Practice

"What you don't have you don't need it now, what you don't know you can feel out somehow."
Beautiful Day - U2

I woke up almost an hour earlier than normal today and stole away for some quiet time.

There's been a lot of noise lately.

As I was praying, I read through Psalm 18 - a psalm of celebration and thanksgiving for David's deliverance. Afterwards, one thought hit me:

Practice gratitude.

This brings me to my next benediction: we must practice having a spirit of gratefulness. It does not come our way without exercise. The more we are thankful, the more we see around us to give thanks for.

Slowly, life begets life. Beauty begets beauty. Peace begets peace.

May we be diligent about practicing gratitude. We need so desperately to feel more hope and find our souls quieted by God. Gratitude is a quick way toward His arms.

Today, may you practice being grateful for the things you have.

small benediction - thursday

Go out of your way to do something for someone. Put a little effort into it.

***
I had a friend I sort of fell out of touch with. Some of it was my pride, some of it healthy distance. I heard about a life change she was going through, and though we hadn't spoken in 6 months or so, I sent something to her. I talked it over with the man, and he encouraged me to send it - even if I never heard back, it would make her day.

This week I got back the nicest, sweetest card in response.

I could have sat on it. I've done it a million times before, but that simple act let her know I cared, and reminded me that all isn't lost.

***

Though I don't think of myself as prideful, it is hard to humble myself and reach out with the frequency I'd like.

Might we go beyond ourselves today and love someone. Might we be the love we so desperately seek.

Be loved. Be blessed.

I used to write that a lot as a closing line in emails, thanks to inspiration from an old college buddy.

I found it beautifully comforting to pass that along to my friends as a benediction. I felt that in our rushrushbusybusy work lives, it might be soothing to take a second and be loved before we jumped back in.

***

A few nights ago I called my voicemail at work to remind myself of a task. In my calm 9 p.m. voice, I told my future self to rest and take a minute to be thankful the next day. I uttered those words, "Be blessed. Be loved." By the following morning, I was already amped up and needed the reminder.

***

I hope that I still do things like this for my friends. If I haven't been lately, you deserve a group apology. I am sorry. It's been a selfish time, learning to be in love and start a new job. I am sometimes neglectful. I hope to work it out.

First step: don't miss chances for small benedictions.

Happy Wednesday all. Be blessed. Be love to someone who needs it today.

We keep crawling back to you

Life is a seamless string of lesson learning - the ebb and flow of challenges, successes, hard times and bountiful blessings.

I’m growing accustomed to the fact that each lesson is so very little about the circumstance of the moment and whether we win. Rather, these trials and tribulations test our character and tell us about the very nature of ourselves.

Will we learn for next time? Will I be modest? Will I give in to anxiety and let it ruin my happiness? Will I show grace and joy in the chaos?

Sarah’s family goes to a church called Crossroads in Waldo. The people there are wonderful - warm, caring, diverse and seeking to experience God in a big, broad sense. Their pastor, Jack Price, sends out a weekly email that I’ve (honestly) not taken much time to read - until today, when his words answered how we could react. The answer lies is creating spae. In this case, the space for God to be a creative God.

“The biblical model shows us that God’s response to chaos is creativity. To be creative in the midst of chaos will certainly mean different things to different people, different churches, and different nations. To be creative in response to chaos, however, always means to generate new life, new hope, and new possibility.

How can we be creative in chaos? First of all, we have to remember that we are not God and we’ll really need to give up attempts to play God. Having said that, we can trust that the creative work of life is what we, as human beings, are called and equipped to do. Being creative is what we do as human beings, except when we forget. It’s easy to forget. Second, we need to try to keep our anxiety down so our creativity can be up. Anxiety is the enemy of creativity. Third is the need to practice Sabbath in our lives. Remember that, not only did God rest – practice Sabbath after 6 days of creating -- but Sabbath was actually the climax (maybe even the purpose) of creation.

Practicing Sabbath is to live as fully as possible in the presence of God. I am reminded of the words of the eminent Jewish philosopher Martin Buber: “Meet the world with the fullness of your being and you shall meet [God].” (from The Writing of Martin Buber)

– Jack Price

I love this take. The greatest challenges of my life exist in my mind and rarely find fruition outside of it. It’s as Tom Petty famously sang, “I’m so tired of being tired. Sure as night will follow the day, most of the things I worry about will never happen anyway.”

Time has told me that he's right. The challenge is to live my life and believe it.