Sheltering Wings

When life is difficult…

“Sheltering Wings”

He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. Ps 91:4

Our losses and difficulties in this life can overwhelm us.  Often, we feel abandoned in our hurt and despair, unable to feel the sheltering wings that enfold us in healing love.  This inspired sculpture which adorns the memorial garden reminds us that healing, help and comfort are always as near as a prayer.  We are loved by a Heavenly Father who has the power to create the universe yet personally loves and embraces each of us with the gentleness of a feather’s touch.  Peace be with you in whatever pain, difficulty, fear, or loss confronts you.

Christmas Eve Anticipation

Christmas Eve: Mary, Joseph and angels await

Wishing all of you peace in your hearts as we await the arrival of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.  We celebrate and remember his birth; we embrace and rejoice in his presence in our hearts; we eagerly await his return.  We are reminded that generosity is about the giving, not the giver; we learn to wait for good things; we have an opportunity to examine our priorities. 

Christmas Day is only the first day of Christmas – consider keeping the lights and nativity scenes in place for the full twelve days, for the frenzy of preparations will be over and now is a time for contemplation.  Impossible expectations of festivity and abundance are promoted for Christmas, eclipsing the difficulties, fears and material poverty surrounding the event we commemorate. Many were looking for this fulfilled prophecy, yet very few were privileged to witness and be present when it happened. Those who were present were poor and nameless. Even the Magi, whose deep desire led them to journey great distances, arrived a year or more later.

Enjoy the chance to be with loved ones and consider the blessings that cannot be packaged.  Make room for miracles. The noise of the commercialized holidays is muted and the quiet of the true Christmas can begin, if we pause to allow it. 

May God bless, prosper and heal you through the coming year!  Peace be with you.

“I read the back of the Book: God wins.”

“I read the back of the Book:  God wins.”  Best. Bumper. Sticker. Ever.

I quote it often.  Victory belongs to God – not politicians, not political parties, not nations, not armies.  Looking upon the mystifying, horrifying defeat of Good Friday points me to God’s miraculous, glorious victory of Resurrection Day.

Jesus paid a terrible price for me.  Day by day, Jesus changes my heart and my thinking, gives me new priorities and new understanding.  Day by day, Jesus heals my wounds – the wounds we all suffer in a difficult world.  Anything I suffer he too suffered, and he walks with me in suffering just as Simon of Cyrene demonstrated how we are all assisted as we carry our own cross. His love and compassion teach me love and compassion.  I give testimony, and he makes use of it according to his will, not mine.

I testify of his love, and I pray for conversion:  continuing conversion for myself and all Christians, conversion for all those trapped by despair, fear, resentment, greed, addiction and all else that unbelief brings.  I pray for conversion in my community, my nation, for nations at war, and for the whole world.  I pray for conversion for those I care about and for those I consider enemies.  Jesus says, “Do not be afraid”, so I ask him to forgive and remove my fears.

Do not be afraid: “I read the back of the Book:  God Wins.”

Peace be with you!

--Leigh

Ashes for Wednesday

Ashes & Holy Water

Black powder remnants of a Palm Sunday gone by call to mind the fickleness of the human heart and my need to mourn and give (again) to merciful God my failings and sins. Water reminds me of baptism and new life – of promises made and the chance to re-think who I am and the priorities of my life.  Bare branches point to the wood of the Cross and to Jesus who is the Vine and we the branches who must cling to him if we are to bear fruit. 

I am mindful that this 40-day pilgrimage is an opportunity to walk more closely with our Lord and Savior.  Forty days of minor self-denial show me how weak and distractable flesh and human will are on their own.  Yet I have 40 days in which to mindfully make better choices and possibly continue with better choices when the 40 days are gone.  I have 40 days in which to mindfully ask God for help in making better choices – to be more like Jesus, to see more like Jesus, to love more like Jesus.  I look forward to being blessed with ashes and entering into another pilgrimage to see what changes 40 days will bring.  May your pilgrimage bear fruit!

Peace be with you!

Leigh

Sharing the Light

Faith is most effective when we engage our minds, our hearts and our senses.  Small actions -- like passing a flame from candle to candle, person to person, light pushing back the darkness flame by flame -- teaches and affirms us in ways that words alone cannot. We experience the metaphors of how a tiny piece of light can pierce the darkness, how each of us by small actions can pass along and multiply warmth and light, how we can give of ourselves and lose nothing. As we take part, we understand the joy and power and comfort of community as well as the significance of each individual.  From my candle to yours, Peace be with you!

--Leigh