The sun set while we were driving
The Vesper lights long ago flickered and glowed
After 14 hours on the road we made it to Minnesnowda
A drive filled with music, reading (Denise, not the driver!), and conversation
A short prayer tonight as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from your very sleepy Padre…
Verse of the day
Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.
– Matthew 9:17
Voice of the day
Sometimes tradition and habit are just that, comfortable excuses to leave things be, even when they are unjust and unworthy.
– Matthew Scully, Dominion (2002)
Prayer of the day
May I be dissatisfied with the patterns that have been. May I challenge the traditions and habits that excuse injustice.
Brigid’s feast day (and the festival of Imbolc) were last week. They began on January 31st which is the evening prior to the celebration on February 1st. Both celebrate the beginning of new life following the winter season of darkness. The days are getting longer and new life begins to spring forth. The snowdrop flower (pictured below) is one of the signs of spring and is closely associated with Brigid.
Christine Valters Paintner shared this story of Brigid in one of the lessons from a year-long course I am taking through the Abbey of the Arts. Abbey of the Arts
“On the way back to Kildare, Brigid and the Bishop stayed for a night in the house of the king of Teffia. It happened that a servant broke a most precious cup that belonged to the king, for which he was thrown into prison. When Brigid heard of this she asked that he be set free, but the king refused her. ‘Then give me the shards of the cup,’ requested Brigid. ‘Those you may have,’ said the king. When Brigid took them in her hands and breathed upon them they were restored as if they had never been broken. ‘Thus is the life of the soul,’ Brigid said. ‘Though it may be easily broken yet it may be restored.’ At this the king sent word to release his servant.” – Story found in Drinking from the Sacred Well by John Matthews
As I pondered this story this is what came to my heart:
Thus the life of the soul… Though it may be easily broken yet it may be restored.
We woke up on this first morning of our intentional time of Sabbath rest feeling a lightness of heart. No agendas, no appointments or places to be, no bulletin preparation or church meetings… just a simple agenda to be with each other and breathe in peace and breathe out love.
We knew that we were exhausted but the full effect didn’t hit until after I turned in my keys to the church. It hit after the last goodbye after church. It hit once we started driving to Florence, Alabama where we would spend two nights before heading to Minnesota. It hit while we played Farkle and enjoyed a glass of wine and hummus and veggies at the hotel.
Yes, dear Brigid, Thus is the life of our soul. Though it may easily be broken, yet it may be restored.
After a very meaning-filled worship service this morning on our last day at the church
Baptizing and welcoming a precious family to membership
Celebrating the Lord’s Supper after the Baptism
Some poignant farewells
We find ourselves now beginning anew
A new direction
Steps taken in faith
Perhaps we can take the opportunity to explore as Thomas Merton suggests:
When your tongue is silent, you can rest in the silence of the forest. When your imagination is silent, the forest speaks to you. It tells you of its unreality and of the Reality of God. But when your mind is silent, then the forest suddenly becomes magnificently real and blazes transparently with the Reality of God. — Sign of Jonas, p. 343
Guide us Spirit as we take these steps in faith with the assurance that you are with us always
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
“I have often been inspired by Dr. King’s quote: ‘One with God is a majority.’ He said once in a church basement, ‘We have the power in this room, if we mobilize it, to change the future course of America.’ Only thirty-five people were in that room, and perhaps at the time they thought he was delusional. But he acted on that belief and together they woke up the whole nation and helped create fundamental change in our society.”—David Hartsough, Waging Peace
Sometimes we need to slow down, pause for a moment and simply soak it all in. The wonder and beauty of creation is all around us if we simply allow ourselves to be invited into the contemplation of Godde’s creation. Thomas Merton recorded his thoughts on a winter morning in his journal on February 17, 1958.
Lovely blue and mauve shadows on the snow, and the indescribably delicate color of the sunlit patches of snow. All the life of color is in the snow and the sky. The green of the pines is dull and brownish. The dead leaves, still clinging tenaciously to the white oaks, are also dull brown. The cold sky is very blue, and the air is dry and frozen so that, for the first time in years, I see and breathe the winters of New York and not the mild or ambivalent winters of Kentucky. (The Journals of Thomas Merton, Volume 3 1952-1950 — A Search for Solitude: Pursuing the Monk’s True Life)
Lord, help us to pause more often and to simply be still. In that stillness may we see the wonder of your creation and hear your gentle whisper. Amen.
Why is it important that we remember Dietrich Bonhoeffer today? Why are his writings still as relevant today as they were during his lifetime? Bonhoeffer’s writings and life are a stark reminder that Christians and the Church have a responsibility to speak out against the union of Christianity, nationalism, and militarism that was on full display during the attack on the US Capitol on January 6th, 2021.
The church is at a critical crossroads in these times of chaos and uncertainty. Jesus himself spoke out against the “wedding” of the temple and the empire. I believe the church and individual Christ-followers have a responsibility as well to speak out against today’s blending of faith, nationalism, and militarism.
— Read on godspacelight.com/2022/02/04/dietrich-bonhoeffers-birthday/
| Verse of the day So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. – Galatians 6:9 |
| Voice of the day I had no idea that history was being made. I was just tired of giving in. – Rosa Parks, Quiet Strength (1994) |
| Prayer of the day May we be disrupters and resisters engaged in the good work of saying ‘no.’ May our actions lead to harvest. |
“Man is not free from conditions. But he is free to take a stand in regard to them.”—Viktor Frankl
Against my own best intentions, I find myself continually striving to acquire power. When I give advice, I want to know whether it is being followed; when I offer help, I want to be thanked; when I give money, I want it to be used my way; when I do something good, I want to be remembered. I might not get a statue, or even a memorial plaque, but I am constantly concerned that I not be forgotten, that somehow I will live on in the thoughts and deeds of others.
But the father of the prodigal son is not concerned about himself. His long-suffering life has emptied him of his desires to keep in control of things. His children are his only concern; to them he wants to give himself completely, and for them he wants to pour out all of himself.
Can I give without wanting anything in return, love without putting any conditions on my love? Considering my immense need for human recognition and affection, I realize that it will be a lifelong struggle. But I am also convinced that each time I step over this need and act free of my concern for return, I can trust that my life can truly bear the fruits of God’s Spirit.
