resisting and in my grace and love.
For today, see the interconnect-ness in all thinks, in all my creation, and in that reflection you will bolt out of the isolation that often leads to the thought that you are on a journey apart when in fact you are in unison and communion with those around you and afar.
You are carried along by the Holy Spirit.
All for this morning.
April 10, 2008
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. Revelations 21:4
Prayer: On this the fifth anniversary of Donna’s passing, please reinforce the truth of these words.
Response: Five years, five months, five weeks - do you see that it is not a question of elapsed time, but what you bring with you on the journey unfolding before all of you who have been left to continue your quest. The passing of a loved one serves to help you distinguish what you need for the journey and what can be discarded as too weighty and burdensome.
A passing requires you to make an ascent, that is, the road seems a bit more challenging. You would hardly keep with you all the supplies and encumbrances that you carried earlier into your journey. So a passing reminds you, even requires you, if you are to make the ascent, to lighten your load, or put another way, lighten your load - as in diffusing light and love as you climb.
And what are the encumbrances about which I speak? How about anger, not forgiving, self-centeredness, self-pity, fear, despair, attachment, control, to name just a few - but if I gave you a couple of minutes your list would lengthen accordingly.
In lightening your load after a loss, some of you for the first time have taken seriously your mortality and isn’t that an interesting reflection - one not to be ignored. There is a paradox that as you lighten your encumbrances, you seem to dispense in love much more than you were carrying. Do you remember me talking about the need to empty yourself so that I can fill you? Well, here is proof of that.
So on this anniversary and any remembrance of a grievous loss, celebrate! Yes, celebrate what I send you in love and blessings into what you perceived as an emptiness. You have to do two things: accept your emptiness and accept my bounty.
All for you today in celebration.
April 8, 2008
Scripture: “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord makes his face shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:22-26
Prayer: Let these words enfold me in my actions.
Response: Consider this greeting for whomever you encounter even if you would be hesitant to voice the words aloud lest someone think you odd, though odd you become. This blessing, if you catch the essence of my words, will be quite evident on the smile you convey, the peacefulness you promote even under tense conditions.
Requesting in prayer for someone else what you have received is the ultimate emptying that allows me to fill you with my Spirit.
Reflect upon the strength of the words keep you, shine upon you, and be gracious. And realize that my gift conveyed in your blessing of others is simply not a collection of words that are nice to the ear, rather with me turning my face toward you also, you receive from me what you all seek and that is peace.
What is peace? Rather than attempt to define peace, understand that peace is evidence that I have helped you find your way to innermost depth where I reside with you in my grace. All the scrambling to find peace and security, and in this blessing you discover that my peace is within you. One could wonder, even question, why all the wanderings a field.
So, take seriously your blessing extended to others either verbally or in prayer and intention, and you will discover your own peace especially fashioned for you in your circumstances.
All for this morning.
April 6, 2008
Scripture: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Chris! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3
Prayer: My attention lingers on the words new birth. Provide me a deeper understanding.
Response: New birth holds a special meaning of conversion of spirit; and while you might want to say that the new birth is a one time event like the birth of a child understand that I am signifying an event and the full maturation of the soul.
New birth is the path you are on now with all its joys and tribulations, with all its reflections and ponderings. This new birth is as fresh to you as a twenty year old as it is for an eighty year old. New birth is present to you this moment and in being present to you offers you daily, moment by moment, new hope.
Living hope pulsates in you and challenges you to shed all doubt, yes, all doubt. And this shedding is made possible in your new and constantly reinvigorated new birth.
And this new hope flows from the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Again words that you have heard and repeat so often yet were you to pause sufficiently in silence you would more appropriately be struck speechless with this reality.
Resurrection from the dead - how to explain the inexplicable? A mystery, you must conclude, but take heart, this mystery is no more inexplicable than your new birth - and that is what you should be focusing your energy on in the grace of Jesus Christ.
All for this morning.
April 4, 2008
Scripture: Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:2-4
Prayer: I know strong winds and in such winds feel the affect on the upper reaches of my home. Bring these words to more clarity to me since they are almost too familiar.
Response: You, like those gathered in Jerusalem, share one common trait your attention must be seized from the events that surround your lives. The Spirit’s descent is dramatic and the natural effects of the howling winds were apropos the significance of this happening. It is the rolling of the drums, the clash of symbols, or the fireworks display that has you all look up into the sky. So it was and is as the Spirit descends.
You might argue that you don’t recall seeing tongues of fire pealing off from a flame and resting above your neighbor, but I would think that you can recall an event in you life, events in your life, when you were at a loss for words to describe the clarity and insight you received with little of no warning.
The Spirit touches you all; its flame finds a place above you before searing you with my love. You are branded but for so many you spend your time wondering about the scar and less time realizing how different, even conscious, you are becoming.
Reach across and speak from the heart and you will see that you have discovered the gift of tongues.
Do not, if you can, allow the frequency of reading a verse from scripture, dull you to the extraordinary occurrences that unfold in your life daily.
All for this morning.
April 2, 2008
Scripture: On one occasion while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 1:4-5
Prayer: It is difficult for me to catch the significance between water and the Spirit though I could repeat the answers I received from study.
Response: As you distinguish night and day, distinguish baptism with water and that of the Holy Spirit. As you walk on the beach before sunrise and cannot see clearly without moonlight, you see all when the run rises.
So it is with water and the Holy Spirit. In baptism with water you were signed with my love, with the Spirit you become conscious of that love in an increasingly responsive manner and participation in that love. Baptized with the Holy Spirit is like being given an inner garment that serves you in all the climates you will encounter on your journey.
The risen Christ commands, yes that is the word used, the disciples to wait until the Spirit descends upon them prior to leaving the sanctuary of Jerusalem for points east, west, north, and south. They are to wait patiently until they receive their inner garment, their provisions, so to speak.
It is interesting that my garment increases its purpose for you as you become more conscious of its presence that is the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life. And realize that the Spirit did not descend upon you to cloth you for a life of inaction regardless as to how mobile or well-traveled you are or to become. As an inner garment you bring the Spirit into every venue you might visit, I repeat, every venue. And no need to think that you must shed your outer garments to reveal the inner. No, I would prefer that those you encounter the Spirit’s presence among you reflect upon that meeting later in the quiet of their heart and recognize the fit of their own inner garment.
All for this morning.
March 29, 2008
Scripture: “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelations 1:8
Prayer: I approach this book with trepidation. Reveal your word to me.
Response: Take each word as you would sample a delicacy. My words are not meant to confound. In this short verse I am revealing to you timelessness, my timelessness, I know it is difficult for you to comprehend, to get your mind around a concept that has no boundaries, like time. But as I have said to you previously these lessons are lessons meant not for your mind, which is, I think you are prepared to admit even reluctantly, finite.
So first understand that when I reveal myself to you, I do so using your tablets of knowledge, your experience, even your yearnings. Just accept the mystery of what I am saying to you now. I know no beginning and no end, and that I am ever present and present to you. And in that presence, or would you prefer me say in this now, I also reveal to you eternity that as you become conscious, note I did not say more conscious, you experience to the depth of your soul eternity. Eternity is integral to your soul. It is your inheritance as it were. It, and I hesitate to attempt to define what it means, is my thrust in creating you – to become enlightened and conscious to eternity, become conscious to your soul existence that knows no boundary of space and time.
So you see, the Book of Revelations is there for you now to waken you to the realm of the eternal that is within you. You can’t escape it – no way to avoid describing it differently so limited is communication through words – you are eternal. So take heart and soul, not mind, and waken to my message to you this morning. At your deepest level you know what I am saying though it takes instruction to dust off the layers of words, concepts, habits, fears, doubts that obstruct your soul vision.
I am the Alpha and the Omega and in that capacity and with that awesom