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Archive for the ‘The Purpose of Relationship’ Category

Thanksgiving

Posted in The Purpose of Relationship on December 2, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Thank you Kathleen Parker for this quote:

“In George Washington’s proclamation of 1789, Thanksgiving was designated as a time of duty “to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor … a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

A small part of my family gathered with my husband and I for a whole week of simply enjoying being together. I prepared the meal and it was truly the absolutely worst Thanksgiving dinner ever. So much for an Organic free range turkey. Yuck. But my family loved me anyway. Their presence meant the world to me. Much better than Christmas presents. Gratitude filled our home and it remains.

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Helping, Fixing, Serving

Posted in Endurance, The Purpose of Relationship on March 23, 2013| Leave a Comment »

“Helping, fixing, and serving represent three different ways of seeing life. When you help, you see life as weak. When you fix, you see life as broken. When you serve, you see life as whole. Fixing and helping may be the work of the ego, and service the work of the soul.”

– Rachel Naomi Remen from,
A Time for Listening and Caring

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Subtle Connections

Posted in People I Meet, The Purpose of Relationship on March 14, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I have a confession to make. I am naturally a very judgmental person. Not in the usual ways one might think of but rather in any given situation, I know exactly how things ought to be. Sounds ridiculous I know but I am a natural born fixer. You’ve heard the saying “if you are a hammer, everything looks like a nail?”. Well, if one is a fixer, everything looks like it needs fixing. This is quite an exhausting way to live. One would think that having a chronic, energy sapping illness would have cured me of this “dis-ease” but no. Now I still see most things as needing fixing but know I can no longer attempt the fix. To counteract this foible of mine, I have been intentionally looking at others as beautiful creations of God, perfect just as they are. This has proved quite delightful.

Today, I went to my gym for my own improvement. I do a series of water exercises. As I came to the pool, I asked the gentleman in one lane “Can I share this lane?”. He smiled as he said “Of course!”. Immediately I heard my Grandmother’s voice in my head saying “May I not can I”! As soon as I crossed paths with the gentleman I apologized and said “I should have said may I”. It turned out he was a retired grammar teacher! What are the chances? I think this little joke on me is a reminder to see myself as also beautiful and just as I am meant to be, for purposes beyond my need to know.

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Great Quote

Posted in People I Meet, The Purpose of Relationship on December 1, 2005| Leave a Comment »

One of my favorite people in the world is my daughter. This quote is a part of her e-mail signature:

“One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.”
Abraham Maslow

Wise words. Somedays I’d much rather cocoon.

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Created for relationship

Posted in Fine Lines, The Purpose of Relationship on November 30, 2005| Leave a Comment »

“The the Lord God said, “it is not good that the man should be alone” Genesis 2:18

This quote is from the second version of the creation story found in the first two chapters of Genesis. This silliness in the US of attempting to require the teaching of Creationism in our public schools seems to me to entirely miss the point. Since there are two different stories right from the very beginning of the Bible, it seems to me that a literal interpretation of scripture distracts one from the deeper truths. The Bible is not a book of science but a window to the living Word of God.

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Why church?

Posted in Questions from the Journey, The Purpose of Relationship on November 27, 2005| Leave a Comment »

I hadn’t attended church for three weeks. Our church is about 45 minutes away. A chronic illness keeps me grounded: some days my physical well-being is dis-ordered by this and I am reminded that I can’t always choose what to do. Other days, I’m just plain too tired or perhaps it’s just an excuse to stay in bed. Regardless, today we gathered with our community of faith to begin the Advent season.

I didn’t want to go. Exhausted after the Thanksgiving celebration (in which I reveled in the presence of my two children), sleeping in sounded good to me. No could do. I was the guest preacher for the day while our pastor was away on a cruise with his wife.

I’m still exhausted but I’m glad I was there. The hour set aside to gather and sing and pray and just be in God’s presence was certainly worth the drive! Our church is far from perfect. I didn’t even like the hymns we sang (and I had picked them out!). We messed up the call to worship reading. Babies were crying and people were coughing. But it was church and it was a joy to me. Why church?

It’s the people for me. The people are beautiful in all their variety and neuroses. I feel like I belong with them because I can be myself, with all my neuroses and imperfections. Although there may not even be one person there who might understand what it means to practice a mystical christiainity, I’m welcome and appreciated. These are people with whom I can laugh and cry, remember and dream. With all the problems that come with any group of human beings trying to be organized together, with all the times there are misunderstandings and immature acting out, these are still people with whom I belong. I’m thankful for that. It’s worth the trip. It’s worth the effort. It’s worthy of my respect.

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Illness and Paradox

Posted in Grace in Unanswered Prayer, The Purpose of Relationship on November 15, 2005| Leave a Comment »

It was my first visit to yet another health care professional. If I counted up the miles, money and minutes spent trying to pull out of this strangle hold of the weird symptoms call Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) , I.d probably be depressed. But I.m not. I.m actually pretty happy most of the time.
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Your Own Song

Posted in Praying the Psalms, The Purpose of Relationship on November 13, 2005| 1 Comment »

.In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things came into being through him and without him not one thing came into being …and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father.s only son, full of grace and truth. John 1:1,3a, 14)

.Swisch-dub, swisch-dub, swisch-dub. the beautiful sound of my baby’s heartbeat resounded in the little cubicle as the Doppler instrument broadcast the miracle of love deep within my body. I longed for each of my children. Many women long for a lifetime and never get to hear this sound. It had taken eighteen months to get pregnant and I sang the song of Hannah, sure that I was infertile, begging God to give me a child. Tears were in my eyes as I listened to that beautiful sound. I can still hear it and it.s been over two decades!
Did you know that everything in our bodies makes a sound? Sonograms of various body parts create pictures of these sounds. When an organ is dis-eased, it makes sounds that are not in harmony with the rest of the organ. These sounds help physicians diagnose the presence of disease if not the cause. Actually, everything in the universe emits a sound.
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Nazis among us?

Posted in People I Meet, The Purpose of Relationship on November 12, 2005| Leave a Comment »

Disturbing times we are in. No doubt about that. Parts of the earth have been washed into our oceans on several continents in the past year. Natural disasters which Pat Robertson calls acts of God have decimated the poorest men, women and children on our planet. Riots in the suburbs of Paris, suicide bombings in the midst of weddings in Jordan, another school shooting. These horrors bring out the worst and the best in our human nature.

I had a doctor’s appointment today for an infection in my eyes. I also have a chronic health problem that I deal with daily, in part through the use of self-hypnosis and in part by listening to what my body is trying to tell me. So, as my eyes have caused me pain, I’ve been asking myself – what is it that I don’t want to see? I think I know the answer – I do not want to see the fear. Nor do I want to see the power of evil.
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Praying for one another

Posted in Fine Lines, Resources, The Purpose of Relationship on November 9, 2005| 2 Comments »

I have often been asked: “How do you pray for someone else?” and likewise, “What difference does it make?” For many years, I only prayed for others out of obedience rather than conviction. This only changed when I was the one being prayed for! Then, I knew the difference it made to me.

How to pray for another: This is called intercessory prayer and literally means we pray as if we were the other person. We stand in their place before God and pray on their behalf. The simplest form is to pray: “Lord Jesus, the other’s name” followed by silence. Then repeat for the time you have set aside to pray. As you do this, you may find images or words coming to you. Simply say (silently or out loud) “Lord bless.”
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