8-11 Lectio after quoting John 14:8-14 NIVUK wrote, “But what does God really look like?!” It’s a question that I have often pondered … and it is echoed here in Philips’s request: “Show us the Father”. Jesus’ response is startling: I already have!
Jesus is “the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:5). He is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (Hebrews 1:3).
In Jesus, the invisible God is at last made visible. And not just visible: touchable, tangible: a person.
This song by Andrew Peterson then rang through my heart.
from Resurrection Letters Volume 2
In Jesus, the invisible God is at last made visible. And not just visible: touchable, tangible: a person.
Have you been seeking those experiences? The 5 ways in short are 1. what makes you say “whoa”? 2. Think small. 3. It can happen on a screen, (nature, short lab videos, etc.) 4. Awe is a reset button and 5. Pay attention to goodness.
Our deathly ill neighbors have large flower boxes on either side of the front walk. Last spring, a healthy friend of theirs planted annual seeds in the boxes for them. Ginny has since passed away. I went clumping over in my orthotic boot one day and could not get through to the front door as the sidewalk was overgrown with flowers blooming and falling all over the place. Zinnias that were over 3 feet tall, sunflowers falling down, and under it all a riot of marigolds. I am still trying to offer meals to Chuck. Last Sunday I asked Bob to go with me bearing clippers and a bucket so we could cut back the jungle to get to the porch. We disturbed a parade of butterflies and bees. As I cut one stem I noticed a lovely bug. At first I called it a leaf hopper. (See opening photo) On closer inspection it was more likely one of the zillion kinds of grasshoppers. And as I marveled at its intricate body I realized I was holding my breath for a moment in awe. There it is!
From the bedroom window this morning I could tell the weather has finally changed with lower humidity, MUCH LOWER, and cooler temperatures. Then my eye was captured by the sunlight through the elephant ears. No rabbits lately, but this was indeed a delight. Breathe in the awe with me.
We attended church this morning with me in sandals, left one had top one strap entirely unfastened, no boot! Though the day held delightful weather our outdoor service was changed to indoor due to other issues. After being spread out in chairs under the towering oak trees in the parking lot there was an enhanced sense of intimacy once indoors. I was amazed how many people greeted me with well wishes for thorough healing. The arms of Christ were certainly all about me. The doctor had said he still wanted me to wear the boot in public. I admit I was a bit nervous with all those other feet around me, especially the children. I look forward to serving at the altar again as soon as I can climb the stairs.
What a glorious day of awe and wonder. Instead of rainstorms right now there are small, pure white, puffy clouds floating slowly past in an incredibly blue sky. Life is truly a wonder. The TIME article suggests taking a 15-minute “awe walk.” Just look at the world with fresh eyes, pay attention to the details around you, and engage your senses.” Slow down for the details and let awe capture you!
Consider the work of God; who can make straight what he has made crooked?
In the day of prosperity, be joyful, and in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that mortals may not find out anything that comes after them. Ecclesiastes 7:13-15 NRSVUE
This was a worship song I learned to sing many, many years ago. I think we actually only used the chorus? Last week it popped up in heart.
Then I learned a friend whose husband suffered from hemophilia for years had passed. Frankly, most of us were amazed he had lived this long! Perhaps she was the one who first taught me the chorus? Frankly I do not remember.
Since I heard the sad news of her loss I have been sending her my love freely. We have lost touch over the years, but I know the Lord holds her and the family in His nail scared hands.
I came across this poem set to music after reading Amy Carmichael’s chapter entitled Rose from Brier in her collected writings in the book by the same title. (Pages 51-53) I found it enchanting. The photography, also, especially the raindrops on the pavement! She heard this poem as “a little song that sang within me” as she longed to be at a welcoming service in the House of Prayer, but could not leave her bed.
Amy Carmichael Rose From Brier
She describes the sweetbrier of England in contrast to the roses of India. “I saw a little, low, very prickly bush in an old-fashioned English garden; it was covered with inconspicuous pink roses. But the wonder of the bush was its all-pervading fragrance, for it was a sweetbrier. And I saw one who has long been in the land where no thorns grow, cutting a spray from the bush, stripping the thorns off and giving it to me. May these for whom a rose from my brier may be caused to blow, those who do indeed walk the dear familiar ways of home, and road, and street, as unregarded as a breath of air, but there in love and longing, always there, find no pricking thorn on the stem of this rose from my brier.
“I think that when He whom our soul loveth comes so near to us, and so gently helps our human weakness, then what Madame Guyon wrote more than three hundred years ago becomes a present truth. We are borne over the oppression that would hold us down, we mount up on wings, we find a secret sweetness in our brier. But it is not of us. It’s Love that lifts us up. It is Love that is the sweetness.
“Is the one who reads this in a great weariness, or the exhaustion that follows a sore hurt, or in the terrible grasp of pain? He who loves as no one else can love understands to the uttermost, is not far away. He wants us to say, He can give it to us to say, “My Lord, my Love, I am content with Thee.”
Beautiful pink and yellow flower of dog-rose, sweet brier
In America we often call the same plant a Dog Rose. My neighbor has them in her backyard. I will have to experiment next spring to find out if the foliage is also fragrant as the internet reports!
I find the fragrance of Amy’s writings a gift to my soul.
I am delighted we have a new beginning every morning. I remember nursing my son and wondering when the first hour of each day occurred. You have to understand that he nursed every three hours around the clock. I had been taught that we should give the Lord the first hour of every day. In my exhaustion, I told the Lord I would gladly give Him the first hour if he would just tell me when my day ended and began!
Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. It’s just a matter of paying attention to this miracle.
PAULO COELHO
Pay attention to this miracle. This day. Right here.
So let me ask you something. When you pray do you listen for an answer? If you do not hear an answer right then, do you keep on listening? Do you persist in answering?
I have found that sometimes the answer comes over hours, sometimes over days, even weeks. We have been pondering what to do about our planned vacation to the beach in North Carolina scheduled for September with our now adult granddaughter. This was planned and reserved before the foot surgery occurred. So now the question is, “Will I be able to walk on the beach and look for seashells?” That is one of my favorite things to do.
So I have been praying for wisdom regarding the decision should we cancel the trip or not? The miracle? I feel as if I have been getting answers to the prayer. Many times the answer comes in the form of a question. That is so like my Jesus!
If I cannot or should not walk on the beach could I be content? Content to be at the ocean? Hear the ocean? Feel the thunder of the waves resounding in the air?
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. Lamentations 3: 22-25 ESV
New answers every morning. New strength each day. Perhaps a new ability to embrace any limitation I may have come mid-September. Help us decide, Lord.
Joan sends a weekly e-newsletter. This one really spoke to me. She wrote about the Rule of St. Benedict.
In her recent newsletter she pointed out:
“The Rule gives us three criteria by which to assess our likelihood of ever being truly happy. Not simply satisfied, that is, but genuinely contented by life. Happy.
“First, if you have not attached your sense of self to having the best of everything, you won’t be crushed when you see someone with things that cost more than yours. You’ll be happy to have what you truly need.
“Second, if you don’t need to be the center of attention, you will be happy just to be part of a group of good people who do good things together. The thirst for attention is a toxic brew. If it comes—in athletics, in government, in public activities—you will be scrutinized. And if it doesn’t, you’ll be depressed.
“Third, if you don’t expect a constant deluge of praise, privilege, and preeminence, then not experiencing those things will not disturb you.
“The Rule is straightforward: If you do not depend on exemption, advantage, and personal prerogatives to measure your happiness, your success, your life will become its own reward. A walk by the lake at night will dilute all the pressures of the day. An appointment for supper with friends will be enough to get you up happy in the morning. Then whatever the turn of the social system around you, your love of life unadorned and unaffected will sustain you. from Radical Spirit: Twelve Ways to Live a Free and Authentic Life by Joan Chittister
If you have not read anything written by her, you might want to try. She is the author of 26 books.
Love of life unadorned and unaffected … quite a concept in contemporary America. I am giving it a try!
Did you ever hear the music from Fiddler on the Roof? I keep hearing the refrain:
Sunrise, sunset (x2), Swiftly flow the days. Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers, Blossoming even as we gaze. Sunrise, sunset (x2), Swiftly fly the years, One season following another, Laden with happiness and tears
And here we are, the summer of 2026, (I even phrase things like an old woman!) I guess the generation before me would have said, “The summer of ‘26”
I have recently read two books from the perspective of an aging individual: Water for Elephants and When the Cranes Fly South. I enjoyed them both as I could relate to the plight of the aged. Though I am not yet in my eighties or nineties, I can relate with the chronic illness I carry and the recent use of wheelchair, walker, orthotic boot, etc.
Those thoughts prompted me to review the following prayer from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer.
The Book of Common Prayer, Page 830, #49. For the Aged
Look with mercy, O God our Father, on all whose increasing years bring them weakness, distress, or isolation. Provide for them homes of dignity and peace; give them understanding helpers, and the willingness to accept help; and, as their strength diminishes, increase their faith and their assurance of your love. This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The days turn rapidly, and then some seem to drag. The seasons come around. This summer has seemed to never end with the high heat and humidity! No, we have not had flooding in our neighborhood, but oh the people of the surrounding area counties are truly suffering. Those poor people with the mud coated belongings in their homes! Trees on top of cars and buildings. I wonder how many have lost their entire crop?
And my heart goes out to the elderly caught in these storms. The young people can perhaps rebuild their lives. The older folks, not so much. But then maybe the older ones realize it is all just so much stuff. What matters is life.
“As their strength diminishes, increase their faith and their assurance of your love.” Yes, Lord that is what we need the most. Each sunrise and every sunset, even if those events are covered with rain clouds, help us lift our eyes to You, rejoicing in Your care and comfort.
I have been experiencing this and trying to express it since the surgery on June 15. Still clumping around in the boot and hoping this cheers those of you who are struggling.
August 15 Amy Carmichael from Edges of His Ways For the tempted. (1) Psalm 77:3, P.B.V.: When I am in heaviness, I will think upon God. “Have you noticed how, when you are in heaviness, you are always tempted to think about yourself–your uselessness, your failures, your nothingness–yourself in one way or another? I have known this temptation and have constantly found it tormenting others. To draw one’s thoughts to oneself is a long-tried and most successful wile of the devil.
“Straight against this is the word we have in this psalm, “When I am in heaviness, I will think upon God.” I will turn my thoughts from myself to my Father who loves me and does not stop loving me, though I am useless and a failure and less than nothing at all.”
The meditation app Calm on the same day brought forth the idea of how we fixate on certain things as required for our contentment. We are ever reaching for one thing or the other than what is for our happiness and contentment. Both Amy Carmichael and Tamara Levitt encourage us to find peace right where we are. Right now. With things as they are.
Tamara says, “The stories we tell ourselves about our lives suggest there is always something missing, some incomplete piece keeping us from happiness.” She reminds us that it is “unhealthy to place our happiness on some ever-elusive external goal.” She challenges us to find satisfaction with who we are right now. Amy stated we might feel “useless and a failure and less than nothing.” Tamra suggests we turn loose of the idea of something missing and cling instead to what is here, right now, as enough.
Tamara says, “When we rely on external factors as the key to happiness we only perpetuate our discontentment. She quote B. Grace Bullock as saying, “Once you shed your distorted lens and self-doubting beliefs, there’s a good chance you’ll discover that you’re pretty awesome. And that the light burning within you is a far more accurate reflection of who you are than the stories you have been telling yourself.” That is when contentment becomes possible.
Shed your distorted lens
So my struggle the last couple of months has been to stay in the present, realize that even with physical limitations I can turn my heart and mind towards God. If I stop telling myself distorted stories and think upon my God, contentment is possible. Just now.
Authenticity. The high school motto the year I graduated was BE.
I spent much of that year searching for authenticity. Now be is associated with kindness and happiness and all sorts of nesses. How about just BE?
Is this how you live your life?
There is in you something that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself… that is the only true guide that you will ever have. Howard Thurman
When are you most authentic? Do you dare to show that part of yourself to others? Do they know how sacred that sharing can be? Do you have others in your life who are authentic with you? Do you cherish their relationship? What might you set as a goal towards more authenticity in your living?
I received so many nice cards while I was recovering from toe surgery! I eventually stapled them to a ribbon and hung them from the curtain rod in the dining room. A few of my favorites I actually read multiple times. The sentiments, though written for Hallmark or Day Spring audiences, spoke to me. I hope they find meaning in your heart also.
(Ugh I am still trying to find the most comfortable way to situate myself while writing at my desktop computer. Not easy with one leg elevated!)
It looks much better now, but still swells and then throbs.
The first card remains the funniest. I had confided in my friend Kathy that I was uncertain how I would manage the bathroom on one foot. She was right there when Bob brought me home from the outpatient procedure. She left a card and a small gift for me to open when I was up to it. The gift was this block sign:
And I have relied on her! She will text she is “going to Kroger. Need anything?” And whether I ask for an avocado or throat lozenges for dry mouth, she will find it and bring it to me. Her card was the funniest.
The sentiment reads, “Hope crappy turns into happy …get well soon!” Yes the perfect card for the event and the proloooonged recovery. And sort of looks like Lucky, too!
A little over half way through this recovery I go this one. “Stay positive. Stay hopeful. Keep going.” How did this dear friend know that I would be tempted to negativity. Tempted to lose hope? Tempted to just give up? Likely because I often confide in her my prayer requests. The card shows a close up of the center of a daisy. That is the flower I think of when I think of my daughter. Her birthday is in June and that is when many daisies here bloom. The inside sentiment reads, “I know you’re working hard at getting better, and I want you to know I’ll be rooting for you every step of the way.”
My life has sudden filled with 3 women named Debby. This particular Debby nails it on the head every time! Each Debbie is a blessing in her own right. One has a sister named Sandy. I am able to remember her name as I have cousins who are sisters: Debbie and Sandy!
Another recent card reads: “May each new day bring you gentle reminders of God’s ever-faithful love as He strengthens you with His healing touch.” I would read this and center myself in the knowledge that God loves each of us and I would look for the reminder round about me. There was always something there to cheer me on.
Another card came from a neighbor. This particular woman had been through several crises the last couple of years. I remember praying over her and trying to calm her during one in particular. I am not aware of this couple attending any church, but I try to share my faith wherever I am. They do know I am willing to pray for them whatever they are walking through. When she presented the card to me with a very generous gift card she seemed to take delight in telling me she remembered me talking with her about patience. Now is was her turn to reinforce the message about patience! Her card read, “Recovery is a process. It takes time. It takes patience. It takes everything you’ve got …. and you’ve got a lot – a kind heart, an amazing spirit, and people who really care about you.“
I placed that card on the kitchen counter where I could read it easily from the wheelchair I had to use after twisting my knee (adding insult to injury). It brought me great encouragement and comfort.
These are a few of the things that gave me pause to give give thanks to God. If you are compelled to send someone a greeting card do not underestimate what it might mean to the person receiving it. You never know how God might use you for such a time as this!
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