Verse of the day
I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
– 3 John 1:4
Voice of the day
Perhaps the most urgent work that we can do is to teach our children to learn the sacred ecosystem where God’s secrets are tucked away, where their own bodies grow and dwell.
– Lydia Wylie-Kellermann, “Raising Children for Joy in the Face of Climate Catastrophe“
Prayer of the day
Creator God, help us to show our children how to carry on the sacred work of protecting your creation, for in it, we uncover your secrets and grow in ourselves.
“There is great wisdom in designating a particular day to simply stop, despite whatever else may be going on in our lives. This is a reminder that our work is not the center of the universe and is an invitation to taste the eternal moment of time outside time.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Sacred Time: Embracing an Intentional Way of Life
Can you open to the practice of eternal time by experimenting with allowing one day out of seven to be a time of release and renewal?
Every breath is grace
Longing for the sacred space of our prayer room
Yet traveling on the road
Spending time with our dear friends
Spending time with 2 of our boys
Denise spending time at a bridal shower
I was amongst God’s people on Broad St
I thought I was missing our sanctuary space
And then I realized it is all sacred space
Yes, every breath is grace
Inspired by Alana Levandoski’s song with James Finley on the album “Sanctuary” Every Breath Is Grace video
Verse of the day
Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
– 1 Peter 3:8
Voice of the day
To be just, it is not enough to refrain from injustice. One must go further and refuse to play its game, substituting love for self-interest as the driving force of society.
– Pedro Arrupe, SJ
Prayer of the day
When I move toward self-interest, point me back to love.
“Humility reminds us that we have limitations, and we can’t take on everything, which also enables us to commit to something and do it very well.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Illuminating the Way: Embracing the Wisdom of Monks and Mystics
How does recognizing your own limits help you embrace your gifts more fully?
“The more prohibitions you have,
the less virtuous people will be.
The more weapons you have,
the less secure people will be.
The more subsidies you have,
the less self-reliant people will be.”
—Excerpt from verse 57 of the Tao Te Ching – Stephen Mitchell version
A mature human intimacy requires a deep and profound respect for the free and empty space that needs to exist within and between partners and that asks for a continuous mutual protection and nurture. Only in this way can a relationship be lasting, precisely because mutual love is experienced as a participation in a greater and earlier love to which it points. In this way intimacy can be rich and fruitful, since it has been given carefully protected space in which to grow. This relationship no longer is a fearful clinging to each other but a free dance, allowing space in which we can move forward and backward, form constantly new patterns, and see each other as always new.
Today I watched an afternoon parade as it made its way down Broad Street in Mobile. As the crowd waited in anticipation, children were playing, and people were talking and laughing. There were lots of shared smiles and laughter. Enjoying the fresh air, sunshine, and decent temperatures it was a lovely afternoon.
The animals caught my eye before and during the parade. Horses and dogs on parade and along the street. Children and animals, they made me smile.
As the parade passed by I caught a good number of beads and two doubloons. Then I noticed two young moms with their small kiddos and saw that they were trying to catch stuffed animals for their kids. I had two free hands so I caught some for them. The moon pies were also plentiful and I began picking them up. It was then that I saw a homeless fellow picking them up. Realizing that I really didn’t need them, I began picking them up and giving them to him. A smile and a nod of thanks exchanged as he put the goodies in a bag.
The parades can sometime offer a “different” perspective and you can sense an uncomfortable (for me) separation of socio-economic classes and race. But it was the interactions with the people, the children, and the animals that made me smile. A common bond seemed to be shared amongst those of us on the side of the street.
It even felt like Merton’s Fourth and Walnut epiphany as I felt connected with all these people who were shining like the sun! It was a lovely afternoon to enjoy the weather, the people, and the animals ♥️🐾
Creating space for the other is far from an easy task. It requires hard concentration and articulate work…. Indeed, more often than not, rivalry and competition, desire for power and immediate results, impatience and frustration, and most of all, plain fear make their forceful demands and tend to fill every possible empty corner of our life. Empty space tends to create fear. As long as our minds, hearts, and hands are occupied, we can avoid confronting the painful questions to which we never gave much attention and that we do not want to surface….
When we think back to the places where we felt most at home, we quickly see that it was where our hosts gave us the precious freedom to come and go on our own terms and did not claim us for their own needs. Only in a free space can re-creation take place and new life be found. The real host is the one who offers that space where we do not have to be afraid and where we can listen to our own inner voices and find our own personal way of being human. But to be such a host we have to first of all be at home in our own house.
Wise words from my good friend Jake ♥️
Life is complicated. We desperately need wisdom.
The Soul Work We Need
Pastor Michael Moore's Blog 