"VOCATUS ATQUE NON VOCATUS DEUS ADERIT" Breath Prayer: “God will” “be there” For me, hospice is a steady, faith-full teacher. Some of the lessons are more welcome than others. Some are easier than others. Some lessons come out of the blue. Some feel familiar, almost as though they are echoes of events from the past that have come round again in this new encounter. Being invited into the final chapter of a person’s life is such a privilege. It’s holy ground. And this isn’t in a Hollywood way, but in a flesh and blood, in a laughter into tears way. And there are questions that companion this work: Is she suffering? Does he hear me? Will I see him again? Why did this happen, she is such a faithful person? Where is God in this? Years ago I learned about the Latin inscription above the door of Carl Jung’s house in Kusnacht, Switzerland: "VOCATUS ATQUE NON VOCATUS DEUS ADERIT." In English, the inscription reads: "Called or not called, God will be there." Here in these words I find solace. In these words I remember my roots. Here in these words I hear the voices of my elders who spoke of their faith. Here I can take another breath, another step. With these words I can begin again. For here in these words reside faith, hope and love. Prayer: Holy One, you are always with us. When we lose sight of you, you are with us. When we feel distant, you are as close to us as our very next breath. When we forget to pray, you are leaning in anyway. We give thanks, gracious God, for your gift of love and for your abiding presence. Amen. Breath Prayer: “as the earth” “bursts forth” Our gospel reading from the third chapter of John celebrates these familiar words, “For God so loved the world…” They come alive for me when I remember to start at that place…always, always, always God loves us. In the cold of winter, on the first day of spring, with each step of the journey God loves us. God loves me. Today marks the first day of spring. Within the Native American tradition this is the season of East. In his book The Medicine Wheel, Sunbear speaks to the wonder and the gifts of this season. “The season of Wabun is the Spring, when the earth is awakening from the sleep of winter and the new life which has been preparing itself in the womb of the earth bursts forth. . . . In the Spring everything is new and fresh. The earth comes alive in all directions. Plants break through the earth with the brilliant display of color.” It is on this first day of Spring that the length of the day and the night are equal in length. So may I carry the gospel writer’s verse of God’s love for us all into this season of Wabun. When I believe I am too much in the dark remind me that in the coming days that beginning today, more light is coming. When I feel as though my feet are mired in quicksand, may I be reminded of the balance of the seasons and today’s balance of light and dark. God loved the world, all of us. All I need to do to remember is to look around and know that as the earth is waking up from her winter’s sleep, so is my spirit. Prayer: Eternal God, you shape the seasons and our days with love and graciousness. As we welcome in the light of this new day, we welcome in your lovingkindness for each of us. And we are ever grateful, Amen. I lift up my eyes to the hills, from where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth. God will not let your foot be moved;
God who keeps you will not slumber.
The Lord who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil;
the Holy One will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time on and for evermore. ~ Psalm 121 Breath Prayer: “going out” “coming in” Psalm 121 is believed to be a traveling song. We've been told that it was used as pilgrims were setting out on their journey. Travelers would gather the night before they were to set out. Together they made their final plans and collected all they would need. When morning came, those who were staying behind would encircle them, offering blessings and sending them off on their journey. As we read through the words of this psalm, we can almost hear them singing. We can almost hear the travelers singing quietly the first couple of lines, perhaps in the hushed and anxious tones. And then the ones who were staying back picked up the melody and continued with words of reassurance for those journeying on. Their faith is shining through in this song, as we can almost witness the sun rising behind them. Who has sung words of blessing for you as you have stepped out? Who are those who have believed in you and sung songs of hope and strength as the sun was rising at your back? Stepping out on a long journey can be intimidating. It’s a long, difficult trip. Psalm 121 reminds us that there are songs sung in our lives for two voices. We do our part, and by grace or some great love another voice enters into our song and gives us the energy, the strength, the reassurance to do the next thing. Psalm 121 connects our piece to the greater one, our story lives within the Great Story. This song is a living reminder of that blessing. Prayer: Gracious and merciful God, your blessing for our lives is a precious gift. We give you thanks for our song of the morning, when we begin again. We give you thanks for others in our lives who continue to sing to us those words of faith, lest we forget. Amen. God is not found in the soul by adding anything but by the process of subtraction. ~ Meister Eckhart Breath Prayer: “spirit” “quiet” Lent reminds us each year that we can do with less. Our culture invites us on a merry-go-round of “things.” More and more and more and more. Chasing our tails, we make our way from one holiday to the next, from one sale-event to the next. On and on we go, constructing more and more buildings of self-storage. Lent reminds us each year that we can do with less. In this season of reflection and prayer, of fasting and offerings we invite our spirits to lean into the loving presence of God. In this spirit-quiet we can begin to understand better what our souls are yearning for: for peace beyond the rush and busyness; for balance of body and spirit; for purpose and place in this world we call home; for connection and reconnection to the One who calls us by name. Lent reminds us each year that we can do with less. Prayer: Holy God, we lean into your lovingkindness this day. Forgive us, when we seek after the ever-elusive things of life. Gather us closer to you, we pray. Remind and renew us, so that in these Lenten days we come closer to you and stronger in our daily walk of faith. Amen. A Daily Musing: Meeting Mystery, Imagining an Image or Vessel Your Invitation: [This one might be challenging, and you might spend more than a day with it. That’s OK. Take your time, and invite the mystery to enter in wherever She will.] Imagine a vessel, something that can offer space to an image of mystery. Wind chimes. John 3: 8, “The wind blows where it chooses…” has long spoken to me of the Spirit’s mystery. And so for this invitation, I will be drawing a set of wind chimes. [Just to offer other suggestions, also considered might be: a box with a lid, a curtain hanging (something unknown behind it), a rainbow….] After you have chosen your vessel, spend time wondering how it can companion you through this Lenten season. What will be shown you? What are ways you will recognize it? What are you yearning to see? What is not seen, but somehow represented? What is the Spirit’s gift for you for this day? Breath Prayer: “Precious” “present” Prayer: Creating God, your children long to know, to understand, and to be in control. Teach us the gift of entering into your mystery. Lead us toward what is not yet. May our hearts be patient. May we grow to trust you. We pray with hope for what is coming, we pray with faith in you. Amen. The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. ~ John 3: 8 (entire reading is 1-17) Breath Prayer: “listening” “for the wind” Time spent in the wilderness reminds us what is real or only imagined, what is possible or is impossible. It’s impossible to see the wind. You can hear it and feel it. You know that it’s moving when something else moves. But seeing the wind? Impossible. “The wind blows where it chooses,” we are told. Mysteries hold what is real and what is imagined. They hold what we know or what has happened, but sometimes the understanding eludes us. In this Lenten season as I make my way through these forty days, I find comfort listening for Jesus’ words. He reminds me that even though I can’t see the wind or the Spirit’s presence, it is still there. So many times when I’ve wandered in the past I’ve felt lost, disoriented. My walking becomes robotic. Left foot. Right foot. Left, right. Today’s message invites us to try something new. Perhaps we can combine with our walking new ways of perceiving. Perhaps to better experience the wind, we need to listen instead of watch. The Holy Spirit might not come the way in ways we expect, but She will surely come. Prayer: Come, Holy Spirit, come. Move in and through our lives so that we might experience your transforming grace. Sweep over us with your connective, sustaining presence. Come, Holy Spirit and invite us into the dance. Amen. This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live. ~ Deuteronomy 30:19 Breath Prayer: “Choose life” “choose blessing” In many ways the wilderness is the perfect image for our traveling through these Lenten days. It provides space and place for a particular spiritual time of reflection. Hours into days we have wandered. Some of this past week has felt so real that our throats have felt parched and our bodies have grown weary. The barrenness. The isolation. The cold and loneliness of this wilderness place can come alive differently during Lent. Today’s reading reminds us to keep our focus. We cannot lose ourselves in the wandering of the season. God’s ancient words speak clearly this day, this moment: “I have set before you life and death. Now choose life.” These words hearten us to continue, to follow the One who brings water to the desert, light to the darkness and life where there was death. We are still early in these Lenten days. There is much yet to see and to learn. There is much yet for the Spirit to still speak. Let us step out into the mystery and wonder of what is yet, what is next for all God’s daughters and sons. Prayer: Holy God you are our compass in the desert. Forgive us when we wander off and lose our focus. Have mercy on us, we pray when we grow weary and become discouraged. God of life, we renew our spirits to following you this day. We choose life. We choose the grace of your abundant blessing. We pray with thankful hearts, Amen. Therefore let all who are faithful
offer prayer to you;
at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters
shall not reach them.
You are a hiding-place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. ~ Psalm 32: 6-7 Breath Prayer: “You are” “my hiding place” In this Lenten time we yearn for a hiding place where God’s lovingkindness shelters me. In this psalm we reconnect with daily prayers of thanksgiving, nurturing our faith. This prayer is one for our speaking and our practice in times of despair, as well as times of joy. It keeps us in balance with my life. In these wilderness days we recognize that this `hiding place’ as sung in this psalm is not a castle on a hill, but a simple covering that brings shelter from the bitter cold and the scorching heat. It is through this practice of prayer that we are drawn closer to God’s grace. God has promised to lead us and so it is our practice to listen for instruction and encouragement along the way. It is the cloud in the sky leading by day and the pillar of fire by night that serve as comfort and guide – if we can be open and listen for the Spirit’s call for us. Prayer: Generous God, we give you thanks for the hiding places you bring. May they shelter us, but not become our home. May we receive rest enough at the end of this day, and rise refreshed to follow you. Amen. Spirituality is not to be learned by flight from the world, by running away from things, or by turning solitary and going apart from the world. Rather, we must learn an inner solitude wherever or with whomsoever we may be. We must learn to penetrate things and find God there. ~ Meister Eckhart Breath Prayer: “dig in” “dig deep” Eckhart’s words are caution us not to tempted to “go apart from the world.” In these times when everything is immediately accessible, it can feel as though we are somehow under siege. “Enough!” “I surrender!” Here in these early days of Lent, we acknowledge that this happens more often than we care to admit. As we journey into and through this season, may we not miss one of the wilderness’ great gifts: here in her most barren places, what is most essential is best seen. We are reminded that even in the wilderness there is a root system, connecting life to life. Seen or not seen, this connection is always there. Here we can learn or re-learn that even when by ourselves, we are never alone. Here we are rooted deeply to life, and life to us. If we spend these wilderness days in solitary, in isolation we will miss her gift. Eckhart is reminding us that there is wisdom to be shared from everyone and everything around us ~ even in the place where we feel most apart. “Dig in,” we are encouraged, “Dig as deeply as you can.” In that digging, even is this deserted desert we can, we will meet God. Prayer: Ever-present God, bring us strength we pray. When we are most overwhelmed and afraid, may we not flee from you and our neighbor. Encourage and nudge us, living God to keep our spirits open to listening out for yours. In our turning, we are returning to you and to life. Amen. There should not be any brother or sister in the world who has sinned, however much they have sinned, who, after looking in your eyes would go away without having received your mercy, if they are looking for mercy. And if they were not to seek mercy, you should ask if they want mercy. And if they should sin thereafter a thousand times before your very eyes, love them more than me so that you may draw them back to the Lord. Always be merciful to such as these. ~ Francis of Assisi from “A Letter to a Minister” (adapted) Breath Prayer: “giving and receiving” “mercy” Reflection Time in the wilderness allows for reflection on the moments that have shaped our past year and even our whole lives. Stories come to us of times when we have been extended kindnesses and times when we have been kind. Memories of thoughtful, meaningful conversations and times when we wish we could take back harsh and damaging words. Moments of giving and of receiving mercy. St. Francis instructs us this day in the gift of mercy. He speaks to intentional act of paying attention to the hearts and spirits of our sisters and brothers. Literally before our eyes are children of God in need of mercy extended to them. And once we have done this, our relationship with them shifts. We are connected to them through a loving energy that draws all closer to God’s grace. This mercy offered to another is our living prayer. Prayer: God of mercy and of grace, open my eyes and my heart so that I might be your hands and feet this day. May I serve you and bring a weary pilgrim closer to your loving spirit. Lead me on and guide me, I pray. Amen |
Lesley BroganWorking in Family Experience at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Lesley is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. A Candler School of Theology graduate, Lesley has just published her second book, Grief and the Psalms: Companioning the Moon for 29 Days (available on this website). She and her partner, Linda Ellis are raising their two sons, Brogan and Sam in Decatur, GA. Archives
April 2018
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