Sacred Yes and Sacred No

Deep love is a sacred yes and deep love is a sacred no. Do our loved ones know that we love and accept them?

A Church Habit

How do we stay grounded in love while lifting each other up and holding one another and ourselves accountable?

Follow Me

“Follow me,” Jesus says. “Love who I love. Forgive who I forgive. Put your swords away. Love your enemy.”

Energy In, Energy Out

After the loving, healing energy flowed from him, Jesus found a quiet place to rest, to pray, to let God’s Spirit renew and replenish his spirit and his soul.

Vacuum Cleaner

Do we take time to mourn and grieve our losses and the tragedies of life and do we take time to celebrate the beauty, the joy, and the hidden graces of life?

The Kitchen Table

A shared meal can begin the process of breaking down barriers and prejudice, and we can build relationships rooted in love and truth.

Exhale

Do we trust the divine flow of life? Do we need to know what is around the bend?

Full of Cake

May we drink and eat from the well of Grace, and May it satisfy the longings of our souls.

I’m Good

May we live with Hope that sadness turns towards joy, the lost are found, and the displaced are brought home again.

One “No”

May we have the courage to say yes to the transformative power of God’s love and may we say no to the myth of redemptive violence.

Growing Pains

All of us will have hardships in life, but with the Spirit we can grow in love, kindness, and empathy because of them.

Aging Gracefully

We let go of many things as we grow older but what gifts, if any, do receive as we age?

Renewal

In Sabbath, we start seeing the world from the eyes of Christ. Beauty and grace lead us down a different path towards healing, reconciliation, and wholeness.

Let Us Pray

We close our eyes and breathe in the Spirit of God’s peace and love. Always there is the breath of God.

A New Day

Over the years, how many LGBTQ people have lived in fear of the church? Fear of judgment and exclusion? Is fear or love the way of Jesus?

Sticks and Stones

What is the Word of God and how does it influence our way of life?

Going Home

Our homes can be complex, yet Christ dwells in us, and invites us to dwell in Him.

Attic Rooms

We cannot avoid the darkness all the time, so how do we live with it? Can we move beyond our fears?

Roller Coaster

Can wonder find us in our everyday routines? How do we live in resurrection wonder?

Magic “C”

May we write and tell stories of a love that never ends.

Sunrise

You Light Up My Life

“Light means we can live in hope, knowing the light will never leave us. It allows us to make our song even at our own Easter morning. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.”

Big Stones

If we desire more love, more peace, and more joy in our lives and in our world, then we need a presence greater than us to help us remove the stones of unforgiveness, bitterness, and destructive ideas.

Begin Anew

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised.” ~ Matthew 28:5-6.

Gray Days

The promise of Easter, new beginnings, and resurrection is around the corner; or maybe it is already here if we listen and watch.

Give Me Twenty!

Is Love and Forgiveness the answer to our anger? Can we name our anger and work with it in constructive and not destructive ways?

Held

We are all beloved children of God, forgiven and restored by Grace. May we hold each other in this Truth.

Wild Horses

No one can escape life unwounded; it is the human condition. Do pain and suffering make us more loving, more compassionate, and more forgiving? Or does suffering make us more bitter, angrier?

Hawks and Chants

Do we see signs from God or the Spirit? Or are there just nice coincidences? We often pray, “Come, Holy Spirit,” but what does that mean?

When Doves Coo

How aware are we of God’s divine presence in our lives? Can we see the divine in the ordinary as well as the extraordinary?

Wrestle Mania

“You are my beloved son/daughter. You are forgiven. I love you. Go and love who I love. Forgive who I forgive.”

Extremism

What do we carry? Do we believe in the power of God’s love to change our lives and the world? Or do we believe in the power of hate and violence?

Stuffed

What does it mean for us to be full of the Spirit of God?

 Old People and Babies

Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel. ~ Isaiah 7:14

You Better Watch Out

Do we live out of the abundant love of the birth of Christ into our world, aware of God’s Grace moving through us?

Swaddling Cloths

This advent season may we have room for the birth of Christ’s love, joy, and peace in our lives and in our world.

All Circumstances?

For wisdom and laughter shared, thank you. For community and good food, thank you. For the gift of hope, thank you. For love everlasting we give thanks to you God.

The Present Moment

Our merry band of toddlers reminds me that the only moment to be truly alive is the present moment.

Broken

Our brokenness is what needs to be accepted in order to restore our human condition to a healed state.

Silence Part III: Mark the Spot

Do we intentionally seek out “lonely places” where God’s spirit renews our hearts, and the inner voice of divine wisdom guides us into the next step in life?

Silence Part II: Stand Still

Christ does not eliminate all the anger and violence of the world, but he does start transforming the energy of hate, anger, and violence into love, peace, and forgiveness.

The Glue

To live in the Spirit is to stay connected, to live in a relationship “grounded in love” and reverence.

Drink Deeply

Does living water cleanse us of debris—worry, fear, and anxiety—and does living water fill us with hope, awe, and wonder at the same time?

The Best Fiddlers

May we be gentle with one another as we move faithfully three steps forward and two steps back.

Rumors of Love

We need Grace to rewire our minds from fear of the other to love of the other. We need to learn to build bridges and not walls that separate us.

A Sliding Glass Door

How do we move from fear to love? From judgment to empathy? From condemnation to mercy?

Happy Meals

Do we see ourselves as recipients of amazing grace or do we believe we have earned everything? How do we respond to grace freely given?

How Do You Spell?

Who has been an authentic friend to us? To whom have we been a friend? Have we discovered God as a faithful friend?

A Pergola

What does it mean for us to see one another and the world with the eyes of Christ? Who is welcome and who is not welcome in the church? Who is in and who is out?

We Just Don’t Know

We won’t always know why things happen. We don’t know how life will unfold. We might have more questions than answers.

Out of Thin Air

When the world says go faster and make more noise, our Creator says be still, be silent. We hear God’s wisdom in a “light silent sound” (1 Kings 19:12)

Christmas in July

As we let go of our fears and grow slowly, we learn that lightness and darkness, sadness and joy, grief and peace, night and day, inner peace and outer conflict, and hope and despair move together quite often.

Empty Cups

Are we in a position to judge? To punish? Can we hold ourselves and others responsible and be merciful at the same time?

A Cup of Hot Tea

What do we do with our feelings of unworthiness and inadequacy? What do we do when we don’t feel acceptable?

Home Sweet Home

“We need sacred places to which we can return when life overwhelms us, and we need to be still and turn inward.”

The Divine Feminine

Who are the people in our lives who have manifested the love, joy, peace, and grace of God? Who has revealed the feminine face of God to us?

Beautiful and Flawed

Perfection means being in the divine presence even though we are not perfectly whole, good, true, or beautiful.

Water Stirring

May the “wind from God sweep over us” (see Genesis 1:2) and through us as we walk through the gardens of our lives.

Will You Wash My Feet?

Isn’t the Divine Presence here, there, and everywhere? In our communion liturgy we say, “Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.” So where do we see the Living Christ?

Tweets and Chirps

May the living waters flow through us, may we consider the birds of the air, may we be still and know God, may we leave our tombs with “fear and great joy.”

A Desert Tortoise

So, they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Jesus, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!” Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written: “Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. Look, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” ~ John 12:13-15

Warm Summer Rain

Love is an open door, a stream of possibilities. When every bone in our body says, “I can’t do this anymore.” Love says, “Yes, you can.”

Color Blind

Is it possible for us to live in child-like wonder and awe? Can we live in a state of mystery, curiosity, and wild abandon?

Pinto Bean

To repent is to change our mind, our way of thinking and living. Are we willing to change? Do we want to change? What changes would give us more peace, more joy, and more love in our lives?

Moving Along the Table

As Nouwen profoundly writes, “The question is not how to avoid loss and make it not happen, but how to choose it as a passage, as an exodus to greater life and freedom.”

Standing as One

Let’s sink into our past, good and bad, and learn, heal, and grow from it. May we be new creations rooted in God’s radical love and grace for all.

The Heart of God

More than anything, our hearts crave the warmth and trust of intimacy.

Praying Like Tom Bean

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Hold My Hand

The big generous hearts of our youth can turn into cynical adult hearts. Which heart do we feed or cultivate?

Four Days or Five Days

By the Grace of God, with humble and contrite hearts, may we move from judgment, anger, and moral smugness towards others, to hearts of empathy and greater understanding

Lost Treasure

When we go deep into our hearts, beneath our fears, our anxiety, and our insecurities, we discover that God’s heart is our heart. There is Love.

Changing the Calendar

How intentional are we about our need to rest and replenish our souls? As we make our new year’s resolutions, will we create time and space to simply be?

Love is…

Love is infinite (1 Corinthians 13:8).

Where is Joy?

When was the last time we were “overwhelmed with joy”? Have we been “surprised by joy”?

Broken Hearts and Hope

It is difficult to keep hope alive when the walls crumble down around us and our communities, and child-like innocence easily fades into adult cynicism and despair.

Going Home

“More than anything else, we long for home. Our deep ache for intimacy, security, and comfort is, in the end, a longing for home, nothing more. We are forever restlessly searching for someone or something to take us home.”

Stolen Cars

What does it mean to walk in faith when we have been violated by someone? Can I say the Lord’s Prayer, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”? Can I say this prayer with any authenticity if I don’t practice it?

Take a Zero

“Our culture invariably supposes that action and accomplishment are better than rest, that doing something—anything—is better than doing nothing. Because we do not rest, we lose our way.”

A Good Samaritan in Disguise

Fear can prevent us from experiencing the Grace and Mercy of God. Fear can prevent us from loving another human being.

The Stormy Life

Jesus says, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Don’t be afraid in the storms. They are part of life. I will be with you.

H2 O

May the Spirit continue to flow through us as we let the holy water shape and form us, so we may be one.

What Are We Hungry For?

Jesus says, “Come and eat breakfast.” You are welcome at my table. “Come and eat.” With the invitation, Peter and the disciples know the Living Christ accepts, forgives, loves, and restores them. Fish and bread have never tasted better.

Tent Patience

Patience trusts that the Spirit is working through the world, the church, and us for peace and unity. And patience is active not passive. We become the change we want to see.

Four White Doves

What unbinds us and helps us let go of our pain and sorrow? Does grace slowly mend our broken hearts through tears? Through time? Through a listening ear?

Aroma Therapy

Jesus said, “I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me something to eat. I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

I Know that I Know?

With humility, we move from judging someone or a group to having empathy and compassion. We move from seeing in part to seeing more fully, the other person and ourselves.