1st day prayer

I am enjoying this book I picked up a couple of months ago: Centering Prayers: A One-Year Daily Companion for Going Deeper Into the Love of God by Peter Traben Haas.  

Going deeper into the love of God.

That's my heart's desire.

Today I read the opener for January and today's prayer. Both resonated with me and encouraged me. 

The opener for January:

"It is as if God says to me:

Your radiance cannot be hidden by your 

mistakes or by any external situation

you may be experiencing. 

Your life is hidden with me. 

Rejoice a little today in this knowledge.  

My love changes everything."

Reflecting on the above words, I am encouraged that my radiance cannot be hidden and that God's love changes everything. 

Moving to today's prayer, it is a very appropriate beginning to a new year prayer:

"O God Who Calls Me into Life:

Standing on the strength of your everlasting foundation,  I cast forth my seeds of intention into the days unfolding before me this New Year.

Strengthened by the web of shared yet unseen hopes connected in silence, I see each choice as victory and the days to come as vibrant.

In Christ, it is and shall be.

Amen."

Seeds of intention. 

What are my seeds of intention for this new year?

There are seeds of exercise: hiking, biking, and walking-- these often allow me to also practice silence and solitude.

There are seeds of intention for Spiritual Direction,  Bamboo Encounter, Welcome Home of Chattanooga, reading, writing, time with family and friends, travel, ....

And then there is an openness to the unfolding love of God, who calls me into life.

Where will this deepening and growing adventure lead? That is the question. 

The adventurous journey continues! 

Deb

Two songs mark my Friday: Come On Get Happy! and Deeper Still

FRIDAY!

And, what a Friday it has been.  I knew as of last night that today would be different than planned because my spiritual director had called to reschedule.  But, I didn't know today would be SO different.

HOW DIFFERENT IS IT?, you ask. ☺

Well, I'll start with a friend posting on Facebook about a song that was in her mind.  She didn't post the song exactly, but wrote: "Shout "Hallelujah" come on get happy! Give you three tries to guess what song is running through my mind this morning. Hope you have a happy song for your day, too!"  Well, as I read her post, my mind went immediately to The Partridge Family and the song: "Come On Get Happy".

Yes, I said the Partridge Family, the 70s show.  So, I pulled out my CD compilation and started playing the song.  ☺  I have the vinyl LP too.  The cover is worn and the LP is scratched, but I have it. 

So, I just checked my LPs.  I don't have the same LP as the "Greatest Hits" CD.  But, I DO have 3 (yes, you read that correctly) Partridge Family LPs.  The song "Come On Get Happy" isn't on any of them though, only the CD compilation.

 

For whatever reason, the correct view of the picture from my camera decided to upload sideways.  And, I decided we can gently turn our heads as a means to stretch the muscles (rather than me taking the time to fix it).

 



Lyrics to COME ON GET HAPPY:

Hello world, here's a song that we're singin'
Come on, get happy
A whole lotta lovin' is what we'll be bringin'
We'll make you happy

We had a dream we'd go travelin' together
And spread a little lovin' if we'll keep movin' on
Somethin' always happens whenever we're together
We get a happy feelin' when we're singin' a song
Travelin' along, there's a song that we're singin'
Come on, get happy

A whole lotta lovin' is what we'll be bringin'
We'll make you happy
We'll make you happy
We'll make you happy

Maybe you'd like to listen to the song too?!?!  Check out the video on YOUTUBE.

Right after I had finished listening to the song this morning, an odd phone number came up on my phone.  I don't always answer, but this morning I did.  It was a Café Britt representative!  What a joy!  She told me she had seen where I was trying to order coffee yesterday, but the order didn't go through.  Well, I knew it wasn't me.  So, I knew my husband was ordering us some more Costa Rican coffee, the nectar of the gods.  [Yes, I enjoy coffee.]  She spoke wonderful English.  But, why speak English with someone who speaks Spanish!?!  So, in Spanish I told her I hadn't started the order so I would need to have my husband call if he had questions and thank you for calling us.  She seemed a little surprised that I switched into Spanish from my TN English ☺, but she went with it.  I was SUPER happy after that conversation.  Speaking Spanish brings me joy!

I have been able to work on my talk that I need to preview for next week's team meeting for an upcoming Emmaus Walk.  I have been able to work in my "Growing Spiritually Through Daily Discipline" online class through beadisciple.com and catch up on reading and posting.  I had a wonderful conversation with one of the participants.

On my way back from taking my daughter to school, I heard this song on the radio "Deeper Still" by Scott Krippayne. 

You can watch a video and listen to the song by clicking here.

Lyrics:

Here I am in this familiar place again
Standing on the shore of my complacency
Ankle deep in love I once was swimming in
Shallowness has taken over me
But the current pulls the sand
And moves my stubborn feet
From the dryness of the land
To where the wave pound over me
CHORUS:
Take me deep enough where I can see
The bottom of Your heart
Deep enough that I can know Your will
Deep enough to know that we
Will never be apart
And when I get there
Take me deeper still
Take me through the wonders of Your faithfulness
Help me see the depth of my own need
Lead me to the water where Your mercy is
For You and You alone can set me free
I am covered by Your grace
Far away from shore
As you're taking me to places
I have never been before
CHORUS
I want to drown in the water
I want to drown in Your truth
Take me all the way under
Where I have to trust in You
CHORUS

If I have heard this song, I haven't heard it often.  The lyrics caught my attention this morning because "going deeper" is where I am, where I have been, and where I hope to continue in my spiritual journey. 

How is your Friday?!?!  Maybe it has been what you expected.  Maybe it hasn't been.  Maybe you've had some unexpected joy in your day.  Or maybe you've had some unexpected trials. 

Wherever you find yourself today on the path, I pray that you might find peace, joy, hope, faith, and love.  I would encourage you to be bold and courageous in going deeper through trust too.

Blessings on your journey,

Debra

Academy #32, Session #4... I'm already blown away!

Lake Griffin, sunset view from dock back of lodging

After a 10 hour drive from Chattanooga, TN, I arrived here in Fruitland Park, FL at the Life Enrichment Center for Session #4 of Academy #32.

On the drive down, I always have time for reflection and yesterday had some powerful moments of truth through song, thought, worship, prayer.  It was a good preparation time for me. 

The word for yesterday was "hospitality".  And, when we gathered for worship, Jesus was there waiting on us.  It's always good to see Jesus!  Oh, I'd better explain in case you've not been reading my Academy posts.  I'm referring to the Jesus Doll.  Jesus takes on a physical presence.  Now, spiritually, Jesus is here too. 

Jesus, as host, has been preparing the place for each one of us-- just as Jesus prepared the fish on the shore for the disciples many years ago. 

There are things in my own life that I can look at to verify that God has been preparing me for this week and preparing this week for me.  I have begun to scale back on some responsibilities to open up time, space, and energy for God.  This will also allow me to focus on my health since I'm anemic once again and focus on family and the Academy for the remainder of the Academy time.  I look forward to seeing how God weaves Ordination workings into this as well.  I will only take one class per semester in Seminary for the next couple of semesters.  This will allow my brain to have a break and not read 12 books per 3-4 months. 

Basically, I'm in a letting go time again by saying "yes" to God.  It wasn't making sense to me at first.  But after this morning's session, it started making sense.  God was preparing me in advance so that I could and would be more ready to listen while here.  Wow!! 

So, here I am.  Going deeper.  Accepting the invitation.  Trusting.  Allowing that which is being prepared beyond my sight to be prepared without me having to know what it is, yet trusting that it will break through the soil and reveal itself when it is time.

If I were brave enough to go back and read my blogposts, my spiritual journey, I'd probably see a thread woven through them.... one of trusting, going deeper, risking, stepping out in faith, accepting the invitations, saying "yes', etc.

So, this week is already affirming those things for me.

Additionally, the morning topic is on spiritual direction, spiritual guidance.  This is an area to which I feel called, as I have expressed.  I feel called to be a guide to others through the wilderness.  So, it's an area that I want to learn more about in head and heart. 

It's great to be able to slow down, to have the silence and solitude time!  In fact, I was looking forward to getting over to the Path of Silence this morning during the morning reflection time.  My silence and solitude time has not been what I have needed these past several months.  I have been out of balance and have had to create and carve moments into my schedule.  This week I am blessed with lots of it.... starting yesterday on my drive down!  Though that was more solitude, not silence. 

I have even seen several alligators this trip already!  So that promises to be a fun moment. ☺  I'll be taking pictures of the altars and Jesus and I'll write more later.  I just thought I'd take some of my free time to write a brief post today.

Alligator sighting from Path of Silence

I am grateful to God for many, many things and am truly blown away by my Creator's weaving things together in my life.  Even weaving one of the Faculty members back into my life, Linda Douty, that I had met a couple of years earlier.  God is good! 

This is just the beginning of who really knows what?!?!  Today's word?!?!  MYSTERY!

Blessings on your journey! 

~Debra

The Process of Deepening

This morning my daughter called from school.  She rarely calls from school.  Her request today was for her "crazy hat", her Mardi Gras hat, compliments of a friend.  Today was a crazy hat day if you provided for the "Fun for a Buck" school technology fundraiser.  We had done that earlier in the week, but had forgotten the hat today.  She had worn a ski mask to school to keep warm today and I attempted to talk her into allowing that to be her crazy hat.  I don't know why I said I would do it, but I agreed to bring the Mardi Gras jester hat to school.  I have never brought anything for her that she has forgotten to school in the K-5 years that she has been there.

On the way, I wondered if there was more reason than the silly crazy hat.

On my way out of the school, I turned to greet someone coming down the hall and stopped for a brief conversation.  We had a short, but good conversation about how things are going and where things are in her life.  It was awesome to hear how God was leading and guiding!  I believe that was one of those God-appointments.

Then, I come back home and start my devotional reading for the day.  In A Guide to Prayer for All God's People (red book) I read a quote that struck me as relational to the conversation I had just had.  The quote resonated with me on other levels as well because I've been on a journey of going deeper since 2006.

Here is the quote that I read.  It is by John Wijngaards from his book Inheriting the Master's Cloak (1985, p. 83).  In the Guide to Prayer it is found on pages 338 and 339.  I found a website with this book online, so the quote comes from there:

"Christian faith must constantly grow. It cannot remain static. Either it will slowly wither and die, or it will mature and bear ever more fruit. And as the stem grows higher and the branches heavier, it needs to strike deeper roots. Without deeper roots, there is little hope for survival.

“Some of the seed fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. The seeds sprouted, because the soil wasn’t deep. Then, when the sun came up, it burned the young plants; and because the roots had not grown deep enough, the plants soon dried up” (Mk 4:5-6).

Perhaps we are under the impression that Jesus himself did not need to undergo this process of deepening. Such an idea would be wrong. It is contradicted by all the indications that we can glean from the gospels, no less than by the explicit statement that Jesus grew in wisdom and grace (Lk 2:52). Being truly human in every sense of the word, Jesus needed to reflect, to incorporate new experiences into his self-concept, to reinforce his ideals and nurture his heart and mind with new images. Jesus was the most vibrant, open, sensitive, keen, inquisitive religious leader that ever lived. If his humanity, as we believe, presented “the exact likeness of God’s own being” (Heb 1:3), it reflected also the irrepressible vitality of God. At the same time, being one of us, Jesus needed to learn - “Even though he was God’s Son, he learned through his sufferings to be obedient” (Heb 5:8). And the need to suffer was precisely a very upsetting discovery Jesus made."
http://www.womenpriests.org/jnmwbooks/inherit8.asp

Several things strike me from this quote.  First, "Christian faith must constantly grow".  Christian faith must constantly grow.  Christian faith must constantly grow.  Christian faith must constantly grow.  As I reflect upon this statement, there are several key words compacted together.  This is powerful.  That's why I repeated it three times with the emphasis on each different word.  Our roots must go deeper or else there is little hope for survival.  Ouch!  That's harsh sounding, or at least difficult to hear.  If we aren't growing deeper, then it is likely that we won't survive.

This growing deeper stuff, striking deeper roots, how does that come about? 

I know this image won't resonate with most folks, but I thought of the 80s arcade game "Dig Dug".  The little guy had to dig deep to get through the course, avoid obstacles, blow up enemies, etc.  It's not fully theologically sound, but it gives an image of going deeper.

When I think about roots needing to strike deeper in the soil, that can't be easy either. If the dirt is packed solid, the roots must work their way slowly and tediously as they attempt to break away some of the dirt to find a path deeper. Rain may soften the ground to make the process easier.

In life, in our Christian faith journey, there can be pain, suffering, loss, and often chaos during the process of deepening.  We are often shocked that we must go through these things.  But, as we are reminded by Wijngaards here, Jesus went underwent the process of deepening through suffering, so why do we not expect it?

As my friend pointed out this morning, we are typically in one of three places on the journey-- in the garden praying out to God, on the cross suffering, or experiencing the glory of the resurrection.  Just as Christ experienced these on different stages of growth, we will too, albeit differently from Christ.

Regardless of where we find ourselves, hopefully we will recognize the change and the growth taking place as we go deeper.

The process of deepening is worth it!

Here's to going deeper!

~Debra

"Going Deeper By Going Away" by Kevin Witt

I subscribe to "iTeach" which is support for Christian educators.  They send e-mails with articles from time to time.  Today's e-mail and article spoke to me (as I enjoy both going deeper and going away) and I wanted to share it.  There wasn't a link from which I could share it, so I'm copying and pasting and supplying all the information. 

iTeach is a toolbox of wisdom to develop, nurture and encourage teachers, small group leaders and pastors in their teaching ministry.
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Going Deeper By Going Away
By Kevin Witt  

 
In observing the life of Jesus, we notice a clear pattern of going away, in order to go deeper with God. The choice is made by our Lord numerous times in Scripture to seek out a place and a pace different from the normal rigors and responsibilities of his life, even when people’s needs were not yet fully met. He went away to quieter places in the natural world to pray and to reflect more deeply on the meaning of his life. This deliberate pattern of spiritual retreat contributed greatly to his effectiveness as a spiritual leader and teacher.

The teaching of the Sabbath and Jesus’ example of retreats invites us to enter places apart from our normal surrounding and to embrace rhythms and understandings counterintuitive to our harried culture. By encouraging those in our congregations to go on retreat, they, also, learn some essentials of faith and discipleship through direct experience. When we model the practice ourselves, we guide and inspire them to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.
Retreats teach persons to receive through letting go, to move closer by being still, to hear the Divine Word in silence, to move forward through retreat, to act on God’s behalf by resting, to learn community from solitude and strangers, and to discover ways to be more present at home by taking time away. Jesus’ teaching invites people to release their grasp of their customary patterns in order to discover deeper dimensions of life. This is part of the meaning of his promise - “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it” (Luke 9:24). These dichotomies are part of the reason that faith-based retreats are so dynamic and influential.

Retreat settings provide unparalleled opportunities to focus and be attentive to God, to each other, and to our own hearts as an intentional way to take our discipleship to a new level. Many camp and retreat centers have a schedule of programs and events already planned that are available to your church members and leaders as part of the UM connection. Folks looking for congregations with multiple options in terms of faith forming opportunities would find these offerings to be an added asset of your congregation. Retreats are a wonderful element to incorporate into every congregation’s Christian education and spiritual formation plans.
 
Questions for Moving Forward:

1. When you consider the members of your congregation, how might a camp or retreat help them move deeper in their connection with God, each other, and a life of Christian discipleship? What type of retreat or retreat theme would be particularly powerful related to the current vision and goals of your local church?
2. Have you visited or been in contact with your local United Methodist Camp and Retreat Center about any assistance they may be able to provide to a team from your church that may be considering offering a camp or retreat for groups within your local church?
3. Have you considered placing a link on your own local church website entitled “Our Camp and Retreat Program” that would take members and prospective members seamlessly to the many offerings available to them in your local region by linking them to the camp and retreat ministry websites of your conference that your local church and others make possible collaboratively?

--Rev. Kevin Witt is Director, Office of Camp and Retreat Ministries at the General Board of Discipleship in Nashville, TN