“Practices that ground me in the stunning plains of silence and the vast river of the imagination help me to cultivate a stance of openness and wonder to what the world around might be revealing in a given moment.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD and Betsey Beckman, MM Awakening the Creative Spirit: Bringing the Arts to Spiritual Direction
What practices ground you in “plains of silence” and “rivers of imagination”?
I can relate to this… from my Air Force days when I had to jog/run!
| IT IS SUPPOSED TO be good for the heart, the lungs, the muscles, and physical well-being generally. It is also said to produce a kind of euphoria known as joggers’ high. The look of anguish and despair that contorts the faces of most of the people you see huffing and puffing away at it by the side of the road, however, is striking. If you didn’t know directly from them that they are having the time of their lives, the chances are you wouldn’t be likely to guess it. -Originally published in Whistling in the Dark |
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
It has been a busy day of ministry
Worship planning and preparation
Planning for outdoor worship
Distanced and masked, yet worshipping together
An afternoon meeting on Zoom with pastors from the Presbytery
An evening seminary class on Zoom
Planning midweek Lenten worship together
Finally some time with my sweetheart
Finally a moment to Be Still
Lord, give us energy for the coming days and weeks
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…
“Constructive ideas (not wars) mark the forward progress of mankind. Art can change the world. Art is a communication that is more powerful and more real to any human being than any gun or war. It changes people’s opinions, style, ideas, and even sometimes people’s way of living. We should concentrate on art and peace, not hate and war. The day we can truly trust each other, there will be peace on Earth.”—Anonymous
| Verse of the day Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin. – James 4:17 |
| Voice of the day If justice sleeps in this land, let it not be because we have helped to lull it to sleep by our silence, our indifference; let it not be from lack of effort on our part to arouse it from its slumbers. – Francis J. Grimké, “Equality of Rights for All Citizens, Black and White, Alike” (1909) |
| Prayer of the day Lord, we trust that your holy spirit will give us the wisdom to know what is right. We ask that you grant us courage and perseverance as we pursue justice for all that bear your image. May we continue to remain faithful in our efforts to be reconciled to one another in your holy name. |
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
Thank you for the beauty and warmth of this day, Lord
Thank you for moments to simply Be Still
Thank you for our newly installed Ruling Elders
Thank you for the ministry we share
Thank you for a wonderful evening with my sweetheart
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…
“Nonviolence has two faces, that of cooperating with good and that of non-cooperating with evil. These two faces, or call them two edges to the sword of Satyagraha, have been expressed throughout history as what Gandhi would call Constructive Programme, where you create things, and make corrections in your own community, and what I like to call obstructive program, where you dig in your heels and refuse to go along with others’ attempts to weaken or exploit you.”—Michael N. Nagler
| Verse of the day You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. – Galatians 5:13 (NIV) |
| Voice of the day The cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or a class – it is the cause of humankind, the very birthright of humanity. – Anna Julia Cooper, A Voice from the South (1892) |
| Prayer of the day God, in your Word you have given us a vision of that holy city to which the nations of the world bring their glory. Enable us to eliminate poverty, prejudice, and oppression, that peace may prevail with righteousness, and justice with order, and that people from different cultures and with differing talents may find with one another the fulfillment of their humanity. – Adapted from the Book of Common Prayer |
“Active nonviolence is full of the energy of life and the creativity of humankind. It exudes a fervent desire for a better world. Active nonviolence searches, prays and works for alternatives to passivity or the destructive hatred that arises from injustice and violence.” —Patricia Patten Normile
