Ash Wednesday prayer

I wrote the following prayer for the Ash Wednesday service at the church where I am doing my supervised field education. I incorporated a hymn called "Don't Be Afraid" from the hymnal More Voices, which I sang a capella. The Spirit moved in our midst as we prayed...

Compassionate God, lover of us all,

From scattered lives, we come to be reconnected…

            With bruised or broken hearts, we come to be healed…

Feeling isolated and alone, we come to be loved…

We long to be reawakened to the melody of your presence that sings through our lives…

Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger; my love is stronger than your fear.

Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger and I have promised, promised to be always near.

In our times of distress, when the pressures of life overwhelm us

We sometimes worry others will not understand…and we become afraid to share our burdens for fear of judgement…

When we feel disconnected from our shared human experience…

When we no longer look into the faces of loved one’s to see our own beauty mirrored there…

We can lose sight of how wonderful we are as embodied expressions of your divine love,

We are numb to your Spirit moving in us and in the spaces between us. Our relationships begin to unravel…

O God, draw us back into community when we wander too far alone in the wilderness of life…

Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger; my love is stronger than your fear.

Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger and I have promised, promised to be always near.

In the shadows of a lingering winter…

When cold temperatures and slippery roads often mean we are housebound and cut off from the incredible glory of the earth that sustains and shapes our being…

Our relationship with Creation can become weakened and distorted…

Life-giving God, breather of life and energy into every particle of the cosmos…knit us back together, as one body, on Spirit, one strand in the great cosmic web of the universe…

Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger; my love is stronger than your fear.

Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger and I have promised, promised to be always near.

God, your healing touch renews our souls…

You enliven our life, our being, our relationships with one another…

Thankful for your eternal presence binding us together,

we tenderly offer the silent prayers of our hearts...

Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger; my love is stronger than your fear.

Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger and I have promised, promised to be always near.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

PS - You might find tumbleweeds rolling through my sorely neglected blog during the early part of 2013, but…stay tuned for travel stories and photos in April and May, as my Mom and I head off on a month long exploration of London, Paris, Provence and Barcelona!!

A Time to Act...A Time to Lament

As the news unfolded yesterday about the elementary school shootings in Connecticut, my heart was swollen with grief...how can this happen? Expressions of shock and pain rolled across the pages of my facebook newsfeed...every media outlet carried the story...it was inescapable. As it should have been...inescapable. Change doesn't come in those moments when we are able to turn a blind eye. Maybe this horrific event will be a catalyst for change.

One friend posted this: "I'm sorry, people, but posting on FB about how sad we are, raging at the "machine" and having some breakfast, will not make the children any safer. It's time for action. Anyone up for it????"

I pray people answer the growing call to action. Positive, fruitful action, that is. I am starting to see a lot of polarization around tangents and side issues that serve only to deflect our attention and prevent real change from happening.

But as important as it is to bring about change in the coming weeks, months, years...we also must be mindful of our very human need to grieve. Time to come together in community and lament. To weep in the darkness, waiting for the light to shine again in our hearts.

I read the Book of Lamentations yesterday and my eyes kept stopping at verse 16:

For these things I weep;
   my eyes flow with tears;
for a comforter is far from me,
   one to revive my courage;
my children are desolate,
   for the enemy has prevailed. 

I thought, yes, sometimes that is how we feel. Discouraged, desolate...as if the enemy has prevailed. Almost. But not quite. I also recalled the words of the Psalmist. Psalm 147, which President Obama quoted: "God heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds." And Psalm 23, that source of great comfort in our times of grief: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me." 

And I saw my facebook newsfeed fill with an outpouring of prayers for all those affected, even from those who are normally (and often vehemently) non-religious. We wrap each other in the arms of comfort, setting aside our differences. And in the face of such love, the enemy cannot prevail. Now I pray that the anger and pain in our hearts gives way to justice seeking, and not vengeance or apathy.

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." (John 1:5)

Grateful for Living Waters

I'm sitting here feeling so incredibly grateful for the amazingly beautiful and wondrous world that surrounds me...for the loves of my life...for the path I am walking (leaping, crawling) toward ordered ministry...for the movement of the Spirit and the mystery of life. The following words by David Steindl-Rast, shared in a video by Louie Schwartzberg called Gratitude, really resonate in my soul.

“It's not 'just another day', it's the one day that was given to you today. It's given to you...it's a gift. It's the only day that you have right now, and the only appropriate response is gratefulness.”

“If you do nothing else but to cultivate that response to the great gift that this unique day is…if you learn to respond as if it were the first day in your life and the very last day, then you will have spent this day very well.”

“And on this day all the people you meet, all that life from generations and from so many places all over the world flows together and meets you here, like a life-giving water if you only open your heart and drink.”

“And so I wish you will open your heart to all these blessings and let them flow through you...that everyone you will meet on this day will be blessed by you...just by your eyes, by your smile, by your touch...just by your presence.”

“Let the gratefulness overflow into blessing all around you. Then it will really be a good day.”

Amen, brother. Amen.

Saturday Photohunt: Seasonal

It's been a long while since I've posted an entry...but I was meandering around my yard the other day taking pictures in the rain and thought I would share a glimpse of what the season looks like in Nova Scotia right now...what a blessing to be surrounded by such beauty!

Check out Sandi's Photohunt page to enjoy more seasonal offerings!