ContemplativeJourney

   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...

I was watching my great nieces unwrap their gifts on Christmas morning, and noticed something I hadn't ever seen before.  In the midst of chaotic piles of paper and ribbon and boxes and bows (be sure you don't throw away any small gifts or gift cards!), there is usually a sense of letdown. Especially as a kid, perhaps even more so as an adolescent, and could it be...? Yes, even as an adult...when the packages are opened and all the thank you's have been said, there is a feeling of letdown.   There is a moment or perhaps even hours, when we look at the tree and the leftover food, and we wonder to ourselves, "Is that it? Is that all there is?"   Perhaps the intensity of our preparations and the extremes to which we sometimes go with our decorating and partying contribute to the letdown...I'm not sure.   I've never had children of my own, but this year for the first time, I wondered what it feels like to be a parent.  To work hard and sacrifice i...

I noticed a friend posted this morning on Facebook that today is the greatest "pause" in the story of Easter. It is true, I think, because we acknowledge today that Jesus has died. He is in the tomb, anointed with burial oils and wrapped in linen cloths. And so we wait. In many Christian churches, this time between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is marked by the observance of an 'Easter Vigil.'  It's probably impossible for us to grasp the depth of the grief experienced by those who followed Jesus during his earthly life. The 12 men who dropped everything to follow him from village to village, believing He was Messiah, the chosen one of God that the prophets had spoken of...even though they didn't fully comprehend what that meant.  His mother, Mary, who had known from His birth that her son was unique and sent from God to save His people, and yet...for her, Jesus' death was experienced as the death of a firstborn son. A wrenching pain, a loss that all p...

  "What is truth?" Today, the Christian church all around the world commemorates Good Friday, the anniversary of the crucifixion of Jesus.  The question,"What is truth?" is as pertinent today as it was on that day 2,000 years ago.  It came in the context of an interesting conversation between Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Jerusalem, and Jesus Himself. Then Pilate went back into his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought to him. "Are you the king of the Jews?" he asked him. Jesus replied, "Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?" "Am I a Jew??" Pilate retorted. "Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?" Jesus answered, "My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world." Pilate said, "So.....

It seems hard to imagine that I haven't written a blog entry since August 26 of last year...7 months to the day.  And today, by the way, is my dog's 10th birthday. Happy Birthday to Amydog! My morning devotional included this statement: "Fear and faith have something in common." They both ask us to believe something will happen that we cannot see." Do you ever get caught up with stories inside your head...the kind of stories that play out worst case scenarios?  I do.  If circumstances or a conversation with someone go badly, I take those seeds of discomfort and create a 3 Act Drama of catastrophe in my mind.  Harmless self-indulgence of negative thinking?  No, probably not so harmless. It has been shown over and over that our lives move in the direction of our thinking. Even the scripture says, "As a man thinketh, so is he."  Job, a man whose story is famous for it's catastrophic dimensions, said, "The thing I feared came upon me....

I began writing this blog 2 1/2 years ago...what can only be described as several lifetimes ago, from the perspective of the events that have transpired in my life since May of 2010.   I won't take the time to recount those events, but suffice to say, I never imagined that I would use this space to contemplate politics, or the place that our political perspectives may take on the path of our individual spiritual journeys... To rightly share my story, I must go back in time to January of 2008, when I, like many Americans, first heard then-candidate Senator Barack Obama speak after his groundbreaking win in the Iowa caucus.  I remember the experience quite vividly, because I was mesmorized by the ideal he seemed to represent.  As I sat in a theater this afternoon watching the Dinesh D'Souza political documentary "2016", I was struck by the fact that much of our political consciousness is defined by what each of us projects upon the candidate of our choice. ...

This charming little munchkin is my great niece. Her name is Lexi Grace. Lexi was born on July 29, 2009, at just 25 weeks gestation, weighing 1 lb and 5 ounces. She has several health challenges...some of which are related to her being a micro-preemie, and some of which are related to her having Dandy-Walker Syndrome. I'm writing about Lexi today, because I heard something in this week's sermon that made me think of her... The pastor told of a family who had a baby with Down's Syndrome...the father said this about having a child with developmental challenges: "When we found out we were pregnant, it was as if we were planning a trip. A journey to raise a new child in our family. When we learned of the Down's Syndrome, it was not as if the trip was cancelled, but the itinerary changed. We were planning a trip to London, but now the trip was to Paris instead. It's a very different trip than the one we originally planned for, but it's still a wonderful trip! ...