ContemplativeJourney

It's time for a short break...these few days after the Christmas season and before the "back to normal" that comes upon us in January.  We have a rare opportunity for a life intermission... A period during which action temporarily ceases; an interval between periods of action or activity. Some years ago, I learned a very important principle from a very good teacher and spiritual director...the principle of intentionality.  It is very easy, and very hazardous, to go through our lives without intentionality.  We find ourselves tossed here and there by obligations and routines, busy with things to do and people to see, but without thoughtfulness.  Without much thought sometimes, we move from day to day.  The problem is, when we rush through life without any thought of intention, we run the risk of losing touch with our souls,...losing touch with the meaning of why we do what we do. I find myself guilty of this pattern quite often.  In my ...

I watched it tonight.  It's been several years since I was last in the mood to watch George Bailey's story, but I came home a bit early from our family festivities... the effects of a head cold and cough made laying on the couch sound more fun than a White Elephant gift exchange. I remember when I first 'discovered' George Bailey and the sweet tale of the Bedford Falls Building and Loan. I was in my 20s then.  Much younger, and in many ways, much more idealistic.  Some 30 Christmas seasons later, I have certainly aged, and probably lost a good portion of my youthful idealism...but I've gained many things I didn't have in my younger years... I know now that we do have a wonderful life.  Even if we can touch just one person.   If I can look back on my life and know that I have made a difference...I have loved someone...intervened to help them...just one touch in one person's life...and it can literally change the lives of hundreds, and even thousands ...

Have you finished your Christmas shopping yet? I have done some shopping...some in the stores and some online, but I'm not nearly finished.  This weekend is my time...time to focus on shopping, and on wrapping the gifts I purchase. Every family is unique, and we all have our different traditions each year.  In our family, it has always been a challenge to decide whether we "purchase something for everyone," or draw names.  When my Mom was still with us, this debate was cause for much angst for her.  She never wanted anyone to limit her ability to give gifts to everyone she wanted to include, and yet she didn't want to break the group rules about gift limitations.  This year she would be pleased, because we have decided to forego the name drawing approach and give each other modest gifts. As I have pondered my options this past week, I've learned an important lesson about gift giving.  We must be more selective this year, because our modest budget re...

Sometimes the most profound reminders show up in routine conversations with a friend.  Yesterday a friend of mine shared a story with me about a broken relationship...she prefaced the story with a question, "I want to ask you what you really believe..." At the end of a story of bad behavior and a broken heart, she asked me, "Do you believe people can change?"  It might seem trite, but  this conversation demonstrates how Jesus and the message of the Gospel are at the heart of our most important questions.  How could this conversation about a young woman's broken heart and the puzzling behavior of her former boyfriend have a connection to Advent? As it turns out, Advent is the very reason I could say to my friend, "Yes, I believe people can change."  But mine is not a glib or uninformed answer.  I have made more than my share of mistakes in life, some of them incredibly substantial and hurtful to myself and others.  I have also be...

I had this idea that all of my blogs during Advent would be happy...full of holiday thoughts and pictures.  But then I turn on the TV and see images of protesters in Missouri, in Dallas, in New York City, and I realize that all is not eggnog and holiday trimmings.  There are people all around us who are broken, angry, and depressed. We have a problem, we humans do.  In a way, we could all march in the streets with a personalized protest sign.  What would your protest sign say? My husband left me?  My mom died too soon? My kids don't respect me? My boss doesn't pay me enough? My wife expects too much of me? I hate the holiday season?  Yes...we all have a gripe, and we have all been hurt and wronged in one way or the other. Why can't everyone just be nice, and loving? Why do people steal, and kill? Why do husbands and wives and kids and siblings hurt one another?   Why, as the famous saying goes, do bad things happen to good people? H...

What is the Christmas miracle?  Why do people, even those who don't normally attend church, attend the candlelight Christmas Eve service? Is it only out of obligation, or is there something to how they feel when Silent Night is sung by candlelight at the end? In the first Advent sermon at my church, we learned a few things about Mary that helped me better understand the Christmas miracle.   I give credit to my wonderful pastor, Kalyn Brassfield, for the majority of these thoughts, because what I share comes directly from his sermon from the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke.  In case the Bible is unfamiliar to you, Luke is one of the Gospels, and is found in the New Testament section of the Christian Bible. As Luke tells the story, an angel appeared to a young virgin, Mary, to announce to her that she was to bear a child, even though she has never been with a man.  Something we often fail to mention when we tell this story is that Mary was...

I was driving home this past week and noticed the changing colors of the leaves.  Here in Texas we don't experience fall like many areas do, but we still have leaves of yellow and red and bright orange.  On this particular fall day, the colors were vivid and beautiful.  It is an irony of fall  that these amazing and vivid fall colors signal to us the coming of winter; a season marked by gray and lifeless landscapes, and the appearance of death in nature.   Looks can be deceiving, and so it is with the season of winter; within which the church calendar has placed the season of Advent.  Contrary to the season in which it lives, this season of Advent represents for us the very essence of expectancy...signaling the coming of life, not death.  The Latin word aventus , from which our word Advent derives, means "Coming."  It's earlier meaning, taken from the Greek word parousia , referred specifically to the Second Coming of Chris...

  Has it ever occurred to your that your prayers never die?  I read this today and was taken aback by the reality of it.  All the prayers I have ever prayed for myself and for others...all the prayers that others have prayed for me!  They are still ALIVE and active, working in the mysterious way of God's Kingdom.  Everything in His time, not ours, but absolutely alive and at work.       What could this mean for you?  For your children and your grandchildren?  Would it change the way you pray and the tenacity of your prayers if you truly got hold of this idea...this radical, life changing reality...once you say a prayer...it becomes a living organism, even if you die. The prayer lives on in the ears of God.   I don't have children of my own, and because of that, I usually think of such things in terms of my own parents and grandparents, rather than my children and grandchildren.  I have beloved grandpare...

   If there is anything that exemplifies my experience with God over the course of the past 4 years, it is the principle of Pentecost.   Radically life giving, life changing, and empowering work of the Spirit of God.   When I began this blog in 2010 I was involved in a relationship that I thought was "the relationship" for me.  The lifelong love I had always desired but had always eluded me. Turns out I was involved in a relationship that proved to be unhealthy and deeply dishonest.  It took me the better part of a year to get over it...and more time after that for my heart to be renewed and my joy to return in full force.  During those same weeks and months, my precious and godly Mom was dying.   I remember in the weeks after her death that I felt deep grief mixed with an indescribable sense of renewal. It was confusing.  What was it about her death that could possibly cause me to feel spiritually renewed?  The answer is...