Tuesday, March 31, 2009

No winter lasts forever;

no spring skips its turn.

~ Hal Borland

On the last day of March it may be safe to write about spring. There will be a few more days of cold, or even snow, but spring will come. Like faith, we have setbacks, but grace and resurrection are always near.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Good humor is a tonic for mind and body. It is the best antidote for anxiety and depression. It is a business asset. It attracts and keep friends. It lightens human burdens. It is the direct route to serenity and contentment.

 ~ Greenville Kleisser

We can take our lives too seriously. A laugh can help us to loosen our grip and create some space for grace to move in. So welcome the gift of humor today.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Never prefer living in luxury to the luxury of living.

It is easy, in our consumer society, to equate our quality of life with the quality of our possessions. And while we may know better, everyday hundreds of images in the media try to convince us otherwise. 

Jesus tells us that life is more that what we purchase and consume. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?" (Matthew 6:25). Chances are, this day, you will get more messages about life being about food, body, and clothing. So we need to be very intentional about remembering the words of Christ. We need to rehearse them over and over to counteract the hollow message of our culture and know the true luxury of living.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

No matter how quickly God fulfills promises,

it seems to us too slow.

~ John Calvin [adapted]

Patience in not a virtue of our culture. We like it done yesterday.  Yet patient persistence is the way of God, the way of all real growth. In the Roman Catholic calendar, today is the feast of the Annunciation, the day Mary was told she would birth the Christ. That puts the birth, Christmas, nine months from now. How often do we remember that things are not on our time-table, but have their own time-frame of unfolding? Patient persistence is the way of the Spirit. 

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

God is not disillusioned with us:

God never had any illusions to begin with.

~ Luis Palau [adapted]

Lent is a time to come to terms with our weakness. It begins on Ash Wednesday with the words, "Out of the dust you were created and to dust you shall return." And so we need to let go of our illusions of perfection for ourselves and others. Part of what this means is to be not so hard on ourselves and others. As we face our own shortcomings with grace we are given the gift of compassion.

Monday, March 23, 2009

We never know the love of the parent

until we become parents ourselves.

~ Henry Ward Beecher

I remember it as a distinct moment. Thinking to myself as a father of a newborn, "Wow, my parents did so much for me." I had not realized until I was a parent myself.

That may help us also think about God's generous love. When we take our rightful place as God's helpers in life, we can know just how deep and wide is God's grace. So welcome your role as a parent of the life around you.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

In a successful marriage, there is no such thing as one's way.

There is only the way of both, only the bumpy, dusty, difficult, but always mutual path.

~ Phyllis McGinley

And such is the case in any close relationship. Not "my way" but "our way." We see this in the way Jesus comes to us and joins us in our life. Coming into our "bumpy, dusty, difficult" lives. May we walk in mutuality with Jesus and each other.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

If I have any worth, it is to live my life for God so as to teach these peoples; even though some of them still look down on me.

~ St. Patrick

A cause or purpose beyond themselves, that is what the saints have in common. To serve a higher purpose takes us beyond our own preoccupations and opens us to what Jesus called the kingdom of God. Today, welcome that higher calling and live your life for God and others.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,

Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left
Christ where I lie, Christ where I sit, Christ where I arise.

~ Saint Patrick

To practice an awareness of Christ in all things, that is what our journey is all about. As we begin to understand that all around us is grace and compassion we can begin to trust, to love, and to share with others. Nothing else will save us or our world.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

 ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Sometimes the heart follows our hands. Or as they say in AA, "fake it 'til you make it." Or as John Wesley liked to say, "Preach faith until you have it, then, because you have it, you will preach faith." So in this Lent let's act in ways that create smiles and faith.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Original sin is that thing about man which makes him capable of conceiving of his own perfection and incapable of achieving it. 

~ Reinhold Niebuhr

And so we live in this "in between" place where we can imagine how it ought to be but often falling short. In that place, patience with others and ourselves, and hope for betterment is the creative tension life call us to. 

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

This year, or this month, or, more likely, this very day, we have failed to practice ourselves the kind of behavior we expect from other people.

~ C.S. Lewis

It is easy to focus on the failings of others. But often the reason that the behavior of others bothers us so much is that we share the same shortcomings. The key is to be compassionate. As we call on God to, "Forgive us our trespasses" we are then more able to "forgive those who trespass against us."

Lent is a time to give up being the harsh judge and welcome more grace and compassion.

Monday, March 9, 2009

A pearl is a beautiful thing that is produced by an injured life. It is the tear [that results] from the injury of the oyster. The treasure of our being in this world is also produced by an injured life. If we had not been wounded, if we had not been injured, then we will not produce the pearl.

~ Stephan Hoeller

The call to "bear the cross" is language for Lent. But it sounds strange to our ears, for we live in culture that is often about avoiding pain at any cost. And so we think that suffering is a sign of weakness, or moral failure. But suffering is simply a part of life. Trust in God can allow our injuries to make pearls of compassionate and grace.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them -- every day begin the task anew.

 ~ Saint Francis de Sales

Lent is about being more intentional about remedying our imperfections. Each day we can begin again remembering that often more is accomplished by patience and persistence than anxiety and hurriedness.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.

~ Socrates

... or perhaps in knowledge of a different sort. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 8:2-3, "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by him."

True knowledge is found in relationship with God and trusting we are known by God.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Lent tempts Christians to try to fulfill other people's expectations of what spirituality should look like, usually related to some sort of religious achievement or self-mortification. But Lent is neither success nor punishment. Ultimately, Lent urges us to let go of self-deception and pleasing others. These 40 days ask only one thing of us: to find our truest selves on a journey toward God.

~ Diana Butler Bass

"To find our truest selves on a journey toward God" This sounds like a good goal of Lent. For me, that means making the spiritual practices of our tradition my own, living into them, allowing them to be molded by my life and allowing them to mold me. 

Jesus tells us that "The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath" (Mark 2:27). We do not cut the man to fit the suit. And so Lent is to be molded by us, like an old pair of shoes, that help us to walk a path. But walk the path we must. 

Monday, March 2, 2009

God of the day and of the night, in me there is darkness, but with you there is light. I am alone, but you will not leave me. I am weak, but you will come to my help. I am restless, but you are my peace. I am in haste, but you are the God of infinite patience. I am confused and lost, but you are eternal wisdom and you direct my path; now and for ever. Amen

~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Lent is to be a time of prayer. The best prayers are from our own heart, but sometimes we need a start and the prayers of others can help. This prayer from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was martyred by the Nazis, is one that can perhaps move us to our own prayer. It can help us acknowledge our need for grace and connect with the higher power of God.