Category: Religion

Invite the Spirit

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There are so many opportunities to make the choice to allow God into your life. Although faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26), works without the intention of doing it for the glory of God, are just as meaningless. Don’t get me wrong…it is wonderful to do good deeds – don’t stop doing them! Just start adding meaningful purpose. Slow down to be conscientious of why you are doing what you are doing. God’s voice can be heard in silence so give yourself the right to have a “time out” so you can “paws to pray.”

“Lord, I invite your Spirit to guide me into your way, into your love. I will try to follow you all the days of my life. Amen.“ (Live Like Francis, 2016)

Today, my wonderful love nugget (a.k.a. my dog Grace) has had such ants in her pants, it seems like she’s about to crawl out of her skin. We’ve gone to the dog park the last two days while the weather was cooler and she ran her tuchus off – so she should be tired, right? Nope. Boundless energy. But most of it, I must admit, is that I am super boring to live with and she is just too smart.

An impish gleam in Grace’s eye kept being shot in my direction, and her growly way of talking was saying, “Let’s go out!” Being the inside bum that I am, I begrudgingly followed her directions (I’m a well-trained person) and we went outside just in case she really needed to go to the bathroom.

After standing my ground about NOT going for a full walk, Grace walked back toward me and plopped straight down on her belly in the grass. Ugh! It was hot out! I have stuff to do! For a couple of minutes I stood there next to her feeling perturbed and waiting for her to get over it. But when she rested her head on her paw I knew we were in it for the long haul. I gave in and sat down on the grass, too.

Head Down

But you know what happened then as my dog was doing her best interpretation of a solar panel? The heat made me uncurl my anxious body and stretch out. I started to notice the breeze that kept it from feeling too hot. I got to see a family of goldfinches fly by, hear frogs singing in the pond, and have the wind blow my skirt up inappropriately which made me giggle as I tried to inconspicuously look around to see if any neighbors had been looking out their windows.

And I got to thinking – if it weren’t for my dog, I’d have missed a lot of nice days lately. What starts out as an annoying nagging to go out, always turns into a pleasant, relaxing time. What seems like a hardship, ends-up being a blessing. Go figure!

So take your “paws to pray” by appreciating the unexpected ways the Spirit can guide your day. Make the intentions of your deeds to be purposefully in service to God. Take time to  look for the blessings hidden hardships by making a choice to allow God to bring you closer to His love through everything you do.

Don’t Get Mad, Get Glad!

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Some days I’m just so glad I have God. I know that statement should be that ALL days I’m glad to have God – believe me, I am – but some days (you know those kinds of days) the gladness is just that much more opaque. Situations that would have gotten me pretty depressed when I was younger, in the last couple of years, are now just reasons to remind me to think of the blessings I have and that everything will be okay.

Sometimes I find that the more people I’m around, the lonelier I feel. Maybe that’s just my introversion…I don’t really know. But I do know that other people do feel the same way so at least I’m not alone in my loneliness (however that works). It has something to do with not feeling like many people really know me I’m sure. I can count on one hand the number of people I feel like I can talk to, they listen, and they have empathy for what I tell them. They don’t just automatically tell me what to do, or explain how I SHOULD think or feel, or try to down-talk my concerns.

But when I start to dwell (which I am known to do occasionally – but I’m getting better!) on not having anyone to talk to, I now do a little mental forehead slap and say, “but GOD understands!” In my life I’ve looked into Buddhism and Hinduism and random other religions trying to find my niche but they all left me with the same loneliness. Then I came back around to try Christianity again (I’d been raised that way with religious education classes and all but it never hit home for me).

Now, with Christianity, you can’t ever feel alone. Especially if you’re Catholic and have the whole communion of Saints! A God who experienced what it’s like in a puny people body? Terrorized, persecuted, bullied, tortured, love, work, relationships…yeah, I think that God can empathize with what my simple little day is like! God “gets” it so much that we even were gifted the Holy Spirit to get through it all! I mean, how can you not love the Holy Spirit? Seriously, I think Pentecost should be a MUCH bigger celebration than it is. It’s sorta my favorite holiday. Too bad it’s always on a Sunday or else we should really be allowed to take the day off work for it and wear special hats 🙂

So “Paws to Pray” by acknowledging that through faith, we are never alone in our journeys. Never left to flounder without an anchor. God’s presence and unremitting love is with us always – even during our times of snotty grown-up teen angst, blooper moments, and all-out failures. Especially during those times.

I don’t get any kickbacks; this is just how my brain thinks:

Live Like God is Watching

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This quote that is in the image above was very thought-provoking to me when I first read it:

“When was the last time you lived by the gentle voice of conscience and it brought misery to your life? Attune your soul to the voice of the conscience within.”

(Matthew Kelly, The Narrow Path)

Their suggestion is something I frequently struggle with. It makes sense, I agree with it…yet, as with everything, execution is the hardest part. I’ve always said the problem is that I lack the self-confidence to believe that I would know the right thing to do. I always second-guess myself. It takes me forever to make a decision. I always have to have the facts, recheck the facts, triple-check the facts, then ask a few people their opinions, compare that against what I already know, let it marinate a few days, revisit it, check with a different person…well, you can see how far this can go sometimes! But that assumes that the little voice in my head is me. But, I guess, assuming that little voice is me is pretty egotistical!

I can’t think of a time when that voice was talking me into doing something bad…it’s always a reminder to be doing doing good or a way to improve my life. So why wouldn’t I automatically think that it is the voice of God giving me a nudge? Is it because it’s trying to tell me the right thing to do and the right thing to do is rarely the easiest thing to do? Or am I just a little too self-involved, maybe? Oh, I hate it when I come to that realization! I’ve always felt like I live by that little voice in my head but do I really when I second-guess it so much? Am I really living by faith when I require so much concrete reassurance?

My “Paws to Pray” today is take a few minutes to thank God for that little inner voice that leads me in the right direction and to promise that I will be more confident in its message (and be readily willing to take action!) in the future .

Chasing Francis

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Chasing Francis: A Pilgram’s Tale,

by Ian Morgan Cron (2013)

I’m generally not a fan of biographies. Which is strange because I love to hear about all the amazing things that happen in people’s real lives – but I don’t like when it feels like a glob of details being thrown at you like a dull history class. So a book like this one is perfect for me. The plot line is fictitious but it pulls in historical facts as it goes.

The main character, Chase Falson, is a pastor who has grown tired of church being a form of superficial entertainment and is longing for something deeper. Off he goes to Italy where he ends-up falling into the steps of St. Francis of Assisi and learning about what it means to have true faith.

It is an entertaining quick read that inspired me to want to learn more about St. Francis which I consider a “win” because I think that means I didn’t really want the story to end!


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A Contest of Faith

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Who is more religious? Men or women? This Telegraph article attempts to broach the topic but I think there is a pretty simple (yet complex) reason that men at least seem to be less religious than women.

The performance of masculinity in most cultures requires men to be a leader (the boss), be tough (play contact sports), lack emotion (boys don’t cry!), not require anyone else (women “trap” them in marriage), know everything (man-splaining), and, in general, just have everything under control. Of course, there are tons of other ways to explain secular expectations of masculinity but those are the ones that popped into my head right away.

The problem is, secular expectations of men are, by definition, not very church-y. When you pray, you are acknowledging that there is a bigger boss than you – someone that is more in control than you (God). To be a part of a church community means you have to care about others’ suffering an try to help – there isn’t competition to be better than them. Marriage and emotional connection with a wife is definitely encouraged (elevated to the level of a Sacrament even!). At church, you don’t get to make the rules, you just have to follow them. However, the rest of your life outside of church says all those things are male weaknesses.

The performance of traditional secular femininity**, however, does support all of those things. Women are used to functioning within a patriarchy which situates them into a subservient social role in everyday life. So it makes it “easier” for them (and I’m generalizing here so know that I’m not claiming it is 100% true for 100% of all women) to accept that same role within a religious structure and church life.

It’s just that “simple.” LOL, right?

But all of that is, of course, based on outer expression of behavior. Intention we cannot know of other people. And that is really the important part when it comes to prayer and relationship with God. Sure, kindness, compassion, and love are actions that can be measured but there are all sorts of reasons why people feel limited in expressing those things (see above). God can see through all of that, though.

One thing we can do as supportive members of the world community is to “paws to pray” for those who feel restricted by secular expectations in their ability to fully and freely worship God in the way Jesus taught us ALL to because:

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  Galatians 3:28

**I say “traditional” secular femininity because in today’s Western society, women are more encouraged to exhibit traditionally masculine behaviors in order to be more equal participants in society. This could be why church participation in general is on the decline?

 

Living Words

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A reading according to the Holy Gospel of John (17:20-26)

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying:
“Holy Father, I pray not only for them,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
so that they may all be one,
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.
And I have given them the glory you gave me,
so that they may be one, as we are one,
I in them and you in me,
that they may be brought to perfection as one,
that the world may know that you sent me,
and that you loved them even as you loved me.
Father, they are your gift to me.
I wish that where I am they also may be with me,
that they may see my glory that you gave me,
because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Righteous Father, the world also does not know you,
but I know you, and they know that you sent me.
I made known to them your name and I will make it known,
that the love with which you loved me
may be in them and I in them.”

Before you just read and run off (it’s so easy to do on a busy day), take your “paws to pray” on the second line of what Jesus said. He asked that God the Father not only pray for the people present with Him but for those who will hear those people’s words – that through their words, others would know Jesus.

Take a minute or two to meditate while listening to today’s Gospel. Really visualize situations you commonly encounter that you could consciously choose to use words that would have you embody Jesus for others. If we plan ahead of time, it is easier to know the best way to respond in some circumstances that are routine. And then through consistent practice, it becomes more than just a habit but, rather, a part of our character.

 

It’s an Expansively Small World Afterall

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I love how things are interconnected. That is part of what I love about learning and teaching – that there is a connection to be found between everything. The other day I wrote about how God’s love fills the holes of suffering much like gold mends broken pottery in the Japanese art of Kintsugi. Then, the following day, I happened to amble into our local Christian store and stumbled upon this mug:

I says, “He takes the broken pieces and makes them beautiful.” I thought, “What is this tom foolery? I was just philosophizing about that! What are the odds?” I like to take things as signs so I figured this was one such occasion. A friend of mine calls those “God winks” (hi, Jenny!) and I think that’s a pretty accurate description.

The verse on the mug is cited to be from Ecclesiastes 3:11 so being the expert in curiosity yet novice biblical scholar that I am, I had to go look it up.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

I can’t agree that is exactly what they had written on the mug, but I get how they paraphrased the way they did. However, the part of the verse that I really connected with is,  “He has also set eternity in the human heart.” I find that interesting because I think I’ve actually felt it before. Times that I have been communing with fellow parishioners in faith formation studies, or when I’m sharing Holy Communion with patients in the hospital, or discussing Catholicism with residents at at nursing home I have felt, in my chest, the “eternity” that was set there. Before having read this verse, I would have described it as feeling the expansion of the universe inside of me –  growing fullness for lack of a better description. And until I read Ecclesiastes 3:11, my healthy skepticism made me believe I was being goofy – but now it makes sense!

The most interesting part, though, is that I only feel it while in community with others. I can say that I’ve HOPED I would feel it as I study and read on my own but it just doesn’t happen. Now I’m realizing that it shouldn’t happen when I’m alone because community is what it’s all about!

“For where there are two or three gathered in my name, there I am with them.” (Matthew 18:20)

So the next time you get that feeling of warm, fuzzy, glowing love in your chest when you look at your child or significant other or pet or whoever is special to you, know that you are getting a glimpse of eternity that God has set in your heart. And no matter how deep and expansive that feels, we can’t even fathom what God has designed through that little speck of Grace He placed in each of us.

 

Featured image: NASA astronaut photograph ISS022-E-6674

Miracle at Higher Grounds Cafe

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Miracle at Higher Grounds Cafe, by Max Lucado with Candace Lee & Eric Newman

This book has angels in it. So it is automatically better than a book without angels. That being said, however, this is a pleasant fictional read with a Christian-based moral foundation. It touches on some topics that are very realistic and effect everyday modern life like divorce, parenting, and the obsession with social connectivity. It’s a light, quick read that, when I had my mother read it, she said, “Mention that it takes a little bit to get ‘into’ the plot but then you can’t put it down!”

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A Divine Connection

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No matter who you have the closest relationship with, it is obvious that there is a string of connection between living things. I don’t care if it is a person, a pet, or a plant, life is recognizable to other life. It is through the recognition of that connection where compassion and mercy are allowed to actualize because the “I” and “you” have too many commonalities to ignore.

During Catholic Mass there is a point where we all shake hands or hug or kiss and say, “peace be with you” – meaning the peace of Christ. My pastor, who is from India, says that their custom is to put the palms of their hands together at their chests (like traditional praying-style hands), bow, and say, “namaste,” to each other – which means, “the divine in me recognizes the divine in you.” No matter what tradition you use to express the sentiment, knowing and acknowledging that spark of life that can only come from God seems to be essential to making respectful community.

“Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who causes the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:7)

Here are a couple of things I ran across today that I would count at least as a smidgen of proof  that there is a special bond at work between people and their pets. These focus specifically on dogs, but they could just as easily be any living thing who is special to you. When you watch the video, have some tissues handy because it is heart-wrentchingly beautiful. I just don’t know if anyone could deny that a bond so special isn’t due to a divine connection.

Denali from FELT SOUL MEDIA on Vimeo.

A God Among Humans?

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“Suffering is redemptive in part because it definitively reveals to man that he is not in fact God, and it thereby opens the human person to receive the divine.”

-from Life Issues, Medical Choices

Whoo! This quote made my head do a mini explosion this morning when I opened my Franciscan Media Minute Meditation email. It was like a thousand proto-thoughts collided into a tiny epiphany. If you know the movie “The Matrix”  (1999) then you know when Neo is first learning how they load new information with a stick poked into his brain and so they start to teach him different ways to fight and he learns now to do it in, like, five seconds so he opens his eyes all freaked-out like he can hardly believe it would happen so fast, and he goes, “I know kung fu!” I had a, “I know kung fu!,” moment when I read that quote.

Oh, the striving to be God-like that so many people do! Perfectionist trying to attain something they never can have. Control freaks trying to take-over everything but themselves. Type-A personalities who never think anything is good enough. (No hate…I’m all of those things – they’re just examples.) What do all of those personality traits cause? When you really think about it – they cause suffering. Why? Because we aren’t God but we are trying to act like it.

God had to come down into a wimpy people body (Jesus) so that we would understand that even He would have suffering as a human due to its bodily earthly confines. And through that illustration of trust – even through the darkest of times – we are shown a path to a closer relationship with God by allowing the hole that suffering creates to be filled by the divine. In essence, the void that is created by all the taking away of self that happens through suffering creates an opening to be filled by God’s love. Yowza.

That just reminded me how the whole process it a little bit like the Japanese art of Kintsugi. It’s where they fix broken pottery with gold. Instead of trying to cover-up a crack, they accentuate it with something precious and beautiful. So it’s like WE are the pottery and we suffer (get cracks) but then those cracks become part of our beauty because they get filled with gold (God’s love) that would never have been put there unless there was brokenness (suffering) to begin with. Then, by the end of the whole process, we’re even fancier than how we started out! I like it. I like it a LOT.

So take your “paws to pray” today and visualize God filling your broken bits with His golden love. You can incorporate it into a breathing meditation: breathe out to a count of four and breathe in for a count of six as you visualize pulling golden light in through your nostrils. Pull the golden light deeper into your body each time you inhale and let it seep into those little cracks and crevices that life creates in you. Once you have let the gold settle into your body, then take a moment to thank God for His healing love that make you better than you ever were on your own.

Featured Image credit: Franciscan Media Minute Meditations