Verse of the day
But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
– Isaiah 40:31
Voice of the day
May the God who mothers each of us be a source of life for all who long for hope.
– Emmy Kegler, “The Forgotten Mothers of the Bible”
Prayer of the day
Mother God, be our source for hope and renewal.
To say that these past few months have been “interesting” would be a significant understatement! Yet as we enter mid-May the stars appear to be aligning. In this month of May, Our Lady is smiling upon us.💖🌹
This weekend we will be able to finally say farewell and Godspeed to Denise’s dear dad Roland as we bury his ashes next to her beloved mother Jean on Saturday in Florence, Alabama. His original inurnment in December (right after Christmas) was delayed thanks to the officiant (and his sweet spouse) being hit hard by the Omicron variant of COVID.
In the meantime, we are in the midst of moving to Orange Beach and preparing to sell our house in Carrollton. Uff Dah as our Lady of Dah Northland would say! 🌹 ❄️ In the midst of the chaos there are moments of calm. We spent a lovely week with dear friends (long-time and new) on a Contemplative Retreat at Columbia Presbyterian Theological Seminary. We have also had some lovely dinners locally in Carrollton and in Orange Beach whilst meeting new friends and neighbors.
Of course, in the midst of it all, HRH Queen Stella has continued to love and entertain us with her antics 😻
So, this evening we are relaxing. We are also preparing for a busy ‘morrow. In the midst of it all, my prayer is that the lessons from our contemplative retreat and this lesson from Thomas Merton might continue to guide us through it all.
Hence monastic prayer, especially meditation and contemplative prayer, is not so much a way to find God as a way of resting in him whom we have found, who loves us, who is near to us, who comes to us to draw us to himself. — Thomas Merton (Contemplative Prayer)
Dear reader, may each one of you find that peace in the midst of the quiet which invites us to step away from the chaos into the light of God’s grace, mercy, and peace!
Maybe I have been living much too fast, too restlessly, too feverishly, forgetting to pay attention to what is happening here and now, right under my nose. Just as a whole world of beauty can be discovered in one flower, so the great grace of God can be tasted in one small moment. Just as no great travels are necessary to see the beauty of creation, so no great ecstasies are needed to discover the love of God. But you have to be still and wait so that you can realize that God is not in the earthquake, the storm, or the lightning, but in the gentle breeze with which he touches your back.
Verse of the day
Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
– Psalm 116:7
Voice of the day
I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am. I am. I am.
– Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar (1963)
Prayer of the day
You, the God of all time, want us to wait. For the right time in which to discover who we are, where we are to go, who will be with us, and what we must do.
– “A prayer of the Iona Community in Scotland”
Verse of the day
God blessed them and said, “Bear fruit, increase your numbers, and fill the earth—and be responsible for it! Watch over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and all the living things on earth!”
– Genesis 1:28 (The Inclusive Bible)
Voice of the day
This is an interesting planet. It deserves all the attention you can give it.
– Marilynne Robinson, Gilead (2004)
Prayer of the day
May we be attentive to the living things you have placed on this earth, tending to their wellbeing above all else.
Verse of the day
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
– Hebrews 11:1
Voice of the day
Hope is subversive precisely because it dares to admit that all is not as it should be. And so we are holding out for, working for, creating, prophesying, and living into something better.
– Sarah Bessey, Out of Sorts: Making Peace with an Evolving Faith (2015)
Prayer of the day
Keep us creating, prophesying, and living into the possibilities of what could be. May we be on the watch for a new world about to bloom.
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
It has been a long haul for the three of us
Denise packed (with some help from me and Stella!) over the course of three days
One-hundred-thirty-five boxes later
All of them loaded onto the truck
Loading the UHAUL over the course of a long Saturday and finishing it up today
Despite a torn meniscus, my sweetheart rocked!
She drove our car with Stella while I drove the truck
She was my constant encourager as we drove and at every break
Of course, Stella supervised!
We couldn’t have done this without the awesome help unloading that our sons from Mobile gave us
Am I feeling my age? Uff Dah yes! 61 is too old for this stuff 🤪
As we enjoy a simple convenience store cheese, meat, nuts, and craisins meal with wine and chocolate I am thankful
I am thankful for my beloved, for our kids, for safe travels, and for Motrin
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
“The words used in breath prayer simply give us direction for our attention. The words are less important than the intention behind them, but still language can offer us imagery that guides our distracted minds towards a particular place.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Breath Prayer: An Ancient Practice for the Everyday Sacred
What imagery carries you toward the sacred presence beating in the heart of the world?
Human withdrawal [for meditation] is a very painful and lonely process, because it forces us to directly face our own condition in all its misery as well as its beauty. But when we are not afraid to enter into our own center and to concentrate on the stirrings of our own souls, we come to know that being alive means being loved. This experience tells us that we can only love because we are born out of love, that we can only give because our life is a gift, and that we can only make others free because we are set free by the One whose heart is greater than ours.
And when we have found the anchor places for our lives in our own center we can be free to let others enter into the space created for them, and allow them to dance their own dance, sing their own song, and speak their own language without fear. Then our presence is no longer threatening and demanding, but inviting and liberating.
Verse of the day
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
– Psalm 34:18
Voice of the day
She is the God who sees you. / God weeps, mourns and cries. / She comforts you through the longest night, / Keeping watch until sunrise.
– Teresa Kim Pecinovsky, Mother God (2022)
Prayer of the day
Comfort us through the night, Mother God. Look over us until the sunlight breaks through.
Pastor Michael Moore's Blog 