July 31, 2010

An offering



Each of us is called to be
both a sacrifice to God and God's priest.

Do not forfeit what God confers on you.

Put on the garment of holiness,
let the cross on your forehead
be your unfailing protection.

Let your heart be an altar,
on which you offer yourself to God.

- St. Peter Chrysologus

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July 29, 2010

A spiritual 7-year itch?

I presume that a significant percentage of the people who are kind enough to drop by this site are (or have been) married or involved in some sort of love relationship. And despite a firm conviction from the beginning that this live would both last and grow stronger, some of us have worried about (or experienced) the 7-year itch. Supposedly after 7 years, a roving eye is a common phenomenon.

I’m not sure of the time frame, but sometimes a similar disorder affects our relationship with God. Our attention becomes distracted by other things: the worries and joys, challenges and successes of day-to-day life. And then one day we realize that we’ve somehow lost touch with the One we once loved whole-heartedly.

Perhaps some of the advice for rekindling love in a marriage can also be used to restore our love for God. On this premise, I embarked on an on-line quest to see what the experts suggest for couples who discover that “the honeymoon is over”:

Make a commitment to work on improving your relationship. Any relationship – whether with another person or with God – require some effort. It’s not possible for one individual to be solely responsible for sustaining a relationship; it takes two.

Save some energy to be devoted exclusively on your loved one each day. Few of us are capable of doing two things well simultaneously.

Open the lines of communication. Share what’s on your mind, and listen as well. In Deuteronomy 30, we read, “Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.” Loving, listening, and being faithful… three important activities which help a relationship to grow and to last.

Be more generous with compliments than with criticisms. Be thankful for the good things in your relationship, and express this thanks regularly. Romans 1:21 is an interesting verse. In it, the author is referring to men who practice godlessness and wickedness. He says, “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” As we recognize and voice the good things about those we love, it seems that there are more good things to recognize.

Frequently perform small unexpected acts of kindness. Here re some words of wisdom from Mother Teresa:

Don't think that love, to be true, has to be extraordinary. What is necessary is to continue to love. How does a lamp burn, if it is not by the continuous feeding of little drops of oil? When there is no oil, there is no light and the bridegroom will say: "I do not know you". Dear friends, what are our drops of oil in our lamps? They are the small things from everyday life: the joy, the generosity, the little good things, the humility and the patience. A simple thought for someone else. Our way to be silent, to listen, to forgive, to speak and to act. [These] are the real drops of oil that make our lamps burn vividly our whole life. Don't look for Jesus far away, He is not there. He is in you, take care of your lamp and you will see Him.

As we do small acts of kindness and love, God is revealed to us and in us.


Happy Friday! Be sure to check out 7 Quick Takes!

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July 28, 2010

Puns for educated minds... A smile to start the day!


1. The fattest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.

2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian .

3. She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.

4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.

5. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.

6. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.

7. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.

8. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.

9. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall.. The police are looking into it.

10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

11. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

12. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other: 'You stay here; I'll go on a head.'

13. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.

14. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'

15. The midget fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.

16. The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.

17. A backward poet writes inverse.

18. In a democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.

19. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.

20. If you jumped off the bridge in Paris , you'd be in Seine
.
21. A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at him and says, 'I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion
allowed per passenger.'

22. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. One turns to the other and says 'Dam!'

23. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't
have your kayak and heat it too.

24. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, 'I've lost my electron.' The other says 'Are you sure?' The first replies, 'Yes, I'm positive.'

25. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.

26. There was the person who sent ten puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh.

No pun in ten did.
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July 27, 2010

A man of peace and of prayer.

I remember hearing the name "Dag Hammarskjöld", but confess I knew little about him until I ran across this lovely prayer and was prompted to learn a bit more about him.

Hammarskjöld was called “the greatest statesman of our century" by President John F. Kennedy. He served as the second Secretary General of the United Nations and gained a reputation as a peacemaker. He is the only person who has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously; he died in a plane crash in 1961 at the age of 59. If the sentiments he expressed in this prayer helped to shape his life, I can understand why he gained a reputation as a man of faith and a man of peace.


You who are over us,
You who are one of us,
You who are also within us,
May all see you in me also.
May I prepare the way for you,
May I thank you for all
that shall fall to my lot,
May I also not forget the needs of others.
Give me a pure heart-that I may see you.
A humble heart-that I may hear you,
A heart of love-that I may serve you,
A heart of faith-that I may abide in you. Amen.


- Dag Hammarskjøld
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July 24, 2010

Rock on, Sisters!

Have a great weekend, and praise the Lord with joyful hearts!

Whoopi!
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July 13, 2010

My prayer



In the days to come, Lord, help me to learn the true meaning of gratitude.


Remind me to be grateful not only for the "good things" in my life, but for the challenges and disappointments as well... for great lessons lie within them for hearts open to learn from You. And just as Your faithfulness despite suffering allowed You to return to the Father, so will mine, if I only remain faithful to You.


So Lord, I ask just one thing of you today: the ability to discern and follow You in all the places I go and all of the situations I face, today and always.



Amen
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July 11, 2010

A prayer of St. Benedict



Gracious and holy God,
give us wisdom to perceive you,
intelligence to understand you,
diligence to seek you,
patience to wait for you,
eyes to behold you,
a heart to meditate on you,
and a life to proclaim you;
through the power of the Spirit
of Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Amen.


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July 4, 2010

May our nation be blessed this July 4th



Bless our beautiful land, O Lord,
with its wonderful variety
of people, of races,
cultures and languages.

May we be a nation
of laughter and joy,
of justice and reconciliation,
of peace and unity,
of compassion, caring and sharing.

We pray this prayer for a true patriotism,
in the powerful name
of Jesus our Lord. 

Amen.

- Bishop Desmond Tutu
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July 1, 2010

The pause that refreshes...

I put up my first post on this blog on March 4, 2009. That's 474 days ago.And during that time, according to Blogger's count, I've put up 622 posts. That's quite a few, and lately I've felt like I've grown a bit stale.

Sometimes when looking back from one vantage point to a time in the past, it's difficult to pinpoint what was going on in my head "way back then". This is such a time. I would have told you that I was starting this blog to glorify God and to share my faith. But I notice that I've become a bit too preoccupied with building a readership lately. And that wasn't what this was supposed to be about.

So I'm taking the rest of the month of July off. I'll continue to moderate any responses you may send to older posts, but during this month I hope to spend some time in prayer and reflection. Time to let my stale brain get refreshed. And time to refocus my attention on glorifying God. I hope you'll pray for me.

While I go on retreat, I'll share a few past posts that meant a lot to me at the time. I'd love to hear your thoughts about them:

A way of understanding the Holy Spirit
Godly glue
It’s not MY fault!
Thinking about foot-washing...
Lessons from my garden
The case of the errant embryo
Janice and Matt
Does this make sense to you?
Like Sands Through An Hourglass…
Aw… shucks! Or Aw… sh**?
NOT to have the baby

Hopefully I'll come back refreshed, renewed, and with a clear sense of where my priorities lie.



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Sister's back!



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OH - don't forget to go here to enter a contest which will run through 6/30/10! Good luck!

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