Advent Joy

"God of joy, may I dream dreams and share tales of hope as I enter into

this third week of Advent. I praise your mighty name. Amen."

Beth Richardson, the Uncluttered Heart

Advent Hope

What do you hope for in the coming year?

I don’t mean what the children are waiting for Santa Claus to bring them in a few
weeks, kind of hope, t-h-o-u-g-h we could all learn something from that energy and
anticipation.

What are you hoping for this coming year?



Most adults are too shy, fearful or even ashamed to name our big and
lasting hopes. We make do. We make do with lesser things, like shopping for
things that won’t answer our hopes for more than an instant. We make due
because we sometimes are afraid to dream.

What are you hoping for?

What holy dream keeps you searching in the midst of darkness? How do you tend
to that place in your heart which your longings for healing, justice, love and peace
stir? How do you let them grow? How do you keep on going?

This is a place of hope. We are community of hope.

We are all in the same boat, we want to be valued, we want to be healthy, we want
to be welcomed in a place of safety and be nurtured by the people who care for us
and by the people who love us.

Once we get a little experience of that, we j--u--s--t might have enough courage to
go on back out there and get to work on our hopes. That’s how it works, building
trust in relationships with a foundation of honesty, empathy and compassion.

Once we take that chance and hope, we catch a glimpse of a dream that’s big
enough and encouraging enough to begin to drive out our fears and birth a deep,
abiding and transforming kind of hope, believing it is possible. And yes, Virginia,
“All things are possible with God.”

That’s the kind of hope I see every where. I see it in the cancer patient who knows that the waning days of his life have meaning, he’s grateful for his wife of 50 years, he’s giving thanks for the blessing of the sun’s warmth through his window each day and he’s hopeful for what is coming. I see hope in the healing hands of the occupational and physical therapists the doctors and nurses. I see hope in the cafeteria staff as they prepare meals that nourish our bodies enabling us to nourish those we serve. I see hope in the passion and commitment of those who work here in partnership, building relationships to serve the sick and injured, bringing hope to everyone they touch. Theologian Henri Nouwen reminds us in today’s reading,

“In the eyes of another , It is to see that he understands you.
As long as there is still hope.”

This is hope in the eyes of new parents seeing their baby for the first time and in
the eyes of patients who cannot speak, trusting the staff, their caregivers,
volunteers and families. It is the hope in the eyes of the staff as they care for one
another. It is the hope in the eyes and hearts of families as they help a loved one on their journey to eternal life.

Family, friends, staff….For many, you are the voice of hope.

Hope makes all things possible. It’s about new life, the new life of God’s breath
and spirit within each and every one of us, to transform us ,so we can be a blessing
to others, in the way that they need us to be.

That kind of hope requires enough vulnerability to own our fears. We can’t
really hope unless we know what’s wrong. When we can begin to name and
acknowledge those fears, we’ll find that hope is a cure.It brings meaning and purpose.

Hope – holy hope. This is hope that we hand over to God and let Him carry us, releasing every concern,every burden to rest in the love of God. SO....

Let Go and Let God.

Let God work.

Let God work in our darkness. While we wait and yearn for light in our darkness, in our struggles, in our work, in our diagnosis, something happens. The door that seemed to be slammed shut leads to an open window and we hear God’s whisper…

Be still and know that I am God.

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. The God of Jacob is our refuge and our strength.

It is not always easy. God will trouble you, God will comfort you, God will stir you up, and God will calm you. But do not cease to breathe God’s spirit into your soul.

Breathe in the breath of God and exhale Hope. This is our light. This is hope.

Namaste'
Maureen

Cooks for Christ

“And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.” Matthew 14:20

The gospel on Sunday makes me think how Jesus was maybe beginning to think about his own destiny. Maybe there was an increasing urgency to perpetuate his vision and he had to nudge the disciples. It was time for the disciples to become apostles, for the passive listeners to become doers, following his example. Isn’t that what Jesus asks of us?

Live the gospel. These are powerful and challenging words and this is just what the Girls Shepherd group did on Monday evening at Cooks for Christ.

Abby, Adell, Casey,Maggie,Maggie, myself and ministry leader Margie sliced,cut and prepared dinner.

“…taking the five loaves and two fish he looked up to heaven and blessed, and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples and the disciples gave them to the crowds.” (Matthew 14:19)


The girls prayed, broke bread and fed 45 residents at the shelter, with enough left over for some lunches today. This was made possible by the generosity of parishioners at St. David’s who have been called to share the abundance of God’s grace in their lives to nourish others, providing the resources that made hungry families secure in their food needs for the night. A blessing.

But this blessing is all but empty, as Jesus so clearly demonstrated in that lonely place, without the subsequent acts of breaking and giving, dividing and sharing. Grace must follow upon grace.

These amazing young ladies let the light of Jesus shine through them in their words, their actions and their love. I am so blessed to observe God's presence in their lives.

Maggie shared in her prayer, “we are together sheltered from the storm this night, to share this meal.” Community and fellowship around a table where dinner had been placed sharing the same hunger…to love and be loved, to feel useful and valued.

There was an abundance of food but the blessings were so much more.

What may have seemed ordinary, changed with God's grace into something extraordinary.

Namaste'
Maureen

Morning Prayer

I am learning that each new day needs to be honored with a thank you for creation and our relationships, along with faithfulness that God will bless us with the fruits of the spirit, to enter into God's presence and into each moment with grace to grow, grace to endure and grace to live the day that God places in my path.

I love the liturgy of the morning prayer in the Book of Common Prayer, said in community. I think we all also need time alone with our thoughts and alone with those thoughts that God places on our hearts. I have discovered the morning prayer below on a recent trip to the Holy Cross Monastery in upstate New York. I pray it in the quiet of each morning. For me it is a sacred vow to live fully in each moment with eyes of compassion and trust in God.

O God, this morning I have come, into the quietness and stillness of your presence, to begin the day, so that out of this moment, I may take with me a quiet serenity, which will last me through the rough, and the smooth of this day’s life.

I have come to find wisdom, so that today I may not make any foolish mistakes, that I may know when to speak, and when to keep silent, when to act, and when to refrain from action.

I have come to find peace, so that nothing may worry or upset me, all through today.

I have come to find courage, to be patient not to give up hope, when hopes are long in coming true, to accept disappointment without bitterness, and delay without complaint.

I have come to find love-to listen to your love, so that all through today I may love, without being attached, that nothing may make me bitter or unforgiving.

I have come to begin the day with you, so that I may be able to continue it, and end it with you, without regret.

And I have come this day, O God, to be real, transparent as a mountain spring, with a heart open and spontaneous as a child.

Hear this, my morning prayer: in the name of Jesus and for the sake of the world. Amen-May it be so.

Found at Morningstar R.C. Seminary, Barrackpore, India
adapted by Kent Ira Groff





Namaste,
Maureen

Blessings

I recently began, well, re-began the practice of centering prayer. Twenty minutes a day to be still and breathe in the breath of God.

"Be still , and know that I am God" Psalm 46:10

It is easy for me to pray and to know God when I am filled with joy. My heat soars. It is during those "other times" that my prayer is with such a heavy heart. I know God is with me in my sadness too, yet it is hard to find the words to pray. God knows what is on my heart when I do not have the words.

Finding my way back to centering prayer has opened my heart to receive the love that God has for me. He fills me, with peace, embraces me and upholds me to feel His love and blessings . It is in this time of prayer that I sense the indwelling essence of spirit. I am humbled before its mystery.

When our soul becomes quiet, we are blessed with moments of grace. I continue to learn that there is a blessing in everything. When I got in my car today this was the song that was playing on the radio. It echoed in my heart all day. The message was clear to me....There are blessings in everything even though at times we can't see beyond our pain.

My Prayer

Heavenly Father, my refuge,
Please hold onto me and help me find the sacred within me. Help me reach beyond my hurt and my disappointment to the life giving breath of your Holy Spirit. As it breathes life into me, please have it take away my pain so I can be grateful for the life I have been blessed with. Help me exercise my faith to refresh my strength and spirit. Guide me to still waters to calm all I wrestle with. I can't do this alone, Lord. I am scared. I ask as I look deep into myself, that you will bless me with a vision of hope as I accept that this time too, is a holy journey.
Amen.

Pentecost

"When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability."
Acts 2: 1-4 NSRV

Pentecost, the celebration of the Spirit, the birthday of the church,is my
favorite Sunday of the church year. One reason I look so forward to Pentecost is that the Holy Spirit operates on this day as something of a wild card,descending upon us in unexpected ways. It is Holy Spirit after all...a Holy Chaos that embraces and stirs a contagious energy.

I am so drawn to Pentecost by the way the Holy Spirit fills me with such joy and hope over and over again.

We celebrate the birthday of the church,yet the festivities are not aimed at celebrating us, our efforts or our accomplishments. We celebrate God who chose to birth the church out of the chaos and despair of those early days after Jesus’death. Each Pentecost I feel that is what we do. We let go off the stuff that weighs us down, to really do God's work. We trust in the movement of the Spirit. It is kind of like the Holy Spirit's coming out party.

So, Pentecost is a birthday party, and the present God always brings is new life. For us today at service, how wonderful it was to share in the baptism of a new baby, new life, the newest member of our community, on the very same day that God breathes new life into all of us.

We are anointed with the gifts of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These are freely given to us, we are blessed with them so we can go out in the world, be disciples and bless others.

This anointing, this fire from above, is for us to move forward to proclaim the Word and live the gospel,in our lives, in our homes, in our work, in our community and in the world; with a renewed passion and "spirit" that we have been blessed with through the resurrection and suffering of Jesus.

God wants to release Pentecost on us, giving us the Holy Spirit to guide us and keep us on the path.

"Wherever you go, I am going with you. I'm giving you all authority. Go into the world and I will confirm My Word with signs, wonders, and miracles."

That's what it is about, don't you think? Stepping out in faith with trust in the power of the Holy Spirit to guide us, revealing the mystery that can and will bring transformation.

Barbara Brown Taylor has a wonderful way of describing that event. She writes: " He commissioned them by breathing on them, opening his mouth and pouring what was inside of him into them so that their bangs flew and their eyelashes fluttered and they could smell where he had come from -- not just Golgotha and Galilee, but way before that -- back when the world itself was being born. Anyone standing there that evening with any memory at all could smell Eden on his breath: salt brine, river mud, calla lilies. They could feel their own lungs fill as they brought back to life. It was Genesis reborn, as they were created all over again by the power of the Spirit that was coming out of his mouth."

Taylor and others tell us there are two distinctly different models of church that emerge from these stories. One is the Pentecostal model, the church that receives the Spirit in dramatic fashion and shares that gift just as dramatically. The other is the Johannine model, which receives the Spirit more as a gentle gift. Obviously, whether one is a gentle breath type or a mighty wind type, the church has but one purpose. Taylor says, "the church has received the Holy Spirit, the world has not, and it is the church's job to bring the Spirit into the world."

Are you up to the job? The Holy Spirit challenge.

Who are you in the world today at this moment?

Are you living and dreaming God's dream for your life?

How is the Spirit moving in your life?

Will you let the movement of the spirit ignite your own renewed Pentecost?

God continues to send the Holy Spirit to soothe us, His anxious disciples, who are
made by God but unmade by our own fears, doubts and brokenness. The Spirit ignites us over and over again, firing us up until we stop thinking so much about what we are or are not doing; and worrying so much about what might or might not happen. We come to just trust and have faith to be led by the Spirit and just do what feels right,what we know is right and let happen whatever God intends, living the life God dreams for us.

So you see, whenever God plays the wild card of the Holy Spirit,whether it is with Holy Chaos or a gentle nudge, the future of Christ’s body gets lifted right out of the hands of disciples and transplanted right firmly in the heart of God,in the church and in each and everyone of us in the world.

I often feel the presence of the Holy Spirit through others in my life and as I continue my adventure in spiritual growth and in my spiritual journey. When the Spirit came to the disciples huddled in their locked room, he changed their world. The Holy Spirit speaks to me and is constantly changing my world, challenging me and filling me with joy.

How are you going to share the story beyond your locked room?

Holy Spirit, in and beyond me,
keep and extend me among strangers and friends.
Let me see clearly and reach deep.
Open me to feel and live your gospel,proclaiming your word
with my voice as I never have before
with my actions
with my love
with your guidance
Let me hear the music of your glory before me.
Let love move me.
Awaken me again,again and again.


Namaste'
Maureen