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 is from a meditation sent by Practicing the Way during Holy Week.
“It’s still shocking: Jesus passed through death and, as you read these words, inhabits a body that ate Galilean fish and bears puncture marks from the cross, and yet is utterly different — a “walking, talking piece of new creation,” in the words of BibleProject’s Tim Mackie.
Have you contemplated this idea? Jesus, right now and right there with you, too! Our wonderful Jesus, passed from death into life and per the promise of the Father into us to live and dwell and direct our steps.
Oh such glory to God!
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
18 “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me, and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” John 14:16-21 NRSVUE
The same, “yet utterly different.”
It is said He walked on earth fifty days before the ascension. As He lives and moves within us I propose that He is still walking the earth. Ponder that. Pray with that idea. Thank the Almighty for this amazing work.
Oh. Brings me to stillness and quiet within. Let all the earth keep silence before Him. Let all the earth declare His mighty works of glory.
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. Romans 8:11 NRSVUE
Surrender to the Holy Spirit. Let Christ live and move through you. Wait before the Lord in every endeavor. Trust God to work through you as you walk in obedience to the Almighty. Be amazed at the Indwelling Christ. And give thanks.
Have you tried this wisdom for yourself? Take your troubles. Set them down. Surround them with silence. Let things unfold without your words. If need be, muzzle that situation or yourself. Are you willing to put a shroud of silence over the situation? You remember in the movies how the house that was to be left for a time had all the furniture covered with sheets? Cover your troubles with silence and leave them in the hands of God. “Overcome by silence.”
What of our current world and silence? I do not mean we should not speak out against injustice. I mean do we approach God with endless words and ideas and solutions? Are we willing to let God be in charge and have us be the servants, wielding no power or influence. A willing servant of the mercy of God?
There are times I know I just talk too much.
The desert fathers and mothers warn us about too much talk and not enough action. Is that us?
A word from an anonymous Mother of Father of the desert: An Abba said, “There is no need for a lot of words. Human beings have plenty to say for themselves in these days, but it is deeds which are needed. This is what God wants, not mere words which bear no fruits.” (2-4th centuries A.D. sound like 2026)
Holding our tongue, stopping our words, is one major form of humbling ourselves.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:10NIV
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time.1 Peter 5:6 NRSVUE
But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him! Habakkuk 2:20 NRSVUE
As I walk through the final few days of this Lenten season I am more aware than ever of my need to humble myself before the Lord. My need to keep silence. My heart longs to go to the Convent or some place where I would not need to speak for more than a few minutes.
One of my favorite artists, Brandon Lake, wrote in his song Gratitude,
“All my words fall short I got nothing new How could I express All my gratitude?
I could sing these songs As I often do But every song must end And You never do.”
Even that is using words. The wise old man who went to church everyday and just sat looking at the Christ was right. “I looks at Him and He looks at me.” That is what I need right now, and always.
This appeared in Forward Day by Day devotional. We sent it to our friends in New Mexico. They took us to this church to see the wonder of the staircase. None of us took photos that day as the postcards were spectacular. The photos here are from online.
Luke 2:48b.Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.
There is a legend that Saint Joseph built a staircase here in New Mexico. In Santa Fe, the Sisters of Loretto built their chapel with the blessing of Archbishop Lamy. When it was nearing completion, they realized there was no way to access the choir loft. According to the story, the sisters prayed to Saint Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters, and a stranger appeared. Working only with simple hand tools, this man built a spiral staircase with incredible technical precision and beauty. Carpenters to this day regard the staircase with awe. The man reportedly vanished when the stairway was finished, never accepting his pay.
Did Saint Joseph build the staircase? Many have debated, but as in the case of Joseph’s appearance in the gospels, the details are few. The question of faith also plays a role in the telling of the story. Rather than saying “Saint Joseph built it,” the story relies on the connection between the prayer and the mystery carpenter who arrived. It isn’t certainty but rather faith that has us reach out to God in our need and see God’s action in response.
MOVING FORWARD: Where could you use less certainty and more faith?
“a carpenter appeared with only a hammer and carpenter’s square. He built what is now known as the Miraculous Staircase with simple tools, wooden pegs and a rare wood that is not native to the American Southwest.” https://www.lorettochapel.com/our-story
Isn’t it just lovely?!? I always remember that Jesus was a carpenter, too!
I frequently think of a quote about the grip of God upon me. Then I do not remember where I read it, saw it, foudn it ….grr. Well, I came across it again last week. I suppose I need to make a poster or 8 x 10 of it and just put it on my wall!
Amy Carmichael wrote in The Edges of His Ways, March 15,
She says Rotherham translates Ephesians 1:19 According to the energy of the grasp of His might. She goes on to write, “It is not my grip of Christ, but Christ’s grip of me: said an old Scotswoman long ago. This is a great word for anyone who feels futile, but it is also a great word for us all. And I think of Paul so conscious of the greatness of his power (power whose lightest touch could have snapped his chains) that he could describe that power in heaped-up words of wonder. Yet he was so utterly content in his prison – so unoffended – that his Lord could use him to write deathless letters like this. What a God and what a servant! And He, Who made him what he was, is our God, even ours.”
I wish I had known the old Scotswoman, don’t you? Thank goodness her understanding of our Lord is recorded.
I want to be as content as Paul, whatever my condition in life.
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:11-13 NIV
Content – not prone to gripe. Gripe is complain with grumbling. Yuck. Is that me?
We have a neighbor couple who are both desperately ill and there is no cure for either of them. Walking with them reminds me of when Bob almost died in 2018. And it also reminds me that even though I have chronic pain and things that plague my health, I am okay. I am not dying. As Rick Hanson, phd teaches, “I am okay right now. ” Never have Bob and I both been deathly ill at the same time. Our neighbor man is hospitalized and so worried about his wife who is losing strength and is only visiting every other day now. He does not like being away from her but he is still too sick to go home.
Could you be content in a similar situation? Could having interaction with these two remind you not to gripe? We too often feel entitled to gripe and complain. Yet we live in the richest nation on earth. Though the politics in our country has gone outside the bounds of decency we have previously encountered, we have many of our freedoms in tact. Can we practice contentment for one day? One full week? Perhaps a month? Could we follow Paul and learn so much about our God that there would be no room in our life and in our mouth for complaining and grumbling?
Perhaps you might want it give it a try? Lent continues until April 5. Maybe these would help you draw closer to God. Each time you hear yourself out loud or in your mind complaining and grumbling, draw close to God and be still. It could work wonders for your soul. We mostly resist any message about ourselves having sin and needing to be cleansed. However, that is true about each and every one of us. None of us has a pure and blameless heart.
Abba Arsenius said, “If we seek God, he will appear to us. If we grasp him, he will stay with us.”
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. James 4: 7-10 NRSVUE
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.
Many have asked how my hand is after the steroid injection. It is somewhat better though still gets tender if I do too much. When I heard my friend had the pancreatic cancer diagnosis I knew I wanted to make her a chemo hat. Before the diagnosis was certain she showed me one she had started knitting for herself. She said she had made many for other friends and family with cancer and realized she would likely need one too. She was having trouble as her brain kept getting foggy and she would have to put it down because she could no longer follow the pattern. I am not a good knitter so I knew I could NOT take over for her. I prayed for wisdom and tried to pace myself doing the work. I got one done and was able to gift it to her before her husband went to the hospital.
So yes, I am somewhat better. Hand pain did wake me up one night. It is unlikely I will ever be able to crochet like I used to. At the time of the injection I had 2 crochet projects going and then realized they were both for my #2 Grandgirl. I soon got the smaller one finished. The other is a small blanket and I am taking it slow as I try not to aggravate the thumb situation.
I have learned that knitting does not cause as much pain as crocheting. I finished a knit scarf for Bob and decided to begin another one so I do not lose what skills I have built so far. Hopefully this one will not have as many holes and errors in it as the first ones.
I can do both knit and purl now!!
The brace hurts and I am not wearing it much. But I do wear it when I think I might forget and overdo things.
So thanks for your interest and concern on my behalf. I do appreciate it!
More than likely I have shared this song before. It has not grown to mean less to me! There are heavy prayer requests in our neighborhood and among our friends.
One family has a member with heart disease along with leukemia. He was hospitalized with what ER doc called an irritated heart. That is a new term to me. Perhaps doc made it up to not worry the wife who was diagnosed last week with pancreatic cancer. She is a ghastly shade of yellow/green sort of like Fiona from Shrek. She will have another scan this week and a port put in to facilitate chemo. She has been given 2 years to live. That is in just one family.
Another family has a dad with aggressive Parkinsons’s disease. He has been in nursing facility, brought home due to bedsore and poor care. Has been on in-home hospice care. He will go to facility for hospice care on Friday so his wife can get some rest.
My 92 year old friend got home from rehab facility over the past weekend. She is tired and rather frail, but holding her own , so far. Next week she turns 93. So far, refusing most help when we offer it. She has learned how to put on her back brace. She must wear it when she is up and about due to the 3 broken ribs and 3 broken vertebrae. She is using her cane inside the house and has a grabber in four out of five rooms. Therapist wants her to use the walker, but there is not enough clear space in the house for that. Hopefully when therapist comes to her home they will insist and assist in clearing away some of the stuff so she can use that walker in the house. She is not to bend forward or twist her torso.
There is another awaiting appointment with back surgeon for likely surgery appointment. One healing from skin graft after removal of cancer from her scalp. One with rare autoimmune disease whose husband has Parkinson’s. One with so many untreatable diseases and multiple back surgeries she is basically bed fast. Another in her late 80s recovering from colon cancer. One in her 90s recovering from colon cancer. Aging, disease and death just keep marching on. That is not even concerning the many wars around the world.
Twice I have found myself awake in the night and then my brain slips into overdrive ruminating with concern over these and several other situations. How do you stop that? Here are a few of my ideas.
I breathe in deeply to count of 4. Then exhale slowly to count of 8. This helps. This practice is easier if I have been practicing meditative prayer daily. Regardless, it can work. Lifting these concerns in prayer does not always bring me relief and get me back to sleep. Focus upon breathing can.
I imagine each person in the arms of Father God, those everlasting arms of care and love. Remembering that there is nothing I can do to change their situation, I let them go to the care of the Trinity. They are so much more concerned than I am, and so much more powerful to make a change in the circumstances.
The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms Deuteronomy 33:7a and b
This morning this song came on and I was reminded that this is the answer every time. Rest. Trust. Know none of us are alone. “I am sure the One who made me is catching every word.”
We can try to encourage the ones we know who are suffering. We can make a meal, deliver a flower, pay a visit. We can pray and send a card. We can lift them and let them know we are lifting them. We must also take care of ourselves. Just as the airline says, “In case of an emergency to put your mask on first,” we need to do our best to take care of ourselves if we hope to be an aide to others in their need. Pray, hope and most of all love one another. Share one another’s burdens. Trust God to do what is best in each situation.
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33 NRSVUE
Give thanks for each life though there is suffering. We are each blessed to be alive though we may be disappointed with our state in life.
Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 NRSVUE
I have been using a devotional entitled “Lent with the Desert Fathers” by Thomas McKenzie. He has created a page for each day of Lent quoting the wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Mothers. Here is one quote.
A word from Poemen, a Father of the desert. Abba Poemen said, “Whatever troubles you can be overcome by silence.”
He goes on to write about Elijah meeting with God at the mouth of the cave in 1 Kings 19:12. God was in the still small voice. I made notes in my book about his writing. The most important takeaway though was the quote by Abba Poemen.
I have been troubled by many situations among friends and neighbors. I found that taking each situation and doing as Abba Poemen said, placing it before God and leaving it there in silence, made me able to serve God better.
“Whatever troubles you can be overcome by silence.” We know that fretting helps nothing (Psalm 37 states that clearly three times.) We cannot extend our lives or add a single hair to our own heads. We can however lift all situations to our God and leave them there, in capable miracle filled hands, for God to deal with. We were not created to cope with all the burdens of our lives.
Can you think of one situation right now and imagine it covered with silence. Not meaning you do not care or are not concerned, but knowing you are incapable of changing anything by fretting over it. Leave it there, overcome by silence in both your heart and mind. The Almighty is able to handle all of our cares.
“All shall be well, all shall be well, all manner of things shall be well,” said Julian of Norwich. I believe her. Rest and draw upon that strength.
I wanted to go out on the back deck to marvel at the sun and look to see if the Thumbelina daffodils had started to bloom yet. The dog was in front of the door. She could not decide if she wanted to go out or not. I slid open the door and growled at her “Go in or go out! I do not care!” After she moved I stepped outside. Before looking at the daffodil leaves I looked up and to my left sensing something looking at me. I saw this wonderful hawk in the nearby tree. It was not startled by my growling.
I texted Bob “Hawk on back deck.” knowing he would grab his camera and come see. His photos were much better than mine. Here was our visitor! He likely saw our feeder as a bait station. Like Sonic says, “You gotta eat!”
r m dutinaMy favorite by r m dutinar m dutina
“Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars and spreads its wings toward the south? 27 Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes its nest on high? Job 39:26-27 NRSVUE
We often hear the hawks calling from high in the sky. Sometimes we can see them, sometimes not. We are always blessed when they come to close to us! God is in control of them, certainly not us!
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 