My proper place

Solitude teaches me my proper place in the universe.

I am only a human. I am not God and I am not the master over anyone else--I've only been called to master myself and the more I try, the more I realize that I'm woefully incompetent at it.

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May Jesus Christ be Praised

My friend is living in such difficult circumstances: her husband just died, her daughter's struggling with mental illness, she can't afford to stay in her home so she has to move. And yet she emails me: "May Jesus Christ be praised." Where did she learn to praise the Lord even in the midst of such discouraging circumstances? She's putting me to shame.

The hymn writer in 1734 captures her spirit beautifully and his words convict me of extent to which I have become a "beautiful morning only" praise person. If it's cloudy, and the sunrise is gray, all I feel like doing is complaining. I want to see the beautiful colors light up the sky.

1. When morning gilds the skies,
   My heart awaking cries:
   May Jesus Christ be praised!
   
   
2. Does sadness fill my mind?
3. A solace here I find,
4. May Jesus Christ be praised!
5. Or fades my earthly bliss?
6. My comfort still is this,
7. May Jesus Christ be praised!
8. The night becomes as day when from the heart we say: May Jesus Christ be praised!
9. In heav’n’s eternal bliss, the loveliest strain is this, May Jesus Christ be praised!
10. Let earth, and sea, and sky from depth to height reply, May Jesus Christ be praised!
11. 
    

I can see that I need to develop a regular habit of praising the Lord and I need to broaden my vocabulary. What did the pilgrims praise God for on that first Thanksgiving after a year of unspeakable hardships? If the only things I know how to praise the Lord for are His blessings, how will I ever find a place of gratitude when difficulties come?

1. 
   

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Embraced and Loved

We know the experience of being with a bunch of people and yet feeling all alone. Henri Nouwen asks: Can we imagine the opposite? Being all alone and yet feeling embraced and loved?

That's the invitation of God to each one of us...to receive deeply the fullness of God's approval and admiration and appreciation and love for us....that we might grasp the width and length and height and depth of His love, and be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Eph 3:18-19)

As I look back, I realize that I didn't learn about His love for me when I was running around trying to get everything done. Knowing His love has come gently, hour by hour, watching the sunrise and letting its beauty whisper, "The Lord really loves you."

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A little rain

It's hard to believe that the California foothills, so brown and dead in late autumn, will blossom into a Monet soon. All it takes is just a little rain. Isaiah says that we live in a dry and sun scorched land.

What acts like rain for your inner life?

Sometimes we discount the value of activities that don't seem very "spiritual," but what if God created us to respond to Him in a whole variety of ways, like having coffee with a friend, or walking the dog, or enjoying the beauty of the light just before sunset, or surfing, or watercoloring. What if we paid attention and valued and gave time in our week to those activities that truly nurtured our souls and let God pour down His rain on us. Would we blossom and flourish in ways we can't imagine? And if our souls were well-watered, would we come alive spiritually and find we crave the gift of solitude because it freed us to truly worship?

Word of God speak, would You pour down like rain, washing my eyes to see Your majesty

To be still and know that You're in this place
Please let me stay and rest in Your holiness--Word of God speak

I'm finding myself in the midst of You
Beyond the music, beyond the noise
All that I need is to be with You
And in the quiet hear Your voice

I'm finding myself at a loss for words, and the funny thing is it's okay...

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Crossing the threshold

We are all feeling the strain as American culture is moving increasingly toward an "open door" lifestyle, where there are no walls between our workspaces and no boundaries around our time. We carry our phones and make ourselves always accessible, basically saying, "Walk in, interrupt me at any time."

But Jesus say, "go into your room, close the door..." (Matthew 6) and we watch him doing just that, going to the mountains or a lonely place, and shutting the door.

It takes special effort to protect the sacred mystery of our lives. Instead of always being "open," we need time that is set apart for being alone. There is so much to be gained from leisurely hours of solitude, time when we do not have to take care of anyone else, time when we can simply be with Jesus. We need blocks of time, even a day or two, when we can give ourselves permission to shut the door.

I think it's good to question why we feel we need to be connected. Sometimes it comes from a boss that demands 24/7 access to us, or a concern that our family needs to be able to get ahold of us. Sometimes it comes from an underlying fear of loneliness: we feel compelled to stay "open" when in fact no one is really requiring that we do. They tell us that they can live without us for a few days, but we still don't unplug. Why? We may be uncomfortable at the thought of not having anything to do and no one to talk with. It's helpful if we can exchange that worry about being alone with an anticipation of being drawn close to Jesus where we experience His love and our souls are satisfied. Maybe we can learn to envision being all alone as a threshold-- when we cross it, we enter into a deeper intimacy with Jesus.

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