I will not be posting this week. The proof for my next book, “Poems, My Faith Journey Through Prayerful Observations” has arrived. That means I need to read it cover to cover and find any corrections, additions, or errors before we submit it for publication and public consumption. It should be available by April 30. Throw in two Zoom meetings, (one of which I have notes to type up), starting a steroid pack and physical therapy – well writing will have to wait this week.
You may have seen the hymn that posted instead of being saved as a draft. Things that make me go “DRATS!” It is a great hymn that I cannot stop singing.
So sing along and praise our risen King and He continues His resurrection life in and through each of us.
I like this sort of scoop, too!
Looks like peanut butter chip, MY UDF FAVORITE!! 🙂
I am always amazed at how a quote can become a jumping off place, a diving board if you will, to other thoughts and truths.
Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don’t claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent. Rumi
One centering exercise this morning asked that I become aware of life around me. For that I usually look out the window at my prayer chair and marvel at the unfolding season. Wasn’t it just snowing as in the opening photo? As Rumi implies, I have absolutely no claim upon those wonders, but I am privileged to observe them. There is an artistry in God’s creation and the tough part is for me to be silent.
Hush my soul. Like a child quieted at its mother’s breast, be still.
{You will see below that because I chose a quote box the program made everything below that to appear in italics. I tried and tried to change it. For this post we will just live with it and I will stop using quote boxes. GRR}
I picked up a booklet at church regarding the Way of the Cross, prayers from Jerusalem. I have not entered the practice of praying the stations of the cross. This first prayer made me be still.
Assist us mercifully with your help, O Lord God of our salvation, that we may enter with joy upon the contemplation of those mighty acts whereby you have given us life and immortality; through Jesus Christ out Lord. Amen.
I kept returning to that prayer through Good Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I picked it up again this morning. Eastertide proclaims and rejoices again and again the powerful works of Lord God Almighty through the resurrection of Jesus our Lord.
This Lent and Easter were the most meaningful I have ever experienced. Maybe it is that I am aging or perhaps I keep turning my conscious over to the presence of Christ with us, in every season? I am glad Eastertide lasts for 50 days. I do not want it to end.
The mowers finally shaved our neighborhood. The grass was so high we were beginning to wonder if we should hire goats to chomp it down. As it is there are huge clumps of cut grass in many yards. Wonder! that just a few weeks ago these yards were brown and scraggly and not showing much hope. Now they are lush and thick and thriving, even though marked with tire tracks throughout.
Being still in prayer I realized I was looking at huge trees in the distance (I am not much for numbers, but I want to say 25-30 feet tall?) My feet are touching the earth and their roots are drinking up the moisture from the same earth, feeding and nurturing the new leaves and flower buds. Tiny me who is shrinking a little more each year and towering trees growing taller than I could ever climb. There is artistry moving through the trees and through me. I am stilled to holy silence.
What has been occurring around you? Have you noted the changes and given pause to the wonder?
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak. 17 The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing 18 as on a day of festival.” Zephaniah 3:16-18 NRSVUE
Look about you. Be renewed in his love. Listen for your God singing over you as on a day of festival! And be silent.
Gratitude places you in the energy field of plentitude. Glow with gratitude and see how awe and joy will make their home in you. Michael Bernard Beckwith
Br. David Steindl-Rast shares this compelling invitation: “Imagine a society in which mutual trust has the leverage that our present social order accords to fear. Imagine a society in which mutual caring has the leverage that our present social order accords to egotism. If we reach the critical mass of grateful people, a surprising reorientation can take place.”
Brother David has amazing insights and goals that boggle my mind. I want to live in the world he imagines. Mutual trust, mutual caring and a critical mass of grateful people! Yes! Let’s do that instead of all the other nonsense politicians and reporters spend time upon.
This was noted on the website by Monasteries of the Heart which features Joan Chittister and the work of the Benedictine Sisters in her community.
April 4: “If you must look back, do so forgivingly. If you will look forward, do so prayerfully. But the wisest course would be to be present in the present gratefully,” wrote Maya Angelou, who was born on this date in 1928. Angelou was a prolific author, poet, and journalist, as well as a Civil Rights activist.
Such wisdom from Maya. I have enjoyed reading some of her work. Such a life and what amazing telling of that life. The above is an challenging quote!
Look back forgivingly. Look forward prayerfully. Wisest course is to be present in the present GRATEFULLY.
Maybe it is because I am aging. Perhaps from walking closely with my neighbors who are dying? The gratitude in my heart seems to grow daily. Even when I am caught up in my own physical pain, I am able to be more grateful than in the past. I often recite my prayer below.
I have determined that this day, each time I am drawn up short by pain, I will praise You for I love You better than life - even better than quality of life.
I hope you can turn this time of year into a season full of forgiveness, prayer and gratitude. I believe we could all benefit from that effort!
How difficult is it for you to keep silent? How long can you go without speaking? How about your brain chatter? We all have a constant stream of self-talk, an inner voice that seems to never shut up. Even when we want to scream, (though it is ineffective to shout), “Shut the *&^*%&^%( Up!”
https://happyeasier.com/quiet-your-inner-voice-take-control-of-your-mental-chatter/ Mel Mac writes about our inner voice. She concludes her article with the following. “Remember, the goal is not to eliminate the inner voice completely but to reduce its influence and regain control over your thoughts and actions. By doing so, you can live a more peaceful, productive, and fulfilling life.” She emphasizes that a good start is with 60 seconds of meditation. Learning to stay focused is essential to gaining control over our run away mind.
That took me to the image from Harry Chapin’s song 30,000 pounds of Bananas and run away truck.
“He passed the sign he should have seen saying ‘shift to low gear or a $30 dollar fine my friend.’ ” Just listen to the first 3 minutes and you will get the message! Is my mind lost in thought about something I long for (like the truck driver) or can I pay attention to what is going on right now?
Here. Now. Before I create the odor of smashed bananas? Can you imagine the fruit flies in the aftermath?
When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but the prudent are restrained in speech. Proverbs 10:19 NRSVUE
That inner voice, with ceaseless chatter. Can I still myself and focus? Am I willing to try throughout the day, not just during my morning quiet time of prayer and meditation?
I made a typo in the last paragraph and wrote mediation. Then I corrected it. Then I thought perhaps it was not an error at all. Quieting the monkey mind is like mediation between my overactive brain and the Spirit of God. Mediation: intervention between conflicting parties to promote reconciliation, settlement, or compromise. We cannot mute that brain chatter. Literally impossible, but we can soften it, reconcile the thoughts to Christ, compromise to be more like Jesus.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Mark 12:30 NRSVUE
Jesus spoke that commandment in Mark. He was repeating the Father’s will to us recorded in Deuteronomy 6:5. Paul shows us how in his works of the New Testament.
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 NRSVUE
Are you willing to do the work for this sort of discipleship? God will help you. I am certain of that. When I let my mind run rampant is when I am likely to get into the most trouble.
Mediation between our nature and the call of Christ. Meditation, focus our minds upon God. Center our hearts in Him who loves us and died and was raised to life for us. Walk throughout the day with this mind.
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Philippians 1:1-2 NRSVUE
May you have a deeper participation in the understanding of the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf that we might share in His glory.
https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/resources/biblical-meditation/ has a terrific article well worth your time to read. Here is part of it: Meditating on the Scriptures is vital practice for maturing in the Christian life. As one anonymous writer said, “The Bible is not meant merely to inform but to transform.” Throughout history, godly leaders have commended the transforming effects of meditation. Consider this beautiful description by Thomas Brooks, a seventeenth-century church leader:
Remember that it is not hasty reading but serious meditation on holy and heavenly truths, that makes them prove sweet and profitable to the soul. It is not the mere touching of the flower by the bee that gathers honey, but her abiding for a time on the flower that draws out the sweet. It is not he that reads most but he that meditates most that will prove to be the choicest, sweetest, wisest and strongest Christian.
I used to tell some fellow Bible students that I was not impressed if they could recite all the books of the Bible, even if they could recite those books in backwards order. To me the best accomplishment was if one could LIVE a single verse. I cannot attempt to come close to living a verse if I am unaware of the heart of God towards me. I get closer by trying to understand Hesed, loving kindness, mercy, grace and compassion. All of that for each of us. Knowing I can not do anything to make God love me more. Knowing God will never choose to love me less, motivates me to want to become more like Jesus. I have gained this knowledge from reading the Word of God, sitting with those concepts over decades, trusting to believe this even about myself.
Have you tried meditation? The practice has gotten a bad name from Christians who are motivated by fear. Understand that this is sometime that God has called us to throughout the Bible. Do your own study on the concept. Practice it a few times. Then try it a few more times. Be still and listen for the voice of the Lord to your heart and soul. I think you might find this a way to stir your soul into a deeper walk.
For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1: 6-7 NRSVUE
The love and care God has extended to me has changed me as a person.
35 You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great. 36 You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip. Psalm 18:35-36 ESV
What has your meditation on the Word of God done for you? Have you learned more about the character of God? Have you allowed the Spirit of God to make changes in you? What might the future hold if you made it your practice to meditate upon the Word and upon the character of the Trinity? Are you willing to give it a try?
Read and then spend sixty seconds of quiet in the Presence of the Living God. Then two minutes. Then five. Move along to ten as you are able. It truly is a practice. Not something we accomplish and then stop.
My husband and I have been listening to Lenten meditations offered through our church from Holy Habits by Sister Monica Clare. “Written by an Episcopal nun, author and unlikely TikTok star, our 2026 meditations offer an invitation to rediscover—or deepen— HOLY HABITS of prayer, worship and engagement with Scripture. These holy habits provide a path to a life that is given shape, meaning and direction by being rooted in a deeper relationship with God.” If you want to meet her you can go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=org7Dam8yJg
Quoting Mark 7:20-23 she wrote, “And he said, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
She noted we often say, “So and so made me feel judged. But then I remember that no one can make me feel anything. My feelings are based on my own thoughts and perceptions of what enters my heart from the outside. Transforming my reactions into healthy responses is something that happens deep within.”
At first her insight sounds like a tall order. The transformation she speaks of can bring us peace and health like no other. “Transforming my reactions into healthy responses is something that happens deep within.” My reactions, taming myself to form responses instead of quickly reacting. Ooh, so often I am tempted to react. Slow down, Molly, form a response.
James 1:19 “Quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger.” I stumble over which one to do quickly and which one slowly. Get it right old woman. QUICK to hear. Slow to speak, slow to anger.
Slow to speak, Molly. Slow to anger, Molly. That is what I need more of, (just ask my husband).
Quick to listen, like my beloved wild rabbits with their acute sense of hearing. Quick to listen. I wish when my ears are triggered by another person’s voice my self would assume a posture of full attentiveness and folded hands. I bet AI could make that picture. Lovely adult cottontail with folded paws and active listening.
Until then, I pray for God to help me become the person aware of her own tendency to defile from within. A woman willing to be changed to someone who is quick to hear, slow to speak, and very slow to anger.
I can just hear the humor of my husband churning up at that title! I’m thinking atmospheric, not the other kind that you pass. The wind chimes have been playing for what seems like months on end, both in the backyard and the front yard. I love the wind chimes. A nice warm breeze refreshes me. Perhaps this noticing has to do with the images in Scripture?
In Acts 2: 1-4 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. NRSVUE
The King James version describes the phenomenon as “a mighty rushing wind.” the image of the Spirit of God as wind began in Genesis and is carried right through to the time the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit.
November of 2025 I wrote the following poem. Looking back, I realize it flowed out of me like prayer. Here is the wonder of it. At an unexpected Zoom meeting I picked up a piece of paper and began taking notes. When I turned it over yesterday I was reading this poem. I was so uncertain that I wrote it that I actually tried to looked it up online.
oh goodness me
Then I checked my document files. Sure enough, 25-11-26, it was right there. So I hope this encourages you and strengthens you in your faith as to what the Spirit can do within you if you simply yield and work with the Trinity.
Mighty rushing wind* blow over us Blow away every useless branch Carry off the finished leaves and twigs Refresh us with your presence Lower the temperature of our grasping Help us stand naked before your power No shame, just honest awareness
Mighty rushing wind You come with power and your promises Promise that we have more potential than we know Promise that we can be made anew Promise that in our weakness can be great power Tempest from God move us over Help us live more like the unity of the Trinity
Mighty rushing wind Help us yield to your shaping Rejoice in your remaking Agree heartily to the changes you bring We want to take deep inhalations from your source Being indwelt by the very breath from on high We stand still and ask that you permeate our being
Mighty rushing wind We cannot control you This day come to us and we will be changed Your power and promise overflow us Presence and transparency pervade you Shine the light of your word upon us And we shall be known for how we became like you
Mighty rushing wind, We bow the knee of our heart to you Touch us and we shall be made clean Surround us and we shall be shielded From darkness, debris of soul Detritus of overgrowth Unkempt garden of laziness
Mighty rushing wind Scour the ruin around our feet Cleanse us from all unrighteousness Set our feet firmly upon your path Put your shoes of the gospel of peace upon our feet And help us walk with your propulsion
Mighty rushing wind We welcome you Come and have your own way In and through us That praise may continuously ascend To the Holy Trinity you belong within As you declare we are in you and you are in us
*Acts 2:2.4a 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. John 3:8 NIV
Listening to another podcast by John Mark Comer he quoted an author reminding us that the second half of life is about giving our life away. Well, duh! Shouldn’t those who read the New Testament know that? No, we do not always remember that! Especially as noted in the quote below.
In a culture that pushes us to focus not on what we can give, but on what we can take, what we tend to take is everything for granted. Andrea Gibson
That is so true. So sadly true of Americans.
Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back – given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity. Luke 6:38 Message
That is what I trying to do with getting music out of the file folders into the hands of others, printing books and poetry at the lowest cost I can. Giving my life away in texts, emails, personal relationships.
How are you doing this?
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for the measure you give will be the measure you get back. Luke 6: 38 NRSVUE
I am not looking for a reward in my giving, though there is a promise stated here. I have simply found that I cannot out give my God.
Poem by me Healed Wounds 1982
I have been told so many things and dealt so many blows But now my heart begins to sing an old song, soft and low.
He’s taught me by His words and ways the first few miles of loving. I’ve many lessons yet to learn but first I must begin.
Our culture and sophisticated ways just keep us from each other. Barriers come into play where open meadows belong.
My soul is crowded about by specters of loneliness. The risk of vulnerability has become more inviting than the haunt of isolation.
It is as though I am breaking out of an ancient inner prison. I must get close to as many as will let me. The risk is not to be counted.
We’ve got to touch, we’re not so unalike. We are all made in His image, but we are not our own.
Like calls unto like deep calls unto deep, and the power of His Spirit is knitting us together.
The pleasures of His bounty are not to be hoarded – but shared. How can we assume to participate in His Spirit behind a crumbling wall of self? Jesus walks through walls.
In some ways I am scared of investing my small bits But I tremble at the thought of just burying them in Jesus’ name.
Father, You have called me to this. as I slowly crept out from that cave. You alone can put me over, to you I belong.
Show me how to be Your child, how to represent You well. I look for help to no other, teach me as You did Your Son.
You alone have made me worthy, You alone will see me through. Help me with Your love and mercy, deep compassion, grace and truth.
Now I stand before You yielded, make me into something new. You have plans, now please reveal them, train me how to touch and move.
Give me holy eyes to see with, holy ears and holy hands. Help me learn to only speak when I have heard what You command.
Others may not understand, few will ever know. I’m willing to live by Your plan. You are my final goal.
My intimacy with You will affect those in this realm. I’m burdened by this bounty I’ve collected from Your stores. Instruct me how to give it away so I can discover more.
For a week or perhaps 10 days, I got all complicated about my disciplines. We were having new flooring installed in the sitting/sewing room and in order to do that we basically dismantled the room. There was yarn and all manner of sewing things moved into the office. Writing in that space became more difficult as I could barely move my chair. Somehow that overflowed into my morning disciplines. Suffice it to say I lost my focus. It was easy to heap recriminations upon myself. But not productive!
The flooring is now installed. The contents of the room have been replaced and in their original order, sort of. I will have straightening to do for many hours in the future. When we moved the yarn holders (think cloth shoe pouches that hang from the closet pole) yarn and crochet thread went all over the place.
This morning, when I sat down in my prayer chair, I realized I’d left my tablet some place. Remembered I had used my iPad in the living room. I went to retrieve it and there was no charge left. Even the attached keyboard failed to have any power. So my approach to prayer centering was greatly disrupted. That was not all bad.
Looking for a way to firmly connect with the Spirit of God, I remembered all the times I did that without any electronic devices. Just me, the Book of Common Prayer, my Bible, perhaps a dictionary and a desire to know, and be known by my God. This was a masterful reset. I know I stepped away from my disciplines, not deliberately but a little shift here, a little shift there, a little anxiety here about Bob and the dog walking in icy weather, distraction by A B and C, and next thing I knew I was walking an unproductive path.
The meditation I listened to via my smart phone spoke about finding some breathing room. And that is what I have done this morning. I have some breathing room and a path forward to better union with the Trinity.
So hopefully, now I have regained some perspective. I once again have a renewed awareness of how easy it is to abandon the way of life that is so very good for me. I found myself stumbling about with the way of self in the world. It was not fulfilling. Just frustrating and like sawdust to my soul and spirit.
Father, thank you for showing me myself clearly. Help me above all else to hunger for and maintain my connection to you. You are the source of life. You are living water to me. Keep me and direct my ways to the glory of your name. Amen.
The Rule of Saint Benedict says, “Always, we begin again.”
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 