MLK Day Reflections and Actions

It's Martin Luther King Jr. Day and frankly I have never really given it much thought. Yes, my grade schools celebrated the day and we learned about MLK's influence on the Civil Rights Movement. We probably did plays, crafts, and sang songs about MLK. It was part of the public school "curriculum". Yet, I was never pushed to think about the impacts on my life. It just hasn't been part of who I am or so I thought.

Even with all the horrific stories in the news about police brutality, racism, and senseless deaths of minorities, my only reaction has been deep sadness and prayer. Frankly, the prayers have been less and less as this past year has unfolded. Not because I don't care but because the events of my personal life needed my attention. Recently, I have wondered should I be doing more? I "watched" as some of my friends joined in peaceful protest, held Facebook conversations and contacted their politicians. I ask myself should I be out protesting, writing letters to politicians, posting on Facebook etc.?

I have come to the conclusion that, no, these are not things I need to be doing at this time. Don't get me wrong they are powerful and important actions and they need to be done. However, they are not true to who I am and how I operate. I am reminded everyday that in order to truly impact the world I need to operate as my authentic self. This means taking actions that are true to my personality. For me this means writing a blog post to share my story and inspire others, lift up these issues in prayer (more often than I have been), showing kindness to other (especially minorities), and befriending those who are different from me.

So on this MLK Day where we are asked to reflect and take action for justice and peace how are you going to be true to yourself? What actions are you going to take to further the Kingdom of God? How are you going provide peace and justice in your family and/or community?

I'd love to hear what you are doing, please share them with me in the comments!

Advent Day 3 - "Peace"

"Shalom"

(The Hebrew word for "peace" that says so much to me)

Friday Photographs-Peace

What does peace feel like?

Peace feels like walking alone in the woods on a crisp fall day. 

Friday Photographs

"Walking mindfully opens the eyes to beauty 

everywhere, leading the release of

 sorrow and worry, so peace and inner

freedom may enter."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Friday Photographs

"Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit."

-Saint Francis de Sales

Mind, Body & Spirit

The mind, body, spirit connection both baffles and intrigues me.  Being a psychology major the workings of the mind have always fascinated me.  Being brought up in the church the idea of the Holy Spirit has also intrigued me.  Being an athlete the workings of the body also interests me.  However, it is only in the past year or so have I begun to explore the many dimensions of the mind, body, spirt connection.

For years our culture (including much of Christianity) has pitted the mind, body, and spirit against one another. We were told that our bodies and minds were the enemies-the reason for sin. We were told that the only good was The Spirit. We have been told that we are at our core sinful. Now I don’t dispute that we are all sinful, in fact I know we are all sinful. However, I have come to believe that God see us as the spiritually perfect beings we truly are. 

What I have begun to realize is that the mind, body, spirit connection is essential to being human. We can not have one without the others. When one is suffering the others are affected. In other words the whole of who we are (mind, body & sprit) is always in need of God’s transformational and healing love. I was first introduced to this concept of attending to the mind, body, and spirit by my Spiritual Director, Anita Cummings. In our work together we always spend time attending to the mind, spirit and body. Actually, we attend to them concurrently. For Anita, ‘body work’ (attending to the flow of energy in our body in a variety of ways) is an essential aspect of spiritual healing and transformation. 

In the beginning I was skeptical of ‘body work’ as a form of spiritual direction and transformation. I wondered how ‘body work’ could affect spiritual transformation. It just seemed so foreign and it wasn’t part of my Presbyterian theos that said that the Spirit and the body were at odds. As we began attending to my body through this ‘body work‘ I became aware of how this ‘work’ affected my mind and spirit. I began to sense and feel the connection between my body and my mind and spirit. When I attend to my body I am also attending to my mind and my spirit.

There are so many dimensions of the mind, body, spirit connection that I continue to explore-intellectually, physically, and spiritually. What connections do you see? What dimensions and/or connections would you like to explore? What questions do you have about the connection between mind, body and spirit?

For me, the connection between mind, body, and spirit is one of God’s surprising wonders!

  

Transformational Forgiveness

I have discovered that true forgiveness very difficult yet amazingly transformational.  Forgiveness means letting go of the fact that the past could have been different. When you feel someone has betrayed or hurt you one naturally feels anger and or resentment for that person.  In my experience I need to let myself truly feel these feelings and not sweep them under the rug.  I found that prior to forgiveness every time I would see a person or hear about them I would have a physical reaction and think unkindly about them.  I is difficult to be around them without these reactions.  After some time passes these feelings of anger or resentment eats away at you.  You expend a lot of unnecessary energy being angry.

Forgiveness does not mean forgetting the past.  It does not make the what the person did somehow right.  It may still be wrong.  It means letting go of the anger and resentment.  In my experience it means that when I see that person I no longer have a negative physical reaction and my thoughts are more loving.  You may even be able to have positive interactions with that person.  The energy that you previously expended in anger can now be expended in more positive ways.  

Forgiveness is a shift in thinking and feeling.  It is a shift in how you see the other person-you can begin to see them as God does.  It is a shift in ones feelings-from anger to peace.  True forgiveness is transformational!

Friday Photographs

Man should forget his anger before he lies down to sleep.

-Thomas De Quincey

9/11: A Watershed Moment

As I sit listening to the names of those who died at Ground Zero 10 years ago I think about each family who still grieves their loss.  The reading of names emphasizes the enormity as well as the individuality of what occurred that day.  Ten years later I ponder two different yet connected thoughts that bubbled up from the memories of 9/11.

9/11 was a watershed moment in our nation.  According to the dictionary on my computer a watershed moment is “an event or period marking a turning point in a course of action or state of affairs”.  During and after a watershed moment we must choose how to move forward.  Reflecting on the events of 9/11 Sojourners magazine says this about our the choices that were made, “There were two paths forward from the ashes a rubble of 9/11: One path led to war, torture, and fear, but another path -- led by people of faith across our land -- was marked by soul searching, genuine mourning for the lost, and standing up for peace-building and caring for our neighbors.”  While we cannot change the choices that were made we can transform those choices going forward.  We can pray and work for shalom-peace and wholeness among and within nations, states, churches,communities, families, and individuals.  Each of us needs to discern for themselves what peace-building looks like in their own lives.  

As we reflect on 9/11 a watershed moment we all share we also reflect on watershed moments or events in our own lives.  What are those watershed moments?  How might they intersect with 9/11?  How will you choose to move forward in a new or different way?

Remember God loves you and in within you during all your watershed moments and events!

Surrendering to God's Providence

In recent months I have been experiencing a lot of care and support.  I have also been working at caring for myself during this time of transition in my life.  When I came across the phrase “surrendering to God’s providence” I decided to ponder and explore this idea.

Both the first and last words caught my attention.  Providence is the protective care of God.  Thus, it is God who is protecting us from the sin and despair of this world.  It is God’s unconditional love that penetrates the depths of our being protecting us from all that tries to mask our authentic selves.

For me the word surrender has a slightly negative connotation.  I always think of surrendering as giving up total control.  If this were what God wanted us to do we would no longer have free will.  We would essentially be puppets controlled my God.  Thinking there must be another definition I went to my handy dictionary and found the following definition “to cease resistance to an enemy or opponent and submit to their authority”.  In this definition we are longer resisting God but rather we are submitting to God’s protective care.

It can be hard for us to surrender to God’s providence.  We tend to resist God’s love.  We tend to resist God’s nudging to take a sabbath, to get out of an unhealthy situation or relationship, to seek spiritual direction, or to experience something new.  We tend to resist God’s love, comfort, and support shown to us in a stranger or even a trusted friend.  We tend to resist God’s healing love for our soul.

It is when we are open to God’s healing, comfort, and love both in both the expected and unexpected we surrender to God’s providence!

Questions to ponder:

Why do you feel you need God’s protective care today?

What does it mean for you to surrender to God’s providence?

What changes need to happen in yourself so that you are better able to surrender to God’s providence?

Who guards our hearts and minds?

Last night after a frustrating day I was getting ready to do my meditation/prayer time.  I have been reading through the Psalms over the past few months and was ready to delve into the next Psalm.  However, in my head I kept hearing the words of Philippians 4:4-7.  Now this verse has a special place in my heart as it was the verse “given”’ to me at my Confirmation by my Youth Pastor Anna Carter Florence.  It rang true for me then and it continues to ring true for me today.  

Usually verse 6 rings true for me and is the message I need to hear and take to heart.  This time reading aloud the verse (not from memory!) I was drawn to verse 7 “And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ.”  In particular I was drawn to the verb phrase will guard your hearts and minds.  My first question was what exactly are we being guarded against?  Then my next questions was what does the text mean by guarded?  I have come to realize that I am a word junky.  I love words and I love to know exactly what they mean in each particular context.  So I keep a dictionary in my meditation/prayer corner so I can look up words.

I looked up the word guard in the dictionary it means “to watch over” and the synonym is protect which means “to shield from injury.”  Many of us guard our hearts and minds out of fear.  We decide not to something because we are afraid we will fail or we will get hurt doing it.  We decide not to take a leap of faith into a new job, relationship, adventure etc. because we are afraid of the unknown.  We do not want to risk getting hurt emotionally, mentally, or physically to the point we no longer have hope.

This scripture passage says just the opposite-it is God’s peace that will guard our hearts and minds.  It is not our job to guard our hearts and minds.  Rather it is God that is doing the guarding.  God’s peace guards our hearts and minds from the deep despair and hopelessness of sin and evil.  This does not mean that we will not suffer or get hurt because sin has not been eradicated.  Rather, we are freed to live as our authentic and true selves knowing God’s peace and love has the final word over sin and despair!