Shining Spirit

Have you ever gone “out on a limb?” Taken a chance? Risked it all? Sometimes there’s not time to measure the strength of the limb, whether it will hold or not. You just have to do it. Or, some of us choose to never venture out onto that limb. No risk, no challenge, play it safe. When I look at the life of the man Jesus, I see someone who didn’t count the costs when it came to extending love, offering forgiveness. Foolish? No, faithful to the Source of his strength and power. Today let’s err on the side of extravagance. Don’t hold back the compliments. Extend a hand to help. Go the extra mile. Take a deep breath and go out on that limb. You never know who you’ll meet out there.

Creating God,
maker of mountains and moons
and me,
Sculptor of all I see -- as the sun rises,
so may my spirit rise to meet you,
for I need to be near you,
to hear your voice as you speak
truth into confusions, peace into my frustrations, as you sing your
love song to the world and
worlds beyond.
To walk in your shadow, Christ,
helps me face whatever happens in
this day, sustains me with food for
my spirit, and calls me to grow stronger
in faith, more focused in my
efforts to make a difference in
this world.
Living Water, quench my thirst,
Light Rising over the mountain, I 
am here, ready to walk this day
with you,
in you and you in me.
Amen.

Today will be the best day of your life, or the worst day, or somewhere in the middle. We all hope to be closer to the “best” marker rather than the “worst.” But it doesn’t always work out that way.

Today will be a lousy, forgettable day if you get up this morning still nursing the anger you felt when you went to bed, or if you carry over the pain of the disappointment you felt yesterday, of if the first emotion you feel today is fear about something you can’t control.

Today will turn out to be a good day if, in the midst of yesterday’s “left-overs”, you allow yourself to love and/or to be loved. Jesus once asked a sick man: Do you want to get well? Same question: Do you want this day to be better than yesterday? It can be if you have the courage to love someone or something in spite of your bruises or backache. Trust me. Sometimes it takes courage and determination to love or to accept love, but when you allow love, it becomes more than a remedy. It becomes the new reality, a revealing.

Don’t wish away a perfectly good day. Make it different. Love is life’s lubricant. It fixes squeaky things like you and me. May it be so.

There are many names for God: Father/Mother, Creator, Love, Yahweh, Presence. It’s a long list. But let’s add one more from the writing of Brother David Steindl-Rast: “Another name for God is surprise.” Encounters with God are usually unexpected. You’re going about your business: parenting, working, reading a book and without warning, God pulls back the curtain and says “Boo!” Usually the result of a “Boo!” experience is a change of mind or heart or life direction. And the change is always for the better.

Since I’m in a quoting mood, here’s one more, and it relates to the topic of surprise. “It seems that any moment of interest or pain or adversity can surprise us into the larger totality of life, breaking our current limits and allowing us to redefine ourselves in regard to the larger sense that is upon us.” You open the front door and there stands your long-alienated child, and you are surprised into joyful forgiveness. The letter you just opened tells you about the death of a very close friend and you are surprised into a deep awareness of what it means to be a friend and to lose one. Both experiences bring the potential for life change.

If you are about to say: Well, I never get surprises that have the potential to change my life, my response will be: You’re not paying attention. Wake up!”

So, find a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed for thirty-minutes. Put pencil to paper and make a list, short or long, of the times in your life when surprise (Surprise) happened, good surprise or bad, that changed the direction of your life, or as Mark Nepo says: “allowing us to redefine ourselves.”

Have you ever been surprised by Surprise? Of course you have.

**Both quotes from: The Book of Awakening, Mark Nepo, pp. 132-133, Red Wheel Press, 2020

Some days I'm afraid to spread my wings.
The wind is too strong, the sun too hot.
What if I try and fall to the ground?
Who would bother with one little bird?
Who would care and come to my aid?

"Not a single sparrow can fall to the ground
without your Father knowing it."

Today you will make choices.  
To speak or not to speak; to act of
not to act; to protect the weak
or to ignore them; to give 
or to withhold.

Don't be afraid to do the honorable,
to act with principle and conviction,
to support the good and name the evil.
Spread your wings and fly.
We were made to live, not just exist.
Every little bird makes a difference.
And so do you.

Gracious God, I sit in your presence
as I think of my day and things
that must be done.  Some I
greet with joy and gratitude.
Some I'd prefer to erase from
my calendar.  I pray that in each
activity and encounter, I will discern
your presence and from that presence
discover strength, compassion and 
direction.  As you have entrusted
to me this amazing gift of life,
so I trust You to guide me in my
decisions, my responses, and
my mercy.
Lord, please comfort the sick
and dying, the vulnerable and
helpless, and show me how to
be the comfort of Christ for
all who suffer.  I give myself to
you in this moment in
confident trust.
And I make this prayer in
the name of the Living Christ.
Amen

Sometimes you never know
how beautiful the bird
is until it spreads its
wings and flies
away.
Common is overwhelmed by
the wing spread of 
extraordinary.
Is it too late then to rejoice
when she is drawn 
up and up?
No.  For having beheld the treasure,
it never disappears.  It is etched
into mind and memory
forever.  
Sometimes you never know
how beautiful the bird
is until, in its rising, 
wings extended on
sacred breath,
her memory heals all the brokenness
caused by her leaving.
Grieving grows into
gratitude for even
the momentary
glimpse of 
grace rising.

They are not forgotten. On a brilliant Saturday morning, at the Arizona Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery in the small community of Marana, Arizona, a beautiful thing happened. The cremains of more than 20 veterans were laid to rest with dignity and appreciation. Each of the simple wooden boxes had been left unclaimed, but in this ceremony, each veteran was named, acknowledged with appreciation, and carried with dignity to a final resting place. They may have been forgotten by human beings, but not by Love that prompted this gathering. Jesus once told his friends: “In my Father’s house are many rooms…” and I will go and prepare a place for you. No one gets left behind. No one is forgotten in the mind and heart of God. This morning they rest in the earth, acknowledged with appreciation by the living, received with joy by Life’s Source. Welcome home. Be at peace.

And so I debated with myself this early morning: Should I go down to the Fitness Center for a workout? Or, should I go outside and walk for a couple of miles? Fitness Center: quiet, excellent equipment, comfortable conditions. Outside walk: rather cool this morning, cars and trucks rumbling along, noisy, up and down off of curbs. So, in one of my better instinctual decisions, I went outside. And do you know what I found? Perfect temperature for a walk, very few cars at 5:30 on a Sunday morning, brilliant sunshine, birds singing their hearts out, flowers blooming everywhere, glowing mountains in the distance, and a multi-colored hot air balloon floating just above my head.

It was reasonable to stay inside in a place made for exercise. It was unreasonable to go outside and deal with a lot of unknowns. My mind told me one thing. My curiosity and my heart told me another.

Don’t be afraid to lead with your heart.

Be at peace today, and leave peace behind everywhere you go.

What I reflect today, Lord, 
depends on decisions
I make now.  If, in the moments 
of stress or pressure
that will come, I forget You, 
I will reflect the confusion
that surrounds me.  The 
anxiousness that controls
me.  I ask that You help 
me remember the
little house by the pond 
and this 
peaceful moment, so that I
might reflect You,
the Source of
my hope.
Amen