Advent Day 3.
Daily office readings: Isaiah 1: 21-31, 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12, Luke 20:9-18
Hope.
People give me hope. Hope in the movement of the Holy Spirit in their lives. In today's reading from Thessalonians this passage reminds us to spread the word of God to all who will hear it."but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel,to please God who tests our hearts."
1 Thessalonians 2:4
This can be done in so many ways by just being who God calls us to be. The apostle Paul reminds us not be be afraid of the challenge. I think where ever the challenge takes us, when we embrace it with a loving heart, we will experience our own Hallelujah Chorus, and that feeling, that imprint of joy, God's handprint on our hearts, will stay with us to face the next challenge.
Namaste,
Maureen
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Advent Credo: Advent Day 2
Advent Day 2
Daily Office Readings:Isaiah 1:10-20, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10, Luke 20:1-8
Hope. Hope in humanity.
A dear friend of mine sent this to me. It is really very beautiful. God wants us to truly love our neighbor as He loves us.
Advent Credo
It is not true that creation and the human family are doomed to destruction and loss—
This is true: For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life;
It is not true that we must accept inhumanity and discrimination, hunger and poverty, death and destruction—
This is true: I have come that they may have life, and that abundantly.
It is not true that violence and hatred should have the last word, and that war and destruction rule forever—
This is true: Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, his name shall be called wonderful councilor, mighty God, the Everlasting, the Prince of peace.
It is not true that we are simply victims of the powers of evil who seek to rule the world—
This is true: To me is given authority in heaven and on earth, and lo I am with you, even until the end of the world.
It is not true that we have to wait for those who are specially gifted, who are the prophets of the Church before we can be peacemakers—
This is true: I will pour out my spirit on all flesh and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions and your old men shall have dreams.
It is not true that our hopes for liberation of humankind, of justice, of human dignity of peace are not meant for this earth and for this history—
This is true: The hour comes, and it is now, that the true worshipers shall worship God in spirit and in truth.
So let us enter Advent in hope, even hope against hope. Let us see visions of love and peace and justice. Let us affirm with humility, with joy, with faith, with courage: Jesus Christ—the life of the world.
From Testimony: The Word Made Flesh, by Daniel Berrigan, S.J. Orbis Books, 2004.
Namaste'
Maureen
Daily Office Readings:Isaiah 1:10-20, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10, Luke 20:1-8
Hope. Hope in humanity.
A dear friend of mine sent this to me. It is really very beautiful. God wants us to truly love our neighbor as He loves us.
Advent Credo
It is not true that creation and the human family are doomed to destruction and loss—
This is true: For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life;
It is not true that we must accept inhumanity and discrimination, hunger and poverty, death and destruction—
This is true: I have come that they may have life, and that abundantly.
It is not true that violence and hatred should have the last word, and that war and destruction rule forever—
This is true: Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, his name shall be called wonderful councilor, mighty God, the Everlasting, the Prince of peace.
It is not true that we are simply victims of the powers of evil who seek to rule the world—
This is true: To me is given authority in heaven and on earth, and lo I am with you, even until the end of the world.
It is not true that we have to wait for those who are specially gifted, who are the prophets of the Church before we can be peacemakers—
This is true: I will pour out my spirit on all flesh and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions and your old men shall have dreams.
It is not true that our hopes for liberation of humankind, of justice, of human dignity of peace are not meant for this earth and for this history—
This is true: The hour comes, and it is now, that the true worshipers shall worship God in spirit and in truth.
So let us enter Advent in hope, even hope against hope. Let us see visions of love and peace and justice. Let us affirm with humility, with joy, with faith, with courage: Jesus Christ—the life of the world.
From Testimony: The Word Made Flesh, by Daniel Berrigan, S.J. Orbis Books, 2004.
Namaste'
Maureen
Happy Advent
Advent: Day 1
Daily Office Readings: Isaiah 2: 1-5, Romans 13:11-14, Mathew 24:36-44
Hope. Today's readings are the hope that reminds us that Christ's return is equally part of Advent.
I love Advent.
I loved today, the first day in Advent in 2010 and how people of all ages turned up at my church bend over long tables making fresh green Advent wreaths to take home. I loved seeing young children, youth and our wise elders making prayer beads and experiencing "something" as one mother said to me. She and her daughter were making their beads while listening to contemplative harp music, her words to me were "Wow, if I listened to this music every day, was quiet,and slowed down to pray like this, I would always be peaceful." Amen!Amen!
Seeing the holy chaos of fresh greens spilled everywhere, beads rolling on the floor,singing, cocoa mustaches and Advent wreaths being made, not only for every one's home, but for our local shelters and Habitat homes, rejoices community. We celebrated and worshipped together to begin and nurture our personal Advent journey's.
Our Advent community is that place where we keep the hope alive among us and take it seriously, so that it grows and becomes stronger in us so we are ready. Happy Advent!
Namaste'
Maureen
Daily Office Readings: Isaiah 2: 1-5, Romans 13:11-14, Mathew 24:36-44
Hope. Today's readings are the hope that reminds us that Christ's return is equally part of Advent.
I love Advent.
I loved today, the first day in Advent in 2010 and how people of all ages turned up at my church bend over long tables making fresh green Advent wreaths to take home. I loved seeing young children, youth and our wise elders making prayer beads and experiencing "something" as one mother said to me. She and her daughter were making their beads while listening to contemplative harp music, her words to me were "Wow, if I listened to this music every day, was quiet,and slowed down to pray like this, I would always be peaceful." Amen!Amen!
Seeing the holy chaos of fresh greens spilled everywhere, beads rolling on the floor,singing, cocoa mustaches and Advent wreaths being made, not only for every one's home, but for our local shelters and Habitat homes, rejoices community. We celebrated and worshipped together to begin and nurture our personal Advent journey's.
Our Advent community is that place where we keep the hope alive among us and take it seriously, so that it grows and becomes stronger in us so we are ready. Happy Advent!
Namaste'
Maureen
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Giving Thanks
Today is Thanksgiving.
Today I thank God for the abundance of blessings in my life. I will also thank God for the things in my life that don't seem or feel like a blessing. I am learning that "a grateful heart is most precious to God when, humanly speaking, our situations don't warrant giving thanks." Reading that recently, reminded me that I do need to thank God for the joys, dissapointments and heart aches; always trusting in and accepting in thanksgiving, God's plan. Thankgiving doesn't always have to be that kick your heels off, woo-hoo I am thankful. Thanksgiving in acceptance of a situation as coming from God—either directly sent or permissively allowed is humble thanksgiving. If I truly believe He's working for my good (Rom 8:28-29), I can choose to receive each difficulty as coming from His loving hand. Then I can truely say thank you.
I have been having a particular hard time lately and I don't like it. I am deeply sad and hurt over a situation that I cannot change, nor can I talk with the person who has hurt me. I don't completely understand the depth of my sadnesss but what I do know is because of the situation I can't cross this boundary. I think this is what God is asking of me here.... a lesson in being humble. It is hard and I find myself saying, "This really sucks God but I think I know what you are doing and I must bow my head and let You work in me. Still sucks , just so you know ." I know I do not have the ability within myself to endure hardships with gratefulness. I need to rely on God so I can go through through this and futue adversities with an appreciative heart. That is where I want to be, but honestly I am so not 100% there, yet I remain thankful that God is working in me.
There is a prayer of General Thanksgiving in the Book of Common Prayer that I love. When I lead morning prayer it is the one that I always choose. I often open my prayer book to this prayer for no particular reason. I just like it. I will pray this with my family today as we share our Thanksgiving meal. I recently learned that the person who wrote this, wrote it after his 4 year old was tragically killed. I don't know this person but I think that he was packed with the power of the Holy Spirit that worked for him and through him guiding him with this prayer of humble, real thanskgiving.
Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have
done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole
creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life,
and for the mystery of love.
We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for
the loving care which surrounds us on every side.
We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best
efforts, and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy
and delight us.
We thank you also for those disappointments and failures
that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.
Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the
truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast
obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying,
through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life
again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.
Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know him and
make him known; and through him, at all times and in all
places, may give thanks to you in all things. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer pg 836
So, I think that the message for my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving, is:
Yes ,I am thankful for all the blessings in my life and I accept any situation as coming from God. With a proper attitide, thaksgiving can overflow into my life no matter what happens because God loves me, guides me and wants the best for me. I need to pray, pray without ceasing through my circumstances and to have a listening heart to hear God's message to me. I need to have complete trust and faith to place myself under His loving wisdom and draw from the strength I need to endure the joys and difficulties in my life with gratitude.
Namaste'
Maureen
Today I thank God for the abundance of blessings in my life. I will also thank God for the things in my life that don't seem or feel like a blessing. I am learning that "a grateful heart is most precious to God when, humanly speaking, our situations don't warrant giving thanks." Reading that recently, reminded me that I do need to thank God for the joys, dissapointments and heart aches; always trusting in and accepting in thanksgiving, God's plan. Thankgiving doesn't always have to be that kick your heels off, woo-hoo I am thankful. Thanksgiving in acceptance of a situation as coming from God—either directly sent or permissively allowed is humble thanksgiving. If I truly believe He's working for my good (Rom 8:28-29), I can choose to receive each difficulty as coming from His loving hand. Then I can truely say thank you.
I have been having a particular hard time lately and I don't like it. I am deeply sad and hurt over a situation that I cannot change, nor can I talk with the person who has hurt me. I don't completely understand the depth of my sadnesss but what I do know is because of the situation I can't cross this boundary. I think this is what God is asking of me here.... a lesson in being humble. It is hard and I find myself saying, "This really sucks God but I think I know what you are doing and I must bow my head and let You work in me. Still sucks , just so you know ." I know I do not have the ability within myself to endure hardships with gratefulness. I need to rely on God so I can go through through this and futue adversities with an appreciative heart. That is where I want to be, but honestly I am so not 100% there, yet I remain thankful that God is working in me.
There is a prayer of General Thanksgiving in the Book of Common Prayer that I love. When I lead morning prayer it is the one that I always choose. I often open my prayer book to this prayer for no particular reason. I just like it. I will pray this with my family today as we share our Thanksgiving meal. I recently learned that the person who wrote this, wrote it after his 4 year old was tragically killed. I don't know this person but I think that he was packed with the power of the Holy Spirit that worked for him and through him guiding him with this prayer of humble, real thanskgiving.
Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have
done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole
creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life,
and for the mystery of love.
We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for
the loving care which surrounds us on every side.
We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best
efforts, and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy
and delight us.
We thank you also for those disappointments and failures
that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.
Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the
truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast
obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying,
through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life
again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.
Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know him and
make him known; and through him, at all times and in all
places, may give thanks to you in all things. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer pg 836
So, I think that the message for my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving, is:
Yes ,I am thankful for all the blessings in my life and I accept any situation as coming from God. With a proper attitide, thaksgiving can overflow into my life no matter what happens because God loves me, guides me and wants the best for me. I need to pray, pray without ceasing through my circumstances and to have a listening heart to hear God's message to me. I need to have complete trust and faith to place myself under His loving wisdom and draw from the strength I need to endure the joys and difficulties in my life with gratitude.
Namaste'
Maureen
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Spiritual Midwives
My best friend is a nurse-midwife.
I have had the honor of being present at a few births with her as an observer and as a birth Doula. The love, care, nurturing and support I have witnessed my friend provide to her patients is inspiring, loving and spiritual. Watching the miracle of life coming into the world is well,a miracle...a profound mystical joining of this precious being to all of creation. Watching my friend help bring life into this world in a gentle, nurturing, present,wise,compassionate way,is a not only a miracle but a blessing to those she cares for.
Midwives understand the process of giving birth. They understand that it takes time and that it’s going to hurt. There are certain things we can do to hang on through the pain, but that there’s no way around it. From that pain new life is born and joined to all of humanity. There is a sacred bond I have seen my friend have with her patients. They share a sacred portal as they journey through the pain to the joining of science and mystery that is linked to God. In that moment, when a baby takes its first breath, God breathes live into that little soul and all of heaven rejoices.I think at that moment there is a union of souls, here and not of this world. God and the heavens rejoice and in that rapture a bond is formed.
"They come through you but are not from you, and though they are with you, yet they do not belong to you.
You may give them you love, but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams."Kahlil Gibran
My friend is my midwife,not in the conventional way. she is my spiritual midwife. This metaphor is an important one. So many people experience huge spiritual shifts and new discoveries as they journey in their life. We all need guides who hold our hands and remind us to breathe and to be present in our joy and in our pain. We all need people who recognize and respect the birthing-something-new process who don’t try to rush it or numb it out. Being present in the moment, present with the pain. My friend has done this for me. We do this for each other.
We all need spiritual midwives.
If you are lucky, you may have more than one. I think this is a natural thing during different seasons of our lives. As we meet people throughout our lives, we share, we connect, we love, we are in relationship. Authentic relationships link us to something bigger within us and that links us to that other person.
I am very lucky and very blessed to have spiritual midwives in my life.
My priest is just that person too. As I began that shift in my life and in my faith to listen to and accept my call, she has been that steady, loving presence. I long to give birth to this new me that is forming with this call. I do not know exactly what will emerge,yet once I said yes, it continues to push me to step out in faith. Somewhat of a birthing of my call, a beginning. At times the journey is painful on many levels, yet joyous. My priest helps me sift through and embrace the unknown, through prayer, chats and by the power of the Holy Spirit. She has a tender openness to my questions and fears, that are gently guided. She reminds me to breathe and trust in the process. With her, I am freely able to ask questions, experience the joys and difficulties of a call and to be present in my pain and struggles instead of numb it. She will listen to my joys, my fears, my venting,my angst,she enables me to understand that raw honesty is helpful instead of pretending or numbing out and losing touch with what’s really going on inside....listening to and trusting in the movement of God in my life. With her I can share the sacredness of my relationship with God.
I am blessed to have such a mentor in my life. My journey has been difficult and it is so much better that she is there along the way. She helps guide, nurture and remind me that the struggles won't be like this forever and something wonderful and beautiful will indeed emerge and be brought to life, in God's timing, in God's way. "All will be well"
We all need midwives who tell us we can’t hurry the process.
I have lost some friends on my journey and that has been very sad to me. I do grieve this loss. I do have some amazing friends in my life who really have stuck with me through all of this. They won’t let go of me. They return my phone calls, hold me when I cry. Share in my joy and they gently point me toward what is beautiful, what is hopeful but without telling me what I should do and how I should do it. They respect my autonomy are with me in the moment and remind me to focus on what is emerging.
When it comes to the spiritual things being born & re-born in us, we need midwives who help celebrate the beauty of the moment, of what’s emerging, of what God is doing with us in the midst regardless of what it might look like at the moment. My friends help me see the beauty in the process even when I am not looking or sounding so beautiful. I have a dear freind who reminds me of this daily. We are both mothers, following a call. We remind each other that God called us to be a wife and mother first and from that He has called us to serve Him now in an added way. This reminder helps me be the wife, mother and woman God has called me to be. My friend has listened, prayed with and helped me with practical matters of everyday life and of my call. Her support has given me courage to press on and her words breath grace into my life. She will be ordained a Deacon. Her faithfulness, her gentleness, her frankness are a blessing to me. We journey together, yet our journey's are different. Oh...and we can laugh,cry and share..."Isn't God amazing?"..."Can you believe God did....", or "What is God doing?", "Why is he shaking things up?"When I feel that I can't push myself any further or out fo my comfort zone, she reminds me that the push/the movement out of my comfort zone eases the next push on the journey. When I am ready to take two steps forward, she reminds me to take one step back and slow down. As similar as we are, we are so very different.
We all need spiritual midwives who we can celebrate our uniqueness with.
My sister sees things differently, she has the gentle eyes and soul of a Christian mystic. She has been given the gift and a blessing of conscious awareness of God. She too is a spiritual midwife to me. Through her guiding eyes,I am able to trust in the possibiliites and let go, trusting in the movement of my body and its union with the Spirit. She is amazing. What makes her amazing is her faithfulness. She would be the first to say she is not special and that we all have the hand of God on us and that we have to listen to the whispers. She reminds me we are all theologians and we all can go deeper into the mystery of God's love in prayer and dwell in the mansions of our soul. As sisters, we share that special bond that sisters share. She has known me all my life and has seen both the light and darkness in my life and my journey. She guides me as we process and discern together, navigating through questions, struggles and sharing the joy and peace that passes all undertanding. There was a time that our relationship sturggled and it too went through a birthing process and what has emerged is a sacred sharing of two souls joined to the belovedness of God. Her husband calls us "The Sacred Sisters."
I know if we hang on long enough and see the process through, a “baby” will be born that will need nurturing, love and care. Some of the pushing is over, it doesn’t hurt so much anymore. New hope is somehow born, but like a newborn baby, it needs to be fed, nutured,loved and guided. The new things surfacing in us spiritually need tending to so that they can be healthy and strong over time.
We all need spiritual midwives.
As part of my discernment process it was suggested that I speak with a Spiritual Director. My spiritual director is also a spiritual midwife for me. I meet with her monthly and we pray and talk about my growing relationship with the Divine. Our conversations open a tending to the holiness of God touching my life both directly and indirectly. We discern the scared stories I may share on how God is working in my life and what I may perceive as not....during times when I feel spiritually lost. One of the many gifts she has blessed me with is a question she asked once,"How do you think, you experiencing that, made God feel about you?" Tweleve simple words that I have linked to my quiet time with God and I ask Him. I never thought of that before.....that God may possibly feel the same joy that He shares with me. I wonder if God has this over the moon joy,with me?
I use to cringe when people would say they were "born again" or they would tell me I needed to be "born again". I was often approached by very loud, over bearing Evangelical Christians. This intimated me and quite frankly turned me off. So, I avoided being "born again" at all costs. As I have matured in my faith, I do believe I am ...yes...born again. We are all born again, over and over in our journey, in our prayer life, in our relationship with one another and in our relationship with God. We are always evolving and clay in the potter's hand. This is what I feel Jesus is telling Nicodemus in John 3.
“Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
There is so much more than just eternal salvation. I believe we are "born again" over and over in our spiritual journey.
Though exciting, beautiful and from God, birthing spirituality is scary, painful, joyful,life altering and complicated. This is why we need spiritual companions along the way to help us navigate and experience the miracle from deep within our soul. They help us hope, trust, believe in the process of the light of life emerging.
Thank you to my spiritual midwives.
Namaste'
Maureen
I have had the honor of being present at a few births with her as an observer and as a birth Doula. The love, care, nurturing and support I have witnessed my friend provide to her patients is inspiring, loving and spiritual. Watching the miracle of life coming into the world is well,a miracle...a profound mystical joining of this precious being to all of creation. Watching my friend help bring life into this world in a gentle, nurturing, present,wise,compassionate way,is a not only a miracle but a blessing to those she cares for.
Midwives understand the process of giving birth. They understand that it takes time and that it’s going to hurt. There are certain things we can do to hang on through the pain, but that there’s no way around it. From that pain new life is born and joined to all of humanity. There is a sacred bond I have seen my friend have with her patients. They share a sacred portal as they journey through the pain to the joining of science and mystery that is linked to God. In that moment, when a baby takes its first breath, God breathes live into that little soul and all of heaven rejoices.I think at that moment there is a union of souls, here and not of this world. God and the heavens rejoice and in that rapture a bond is formed.
"They come through you but are not from you, and though they are with you, yet they do not belong to you.
You may give them you love, but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams."Kahlil Gibran
My friend is my midwife,not in the conventional way. she is my spiritual midwife. This metaphor is an important one. So many people experience huge spiritual shifts and new discoveries as they journey in their life. We all need guides who hold our hands and remind us to breathe and to be present in our joy and in our pain. We all need people who recognize and respect the birthing-something-new process who don’t try to rush it or numb it out. Being present in the moment, present with the pain. My friend has done this for me. We do this for each other.
We all need spiritual midwives.
If you are lucky, you may have more than one. I think this is a natural thing during different seasons of our lives. As we meet people throughout our lives, we share, we connect, we love, we are in relationship. Authentic relationships link us to something bigger within us and that links us to that other person.
I am very lucky and very blessed to have spiritual midwives in my life.
My priest is just that person too. As I began that shift in my life and in my faith to listen to and accept my call, she has been that steady, loving presence. I long to give birth to this new me that is forming with this call. I do not know exactly what will emerge,yet once I said yes, it continues to push me to step out in faith. Somewhat of a birthing of my call, a beginning. At times the journey is painful on many levels, yet joyous. My priest helps me sift through and embrace the unknown, through prayer, chats and by the power of the Holy Spirit. She has a tender openness to my questions and fears, that are gently guided. She reminds me to breathe and trust in the process. With her, I am freely able to ask questions, experience the joys and difficulties of a call and to be present in my pain and struggles instead of numb it. She will listen to my joys, my fears, my venting,my angst,she enables me to understand that raw honesty is helpful instead of pretending or numbing out and losing touch with what’s really going on inside....listening to and trusting in the movement of God in my life. With her I can share the sacredness of my relationship with God.
I am blessed to have such a mentor in my life. My journey has been difficult and it is so much better that she is there along the way. She helps guide, nurture and remind me that the struggles won't be like this forever and something wonderful and beautiful will indeed emerge and be brought to life, in God's timing, in God's way. "All will be well"
We all need midwives who tell us we can’t hurry the process.
I have lost some friends on my journey and that has been very sad to me. I do grieve this loss. I do have some amazing friends in my life who really have stuck with me through all of this. They won’t let go of me. They return my phone calls, hold me when I cry. Share in my joy and they gently point me toward what is beautiful, what is hopeful but without telling me what I should do and how I should do it. They respect my autonomy are with me in the moment and remind me to focus on what is emerging.
When it comes to the spiritual things being born & re-born in us, we need midwives who help celebrate the beauty of the moment, of what’s emerging, of what God is doing with us in the midst regardless of what it might look like at the moment. My friends help me see the beauty in the process even when I am not looking or sounding so beautiful. I have a dear freind who reminds me of this daily. We are both mothers, following a call. We remind each other that God called us to be a wife and mother first and from that He has called us to serve Him now in an added way. This reminder helps me be the wife, mother and woman God has called me to be. My friend has listened, prayed with and helped me with practical matters of everyday life and of my call. Her support has given me courage to press on and her words breath grace into my life. She will be ordained a Deacon. Her faithfulness, her gentleness, her frankness are a blessing to me. We journey together, yet our journey's are different. Oh...and we can laugh,cry and share..."Isn't God amazing?"..."Can you believe God did....", or "What is God doing?", "Why is he shaking things up?"When I feel that I can't push myself any further or out fo my comfort zone, she reminds me that the push/the movement out of my comfort zone eases the next push on the journey. When I am ready to take two steps forward, she reminds me to take one step back and slow down. As similar as we are, we are so very different.
We all need spiritual midwives who we can celebrate our uniqueness with.
My sister sees things differently, she has the gentle eyes and soul of a Christian mystic. She has been given the gift and a blessing of conscious awareness of God. She too is a spiritual midwife to me. Through her guiding eyes,I am able to trust in the possibiliites and let go, trusting in the movement of my body and its union with the Spirit. She is amazing. What makes her amazing is her faithfulness. She would be the first to say she is not special and that we all have the hand of God on us and that we have to listen to the whispers. She reminds me we are all theologians and we all can go deeper into the mystery of God's love in prayer and dwell in the mansions of our soul. As sisters, we share that special bond that sisters share. She has known me all my life and has seen both the light and darkness in my life and my journey. She guides me as we process and discern together, navigating through questions, struggles and sharing the joy and peace that passes all undertanding. There was a time that our relationship sturggled and it too went through a birthing process and what has emerged is a sacred sharing of two souls joined to the belovedness of God. Her husband calls us "The Sacred Sisters."
I know if we hang on long enough and see the process through, a “baby” will be born that will need nurturing, love and care. Some of the pushing is over, it doesn’t hurt so much anymore. New hope is somehow born, but like a newborn baby, it needs to be fed, nutured,loved and guided. The new things surfacing in us spiritually need tending to so that they can be healthy and strong over time.
We all need spiritual midwives.
As part of my discernment process it was suggested that I speak with a Spiritual Director. My spiritual director is also a spiritual midwife for me. I meet with her monthly and we pray and talk about my growing relationship with the Divine. Our conversations open a tending to the holiness of God touching my life both directly and indirectly. We discern the scared stories I may share on how God is working in my life and what I may perceive as not....during times when I feel spiritually lost. One of the many gifts she has blessed me with is a question she asked once,"How do you think, you experiencing that, made God feel about you?" Tweleve simple words that I have linked to my quiet time with God and I ask Him. I never thought of that before.....that God may possibly feel the same joy that He shares with me. I wonder if God has this over the moon joy,with me?
I use to cringe when people would say they were "born again" or they would tell me I needed to be "born again". I was often approached by very loud, over bearing Evangelical Christians. This intimated me and quite frankly turned me off. So, I avoided being "born again" at all costs. As I have matured in my faith, I do believe I am ...yes...born again. We are all born again, over and over in our journey, in our prayer life, in our relationship with one another and in our relationship with God. We are always evolving and clay in the potter's hand. This is what I feel Jesus is telling Nicodemus in John 3.
“Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
There is so much more than just eternal salvation. I believe we are "born again" over and over in our spiritual journey.
Though exciting, beautiful and from God, birthing spirituality is scary, painful, joyful,life altering and complicated. This is why we need spiritual companions along the way to help us navigate and experience the miracle from deep within our soul. They help us hope, trust, believe in the process of the light of life emerging.
Thank you to my spiritual midwives.
Namaste'
Maureen
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Great Light of the World
One of my favorite times to "be" is in that moment before I am fully awake. It is in that moment that I feel I am re-entering my body, sometimes from a peaceful sleep, sometimes from a place that gives me that peace that passes all understanding.
This morning I was in such a place and this is what I heard:
Let me share a few things. I have heard this song a number of times, we occasionally sing it at church. I do not know the lyrics by heart. What I do know is the symphony in my head this morning filled my heart. As I let myself "be" I again heard music, this time it was:
I knew I needed to sit and just "be". I sat in silence for quite some time. Then, quiet prayer that moved me so inward that a sacred portal was once again shared with me. I reconized this feeling. It was as if I was within a transparent cocoon, I could feel the pulse of a heartbeat and of sadness. oh...I could see so much, yet I couldn't see. There was so much love,inward and outward. I could feel it resonate within me. I was suspended within this all consuming embrace, an awareness of faith and of God....the warmth, the gentleness, the love. A sweet rapture consumed me and I was blessed with clarity not of this world.
What does this mean? Many things and more. What I do know for sure , is that, The Great Light of the World gives me hope to carry on.
Namaste'
Maureen
This morning I was in such a place and this is what I heard:
Let me share a few things. I have heard this song a number of times, we occasionally sing it at church. I do not know the lyrics by heart. What I do know is the symphony in my head this morning filled my heart. As I let myself "be" I again heard music, this time it was:
I knew I needed to sit and just "be". I sat in silence for quite some time. Then, quiet prayer that moved me so inward that a sacred portal was once again shared with me. I reconized this feeling. It was as if I was within a transparent cocoon, I could feel the pulse of a heartbeat and of sadness. oh...I could see so much, yet I couldn't see. There was so much love,inward and outward. I could feel it resonate within me. I was suspended within this all consuming embrace, an awareness of faith and of God....the warmth, the gentleness, the love. A sweet rapture consumed me and I was blessed with clarity not of this world.
What does this mean? Many things and more. What I do know for sure , is that, The Great Light of the World gives me hope to carry on.
Namaste'
Maureen
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