Tuesday, November 30, 2004

All Is Well


My dear friend Susan sent the following post to me from an Internet newsletter she receives called Inspiration Peak. It's wonderful! See whether it speaks to you, too:

    "How would you feel if you had no fear?
    Feel like that.

    How would you behave toward other people
    if you realized their powerlessness to hurt you?
    Behave like that.

    How would your react to so-called misfortune
    if you saw its inability to bother you?
    React like that.

    How would you think toward yourself
    if you knew you were really all right?
    Think like that."
-- Vernon Howard

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Holiday Peace


May your gathering this holiday--no matter where you are or who you're with--be filled with divine peace:
  • P for experiencing the continual Presence of God

  • E for the Everlasting Love God has for us

  • A for a sense of Angelic Protection and Companionship

  • C for the Care and Kindness we share with others

  • E for a sense of Eternity, which we are living in this moment and all moments.

This holiday, we have much to be thankful for, but to my way of thinking, nothing beats this: We have a God who loves us, who seeks us, who desires our companionship and walks with us through every day, circumstance, trial, and blessing. May we open our hearts to receive a full understanding of this greatest gift and remember, in gratitude, to offer it freely to each other.

Blessings on your holiday!

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

The Better Angels of Our Nature


For some reason this phrase has been floating around in my head this morning. I looked it up and found that it is from Lincoln's first inaugural address. It seems uncannily timely now:
    We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stre[t]ching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

May our "mystic chords" of unity be touched again--as surely they will be--and may we even today recognize and welcome those better angels who, as the Talmud says, bend over each blade of grass (and each of us), whispering "Grow! Grow! Grow!"

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Peace


This day, above all days, is a day of peace. In the hours that stretch before you, God will walk with you and show you where your gifts are needed--a kindness here, a forgiving word there, a touch, a hope, a dream, a vision. Walk in peace today, Dear One, knowing that God takes each step with you, smiling each time your heart responds so naturally in love to those brought across your path.


Thursday, November 11, 2004

Grace-Filled Moments


Sunday night, around 1:30 AM, I was called in to the hospital to be with a family who was experiencing a sudden, shocking tragedy. I hurried to the emergency room, full of prayer and confidence that God was already there before me, uplifting, holding, comforting. I walked into the midst of a large gathering of people experiencing every emotion you could imagine--shock, anger, panic, fear, desperate heartache, hopelessness, confusion, bewilderment. But over the next three hours, I was able to see God work, bringing calm, understanding, comfort, and community. Their pain wasn't gone and won't be gone--maybe for months, or years, maybe never. This family, I knew, was changed forever by the loss of their beloved one. But God's grace was there--with each of us individually and together as a group--and as the moments moved quietly by, I saw hurting, scattered people come together and find a sense of peace in their sharing. Even in this darkest moment, they together found support and strength enough to face the day.

I can say without any doubt--because I have seen it over and over again--that Grace is always there, even (and especially) in the moments we are most broken. Knowing that, the words "Be not afraid" become more real, alive, and possible for me. What is there to fear, when we have the certainty that God is working now and in every moment, and that nothing--not shock, anger, panic, fear, desperate heartache, hopelessness, confusion, or bewilderment, not even death itself--can separate us from God's Love?

Monday, November 01, 2004

Hope


I have never in my life been so hopeful on the eve of a national election. And it doesn't have anything to do with who the eventual winner might be--it has everything to do with how awake, aware, and passionate our people are right now. No matter what our views on the issues or the leaders, we care. We are speaking. We are stepping out. We are thinking things through and weighing things out. We are leaning toward our television sets, watching debates in record numbers, registering to vote like never before.

In this election, kids with cell phones barely past voting age have a voice. They are welcomed and wanted--whether they have green hair and pierced eyebrows or button-down collars and Ivy League educations. This election, there is a unifying force--we care. If we were as cynical, disgusted, fed up, and hopeless as we sometimes say we are when it comes to our flawed political system, why would we lift our voices, pass along emails, drive to see candidates, watch the latest news reports, or take the time to vote?

Tonight, on this election eve, I want to jump up and down and say, "Our hope is alive, America!"--and it's right here where God put it, closer than our own heartbeats, in the vision we share of a better world.