Sometimes written prayers help express my soul. On my recent retreat I picked up a card that had 2 prayers regarding Hope. I give you an excerpt from one and the other in its entirety. I hope they bless you.
HOPE IS BOLD;
it can open us
up to grand
ideals that
make life more
beautiful and
worthwhile. et
us continue,
then, to advance
along the paths
of HOPE.
Fratelli Turn, 55
And portions of Prayer for Abundant Hope
HOLY SPIRIT,
Stir within us, filling our hearts
with abundant hope,
Granting us a glimpse of what is possible,
Reminding us, at any one moment,
there are a million ways to hope.
Help us to serve with grace
and unwavering hope,
Embracing each day filled with Possibility.
AMEN.
May your summer be filled with abundant hope. Fix your eyes upon the Holy One. You will find no greater love than there!
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
That has been my word or phrase for the year 2023. I have been pursuing what that actually means. This year I have tried to learn more about this concept. I blogged about it last January. https://wordpress.com/post/treasures-in-plain-sight.org/11031
I do not usually read the Bible interpretation called The Message. I came across this and had to find who wrote it. Yep, it is from The Message!
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
Romans 12:1-2 Message
That is it in a nutshell! Guess I need to get out the nut cracker and unpack that?
With God’s help – take your usual life – and place it before God as an offering. Meaning all of your life is given to Him and lived for Him and to Him. An audience of One! I must never think I can do this on my own. I need help and should ask for that help regularly.
Embrace what God does for you. This means I am not taking credit for His work. Remember the gratitude list? All the things in a single day that God does for you and in you. Embrace it all. That can be hard when He does not do the things I want like remove chronic pain and illness. Embracing is ‘the best thing I can do for Him.’ Have you ever asked God how you can please and delight Him? Here is one way!
Do not expect to fit in with the culture around us. As we grow closer and deeper in the Holy One we will NOT fit in with the culture!
FIX YOUR ATTENTION ON GOD. Not easily done, but with practice it does get easier and the more one does it the more one misses it when wandering begins. The Holy One is where I want my attention to remain. It is a kind of super glue for those of us living in the world but not of the world! Fix our attention on the Holy One.
Recognize and respond. I see what You want, Lord and {not I will get to that later} I am on it! The more we love someone the more quickly we will delight to please that one. I recognize what is required of me and I am quick to do it. Not running out before the right time, but willing to fulfill what is being asked in a very timely manner.
The promise is that God will develop well-formed maturity in us. Oh yes, Lord, let it be so! That we will not longer be spiritual babes, infants in Christ.
And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations?
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 NRSVA
That is just full of promises and this I am to do and let glory be given to God and just wow.
Are you willing to give it a try? If we stumble and think that is failure we are wrong. If we stumble and do not accomplish the challenge it just means there is room to grow and like the Benedictines we need to say, “Always we begin again.”
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:16 NKJV
Do we go boldly? Or do we second guess God’s Word and stall, believing false ideas about ourselves. No, we will never be deserving of mercy and grace. That should not stop us though. We are invited to come to the Father.
Even in the Old Testament we are told to come.
Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
Isaiah 55:1 NIV
Living Water
So I ask you, are you needing mercy and grace? Is there ever a day you do not need mercy and/or grace? Are you waiting or running to the source of all forgiveness and love?
Go boldly. Recently the Kroger grocery parking lot was packed. I commented to Bob as we drove past, “The shoppers must think they are giving stuff away!” Well, it turns out they were giving stuff away! My neighbor brought me dog items she could not use and an air freshener she did not want. I imagine there were shoppers who called other family members and told them to come on up to Kroger to get free things.
Are we telling our friends and family that they can come boldly to the throne of grace and find mercy and grace in time of need? Do we believe the Word about the benefits of knowing and loving God? Are we acting boldly on behalf of God? Is there fear about the repercussions from society? Consider Acts 4. Peter and John had been jailed for speaking in Jesus’ name. The temple leaders could not decide how to punish them so they released them, telling the two apostles not to speak in Jesus’ name again.
“But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.” So Peter and John went back to their own people and began to pray about the situation.
Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.
Acts 4:29-30 NIV
If we are not acting boldly on behalf of God, perhaps we can take a lesson from Acts 4 and begin asking God to “enable us to speak the Word with great boldness.” Consider this. Try it. Find out what God will do!
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
2 Corinthians 3:17 NIV
There is some controversy within the church about the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote directly to this topic bringing equality to the Lord and the Spirit. Remember the Trinity is like 3-in-1 oil. I love the Spirit of the Lord is freedom wherever the Holy One is.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Galatians 5:1 NIV
Is there a yoke of some sort trying to enslave you? Stand firm and embrace the freedom that Christ has give you!
‘All things are lawful’, but not all things are beneficial. ‘All things are lawful’, but not all things build up.
1 Corinthians 10:23 NRSV
I had to post the above for myself a number of years ago when a certain type of candy threatened to enslave me. It helped me remember the freedom Christ has given me. Do you fear freedom? Is there something that might get you?
Freedom in Christ is slightly different than American freedom from British rule celebrated July 4th. Lucky does not concern herself with what type of freedom, she is just terrified of all sorts of thunder, lightning and fireworks.
Her fear is really primal, animal fear. She was a rescue dog and makes no sense when it comes to these sounds. We have never tied her outdoors during a storm. Never threatened her with sleeping outside during late June or July.
If we take her out to ‘do her business’ and there is the slightest thunder (even in the distance) she is terrified. She will pull our arms off trying to get in any garage, even if it is not ours! Last evening there was someone on another street lighting ‘black cats’ the little tiny fire crackers. She was done.
I thought I might get her to tinkle a bit, but then someone else set off a bigger boom! and that was that. Within half an hour all the fireworks were exploding and we knew it was a lost cause. We had her sleep in her kennel rather than clean up a potential mess in the morning.
Do you celebrate the freedom Christ has won for you? Is your celebration only political and basically limited to one day per year? Does any of this give you pause that perhaps you could celebrate BOTH sorts of freedom and celebrate those freedoms more often?
Maybe gratitude is a better method than explosions? Choose your style!
and roosters, and chicks. They are every place you go. I even stopped at a grocery store Starbucks. When I came out the people on the porch sipping their beverages were amazed at the hen and chicks that were passing through looking for bakery crumbs.
We stopped at one overlook to take some photos. There at our feet was a rooster. Bob captured this portrait.
Chickens have been on the islands for decades. Storms caused many of their coops to be destroyed. After their escape they have found life on the islands rather easy. There are no natural predators in residence! Talk about free range chickens!
We even walked the jungle trail to Honolua Bay on Maui where the snorkeling is said to be tremendous. Guess what?
You can easily see 7 chickens here! There were many more around our feet!
I often wondered if I caught a chicken and took it to a restaurant would they kill, clean and cook it for me for lunch? Does any one harvest the eggs?
Some of our neighbors here in Ohio keep chickens. The crowing of the rooster always makes me smile. The by-laws of our subdivision prohibits the keeping of chickens on our property. I wonder how these residents would view free range chickens!
I wonder if Jesus told every church leader in the greater Cincinnati area that Christians were to keep chickens, how that would go over? His words in the New Testament are
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”
Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34
Jesus longs to gather us to Himself. Just as in Isaiah 30:15 there is that haunting phrase, “But you would not.” Are you resistant to Jesus’ call to come to Him?
All four Gospels refer to the crowing of the rooster when Jesus is speaking to Peter about denying Him. Can you imagine how Peter felt when He heard that crowing?
So the next time you hear a rooster I want you to ask yourself if that is Jesus calling you to His side like the hen gathers her chicks or is it a reminder that each of us has the propensity to deny knowing the Lord Jesus? Either way I urge you to be willing to go to His side. He will lead you in paths of righteousness. Do not be a free range chicken. We, unlike the chickens in Hawaii, do have an evil predator seeking to destroy us and our faith.
Most of my life my mother worked at a florist in Norwood, Ohio called Dorl & Fern. I met Mr. Dorl a few times. For years my mother told my sister and I how much she wanted to visit the Hawaiian islands in order to see the flowers. (Also, her only sister lived there.) Many times the arrangement designers in the shop would use flowers shipped from Hawaii. She was delighted with those arrangements. She especially like the idea of orchids growing along tree trunks. There was much delight as she worked with the local California florist to design my wedding bouquet. Sadly, she died before she was able to go to Hawaii.
Our wedding 1970
When we were planning our visit to Hawaii (the Big Island) and Maui we told our friends Dan and Betty that we definitely wanted to see the flowers. They directed us to the Botanical Garden just north of Hilo, officially called the Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve & Garden.
The folder they gave us when we paid our admission describes the place as “a garden in a valley on the ocean.” The land is ‘held in reserve for future conservation, protecting the beautiful Onomea Bay forever.’
I was not disappointed. The beginning of the trail was a downhill boardwalk among fascinating plants, many of which we had never seen before. We were also entertained by tiny colorful geckos along the way.
Anthurium I have seen in floral shops in Ohio but never in lavender!
Geckos often lose their tail when fighting, but can grow them back!
“Pink Maracas”
Bob and I were amazed later when we compared our photos. Some were duplicates and some were things the other had not noticed. My photos of the orchids were the most abundant of all the photos I took. If you are familiar with house plants you may see some growing in the photos. So here is photo album of my still shots. By the time I would learn to make a video from still shots I could likely write 3 blog entries. Hard to teach old dogs new tricks!
If you paste the link below into your browser you can see slides from the garden posted on the Bioreserve website. Sadly, they do not identify the plants.
And then there were the orchids! You have most likely seen orchids in grocery store floral departments or big box discount stores. They are nothing like these orchids!!
See photo to rightOrchid rooted on treeWhat we know as house plant called Peace Lily.Anthurium rooted on tree truckBob’s favorite orchid on treeI do not know all the namesrooted some place on that tree!delicate colorsSplatter painted?Splotched white area unlike belowMy thumb is to show you how tiny this one is!Not identical to white ones above.
Okay, so by then I was weeping. Truly weeping over the beauty my mother missed. Weeping over the beauty of God’s creation and how He arranged for us to have the privilege to see it. I swear at one point it was as if the man who walked away from me in the garden resembled Ted Dorl. I cried because in some way this has been a deep link with my memory of my mother. And now, I had completed it. We sat on a bench while I tried to compose myself. Two women walking past surely looked bewildered by my tears. Bob gladly indulged me while I walked among the orchids again, then I found more plants and started taking photos all over again.
My Christmas tree wishLook closely!There she is, tucked away!At first glance looks like a pansy to me!
You know how people print photos on mugs and phone cases and all sorts of things? I think I want this printed like that!
The flight over the volcano was stunning along with flying over the coast and the waterfalls, but this is my best memory. It was hard for me to leave. It was getting very hot and humid. I was wrung out from the emotional experience. Rarely have I felt so close to my mom since she passed. Our daughter turns 48 this week. That means mom died 48 years and two weeks ago. May she be surrounded by Jesus and flowers in all of heaven!
The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it, for he has founded it on the seas and established it on the rivers.
Have you every tried the writing prompt of noting every word that follows one idea? Example: Ice cream is followed by sundae, hot fudge, nuts, summer, treat, year ’round, UDF, favorite flavor …..
Here one idea lead to another. Where does your mind go from the following quotes?
I was reading Richard Rohr’s book “The Naked Now” and he quoted Augustine as saying,
If you understand it, then it is not God.
St. Augustine
Rohr asks, “Wouldn’t you join me is saying “I would not respect any God that I could figure out”?
In a bit I opened another reference work called “Connecting the Testaments” and the author for the day quotes the oh so familiar quote,
You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it finds rest in you.
Augustine’s Prayer
When I think of a restless heart I remember ,
“There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.”
– Blaise Pascal
When you imagine your heart and God what phrases or description arises in your mind? If you present those words to the Father prayerfully, He can help you find the paths to strengthen, restore, renew and recreate your heart. Don’t ask me how it happens. I do not understand the ways of my Lord.
I do, however, seek to follow Him in all the paths of righteousness He shows me. There are times in our spiritual journey when God asks us to come and play. Put down the seriousness, the stiff, starched attitudes of religion and just be His companion. So wherever the Spirit leads you, try to joyfully follow. Place your heart in the hands of the Almighty and you will be amazed at what is unfolded!
I have learned more about my journey to the center-down silence since 1988. I have been pondering re-writing this poem but have not attempted yet. Maybe the words will come and I will pursue it.
Until then I pray you will venture into your own journey with the Living Christ. Find your way to quiet your self and rest with the Holy One.
I abandon all that I think I am, all that I hope to be, all that I believe I possess. I let go of the past, I withdraw my grasping hand from the future, and in the great silence of this moment, I alertly rest my soul.
~ from DEEP IS THE HUNGER by Howard Thurman
God clearly gives us a path to His quiet. We must desire this. We must make a move towards Him. He writes clearly through the book of James 4:8. We are to “draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts you double-minded.“
My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. 2 But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.
3 Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore
Psalm 131 NIV
Go there, to that place of quiet. Wait for His touch and His wisdom. With practice you will not be disappointed!
This came up in my email today. The same sentiment arose another time and I can’t recall where!
Whatever may be the tensions and the stresses of a particular day, there is always lurking close at hand the trailing beauty of forgotten joy or unremembered peace.
Howard Thurman
“Trailing beauty of forgotten joy or unremembered peace.” With the smoke from the Nova Scotia fires moving into the Cincinnati area and the air quality index indicating the air is dangerous for those with compromised health issues it has been a rough time at our house.
My husband has COPD and, like me with my health issues, sometimes lives in a high state of denial. (COPD stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.) The week of June 11-17 was exceptionally bad. Bob has had difficulty getting accustomed to the fact that the air quality index warnings have to do with him. It seemed that each day his symptoms got worse. Finally on Friday evening, June 16th, he crashed into his chair and knew he was ill. We were outdoors for a part of the day on the 17th for a celebration of life memorial for a friend of his. We went home and I locked him in the house. He likely should have seen a doctor on the 15th, but did not. By Sunday evening he knew he had to contact the doctor on Monday morning for at minimum steroids and antibiotics. I was convinced the doctor was likely to admit him to the hospital, though he did not.
The doctor got him in. Put him on steroids and told him if there was no improvement, antibiotics were next. Sent us home.
During that time I did lots of praying and lifting. The Lord told me I needed to yield to Him, too. I was shocked when I returned from retreat how very, very anxious I became about Bob’s health situation. Listening to the voice of the Spirit I realized why.
I had gone from trusting the Lord implicitly during the retreat to anxious and worried. How did that happen so quickly? I was reminded that my Dad had been chronically ill for years with heart disease. (There are many tales about that I could write, but not today.) I grew up living on edge about his condition. At ten and younger I did not quite understand that his condition would be fatal. My husband almost succumbed to flu in 2018. That is when his COPD went from mild to more severe.
Mayo Clinic online says, “COPD symptoms include breathing difficulty, cough, mucus (sputum) production and wheezing.” There were times I could hear Bob’s lungs rattle with wheezing from across the room. His cough became so severe and prolonged that I wondered if he would bring up part of a lung instead of just mucus. Sunday evening his breathing was fast and very shallow. One night he must have coughed in his sleep. I, too, was asleep; however, I came straight up out of the bed thinking he had fallen. He was asleep in the bed. The LORD spoke to me that my anxiety was linked to that childhood experience of my father’s heart disease and subsequent early death. (At the time he was 46 yrs. old, I was 11 yrs. old.) I am no longer that child. The Spirit helped me recognize this and release that childhood scarring to my heavenly Father.
So as Monday morning came I was listening to the LORD, praying, releasing my fears, declaring to God that whatever happened at the medical office my heart was in His hand. I am sorry to report that my praise over the doctor not hospitalizing Bob was not as robust as my praise before the appointment thanking God for giving us good medical care. I think I had braced myself and was not quite certain what to do in the aftermath. Isn’t that sad?
We went out to lunch at his favorite place. Visited the pharmacy for the new medication. Came home, tended to housekeeping duties and took our rest. He was still very sick. That afternoon when my watch rang for the afternoon alert to bring my attention back to Christ, I gave thanks that we were working together on vacation photos and other office matters. I confessed my shame at not being more grateful immediately after the appointment.
This morning he decided to text the doctor as his sputum was no longer clear. Doctor had said that would indicate need for antibiotics. Bob did all of that before I was out of bed! This round of denial is certainly over.
“Trailing beauty of forgotten joy or unremembered peace.” Beauty – we went out to lunch. Were able to celebrate our recent vacation to Hawaii and not get swamped by fears about the illness. Unremembered peace – relief as I texted two people who were praying as we went to the doctor. We each think sending him home was good news.
Having ridden this roller coaster so recently I am trying to maintain an even attitude towards this illness. When he was intubated in 2018 the doctor told me that COPD can ‘turn on a dime’ meaning someone with this illness can go from sick to extremely ill in no time at all. That makes it hard to suspend my fears and hesitation. I am determined though, ‘with God’s help.”
Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
Isaiah 46:4 NIV
Today (June 28) the air quality is again dangerous. We have closed up the house and are praying this does not exacerbate his symptoms. Stay well!
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 