I have recently compared my experience of this time of transition in my spiritual journey to that of floating on the water. When I'm relaxed and capable of just being with the flow, the water, myself, God, I float along just fine. However, when I tense up, try to control the flow, begin to worry, or want to "know," when my trust falters, I sink.
Now, we all know what happens to new swimmers when they feel themselves beginning to sink, right? They flounder, they flail around, grasping for whatever they can hold onto, to once again feel safe. Over the last week, I have flailed around, grasping for whatever I can find to hold onto, to once again feel safe, secure, wanted, needed, remembered...all of those very human emotions.
This all reached a pinnacle last night. As I lay in my bed fearful, full of doubt, questioning everything, I was drawn to examen. I realized then that God was in control and I should allow God to do what God wanted! As I reviewed my day, I was reminded of so many acts of grace that I experienced, of the grace I received, of the reminders that I am in the hearts of many people. I was shown that I will not be forgotten.
I went to sleep reassured. I woke this morning to a feeling of well-being that has been absent for about a week now. Nice. My "work" for this week is to allow God to heal the fear in my heart of being forgotten. I'll be spending some time on that this week.
The other word I received is "slow" -- as in slow down, slow process, slow (and deep) work ahead. I see those bright yellow caution signs for road work. Ah yes. Road work. Ufdah.
Showing posts with label grace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grace. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Listening
August. Around here it’s back to school time for our kids. One of the admonitions I always send my kids off to school with is “listen”!
Yet, listening is one of the most challenging aspects to any relationship whether it is parent and child; teacher and student; friend and friend; preacher and congregation; us and God.
The benefits to listening are innumerable! However, let’s look at a few reasons we fail to listen first. I tend to talk when I get nervous, excited, anxious, frustrated, unsure...you get the idea. I talk a lot! The first step toward learning to listen is learning to be quiet. Once I learned how to be quiet, learning to listen came easily. However, I still have the tendency to talk when I should listen so I have to continually monitor that within myself.
Listening is an important skill to build because listening is important to our relationships, to learning, to discerning God’s will for our lives. Listening is not simply hearing what someone else has to say. Listening is hearing with an open heart and open mind. Therein lies the difficulty. When we approach a conversation, whether with another person or in our prayers with God, in an attitude of “I know the answers but I’ll just listen to be polite or to be confirmed in my decision,” we miss the point; we miss an incredible opportunity to learn from one another, to truly hear God’s voice in our lives.
Listening with our hearts and minds wide open, opens our lives to untold abundance. When we listen to the people we have in our lives, we are sharing the gifts God has shared; when we listen to people who we do not know, we are offering ourselves as conduits of God’s grace; when we listen to God, we are the recipients of God’s love and mercy in ways which are unexpected, surprising, and incredible!
Do you have a hard time experiencing yourself as a gift from God to be shared with those around you? How about with being a conduit of God’s grace into the world? Seeing ourselves as worthy of being listened to is sometimes one of the most difficult aspects to listening, and another reason for talking.
Learning to accept ourselves as gifts of God, as conduits of Grace, takes time; takes a determination to listen to God and to those we trust when we hear words of affirmation, of confirmation. No one is perfect; we all make mistakes—yet God even uses those times and acts of imperfection!
When we have the strength and commitment to be quiet and listen, to receive the gift of God’s grace in our lives, we begin to believe God’s trust in us, God’s desire for us to be conduits of Grace. We can then begin to be quiet and listen to those in our lives who need it the most!
Yet, listening is one of the most challenging aspects to any relationship whether it is parent and child; teacher and student; friend and friend; preacher and congregation; us and God.
The benefits to listening are innumerable! However, let’s look at a few reasons we fail to listen first. I tend to talk when I get nervous, excited, anxious, frustrated, unsure...you get the idea. I talk a lot! The first step toward learning to listen is learning to be quiet. Once I learned how to be quiet, learning to listen came easily. However, I still have the tendency to talk when I should listen so I have to continually monitor that within myself.
Listening is an important skill to build because listening is important to our relationships, to learning, to discerning God’s will for our lives. Listening is not simply hearing what someone else has to say. Listening is hearing with an open heart and open mind. Therein lies the difficulty. When we approach a conversation, whether with another person or in our prayers with God, in an attitude of “I know the answers but I’ll just listen to be polite or to be confirmed in my decision,” we miss the point; we miss an incredible opportunity to learn from one another, to truly hear God’s voice in our lives.
Listening with our hearts and minds wide open, opens our lives to untold abundance. When we listen to the people we have in our lives, we are sharing the gifts God has shared; when we listen to people who we do not know, we are offering ourselves as conduits of God’s grace; when we listen to God, we are the recipients of God’s love and mercy in ways which are unexpected, surprising, and incredible!
Do you have a hard time experiencing yourself as a gift from God to be shared with those around you? How about with being a conduit of God’s grace into the world? Seeing ourselves as worthy of being listened to is sometimes one of the most difficult aspects to listening, and another reason for talking.
Learning to accept ourselves as gifts of God, as conduits of Grace, takes time; takes a determination to listen to God and to those we trust when we hear words of affirmation, of confirmation. No one is perfect; we all make mistakes—yet God even uses those times and acts of imperfection!
When we have the strength and commitment to be quiet and listen, to receive the gift of God’s grace in our lives, we begin to believe God’s trust in us, God’s desire for us to be conduits of Grace. We can then begin to be quiet and listen to those in our lives who need it the most!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Sharing
What follows was sent to me by the Rev. Paul Turner, pastor of Gentle Spirit Christian Church of Atlanta. I found it powerful, yet most of all, humbling. You could say this is my first, and probably only, New Year's resolution.
May we each act on these powerful words as we begin 2010:
Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift. Don't grieve God. Don't break God's heart. The Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for God. Don't take such a gift for granted. Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
God's Sky Crane
Have you ever felt like you were being lifted out of a mess by a huge crane? I think of what the construction industry terms "sky cranes" and imagine God being one of those in a spiritual sense. In my previous post, I shared some of my angst lately and I must admit that over the last couple of days God has been sending me helpers, clarifiers, providers of perspective. The funny thing is though I had to be at a place where I would receive those God sent.
Funny that . . . having to be receptive.
What is the key to being receptive? Is being receptive in and of itself a gift from God? I tend to think of the love of God, revealed most fully in Christ, as being the "key." If we choose to take that love into our hearts and souls and minds, does that make us receptive to whatever God wants of us? Isn't taking that love into our hearts a prerequisite for baptism? For when we take that love into our hearts, we submit ourselves to a relationship with Christ. We acknowledge our debt. We make a statement that we are in Christ and Christ is in us.
Baptism has been on my mind a lot lately and the profound nature of its gift. Baptism is an outward sign of an inward receptiveness to God's Love in the World . . . Jesus Christ. We are one with Christ in his death and his resurrection in our baptism. We receive our most intimate visit with the Holy Spirit at our baptism. It is through this visit with the Holy Spirit that we receive our gifts, our call, the purpose of our new life in Christ. We can begin to see the purpose of our lives to this point. We begin to recognize the power and mercy of the Sustainer and Comforter as made known to us. An imprint of that power and mercy is left within our soul. Why? So that when God calls us to be a part of that sky crane, to help pull someone out of a quagmire of doubt and worry and disappointment, we recognize that part of God within that gives us the ability, the words, the arms and shoulders with which to do such compassionate work.
And, it all revolves around being receptive.
Funny that . . . having to be receptive.
What is the key to being receptive? Is being receptive in and of itself a gift from God? I tend to think of the love of God, revealed most fully in Christ, as being the "key." If we choose to take that love into our hearts and souls and minds, does that make us receptive to whatever God wants of us? Isn't taking that love into our hearts a prerequisite for baptism? For when we take that love into our hearts, we submit ourselves to a relationship with Christ. We acknowledge our debt. We make a statement that we are in Christ and Christ is in us.
Baptism has been on my mind a lot lately and the profound nature of its gift. Baptism is an outward sign of an inward receptiveness to God's Love in the World . . . Jesus Christ. We are one with Christ in his death and his resurrection in our baptism. We receive our most intimate visit with the Holy Spirit at our baptism. It is through this visit with the Holy Spirit that we receive our gifts, our call, the purpose of our new life in Christ. We can begin to see the purpose of our lives to this point. We begin to recognize the power and mercy of the Sustainer and Comforter as made known to us. An imprint of that power and mercy is left within our soul. Why? So that when God calls us to be a part of that sky crane, to help pull someone out of a quagmire of doubt and worry and disappointment, we recognize that part of God within that gives us the ability, the words, the arms and shoulders with which to do such compassionate work.
And, it all revolves around being receptive.
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