~ Prayer for Tenderness ~

“Dear friends, since God so loved us,
we also ought to love one another.”
—1 John 4:11

Father, in each moment is perfect peace. When we look within, we find no war. When we look within, we find no violence. When we breathe in your Spirit and picture a world in which your people are safe and loved, delivered from the fears and struggle we each carry, we are filled with tenderness for each other and for you. Make our hearts tender to the needs of those around us—those in reach of our touch and in reach of our prayers. Blanket your hurting world, Father, this frightened, hurting world that knows not its own goodness—and whisper to each of us the realities of your love.

Finding compassion and forgiveness for those who love us is a fairly simple task—it’s something we do every day in families all over the world. But finding tenderness in our hearts for those who have wronged us, who dislike us, or who are at war with us—that’s a different matter. That type of tenderness comes only from God. Today, we can ask him to fill our hearts with love for those who need it most, not only for those who are able to give it back to us. As A Course in Miracles says, “There is only love and the cry for it.” Today we can feel compassion for those who hurt us, knowing they are driven by their own pain.

~ Prayer for Patience ~

“Let us not become weary in doing good,
for at the proper time we will reap a harvest
if we do not give up.”
—Galatians 6:9

Our most gracious and attentive Lord, help us to remember that you move in your time, knowing as only you know the perfect time and the perfect way to answer our prayers. The flower begins at seed—a seed we neither see nor understand. And gradually the seed sprouts, still deep within the damp earth, hidden from our vision. We may be tempted to believe it is not growing, and yet if we dig it up to calm our doubts, we will damage it and stunt its full blossom. Help us to be ever mindful, dear Father, that you have planted the seeds of peace for your children. Help us to continue to walk with you and know you more, growing ever stronger in our faith that what you have promised you will do, even when we do not yet have the physical evidence we seek.

How hard it is to wait after we’re prayed a particularly earnest prayer! How long is a minute to God? Sometime today, we can choose to sit quietly for 10 minutes and simply wait on the Lord. We can sit in stillness, available to God, not thinking, praying, or reading. Just waiting on the Lord can be a wonderful, restful, and rejuvenating experience. We may even find that getting what we prayed for becomes less important than spending this quiet time with God.

~ Prayer for Families ~

“All your sons will be taught by the Lord,
and great will be your children’s peace.”
—Isaiah 54:13

How many babies are sleeping in the world right now, O Lord? How many children rest fitfully, awaking to sirens in the streets or the sound of gunfire beneath their windows? How many mothers look sadly at their sons, young and strong and passionate, and feel dread of the future in their hearts? Restore your world, my Lord. Restore your people. We know you are the champion of the widow, a friend to the fatherless. Your children have been in this wilderness so long, Father. Give us the vision and the resolve to look for the day when children sleep peacefully and young men and women plan for productive futures. We celebrate knowing that you are rebuilding and restoring your land, even now when things look so dark to the human eye. We rest on your promise of peace, dear Father, and ask that you help us to do what we can to hasten the day of peace. And if it is our job to wait prayerfully on your timing, we ask you to give us the grace and courage we need to do what you want us to do.

Sometimes it is easy for us to confuse love and worry. As parents, we are never far in thought—or in our hearts—from our children. We carry our concerns with us, worrying about their health, their education, their safety, and their happiness. But a life in faith reminds us that God has no grandchildren; our children are not “ours” but God’s children, along with us. We are all perfectly loved by Love Himself.

We can trust that God has us all—mother, father, children, grandchildren, and all the children of the world—in his hand. He cares for each of us tenderly and completely—not one hair on any of our heads is harmed without him knowing. Life in faith allows us to release our worry for our children and replace it with trust in an all-loving Lord. Today we can try to remember that none of us—adult or children—is ever beyond God’s reach. There will not be a single moment today when we are outside the love of God.

~ Prayer for Healing ~

“Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”
—Psalm 42:11

Precious Lord, we know that help is on the way. We know that you are even now answering our cry to you, “Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts.” Look for those places within us that need your healing touch, dear Lord, and give us the courage and resolve to let you work within us for our own healing. Only then can we be used as instruments in the healing of those around us—in our homes, our schools, our places of worship, our businesses, our cities, our nations, and our world. We ask, believing you hear and answer all prayer. Thank you, Father. Amen.

Do we notice the healing God does daily in our lives? We often miss the most obvious and simple things—thanking God for colds that go away, for fevers that break, for cuts that heal. We overlook opportunities to thank God when tempers are calmed, when families reunite, when governments talk peace. Sometimes our fears get in the way and keep us from believing in and receiving the gift of healing. Science may bring us tools to help facilitate healing, but life itself—and the healing of that life—comes from God. Today, we can fully accept our own healing and give the thanks to him.

~ Prayer of Praise ~

“Clap your hands, all you nations;
shout to God with cries of joy.
How awesome is the Lord Most High,
the great King over all the earth!”
—Psalm 47:1-4

Oh our most wonderful, omnipotent Lord, how often we forget that we are all in your hand! How thankful we are to be here! How grateful we are that you love us and see us not as bad sheep gone astray but as your beloved children who are returning home to you. We feel the great love working to bring us all together again with you in safety and peace. Thank you, O God, for keeping our hearts in your care. Thank You, O God, for keeping your hand on all world leaders. Thank You, O God, for being with us, in all life, in all love, in all peace and joy, goodness and growth.

Praise is the most amazing thing--it doesn’t just shine a light in the darkness, it turns the darkness into light! No matter what the outer world looks like, we always have something to praise--God’s love, God’s presence, the very fact that we live! If we have eyes to see it, we can know there is love all around us, given to us moment by moment, day by day. The psalmist says we should praise the Lord “seven times a day.” How many times do we stop to really say thank you during the day? We can pay attention to our hearts today and find out whether they are singing a grateful or a gloomy song.

~ Prayer for Guidance ~

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.”
—Psalm 32:8

Sometimes, Lord, it’s so hard to see. We squint and struggle to make sense of what you’re showing us. Help us know when you are guiding us, Lord, and when we are clutching at the wrong answers. Help us know, as this peace process unfolds, how to best follow your voice, how to love each other with your perfect love, and how to continue to turn to you and, when it’s your will, to wait until the time you choose to answer our prayers. Thank you for teaching us how to live in your care and respond to your voice.

Just for today, let’s not be too quick with our human judgments. When we’re deciding whether to go to the store or stay home, we can ask God what he wants us to do. When we’re trying to decide which clothes to wear in the morning, we can ask God what he thinks, and then listen. The more we turn to the Lord for the small issues in life, the more clearly we will hear him in the midst of big issues.

Prayers for Peace

Last summer I wrote a short book of prayers for the healing of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and this morning I felt led to revisit those prayers and found they were helpful for our current painful situation of almost desperate uncertainty. I am trying to keep my mind stayed on God, focusing on the Power and not the problem. God can heal even this situation--He can calm hearts and open opportunities and settle spirits. For the next 10 days, I'm going to publish in this space one prayer and meditation from the booklet. I hope you enjoy the prayers and find they bring you a little peace in your day. Please pass them along to anyone you feel might be blessed by them, or click the link in the left panel of the Practical ~f a i t h~ site to view the entire booklet in PDF format. Remember...God hears us, God loves us, God is with us all. Love, Katherine

~ Prayer for Peace ~

“I will listen to what God the Lord will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints—but let them not return to folly.”
—Psalm 85:8

What is peace, my Lord, but your presence in our midst? What is peace, my God, but our thoughts stopping for a moment, resting on your love, breathing in your comfort? When is peace but now? Help us, we pray, to reach out our weary arms to receive the peace you long to give us. Come, Father, and abide with us, bringing your still and perfect peace to our loud and threatening world.


We can reflect today on where we need to make peace in our lives. Do we hold a grudge against a friend, family member, coworker, or neighbor? Is there an unforgiven hurt within us? Are we at war with our circumstances? Let’s agree to let God heal our conflicts and bring us peace—in our hearts and in every heart throughout the world—through His grace.

For a Growing Faith

I ran across Tennyson's In Memoriam a little while ago...and these verses from the first poem touched my heart:

Our little systems have their day;
They have their day and cease to be:
They are but broken lights of thee,
And thou, O Lord, art more than they.

We have but faith: we cannot know;
For knowledge is of things we see;
And yet we trust it comes from thee,
A beam in darkness: let it grow.

If you feel so led, you can find the entire poem online at http://tennysonpoetry.home.att.net/0.htm. I hope you're having a wonderful Sunday! :) k

Reflections

This morning, after rain and rain and more rain, the sun rose into a perfect blue and pink sky. About half-way through our drive to school, the sun made it over the horizon, huge and orange. As we continued driving east, the sun rose to meet us, filling in all the spaces in frosted the Indiana cornfields and spreading to buildings, through trees, over hills. I noticed, driving on the country road that leads to my son's high school (the same road where his brother and I had a series accident two months ago), that the people in the westbound lane had illumined faces. One by one, as each passed me, driving away from the sun, I saw their entire faces--brightly lit and framed by the morning light. For a moment, I wondered how that could be possible. And then I knew: reflections. The sun was reflecting off my car, reflecting off their rear view mirrors, reflecting off any surface it found available. The sun, like God, radiates everywhere and touches everything. Others are "lit up" by our presence, our passing, our smiles, our thoughts. Even in a dark car headed the wrong direction, light finds a way to do what it does. Even a life seemingly hurt and battered and bruised and lost is never outside God's reach. Don't give up on anyone, ever. God might be using you to light their faces.

Many blessings to you this weekend! :) k

Storms: Before and After

This morning at 5:00am I awoke to the sound of a strong spring storm. The room flashed full of light and then the thunder rolled in...the wind pushed at the windows and the downpour roared against the roof. It was wonderful, cleansing, powerful, releasing. Before storms arrive--the external weather-related kind or the internal, emotional kind--there's always a build-up in the atmosphere: things unsaid, emotions unclaimed, energy cells stagnating. The force of the storm pushes away the stalled or stuffed energy, moving through as a living force and releasing what's real, what's new, what needed to come out. Now we can have spring. Thank God. :) k

War Fries

This morning an almost unbelievable story came to my attention. The U.S. House of Representatives have renamed "french toast" and "french fries" in the House cafeteria because they are mad at France. Here's the link: CNN Fries Article

Can any reasonable adult think this will take us toward peace? Is it possible that humans--so eager to be caught up in the passion of collective, self-proclaimed righteousness--can completely miss the fact that they are acting like third graders and fanning the fires of hatred? Do they not realize that they are modeling behaviors that show an entire country how to act? This completely baffles me. How I wish peace were our nation's priority! No, I wish God was truly first in every heart and mind on Capital Hill. Then the passionate rhetoric would stop and peoples inflamed egos would dissipate and we'd begin talking rationally about what we can do to heal the world. That's my prayer today. Peace to you all. -k

The Lights Go On

It's been an amazingly snow-heavy winter here in Indiana. As soon as one layer of snow begins to melt, another falls. Last Saturday night my son Cameron and I sat in the dark for 4 1/2 hours (with candles and a battery operated radio) because a heavy snowstorm knocked out our power. We talked, we read by candlelight; I crocheted a blanket I started three years ago. What do we do without busy-ness? Without noise and electronics and Playstation 2? We talked, we thought, we listened, we waited. And then the lights went on, as mysteriously and as suddenly as they went out. Beyond our control, simply requiring our acceptance. That's the way I'm learning from God these days--accepting what is, being grateful for it, and learning to meet Him in the quiet moments underneath the rush and clatter of our modern life. :) k

New Forum

I love blogging (and especially this blog), but this particular forum is limited in that it can offer only the stories and thoughts that occur to me throughout the day. I'd like to hear what you're thinking and experiencing, too. Douglas Tindal, Producer at FaithandValues.com (www.faithandvalues.com), has asked me to host a community forum on their site to help us all explore "the sacred in the ordinary" in our lives. I'm excited! I hope you'll come visit me at that forum (go to http://forum.faithandvalues.com and click Practical Faith) and write in and say hello!

Have a good weekend! :) k

The Gift

A friend sent this story to me just a few minutes ago and I wanted to share it with you:

In a remote village in Central America, the word got out that one of the missionaries who had served their country for many years was about to return home for her remaining years. The nationals desired to honor her for her long service with a public time of appreciation. News of the event spread to all parts of the country where the missionary was well-known. One very old and poor man walked to the ceremony over mountainous terrain for four days to bring his gift to her. The gift consisted of two coconuts, but it was all he had. The missionary recognized the man as he was approaching. "Brother," she said, "I cannot believe that you would walk so far to present me with this gift." He responded: "The long walk is part of the gift."

In our modern, goal-driven world, we want to see the fruits of our efforts, the effect of our labor. We can easily think that the results of our actions--the successful stewardship campaign we led, the wagon we built, the science project we assisted in, the prayers we offered--are the important part. But each moment, each breath, each smile, each step is part of the gift; the gift we offer God, the gift we offer each other, the gift we offer ourselves. Let's live today joyfully! It's a gift we're always sharing. :) k

audblog audio post

There Is Peace

This moment, all around me, there is peace. Just outside my window I see sparrows on the branches of the leafless burning bush, chattering to each other and soaking in the sun. The tops of the snow mounds along the walks and driveways in my neighborhood glitter like they've been sprinkled with diamond dust. My sons are at school, well-fed and secure. My relationships are harmonious. Life is good. Peace is here, in this moment, all around me in this world I see, this world I've been given, this world that blesses me. Is it peaceful where you are, right now? In your life, in your mind, in your heart? Let's thank God for it with all we've got. There is peace in this world. And what we pay attention to grows--in the Name of God. So let's agree to love the peace God has placed in our homes and souls so much that it magnifies and instantly extends to embrace the world. Can peace be more than that?

Blessings on your day! :) k

A Wonderful Gift

A friend sent this poem to me just a few minutes ago...it's wonderful. I love Rumi (thanks, Chris!). I wanted to share it with you, too. Here it is: :) k

Zero Circle

Be helpless, dumbfounded,
Unable to say yes or no.
Then a stretcher will come from grace
to gather us up.

We are too dull-eyed to see that beauty.
If we say we can, we’re lying.
If we say No, we don’t see it,
That No will behead us
And shut tight our window onto spirit.

So let us rather not be sure of anything,
Beside ourselves, and only that, so
Miraculous beings come running to help.
Crazed, lying in a zero circle, mute,
We shall be saying finally,
With tremendous eloquence, Lead us.
When we have totally surrendered to that beauty,
We shall be a mighty kindness.

--Rumi

Increasing Still-ability

This afternoon, right after lunch, I was standing at the kitchen window watching my now-big-100-pound Newfoundland puppy Georgie bound joyfully through the snow in the backyard. I was munching shortbread cookies. As I finished one cookie and started another, I heard myself wonder, "Why am I eating these? I'm not hungry...and they don't even taste good." The answer was, "I'm having trouble being still," and I knew that it was true.

The last few weeks have been an incredibly busy work time for me. I rush through my morning routine--which typically involves 20 to 30 minutes of meditation, reading, and writing in my journal--do a quick version of yoga (which really negates the whole point of yoga), and talk to God on the run, in the car, in-between paragraphs as I write. I don't feel distant from God, but I sure haven't given him the focused attention I usually do. As I stood there crunching cookies, though, I suddenly understood the frenetic cycle I was in...running from one thing to another, tapping my foot and thinking of the next thing, jittering, planning, moving...

The problem with incessant activity is that there's no listening time, no clearing in a mind that rests, no receptivity to new, healed, or blessed perceptions. There's simply a fast management of life as I perceive it, navigating through deadlines, getting the kids fed, trying to plot the fastest way to school with the least traffic. I suspect that making stillness a priority once again--perhaps especially in the midst of such time pressure--will give me focus and rest and a knowing that I miss when I'm running through my days.

So thanks for the cookie, God, and for the realization that went along with it. I'm going to find a clear spot in my afternoon and just hang out with you for a while.

Blessings on your day! :) k

Answered Prayers

A word of encouragement for all of us who pray for peace, for love, for healing in these days, taken from today's entry in God Calling (Jove Books, NY):

Remember, trembling heart, that with God, to hear is to answer. Your prayers, and they have been many, are answered.

May we all feel God with us today and claim the divine reassurance that our prayers are always heard and answered.

TGIF! Have a great weekend. :) k

The Little Things of God

* a smile * a touch * letting a grumpy person go before you in traffic * reassurance * waking up on a cold morning under a pile of warm blankets * being truthful because you believe it's right * being truthful because you know it's healing (for you both) * being truthful because you know God is in the words you speak and carries the spirit of healing between the two of you * letting small annoyances pass * not getting insulted when your kids take you for granted * taking time to listen when you don't think you have it * getting a sudden glimpse of the preciousness of life * being thankful for everything * seeing your friends perfect just the way they are * remembering that everything God created, He named "good" (including you and me) * glimpsing beauty in falling snow, majesty in forceful winds, peace in raindrops, and love--and the need for it--in the faces of all those you see today.

Many blessings on your day! With love, :) k