Category: appreciate

Darkness and Light

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Genesis 1:4

God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.

Sometimes it is so hard to see the good that can come. In the dark and fearful times it is hard to even think of the light. We can feel the darkness closing around us and there is no light to be found. We have to wait. We have to see the light when it is not visible. It is there. Just believe.

Prayer: God of light and darkness help us to know that your light waits for us. Give us faith to see your light even in the darkness. Amen

Find the awe

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I feel as if I have missed so much of advent. I love the readings, the candles, the feeling of the season. Usually I feel such a sense of anticipation but this year that is absent. I almost dread Christmas. I am not ready. For me it is about giving and this year I have so little to give. Advent gears me up and instills a sense of awe.That awe is not present.

Seek that awe.It is what gets us ready for the birth of Jesus. It helps us to experience Christmas with all the joy it demands.

Silence of the heart.

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Silence of the heart is necessary so you can hear God everywhere….in the closing of a door, in the person who needs you, in the birds that sing, in the flowers, in the animals. Mother Teresa in No Greater Love

My husband says he likes to hunt but I don’t remember him ever killing anything. He just likes to sit in the silence in the woods and observe God’s beautry around him. He communes with creation. Most of us just walk by a beauriful flower or miss the glorious sunset. We don’t know how to silence our hearts and see God’s beautiful world.

Prayer: Give us, Lord, the ability to find that silence of the heart. In its center let us learn about the needs of your world and act on those needs. AMEN

The Holy Spirit

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John 14:26
But the Advocate, the HolySpirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.

We don’t talk very often about the Holy Spirit but it’s tasks are very important. It dwells within us and quides us every day. The Hebrew scriptures attribute 6 characteristics to the spirit.

In the Hebrew Masoretic text the “Spirit of the Lord” is described with six characteristics (wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, fear of the Lord), and then the last characteristic (fear of the Lord) is mentioned a second time. (yes Wikipedia but accurate)

This hymn teaches us so well

We carry the Holy Spirit with us all the time. It is there to guide our ways and hold us when times are hard. It is an advocate…one who speaks for us and with us. It is a gift from God.

God loves

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This time out of time has really been a test. We have all learned things. Some we never wanted to know and some that moved us forward on our journey with God.  God didn’t bring this virus but we have all moved through it in whatever way we could. It has been harder for some than others. Loved ones have been lost. Many are grieving. But through it all God has been present. His loving arms have reached out to us. His peace has been offered. All we had to do was to cling on to him.

As this state of the crisis moves on we will experience new things both good and bad. God wants us to have learned from this. Our life is his. His love holds us always.

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Music speaks to the soul

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For changing people’s manners and altering their customs there is nothing better than music.     Shu Ching, 6th Century B.C.

Music moves me more than anything. I can be completely lost in a hymn and have tears rolling down my cheeks. I feel the melody pulling me into communion with god. God is present with me. I can feel his spirit moving in my soul. Tonight I offer another hymn that has been around but when sung brings the holy spirit into my soul.