The presence of the Holy Spirit

I’m starting 2011 as sick as I’ve been in many years … probably since high school when I landed in the hospital sick as a dog for some undiagnosed reason … Whatever the symptoms, the real culprit is definitely stress – it was then and it is now.

This past year has been a roller coaster of emotions … in my personal life, in corporate worship, and in my family. And I’ve been begging to get off the ride.

Two things have made me face reality:  a trip to Disney with a friend over New Year’s Eve which found me facing my fears and going on rides … which I found oddly not nearly as frightening as I anticipated because I was facing them with a friend… and preaching about the baptism of Jesus and realizing that even Jesus didn’t get to escape the roller coaster of life … in one pericope he’s hearing, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased,” and in the very next pericope he’s in the wilderness facing temptation and loneliness. And the presence of the Holy Spirit is found in both places.

I really wanted to hear that I had spent my year on the roller coaster ride and would be allowed to jump off in 2011. But if anything, the heights seem much higher and the drops seem much steeper.

May the Holy Spirit be present and may I continually claim the calm assurance that Jesus still speaks, “Peace, be still.”

Come …..

We ask for all
In trouble
Not knowing where to turn
We ask for a miracle
Come break through
Come dawn
Breath
Deep peace
Love diving
Grace unbound
Relieve your children's
Burden and pain
Come fill us
Center us in
Prayer
Silence
Companionship
Shared space

by
Annette Joseph
Strong, Maine

Joseph, Annette. "Come." Lifting Women's Voices: Prayers to Change the World. Ed. Margaret Rose, Jenny Te Paa, Jeanne Person, Abagail Nelson. NY: Morehouse Publishing, 2009. 264.

Christmas Eve

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness on them light has shined. (Isaiah 9:2)

Contemporary Mother and Child

Several contemporary images of Mary and the baby Jesus have surfaced on the web recently …this is one of them.

Letting the mud settle …..

Artist Melanie Weidner says of this painting that it is "Based on a quote from the Tao Te Ching: "Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving until the right action arises by itself?" (By the way, if you havent been to her site yet, check out Melanie's other beautiful work here.)

Question: Do you “do Thanksgiving” or really give thanks?

Prayer For My Family Robert Louis Stevenson

Lord, behold our family here assembled,
We thank thee for this place in which we dwell,
For the love that unites us,
For the peace accorded to us this day,
For the hope with which we expect the morrow,
For the health, the work, the food,
And the bright skies that make our lives delightful,
For our friends in all parts of the earth,
And our friendly helpers everywhere.

Give us courage, joy, and the quiet mind.
Spare to us our friends, soften to us our enemies.
Bless us, if it may be, in all our innocent endeavors;
If it may not, give us the strength to encounter that which is to come.

May we be brave in peril, constant in tribulation,
Temperate in wrath, and in all changes of fortune,
Down to the gates of death, loyal and loving to one another.

As the clay to the potter, as the windmill to the wind,
As children of their sire, we beseech of thee this help. Amen.

Friday Five: Winter’s On the Way

This week we were asked to think about the upcoming winter weather. Praying fervently that we don’t have a repeat of the scene above – 26” in two days.

Hard exercise to do since it is 65 degrees here today … still, we know it’s coming …

 

1. What is your favorite movie for watching when curled up under a wooly blanket?

Holiday Inn – I know it’s really a Christmas movie but it’s still a winter favorite.

2. Likewise, what book? – No particular book that I reread but a good mystery is always a good thing on a cold day.

3. What foods do you tend to cook/eat when it gets cold?  Chili definitely ranks high on the list as does a roast, potatoes and carrot menu or cranberry pork roast cooked in the crock pot.  I also love potato soup on a cold winter day.

4. What do you like to do if you get a "snow day" (or if you don't get snow days, what if you did)?

Snow days are definitely meant for hunkering down and just having a good excuse not to do anything except enjoy the day …. sometimes that means a PJ day – staying in them all day without a hint of guilt.

5. Do you like winter sports or outdoor activities, or are you more likely to be inside playing a board game? Do you have a favorite (indoors or out)?

Can’t say that I like winter sports – although a day of sled riding around a fire is a treat.  More likely to find me inside around a board game if there’s someone available to join me. If not, computer Scrabble is fine.