Psalm 39:4-6-----God's Loving Presence is with us

My lectio divina reading this morning comes from Psalm 39: 4-6 from Nan Merrill's Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness. 

"O Loving Presence, You are with us 

to the end, 

whatever the measure of our days; 

our life passes by as the blinking of an eye!

For the gift of life fades too 

soon away,

yet how precious are we in your sight!

Surely your Plan for us is written in our hearts!

Surely your angels stand ready 

to guide us on our way!

Surely there is nothing to fear, 

for You abide with us; You

await patiently for us to awaken to your Love."

I opened up the book to find a Psalm after reading this in my memories from 10 years ago today: 

"Difficult day to describe hanging out in my grandmother's room. Two workers sang beautiful harmonized songs accapella.  A huge food cart was brought to us. Not much reaction from Meemo,  though if I could lip read. .. maybe.  She is definitely near the end of this leg of the journey, yet didn't go on while I was there. It is beautiful and peaceful except for the labored breathing, for which medical folks administered helpful relief. Living into the bioethics class and conference this intimately is not what I intended.  My emotions are very close to the surface and I am not wearing any masks... so you are likely to see some breakdowns if you see me... Shalom"

I have not compiled my memories from my grandmother's journey of passing, but I think about it. It was a crucible time for me as I was taking a bioethics class on aging, death, and dying, and walking the path with her weekly. It was holy ground, an honor, yet not one without pain.

It's like walking in silence in the woods, under the cathedral of a tree canopy, held close by the surrounding trees and other growth. As you watch, wait, and listen to all that is around you, it is holy. But being in the woods isn't without pain. There can be the unseen root or rock that causes a stumble. Or, by being in the silence, there is the opportunity for the heart, mind, and soul to wander where they might. 

from a hike in November, 2023, Lookout Mtn.

Thus is being at someone's bedside as they near the threshold.  It is holy ground. You sit mostly in silence. You don't know where it will take you. You watch, you listen, you wait.

I am grateful for the memories and the experiences, even as I was taking the biothethics class. Truly, it was incredible timing, though a bit difficult. 

Walking others home has been part of me for a long time, long before I became a pastor. It has been holy ground for me to be with people as they neared transition and/or made the final journey. 

As I read the words from Psalm 39, they seemed to go with my memory today.

We don't need to be at the end of our journey to be reminded that the Loving Presence is with us, though, and that we are precious in their sight. The Loving Presence abided within us and waits patiently for us to awaken to the love they have for us. 

That is amazingly good news!

Peace on this day!

Deb

P.S. It turns out that I did collect some of my writings and write them into a blogpost. Here is one from 5 years ago:

Reflections on aging and dying-- January 26, 2019

P.S.S. As I re-read that blogpost from 5 years ago, I might guess as to why the Psalm and the memory hit me as it did today...... my grandmother Meemo passed sometime late on the 22nd, as I wrote about on the 23rd in my post 5 years ago. Our hearts, our minds, our souls, our bodies..... they remember. We are awake to love.

DD

Psalm 62-- my soul waits in silence

as I got out of the car at work and looked up, I saw this

Yesterday I met with a group of people on ZOOM who were in my Spiritual Direction cohort at Columbia Theological Seminary. We were meeting to discuss group supervision.

I felt led to open our time together with  lectio divina (sacred reading) and what chose me was Psalm 62 from Nan Merrill's Psalms for Praying. I had the date 8/2/23 next to verses 6 and 7 and had drawn two trees with a hammock between them, as the words had given me an image of being held as in a cocoon, a hammock. Looking back over my blogposts, I wrote about that time here. So, if you want to read those reflections, go check it out.

I wasn't sure what caused the short passage to choose me yesterday, but after our time of silence, I knew. It spoke to the group. It was needed for each one, in different ways or situations, but needed. I'm glad I listened.

I'm going to share the reading here.

I encourage you to read it through at least two times, slowly. Then spend some time in silence. If you're not used to silence, try 5 minutes. If you are comfortable with silence, I encourage you to sit for 20 minutes. What from the reading captured your attention? Let it soak in.

For You alone my soul waits in silence;
my hope is from the Beloved.
Enfolding me with strength and
steadfast love,
my faith shall remain firm.
In the Silence rests my freedom and
my guidance; for
You are the Heart of my heart, 
You speak to me in the Silence.

Psalm 62:6-7, Psalms for Praying, Nan Merrill

As I reflect on these words today, what stands out for me?

• my soul waits in silence
• my hope is from the Beloved
• strength
• steadfast love
• my faith shall remain firm
• freedom
• guidance
• Heart of my heart
• You speak to me in the Silence

There is so much here, in these short two verses. Going further into the Psalm, in verse 8, there is a line "Let Silence be a refuge for you."

Ah, yes. Silence IS a refuge. And, in the silence, all of the things above, in verses 6 and 7 come out of the silence. 

Making time for silence and making time to be with the Beloved, the Creator, is a vital part of my spiritual practice.

Thanks for joining me today.

Rev. Deb

Flipper Bend Trailhead

It started out at 41 degrees Fahrenheit around 1pm and was 46 degrees Fahrenheit when we finished. 

Today we went up to the Flipper Bend Trailhead of the Cumberland Trail (CT). I have only hiked it once before, years ago. What I remembered most from that hike was the overlook we went to. But maybe we took a different route or that was a different hike I remember.  Based on information written about it, there are overlooks, we just didn't make it to them today.

Following the white blazes from the kiosk, the trail goes to the right into the woods. Even though the trail is marked "foot trail only",  there was evidence in the mud of horse and bike tracks, though we saw none on the trail.

The trail crosses the road and goes back into the woods near the Boston Branch subdivision. 

We continued our hike in the woods, crossing a couple of smaller creek crossings.

We saw one trail runner. That's it. No other hikers today.  

Not quite 1 1/2 miles in, we came to a deeper creek crossing that would have rendered our feet wet. We enjoyed the sounds and sights of the water before heading back.

The tree canopy and clear blue sky were wonderful today. The water flowing in the creeks was music to my ears. I saw some mushrooms and an earthworm. 

As always, being in creation is a gift and fills me. The silence and solitude, the fresh air, the sounds and sights of nature..... it always fills me. Being in nature is a spiritual practice for me. 

It was good to take hike #2 for the year! 

Here's to more hikes and adventures!

Deb

Today's hike-- a new trail for us

view from parking lot

map at kiosk and the retired guy

#SeeAHeartShareAHeart

metal (?) box up close, metal piece behind it, and large wire spool in background

happy hikers-- me and the retired guy

don't let it bite you. :)

small metal something--toy car?

I had planned to get outside and hike today, regardless of my state of being. Thankfully, I did test negative today and that meant I didn't need to wear a mask in the car to protect the retired guy on the ride to the trailhead. 

Being outdoors is always life-giving and even more so when you aren't able to do it.

My strength isn't quite up to par, but we did hike 3 miles today. And now I'm resting some more. We took the hike slow and easy, but it still wore me out. That's the most exercise I've had in two weeks. It was my first hike of 2024.

It was wonderful to be outside in creation today, even if only for several hours. We were in the woods. The trail went by a gorgeous creek for a good portion. There were ferns, moss, huge leaves, and even some mushrooms. The creek bed had areas of solid flat rock on the bottom and crystal clear water. The trail was mostly pristine, with only a little bit of old rusty metal seen here and there. The still water and the running water were balms to my soul.

We only saw one other person on the trail. 

I had read about the trail some, but we had never hike it prior to today. I'll definitely go back. 

My soul was refreshed after this time in creation as nature therapy is a spiritual practice for me.

We hiked on the Cumberland Trail (CT) on Signal Mountain at the Hall Road/Old Anderson Road Trailhead.

Here's to more hiking adventures in 2024!

Deb

Wild Trails-- Cumberland Trail Project

Cumberland State Scenic Trail (map of trailheads)

Centering Prayer-- it has been a while

my view out the window as I did my centering prayer

I don't know about your, but my spiritual practices ebb and flow.  I haven't practiced centering prayer for a while. I have an app on my phone to help me practice, but it has been a while. The app is from Contemplative Outreach. I've mentioned it before. It's available for iPhones and Androids. Check out the link I posted.

Today, for some reason, it seemed right.

So, I got on the app, changed the season from "fall" to "winter"-- if that tells you anything about how long it "might" have been since I've used it, checked my readings and decided that they would work, checked the time I had set-- 20 minutes, and then began.

It wasn't smooth sailing, so to speak. It HAS been a while. My silent muscles aren't quite up to 20 minutes and my brain was hopping and popping all over the place. I gently came back to my sacred word, again and again (and again). 

It isn't about how "well" one does nor about what one thinks they accomplish, but rather it is time with the Creator. At least, that's how I understand it. 

I hope to become more regular in my centering prayer practice. It's one I enjoy and it is beneficial to me. I feel the benefits as the deep breaths I take during the time, offer a flowing calm into me. 

Though I may not know, sense, experience all the benefits of centering prayer, I know it's good for me. It's like spending quiet time with a close friend-- there are no need for words, just presence. 

Being present to and with Creator is an intentional focus that is good for me. This I know.

Here are some screen shots of today's time on the app:

Psalm 139 Excerpt 2:

Where can I go from your spirit? From your presence, where can I flee? If I ascend to the heavens, you are there, if I lie down in Sheol, there you are. If I take the wings of dawn and dwell beyond the sea, Even there your hand guides me, your right hand holds me fast... You formed my inmost being, you knit me in my mother's womb. I praise you, because I am wonderfully made, wonderful are your works! My very self you know.

I have it set to three gongs to end. 

Living Life and Sustaining Love by Peter Traben Haas (from Centering Prayers: A One-Year Daily Companion for Going Deeper into the Love of God)

[Interestingly, I had not remembered that I had previously set the ending reading to this quote. I have this book now and use it daily.]

"Living Life and Sustaining Love: Help me feel your attracting grace in the universe, which keeps everything from coming apart. May the Word of Christ hold me together with wisdom and love. I give thanks for your Word and consent to being held by it so to remain at center with you. Amen."

Centering prayer helps me "be" rather than "do". In fact, my sacred word is "be still". They recommend one to two syllables, but I have used "peace, be still" in the past. I have attempted to change my sacred word at times, but I keep coming back to some form of stillness. And, that's good for me. Being over doing is what grounds me.

If you haven't tried the app yet, I invite you to do so. Let me know what you think.

Rev. Deb

a couple other blog posts about centering prayer:

• Making space for quiet (April 16, 2016)
• Centering Prayer-- a great practice  (November 12, 2018)

2024 mantra

As 2023 was ending, I saw a post much like I saw in 2022 that mentioned the first four words you saw would be your 2024 mantra. Since 2023 had been interestingly successful,  I decided to look.

What 4 words did I see first?

• Change
• Power
• Connection 
• Gratitude 

Much like I had no clue how the words for 2023 would be woven into the unfoldong of my life, I have no clue about these words. 

What I do know is that I will hold the words lightly, with curiosity and openness in the days ahead. 

I look forward to growing in 2024! 

Deb

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