A Very Busy Weekend of Endings and New Beginnings

I've shared the last three years with this group--my spiritual direction class. Friday was our last class--a day of prayer. We walked the labyrinth together.
The first time I walked the labyrinth, I walked with a large group--and I learned about community, about walking together in a large group, then finding yourself alone, with seemingly no one around, about giving those who need it a wide birth when we meet on the same path going opposite directions or giving each other just enough room to barely squeek by--whatever the other needs, about walking together with someone for a while, then taking a turn and not seeing them again, until they show up again on the other side of the "journey"...
We've walked together for three years (some of us are missing inthis photo), and now our paths seem to be going in different directions, yet we all know we're still in it together. I'm so grateful to have had this season in my life, and I love each of you that I've walked with. We still have a day of prayer in July, then graduation in August--then who knows??? One thing I've learned though, this isn't "the end", it's only the beginning of a new path--a path full of surprises, joys and sorrows, light and darkness, new opportunities for Love to be expressed through each of us to the world that waits for us--and for us to receive Love from unexpected "others" on the way.

Lented Day of Reflection--FINALLY HERE! :)

One of my assignments this 3rd year at the Spiritual Direction Institute is to facilitate a day of prayer, so I asked the Women's Club at St. Michael's if I could do a day of prayer for them. They graciously accepted my offer and let me go to do it however I liked. I was given a lot of freedom, which always opens the way for the Spirit to move and bless.One of the hit prayer projects was to pray with play. The ladies had so much fun collaging their prayer. Even the one's who didn't think they are creative came up with wonderful insights and art work.
And there was a lot of laughter! That's the best part about playing your prayers--the joy thing is wonderful! I've asked a friend of mine to send me photos of the ladies walking the labyrinth. It was just a wonderful day--more than I could ever ask for, but that's just the way God seems to do things: superabundantly more than you can ever ask, hope or dream!

Getting Ready...

Tomorrow's a big day for me. I'm facilitating a Lenten Day of Reflection for 50 women at my church. It's been a big project, but I have had a big lot of fun preparing for it. I truly believe Jesus when he said, "My burden is easy and my yoke is light." This has been a lot of work and has used a lot of energy, but there's been incredible joy and just downright fun planning it, and today we set up the two rooms we will be using. Our theme is "Pray All Ways"--in an attempt to understand what Jesus may have meant when he told us to "Pray always." We will be using several different methods of prayer--the first will be to pray with nature. So, there is a table full of beautiful nature pictures and fun stuff like acorns, pine cones, sweet gum balls, and all kinds of beautiful fall leaves.
The we'll see how playing can be praying. This is our craft-y table. The ladies will make a collage, perhaps a collage mandala, or prayer circle. I did one of those last year, and used it to set my life intensions. Later I got it matted and framed it, and it hangs in my studio at home to reminde me of my purpose and what I want my life to be. I hope these ladies enjoy their prayer collage as much as I have.
One of the big ways we will pray tomorrow is with our feet. I love the labyrinth. It's taught me so much about life and my own soul journey, so I wanted to share the labyrinth with friends at my church.

Pray for us tomorrow if you will, that Love will shine on us, that grace will abound, and that Creative Energy will flow like a river!

Ash Wednesday

Today's Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, and I went tonight to get my ashes. I used to think that the phrase, "Remember, you came from dust and to dust you'll return" was almost like a threat, a reminder of our failures, but in the last couple of years I've come to see it as a reminder of the gift of being human. I spent most of my life trying to be "spiritual". At times, I even longed to be rid of this body so that I could go be with God. But the last few years has taught me the joy of being human. I love knowing that my "dust" is made of the same elements as the stars, as the dust of the earth, and as all of creation. Being "dust" reminds me that I'm one with all of the earth--all of the universe. You know, birds like being birds, rocks like being rocks, and trees like being trees. It's only humans that seem to hate being what they are. I LIKE being human. I like living on this earth in this earth suit. God incarnated in flesh, over and over in each one of us. God becomes physical in you and me. Dust is pretty grand!

Planning A Day Of Prayer

I discovered dead batteries in my camera this morning, so here I sit late tonight trying to figure out how to capture my day in image form now that my batteries have been recharged. The one picture I took earlier didn't work, and I don't quite know how to be faithful to this project when I've been sitting here at my computer most of the day working on a day of prayer that I'm facilitating at our church at the end of this month. I almost said, "Forget it!" I'm too tired to try to figure something out--then my eyes landed on this book, lying face down on my desk, and it tells the of prayer and what it brings in our lives. For our day of prayer, I'm renting a large labyrinth and bringing it from Houston to our ladies. I want them to experience walking the labyrinth. Earlier today, I had this book out, writing a little history of the labyrinth for that day. I love labyrinths, and I especially delight in the labyrinth image for the journey we make to the center of our soul--the most important pilgrimage that we can make in our lifetime. I hope this day of prayer blesses our women as much as I've been blessed over the last few years of my life. And I hope walkign the labyrinth inspires some of them to begin the journey to their center.

Potentiality

Little acorns--yet, what potential lies in a little acorn. Doesn't appear to have a large oak tree inside, does it? Yet that's the potential. But only a few acorns make it to oak tree. This morning, as I was preparing these acorns to be used in day of prayer at my church next month, I wound up a little meloncholy considering those acorns that don't reach their full potential--that never become a giant oak tree. We're not even through January of this new year, and already three families that I'm connected to in some way have lost young people. First, my friend Bunny lost a 19-year old granson to the war in Iraq, then another friend, Kristi, lost a 16-year old niece in a car accident. And last night, a young man from our church lost his battle with cancer. Lost potential--no chance to become full-grown oak trees. Yet, somehow each of these kids filled the years they lived with purpose. Their lives marked many, many people. They made a difference. Still, I don't want to lose anymore kids. I want the acorns to fulfill their destiny so they can shade our world. I want kids to grow up and live to be old men and women.

Keys that unlock...

I went around my house this cold drizzly morning trying to figure out what to take a picture of—what could I “freeze” in a photo to capture this day of my life? For some reason unknown at the time, my eyes landed on my keys, so I snapped away.

I love synchronicity, and I love watching to see how Divine Love ties all things together and gives them to us as gifts on our journey—but, back to the keys. Just how did these keys fit into Divine Love’s plan for my, for my personal growth, the unfolding of my own journey?

Yesterday morning I had a dream—you know, one of those busy dreams that we assume are just too stupid to really mean anything. Surely this couldn’t be the voice of Love—it’s too silly, to busy, too complicated. Do I really want to take the time to work this dream? I probably wouldn’t have, except that Dr. Mike Luedde came to our spiritual direction class a couple of weeks ago and talked to us about the importance of listening to our dreams, and working them, integrating them into our journey as divine messages from God—even as sacred as Scripture, if we dare to believe.

This morning as I snapped pictures of my keys, I remembered my dream; someone had given me my keys. I remembered how it felt—the sense of grounding as I received my keys. Keys help us unlock things, so I just sat with my keys this morning and spent time with God. Sure enough, I DID get the key to something that had been bothering me, festering inside of me for 10 days. I got my feelings hurt 10 days ago, and I’ve been unable to let the incident go. I’ve fretted over it, replaying the scenario, including the pain of being ignored or forgotten. There hasn’t been a day go by that it hasn’t been there; I’ve replayed over and over going to the person who “hurt me”, and telling them—for their own good, of course. Someone needed to tell them how their self-absorption was hurting other people—yet, something inside me knew that it was my own self-absorption that kept me locked into replaying this scenario.

As I was reading this morning, the author used a term that seemed to be the “key” to unlocking my feelings—“egocentric craving”. That’s what I have felt since this whole thing happened, an “egocentric craving” for applause, for notice, for recognition. I can’t repent of wanting applause—that’s a built-in longing of the heart, but when that longing becomes an egocentric craving, that’s a whole ‘nother matter. A friend of mine said this morning, “Craving has in it the violence of demand.” Wise words, and so true. No longer did I just have a desire to be recognized and applauded, but that longing had increased to a craving—a demand on everyone I knew.

As that revelation came, I was able to see other parts of the dream—including a very funny ending that I dare not share! My God has a sense of humor grander than anything in the universe! And after a few tears of contrition, I laughed heartily at myself, and the spell was broken. Surely I had been given the key to my own healing in that dream. It was a message from Love. The burden’s been lifted, and I feel free!