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La Manzana del Ojo de Dios
Here is my original post translated into Spanish by a friend of mine. La semana pasada, nuestra iglesia tuvo una “Semana de Descanso”, cuando todas las reuniones y otros programas fueron cancelados. Al principio de la semana, nuestro pastor envió un correo electrónico diciendo que este era un tiempo para “DESCANSAR de nuestras responsabilidades en la iglesia, REFLEXIONAR sobre quién es Cristo y quiénes somos en Él, y RENOVAR nuestros corazones y mentes en la buena tierra de la gracia de Dios, para que seamos un pueblo que florezca bajo Su cuidado”. ¡Qué regalo! Estuvimos fuera de casa durante la semana, visitando a uno de nuestros hijos y su familia,…
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The Apple of God’s Eye
This past week our church had a “Sabbath Week,” when all meetings and other programming were canceled. At the beginning of the week our pastor sent out an email saying this was a time to “REST from our church responsibilities, REFLECT on who Christ is and who we are in Him, and to RENEW our hearts and minds in the good soil of God’s grace so that we will be a people who flourish under His care.” What a gift! We were away from home during the week, visiting one of our sons and his family, so I wasn’t sure if I would have a chance to really engage with the…
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Sketching as Prayer Retreat September 24-27
Tuesday, September 24 – Friday, September 27, 2024 “Earth’s crammed with heaven,And every common bush afire with God,But only he who sees takes off his shoes;The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”Elizabeth Barrett Browning Seeing heaven here on earth and recognizing God’s presence, whether in the wildness of a burning bush or in the shifting colors of autumn trees, requires slowing down, stepping aside from our busyness, and becoming receptive to what we haven’t yet perceived. Sketching can be a pathway to seeing, to noticing the ways God is speaking through creation, and to becoming aware of his presence in the world around us. In the process we are drawn…
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Searching for a Singing Wren
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Sketching as Prayer Lenten Retreat
I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!Philippians 3: 10-11 Who wants to suffer? It’s not something we typically choose, nor should we without good reason. But Jesus did choose to suffer because of his tremendous love for us. He chose to enter into our suffering here on earth, in order to give us life. Lent is a season during which we choose to identify with Jesus, sharing in his sufferings, not for some morbid fascination with suffering, but…
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Blue Hair, Play Dough, & Snow Angels
“Choose an activity that will be genuinely soul-stretching…” One of the assignments for Selah, the spiritual director training program I’m in, is to: Do an activity that fosters a communal and/or rejoicing experience of God. Choose one that will be genuinely soul-stretching for you, not one that is easy or already habitual for you. Do it three times in the course of a week. Summarize the experience itself in a few sentences; then summarize the work that this experience did in your soul. What went on in your prayerful awareness of self, and of God? The activity I chose from the list of options is, “do something completely playful that…
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New Year’s Retreat Rescheduled to January 20th
I wasn’t planning to start the new year with bronchitis (nor spend Christmas with flu and a stomach bug), but we can’t always plan our days neatly. Thankfully, all the days ordained for us are written in God’s book (Psalm 139:16) and we can trust that we are in his plan, even when our plans seem to fall through. Because I am not up to much yet, nor do I want to share any germs I might still be harboring, I am rescheduling our New Year’s retreat for Saturday, January 20th. Please email me if you would like to attend. I’m hoping that by rescheduling, some people who were unable…
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New Year’s Retreat: January 6
We’re just days away from 2024—a new year, a chance for a fresh start, a time to refine our perspective, an opportunity to set our course for the next twelve months. Or… to do nothing and continue on whatever default path we’ve been following. Of course there’s nothing inherently special about January 1st. It’s not like the winter solstice, when the days cease becoming shorter and slowly start lengthening. And it’s not like that glorious day when the first spring blossom bursts forth with its promise of riotous color and exuberant birdsong to come. Despite that lack of inherent meaning, I like to take the turning of one calendar year…
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Geminid Meteor Shower
I glanced out my window at 4:36am to the sight of a long bright streak crossing the sky- one of the best shooting stars I’ve seen! I had read that the best time for viewing the Geminids was between 11:30pm and 4:30am, but I was sleeping during those hours. I awoke in my chilly room at 4:35am, briefly considered staying snuggled in the warmth of my blankets, but then roused myself, looked out the window… and beheld an invitation to watch God’s nighttime display of glory. I pulled on a warm robe and hurried outside in time to see… nothing. Well, plenty of regular stars, but no more shooting stars.…
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Sketching Prayer
Last Friday I took a quiet day from my full schedule and spent the day at Holy Cross Monastery, where there are quiet spaces, comfortable chairs, good lunches, and wonderful river views, all wrapped up in an atmosphere of prayer and contemplation. Last year I took one day at the monastery each week of Advent, and I’m hoping to do likewise this year. When I am there my phone is on airplane mode and I spend my day in silence, reading Scripture, praying, musing, and sketching. I consider all of these sketches from last week to be a form of “sketching as prayer,” whether or not I have Scripture or…