We had a great reflection in this morning’s prayer/meditation time on how we ready ourselves for God by making choices that go along with God’s will for loving one another.  We had a brief reading from Hebrews about how Moses chose to turn back on his upbringing in the Egyptian palace as the princess’ adopted son to live with his people.  Not many of us would make a choice of poverty over royalty, but this did make him so ready to be the leader of the Israelites.  The author of the meditation, and I would concur that God gives us choices, and when we choose to follow the will of God’s love for others, self & God, we are making Ready for the “kingdom of God.”

How do you make choices that reflect the love of God in the big and small things?  How are you ready for the love of God?

This week’s sermon (sorry not online, and sorrier still that some of our beloved were out sick) was on repentance and how God is constantly inviting us to return to wholeness and love (repent) from our wayward ways.  As a great metaphor we had a table that had been stored for years in the dungeon of the church, covered with red contact paper and years of dust and debris.  This week it was beautiful thanks to some time and effort, all good things take effort.  Just as the table, this congregation is renewing itself, pealing away and searching for the beautiful essential grain to show forth.  And a wonderful part of this process, which is central to Lent’s exploration, is that each change is being shared, discussed and discerned.  Just as facing “Diabalos” was not easy for Jesus and was work that left him tired, so is the work happening here.  Just as the wilderness left Jesus set in motion for ministry of healing, hope and redemption, so we are getting set for all that at GLUMC.

It is an exciting time for all of us, as we ask ourselves the question, “How is God, through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit calling you to ministry?”

It is places of the uncertain that I personally feel most in the wilderness, the desert of my soul.  When I see places of hurt or pain that I can’t change, I can’t understand and darn it, I wish I could fix.  I once heard someone say, “how would you react if you truly understood a person’s motive, what would change?”

It seems that one of the wonders of God is recognizing that we are all going to fall short of fully comprehending everything, that to let go of absolute reason, unending knowing, and full depth of understanding, is to fall into the graceful pillow of “KNOWING” there is something greater than ourselves.  The greatest knowing is to acknowledge that we can never really know… it gives us freedom to just roll with life at times when the going gets tough, when to understand cruelty and craziness is not for us to know.  It allows God to be in a supreme place and for us to have a place to rest our brains and emotions.

Where do you need to let go, and let God?

Listening to her grandchildren witnessing to her faith and guidance in their lives was beautiful.  In the planning of the service the time with her children was a great joy as we shared stories of how Pat witnessed God’s love in their lives.  As for ritual, our service of Celebration and Remembrance is full of great ritual; prayer and songs that reflect the faith of the beloved, the witness of church family members who so love Pat’s children and grandchildren, but the greatest ritual of all was the feast.  You see the fullness of service was present, just as the fullness of God’s gift of eternal life, from mourning to feasting.

Just as Jesus feasted before the crucifixion and resurrection, so we feasted in celebration of Pat’s eternal life.  The food of her life, the Italian luncheon lovingly prepared by the family, symbolized her life and love for others and God.

There is no such holier time than bringing together of loved ones to celebrate the eternal life of a beloved.  In the day were tears of sadness, laughter, hugs, remembrances, and forgiveness as all came together.  A great ritual of the complete presence of God.

What rituals take you to a holy time, a holy place that embodies the wholeness of our loving God?

But it didn’t take me long to find demons in the middle of my life, my mother suffered with bi-polar, ending her life herself, peacefully.  The words of Luke speaking of Jesus’ days in the wilderness facing the Devil, diabolos, translates to accuser or tempter, certainly fit the anguish of manic/depressive or bi-polar.  My mother dealt with “the devil” on a daily basis, she longed for healing.  When she was manic there was no temptation she could deny, when she was depressed her heart and soul were weighed down with the guilt of self-accusation that was crushing, Diabolos in extreme.

So when I think of Jesus being so adamant in his need to heal the sick and cast out demons, I can see that this is a strong need for humanity of every generation, every time, every place.  For people in different cultures and different times have names for the physical and mental health issues that seem to plague us, but they are horrendous, and call for healing.  For friends facing cancer, for friends dealing with mental illness, there is great comfort in know that Jesus saw healing as a big part of his prophetic witness, his “speaking for God”.  In the midst of our struggles, God is there.

How do you share the “prophetic” word of God?  How can you follow in Jesus’ way in Lent as a prophet in our world in action or word?

At this lovely castle of the church there are a few “diamonds in the rough” among the tables and things hidden in the attics.  But I often think that my early love for the thrill of the hunt for treasures is a big part of my ministry as a pastor.  I myself was not from a family of longstanding churchgoers, someone found me rough as can be and brought me to church, and I’ve been here ever since.  The hunt for souls searching for a home and welcoming them in is a great challenge.  But the fun part is that ALL are diamonds in the rough, there are no perfect stones out there, but finding the sparkle in all is the greatest treasure hunt of all.

Finding out about people’s stories, their passions for life and ministry, what drives them to seek a higher way is a great treasure hunt!  It is a joy to hear what makes people shine, what they see as their gifts and how they want to use them for the best of the community, their family, their church.  When people not only dream of what they “could” be, but understand the sparkle and fullness of what they are is such a treasure.

What do you see as your gifts and graces from God – your greatest talents?  How do you like to share them with others?  Are you aware that you are a sparkling diamond, a gift from God to the world, whether rough or smooth cut, you are of great value!

One aspect of this that was brought up was one I really appreciate, that Jesus went into the wilderness TO prepare for his life in ministry.  He needed those days to adjust his way of being, to nurture his soul, to be made more fully in the likeness of God.  And remember when he went up to the Mount of Olives to pray?  Jesus was seeking God for what was deeply needed for him to endure the coming days.

So it is with us, we are not fully formed, we are constantly changing.  In this week’s text we have Jesus teaching a very strong message of repentance in Luke 13.  To repent means to turn back towards the mark, towards the bullseye, towards God’s saving grace.  Throughout the history of the world humans have been tempted into greed, selfishness, and fear, yet God offers us grace to cover all of those things and to bring us to a new place of care, share, and love.  God invites us to change.

Today as every day there are ways we can tend our needs or tend to the needs of others, I often feel the best way is to do both.  To constantly seek the ways of change that bring me into greater love and care,  into what God’s fullness of intent for me is (Isn’t this what Jesus was truly doing in wilderness and at Mt. Olives?).  That will lead me out into the care of others.

We must go inward to seek the changes we need to make ourselves more wholly God’s, and like magic it will take us out of ourselves….  We go in to go out…  What kinds of changes are you seeking for through prayer with God?  How can you become more of the you God created you to be, just as Jesus did?

In the story of Job, God tells Satan, “do what you will Job is a man of strong faith, he will keep it.”  (plrsv)  Job goes through horrible, horrible tragedy and does indeed keep his faith, so much so he gets mad at God for allowing this to happen.  Does God get mad???  No, God listens, understands, gives Job some visible signs of hope and renewal.  As people of faith, we have a “happy ever after.”

It is our call, just as Job, to keep our faith and to stand by God and others in the face of tragedy.  We should be weeping when others weep, offering what we’ve been given by God to the aid of others as a sign of our hope in God and understanding that renewal is possible.

What is often so hard for me to imagine is how in countries where there is more poverty, more daily struggle, more hardship, there is also more people who practice their faith, and those of us who have been blessed with abundance in the “developed countries” have fewer people practicing their faith.  It is sad to note how much we are sooooooo blessed, yet so many of our neighbors don’t know that God is a God of blessing who has given them the opportunity to provide grace for those who suffer, or to put in T.V. lingo, they could be the HERO!  That we are so blessed with financial abundance that we could cut (not stop altogether) our non-essential spending and feed all the starving of the world.

Those who truly seem to know that they are protected by God, provided for by God, and promised eternity, are those outside the “developed countries.”  We here in places of wealth have higher percentage of mental illness, homelessness and by a long shot Depression.  Without knowing of God’s gracious presence, we are the ones who truly suffer.  We have the opportunity to share the grace of God in the developing world, to cut our own suffering, to release people from their fears so they can become the “Heroes of the starving.”

How can you, and I invite more people in our communities to live in the security of God’s Love and protection, so we can help those who need us, so we can all live in the fullness of life on this planet God has given us?  Are we ready to be heroes?

So often we get frustrated with the difficulties of life, it is hard not to, life simply isn’t easy.  Yet there is God, the God of our baptism who knew us in the womb, there is Jesus, who offers us salvation and forgiveness, and there is the Holy Spirit sustaining us in all of life’s ups and downs.  We must remember to let go – and let God, to know that there are going to be times when we can do absolutely nothing to change a situation, but God will carry us through and will be with us to hold us into eternity.

Today was such a fine example, a long week and I’m tired and grumpy…a tired and grumpy granny caring for my cutie pie Elias.  At 3 months that little guy has developed some lungs!!!  He was unhappy eating, changing diapers, bouncing, sitting, basically everything today.  (Mommy Maddy would tell me he’s been doing this for days.)  I finally gave up, “dude, I can’t do this anymore, I don’t know what you need.”   I swaddled and put the cutie in the crib….the crying stopped and two minutes later he was sleeping like a lamb.  I could hear God laughing, “shoulda gave up before.”  Sometimes it really is a good thing to give up all of our own solutions.

The season of Lent is like this…letting go, not coming up with our own solutions, but listening for God’s, reading the bible and contemplating Jesus’ solutions, spending time letting the spirit guide us more.

Where are there times in your life now where you can let go?

HOWEVER, whew, we all need time for contemplation, quiet, and tending our souls.  There is a need for “taking off ALL the hats” for giving up the tasks of the day and settling into quiet.  In our busy world, I know I am not alone in getting caught up in all the minutia and endless little responsibilities the days seem to throw at us.  We are all in this together!  So taking time to tend our souls is even more imperative.

Now, I’ve spoken of Sabbath and rest in blogs past, now I’m going to dive into something a bit different.  In my own discernment I’ve realized that I very rarely have “still” time.  I’m not one to sit in a quiet corner for hours contemplating, or even going to a mountaintop to be still in nature.  My tendency is to keep on moving, so finding ways  to contemplate mean something completely different.

While at the coffee cart, where I do most blog writing and worship preparation, there is much space between customers, but when I want to contemplate, I actually don’t gaze longingly at the sunrise, but I play ball with Boo.  I also tend to try to look for what God is saying in the people visiting the cart, passing along the street, and heading on to school and the child care center.  Engagement in things other than my many tasks is my key form of contemplation.

Walking Green Lake, even shopping Cloud 9 Thrift Store can be neighborhood places of discernment.  Taking care of chickens, walking dogs, making Boston Baked Beans and homemade pizza are places of discernment.  The key ingredient to time to ponder our souls is in letting go of all the things that keep us “busy” or “working” or “task tending” and to move on to that which quiets our soul.

For some that will be the mountain top, or the quiet space and time, and for others it will be engaged in an activity that invites us to look in while we remain active.

How do you take time for Your Soul Feeding?