Promise

 

Radiance

God does not compete with us. He calls to us to be joined with him. He calls to us to give us the gift of his love.

As God gets closer to me, I become more luminous and more radiant.

In today's Old Testament reading, Moses is commanded by the Great I Am to remove his sandals as he is standing on holy ground.

Why? Because, as the wonderful Bishop Robert Barron tells us in his sermon today:

"Shoes enable you to go anywhere. I can walk confidently over any kind of terrain. Take your shoes off, the rocky terrain leaves you vulnerable."

Vulnerable in the sight of God. But not in a way that would allow God to take advantage of us. Hardly! It is to help us pause in our journey; to stop in the presence of God. And that presence could be the burning bush that Moses saw. Or a beautiful garden. The love two people have for each other. Or the glorious words of men inspired by God, like Bishop Barron in his sermon.

By pausing - or stopping - in the presence of God, whatever form that takes for you, is to allow yourself to hear what God wants you to hear. The rustling of the leaves on the trees, or the mere buds on that tree - are gifts from God's creation. Each one has something to tell us of God. Each one has a message for us from our Lord - some are small and quiet, like the joy of the first Crocus coming up after a long winter. And some are loud and raucous, like the friendly song of the Wren or the burble of the Bluebird.

God - knows all of us. He heard the cries of the enslaved Jews in Egypt. Hundreds of thousands of subjugated people, voices united in a desperate song for freedom.

Or me (or you) - our humble, little voices breaking thru the clanging of the world, in search of God's grace, his infinite mercy. Seeking the kind of freedom that can only be found in God's presence.

Seek him. Keep your eyes and ears open for even the softest of calls from our Lord. He is there, always. Just waiting for us to hear him, so he can draw us closer to him.

God Is With Us...Even When We Aren't

Dear God,

I know that I'm not perfect.

I know sometimes I forget to pray,

I know I have questioned my faith.

I know sometimes I lose my temper,

so thank you for loving me 

unconditionally and giving me

another day to start over again.

Indeed, we begin again tomorrow.

Today was the first day in the office since March of 2020. Well, for most people. I've been going in since mid-January. Today was Return to Office (aka RTO) for all the employees.

As the primary Admin on the floor - for 250 people - my desk was the equivalent of a deli line for most of the day. The day was not as bad as I expected; and it was still bad.

With more on-tap tomorrow.

When I got home, changed into my jammies, and essentially sat on the sofa, nearly comatose - I felt a profound feeling of peace settle on me.

In an instant, I knew that I kept my cool, remained level-headed, and got thru an extremely trying day - because God was beside me. Helping me hold my temper and keeping a genuine smile on my face.

God...is always there. Even when we forget completely, or don't give him any credit - he never leaves our side.

The human being that I am, I struggle sometimes with how God does that.

And the human being that I am - bows down in gratitude for it.

His Presence

Your presence, O LORD, I seek.

   Hide not your face from me;

do not in anger repel your servant.

   You are my helper: cast me not off.

The Lord is my light and my salvation.

The theme of my own Lenten Journey, captured in one perfect verse from the Psalms.

Lent - So It Begins

As I settle into another Christian season in the wilderness, my heart has settled on my focus. Prayerful that this turns into a constant conversion of my heart.

To welcome God in - to a deeper dwelling place in my very soul. I thirst for more from him. 

I wonder, often, how God has the power and energy to take all of us as we come to him. He is the supremest of beings so of course my pathetic human wonderings are nothing compared to the scope of his Love.

How will I make room for more God in my life?

The Lenten Season suggests we fast. I've never been too committed to that - to be honest, mostly because I fail, many times, and in the end feel defeated and disappointed by my human-ness.

Which isn't what God wants for me, this I know.

This season I am fasting - from social media. It's a cesspit, as most of us know. Yet it is a good way to keep in touch with friends, near & distant. And still, each of my encounters with Facebook in particular leave me feeling deflated, irritable, and even angry.

Not the best mental place to welcome God into my mind, body, heart, and soul.

Spending time with God - reading, studying, journaling - will be the order of my coming days. With prayer and meditation, I hope this will become part of my life instead of just a season.

In the forward of my Lenten Journal is this from Father John Burns:

In Lent, we recall the people of Israel's tendency to wander off and forget God, and we revisit the Lord's patient and repeated call to return. We find ourselves within that very same dynamic, marked by the patterns of wandering and longing to return.

That - is my call. That - is the journey I have set my feet upon.

My Journal is from Blessed is She. 

Saturday Symphony - Invincible

I'm trying to get up, they're knocking me down

Chewing me up, spitting me out

Hey, hey, hey when I need to be saved

You're making me strong, you're making me stand

Never will fall, never will end

Shot like a rocket up into the sky

Nothing could stop me tonight

Yes - a bit of a different presentation of a Christian song. Skillet is actually one of my favorite Christian rock bands. Their aggressive sound, with John Cooper's relentless, driving, whiskey-soaked voice, gives the center of my soul a big ole boost of energy & passion.

"Invincible" is the sort of hard-driving song I need right now. It is a reminder - loud & poetic - that God is my salvation. He is my right arm, left arm, and all the in-between spaces.

I do feel a bit chewed up and spit out right now. It is times like these that can be difficult for us to "see the forest for the trees". We get so focused on the minutiae, the thousands of tiny things that beg for our attention - to distract us from the one big thing that is all we need to see.

God - is by our side. All day, every day. Even when we can't see him, feel him, or even wish to acknowledge him.

He remains. Surrounding us with love - so we can face the day with his invincible presence.

Give It Up

When life's challenges rise up and smack you down ... 

it's helpful to remember that God is always on your side. 

No matter what.