New Year's Eve 2008 Prayer

Gifts: Peace

 

I choose to end this year wishing you peace.

Thanking God for the peace that is here.

Praying for peace.

May we all wage peace this upcoming year.

May peace be with you.

So be it today.

So be it tomorrow.

Amen

Prayer for 30 DEcember 2008

"When perfect love has driven out fear, or fear has been transformed into love, then everything that has been saved will be a unity growing together through the one and only Fullness, and everyone will be, in one another, a unity in the perfect Dove, the Holy Spirit."

  - Gregory of Nyssa, "Homilies on the Song of Songs," 15

 

Gifts: Reconciliation.

1.	an act of reconciling or the state of being reconciled.

 

2.	the process of making consistent or compatible.

 

Loving and Holy Creator,

I thank you for your reconciliation of us to you,

This by your initiation.

With being made right to you I should be able to make peace with my neighbor,

I should learn to live with my neighbor,

I should be able to listen to my neighbor.

But I don’t,

I still hate,

I still take what isn’t mine.

I treat my neighbors worse than I treat myself with rules and walls

Lord,

Forgive me

Help me tear down these walls and break the rules so I can return to being compatible with my neighbor.

For we all live together and have the same goals.

Living and loving.

Together.

I thank you for the gift of reconciliation which transforms.

Amen

A Prayer for Monday 29 December 2008

Gifts: Freedom
How do I value freedom with Christ?
2 Corinthians 3:17 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
Loving God,
Where you are,
We are free.
Freedom from so much,
Freedom from the darkness that scares me.
Freedom from hate that hides you.
Freedom is being set free from all this and being free to see the world through your light.
Through your love.
Freedom is having the weight of the world lifted from me.
Freedom is knowing you have lifted my chains, lifted my weights, lifted my fears and set them free.
I thank you for the gift of freedom and I pray that I live in your freedom,
Giving as much as I have received.
Amen

Signs

What does this say to you?

A prayer for 28 December 2008

Gifts, Hope

Romans 5:5  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

 

 

Glorious God,

Hope is all around,

I hope for a beautiful day knowing it will rain,

But to someone, hope is fulfilled.

I hope for a life that is full,

I hope I will only know if it is fulfilled later.

I hope for the resurrection of my soul.

I hope for laughter and love to be always near,

I hope for better days,

I hope for snowy morning,

I hope for peace in the world,

But Hope will never disappoint me.

For hope is a gift,

Not a wish.

 

Thanks be to God,

Amen

A Prayer for 27 December 2008

Gifts, Joy.

Deuteronomy 16:15  For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.

Acts 8:8  ⁸ So there was great joy in that city.

I have picked a few things that I see as a gift and put them on my calendar to pray about.  I picked joy for this day and I was so surprised when a devotional I receive daily also was about joy. A coincidence? Maybe.

 

God of Joy,

May I be complete in you,

May I see the joy in this day,

The love in this day,

The Peace in this day.

But Lord,

I pray for those who can not see your joy,

Who miss your love,

Who need us to be present with them.

 

I hope for joy in this world to be complete,

So that when I sing Joy to the world

Joy is in the world.

I thank you for your gift of joy.

Amen

A Prayer for 26 December 2008

Gifts, Faith.
2 Corinthians 5:7 We live by faith, not by sight.

Creator of the heavens,
I live by faith,
A gift I hold fast too,
Something that I cannot explain,
Just something that gives me a reason to look at the light of your love.
A faith that sees through darkness,
A faith that finds the light.
A faith that is based on your love,
Your gift to me.
Thanks be to God,
Amen

My Prayer for Christmas 2008

May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace, The gladness of Christmas give you hope, The warmth of Christmas grant you love.

   ~Author Unknown

 

Advent is over.  The time of waiting and preparing is over.  It is time now to experience the gift of Christmas.  My focus the next 12 days will be on gifts.

 

Giving God,

You have come again,

Your gift today is Love,

May my heart experience this love as it is made new,

Again and again.

As I learn about your love,

As I take your love and regift it.

Because there is enough to go around.

This Christmas I am learning to so thanks.

Thank you for love.

Amen

Christmas Eve Prayer

Something’s coming! 

I love West Side Story and it is in revival here in town so the advertisements are playing hourly.  I keep thinking about the excitement of this day and this is my prayer for us.

 

Lord,

Something is coming!

The shepherds in the field have heard it.

Mary has heard it.

Something new.

The excitement is in the air,

May my heart feel this today,

May the unexpected be the expected,

May you in my life be made new again,

Coming to make a change in my world.

Where peace reigns,

Love survives,

Joy blossoms.

And I see you in my world around me.

This year I wait.

Excitedly wait.

With anticipation in my heart.

Amen

Prayer for 22 December 2008

A frozen world

A world that stops as everything stops moving,

A world that is hard to live in.

A world that needs changing,

Thawing,

But in this world is beauty,

The snow covers up so much,

Under the ice, the water still flows,

The light is just a bit longer

Just a bit (exactly 7 seconds today).

There is life coming.

This is the world you chose and choose to enter.

Come,

Warm me with your love, light and warmth,
Come,

Change my world,
Come.
In your mercy, hear me.

Amen

A prayer for 22 December 2008

Faith is planting a seed when there is no sign of rain and no clouds in the sky.
Faith is saying yes to something you believe in, Not knowing what the future holds.
Faith is troubling,
Faith is all I have today because of the hope I have in the messiah.
One who comes to save.
Save with peace.
Save with love,
Save with justice.
Save in ways that do not point to a warrior but a child.
A person building from the position of love and peace will build a new world.
A new world will come.
A real peace will come.
A child will lead them.
May Christmas be in my heart this year.

Thanks be to God.

Amen

a view

A frozen world,
Ice glazed.
Birds dancing on the deck,
Blue skies.
When the sun hits the trees it begins to rain,
The rain that was once frozen to the limbs comes alive.
It drops upon the ice on the ground and makes the glaze appear to float.
Once slick,
Now mush.
Only to freeze again when the sun goes away.

A Prayer for 21 December 2008

Excerpt from Inward/Outward email dated 20 Dec 08

It is very remarkable that we face the thought that God is coming so calmly, whereas previously peoples trembled at the day of God, whereas the world fell into trembling when Jesus Christ walked over the earth. We have become so accustomed to the idea of divine love and of God's coming at Christmas that we no longer feel the shiver of fear that God's coming should arouse in us.  (Dietrich Bonheoffer)

 

God of the morning,

We should be in awe,

We should be shouting in the fields,

We should be running through the streets shouting,

“You better be ready”

We see the coming birth as a day of a child,

But it is for me,

For if there is no birth,

There is no death and ressurection,

The real gift of life for me.

 

 

I pray my heart is on fire for you today.

While I await your coming.

Come and bring peace.

Amen

A prayer for Saturday 20 December 2008

I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me;
I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, ‘Here am I, her am I,’ to a nation that did not call on my name.
Isaiah 65

Great and Loving Creator,
What can I do?
What can I say?
How does my heart respond to your prophet’s words?
I ask this today as I watch my world around me.
As I seek to answer the questions.
As my heart reaches to you,
May my answer see you in the world.
Reaching,
Loving,
Giving,
That is you in my life.
With your grace I respond today,
Amen

A prayer for Friday 19 December 2008

Loving God,
You come to those in fields,
You come to those on walks,
You come to those when we are not ready.
But you are ready to change us.
If only we are more willing to listen.
Listen and be ready.
For you do come.
And you keep trying to reach me.
May I just be long enough to be reached.
In your mercy,
Hear my prayer.
Amen

Prayer for 18 December 2008

Feeling hope.
Holy and Loving God,
I wait for the light, feeling some hope,
The hope that comes with that little feeling
The hope that comes with answered prayers,
The hope that comes with a purpose for your children
The hope that holds fast to the you.
Because you are faithful,
You are faithful.
You are faithful.
With your faith in me I have hope for myself.
No matter what, you don’t give up on me.
You keep reaching out to me.
I just need to be open to your reaching.
May I reach back today.
Amen

A prayer. 17 December 2008

God,
I know you are present today,
I know that you love me,
Even me.
I know that your love is freely given
Yet for me to give it, I put on conditions.
Lord,
Open me to the love so that I can learn to give it more.
And see you in the love I give to others,
For this is what the coming of Christ is all about,
Love coming to us,
Abiding with us,
Giving to us so that we can be renewed,
Made new.
See you again this year.
As a child from the heart of this child.
In your love I pray,

Amen

A Prayer for December 16th 2008

“Christmas itself does not change. It is we who change, and the world we inhabit.” From essays on Theology, 15 Dec 2008
Fr Richard P. McBrien is the Crowley-O’Brien Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame.


God of today,
I am looking for change but I see it differently today,
I want to change things but I see I need to change,
I need to stop,
I need to see the world,
I need to pray for my friends,
I need to understand my world,
I need to Christmas to be made new again.
Where it is about a child and change.
Where light comes and darkness fades.
Where my heart is loosened and fears are set free
Where peace reigns
Where love prevails,
Where my neighbor is set free from oppression.
May this be the change in my world this Christmas.
Lord, give me strength today.
Amen

A Prayer for Monday, December 15th 2008

Prepared.
Prepared for what is coming?
This is what I got from reading the lectionary scriptures for this week.
I was singing a gospel song “You gonna be ready?” since then.

Most loving God,
You use me in ways I can never imagine.
You tell me not to be afraid.
You are with me.
You are coming.
So I ask out loud, Am I ready for this?
Am I ready to go out?
Am I ready to listen?
Am I ready to pray without ceasing?
Am I ready to see a light in a new way?
Am I ready?

I can only pray and ask that you prepare me Lord God.
In the ways you use me.
Ready me
Amen

Praying

Wanting so much, needing so little. I keep wondering. Will it?

Slow Sunday

A day to read the paper, magazines and books. Too bad I was out of my favorite tea. I have to fix that.

Sighting this week

Monday - Heavy traffic.
Tuesday - The riderless horse being escorted to the old chapel by an honor guardsman. Beautiful horse.
Wednesday - Extremely heavy traffic in Georgetown. Cars double parked.
Thursday - A beehive and beekeeper while out for a walk
Friday - Snow and over 30 power generating windmills in PA.
Saturday - I went back to the beehive and took pictures. Deer while out for a bikeride.

Not wanting too

Whatever that means. I feel I am in limbo, trying to figure so much out on my own.

I think I need to ask more.

What do I do?

At 7am in the bike lane on the Key Bridge, a bridge between Washington DC and Arlington VA, two of the wealthiest communities in this country, I almost ran over a sleeping homeless person. It was below 40 and the only shelter is the jersey wall that keeps the traffic from going onto the bike path. This person was asleep. Curled up. Countless people had passed by him this morning. I did too. I wondered too late if he was alright.

Which way?

Sometimes this sign says it all.

Fall

A leaf hangs
Suspended in a spider web.
caught between
Hanging and being on the ground
One life over,
Now getting ready to rest on the ground.
Fall,
the colors explode
Once green, now orange, yellow, brown
Once, so alive,
Now getting ready for the big sleep of winter.
Life slowing down
A time of rest,
As we wait for a return to living.

A bin of Bread

Holy Lord,
Is it enough,
Will it meet the needs,
Yesterday’s bread to someone is today’s bread to someone.
What was once fresh, has a second chance,
For the people in this world who see the need and respond,
Thanks,
For those who are hungry,
Bless them,
For us who want to help,
Guide us,
For the bread,
Make it enough.
Just for today.
Tomorrow is another day and I’ll worry about it then.
Amen

BikeDC

My days of living dangerously have continued,
I rode up the middle of Massachusetts Ave and Pennsylvania Ave.
I wanted to stop and lay in the middle of the road but I was having too much fun,
I also wanted to stop and take a picture with 0 cars in the road too.
There were puddles to be ridden through,
New friends to meet.
A rest stop at the residence of the Ambassador from Taiwan,
Tricycle races(I passed on this one)
It was BikeDC and we rode around town with no cars on the road.
It was so much fun (and safe).

Humbled

Riding home yesterday was a new experience. A sI was riding through Fort Myer, I came up on the horse drawn carriage going back to the caisson after another day of the last trip for this veteran. The beauty of the horses. The spit and polish of the carriage.
The slow, somber walk of the horses.
Made me slow down for a while.

Seeking

Spiritual direction.  I am contacting different persons about who/what/where next.  Journeys sometimes take paths that are difficult to understand.  This is my time to pray about it.

3rd Time is the charm

Bee sting, 3rd time this summer.
Lower leg so Benadryl works just fine. I am riding home and pass a man and woman walking a big red lab/setter mix when I feel it and starting yelling ow, ow, ow, ow and pull over. I swat the bee off and the couple was looking at me like I was nuts. I said it was a bee sting and they were amazed that a bee had flew into me and stung me.

Now for the week of itching to come.
May I pray that the rest of the bees just pass me by.

Awakenings

Having a kitten lick your eyes while I want to sleep. Guess I need to teach them to tell time.

Fading

Letting it all fade away. Calming myself. Letting go.
I think this is where I am today.

What was that?

After the worst Monday ever, Tuesday was bearable. I was watching a squirrel in the back yard grabbing a stick then rolling down the hill. A squirrel playing? Rolling around down the hill? That was really a first. Wish I had my camera with me then.

Hanging out

Praying a lot. Thinking about others. Wanting this knee pain to be gone.
Wondering. That is what it is about today.

Knowing

It is time. I know it. I made the appointment. Vet tech irked me when I explained to him that I had been in twice in the past month and the situation was only worse. I have to do something I find hard.

Cowabunga kitties

Getting two kittens has been fun. They jump at everything and everyone.

Waiting

Watching Alex. Is it time?
He has spark but his legs are failing him.

Itch

Bee sting turned to a real itch. It took three days before it got better.

Stung!

Again. I got stung last week when something flew down my jersey.. Today I got it on the inseam, real upper inseam. How to ruin a ride. I turned around and went home. Putting anti-itch cream on. Since each time there was no stinger left, I am thinking wasp or yellowjacket. Either way I think I need a break from them.

Celebrating

Alex has gained a half a pound in 2 weeks. That is good news. He is up to 5.6 pounds. He even looks happy. Happy with no teeth.

Wondering

Is this lion going to eat me?

Me watching a lion on the Seregeti plain.

Wildlife

There are signs of spring everywhere. I went to trim bushes around the house and I discover a robin nesting in a holly bush. Me and I’ll say she kind of startled each other. I agreed to give her a wide birth for the next few weeks.
I was cleaning my bicycle car also. The bushes are still flowering which means they are full of bumble bees. I made a deal with them; I leave you alone and you leave me alone. It seems to be working.
Stoopid (I know) woodpecker. There is a woodpecker who has not figured out that the trim on the house is aluminum. Every few days you hear rat-tat-tat-tat and it shakes you to the bone. I think I have seen the culprit at the bird feeder. I have to wonder about this one….
Squirrels. They are digging up all the mulch around the house. I have to level it off every few days. Another funny thing is watching a squirrel running with a hamburger bun in it’s mouth. I will throw out old bread, buns, tortillas into the yard for the wild life instead of putting it in the trash. I had to smile watching this squirrel bounding through the yard with a hamburger bun in it’s mouth. It was a funny sight to see.

Adventures in lawnmowing

Sheer terror and fear that drains the blood out of you. Doesn’t sound much like lawn mowing does it? It is. After 3 days of rain we get a nice, sunny dry day before another day of rain. I had decided to mow the lawn because it was looking kind of bad for tomorrow. All my neighbors had the same idea so here we all are, out doing yard work except for me, it didn’t start that way.

Sheer fear. I went out to get the lawnmower out of the shed. There is a flowering tree out back right above the shed and it is in full bloom. I opened the door and noticed a loud hum above my head so I looked up and saw that the tree was full of honeybees. The blood drained from me. My first thought was “Where is my Epipen?” I remembered I keep it with my helmet and I have told “da wif” where the other ones are. I did get the lawnmower out and then brought it around front to “da wif’s” car where she has a plug in pump for tires. I got the tires all pumped up and everything put away so it was time to start mowing…

Sheer terror. I had left it in gear when I turned the lawnmower off, so when I pulled the starter line, it leaped away from me so here I was trying to turn it off, trying to turn it away from “da wif’s” car and other things in the yard. I managed to turn it off, get my wit about me and then mowed the lawn. I wonder what it looks like to be in sheer terror.
I am done mowing, now I smell like onions…..

Buzzing about

Spring. It is in the air and all over everything too. Cars are yellow. We are sneezing quite frequently. Bees are about. Their buzzing is loud, or I thought. Lots of bumble bees out front and I thought the buzzing was them. Then is heard a shift in the drone and realized it was the race cars again. Come on Monday morning, so I can be through with another race weekend.... Lots of bumble bees out front. Here is one!

They don't get it

Remember from the Wizard of Oz?
Lion, tigers and bears oh my!
I think the people today are saying;
Iraq, elections, economy, oh my!
When I heard Darth Cheney's comments on the death toll in Iraq I was shocked,
"You regret every casualty, every loss," he said. "The president is the one that has to make that decision to send young men and women into harm's way. It never gets any easier."

Duh, Why did you send them in the first place?
Money?? Power? Oil?

You missed the whole point of serving the people. Not for you own good but for the good of all people.

Funeral

A funeral on Holy Saturday. The church was packed and the service went on for over two hours. The music was great and the preaching touched me. Life in a small community reaches out and touches you sometimes. Rest in peace Lady Di.

Up to my ears

That is how I feel now. So much to do, prioritize and then get back to it. Must make it past Sunday........

Seasons Change

had to mow the lawn this week. My wife thought I was nuts. There are flowers everywhere. I am sneezing like crazy. There is noise. It sounds like racecars. Not like I live 5 miles from the racetrack but I do. We can still hear them. The local newspaper is showing all these drivers who I have no idea who they are. The big race here is on the 30th. The nuts will be in town and all the advertisements will be out.

Sightings at a funeral

Delivery to a cemetery!

I just had a funeral service for a wonderful man in my community. It was bright but chilly and the birds were singing. The people were telling me about the birds they saw and the others they heard during the service.

Me and the funeral directors had a different view. Dominos Pizza making a delivery into the cemetery during the service. We (the persons facing the street) were trying to figure out who ordered pizza.
A last wish?
A really late delivery?

Easter Thoughts

Flowers everywhere. Signs of new life. Life emerging from the ground.

Death and Life? Symbols? What does it mean.

Getting into the Bible belt has really gotten to me. Going to my least favorite big box store,

You know the one; the ones that sucks the small businesses out of the economy and provided low paying jobs without a whole lot of benefits. (A Social sermon for another day)

I am walking by and what do I see? Easter Baskets. Not the kind you would normally see but ones with toys in it Still not catching on? Toys that are not about the Easter Message. How about Army Men and a Tank for your child in their Easter Basket. I felt anger at their secular approach to the whole reason for the Christian Church. New Life. Light that beats death. Life that is abundant. Not this:

Copy Cat

Last cat post for a while. Me and my copier have a love/hate relationship. I love to hate it and it gets back at me. Just wait, when you have 5 minutes and need 30 copies of something when you got to be there, it will start jamming.


I see Alex has started seeing if there are any little elves in it.

Sneaking up on Boo Radley

This has nothing to do with:
http://www.bookrags.com/notes/tkm/CHR.htm
but it has to do with playing some lined out music that I had recorded from a Primative Baptist Choir. It is similar to a bagpipe the way the people slide into notes and the leader gives a line the people sing and while they are singing he give another line.

I was playing some and it spooked Alex. He hid for more than 2 hours. I wonder if he is scared of bagpipes.

Anointed or Owned?

Goose has been a trip recently. Whenever the sunspot goes away, he comes to the room we are in, meows at us then bids us to follow. We have this game we call "Chase Chase". He always initiates it by coming to us and meowing, we follow and chase him from room to room. This can go on for 5 to 10 minutes and all over the house with Goose tearing from room to room. The funny part is, it is so easy to sneak up on a deaf cat.

When he is ready, he will run to the bed and invite us to come and join him. He usually then, licks our forehead, headbutts us, and purrs really loud. It is an anointing by Goose. I also know he owns us. Not bad to be owned by a cat who 6 years ago would run from me.(We adopted hm then)

Goose left - Alex right

Screaming

Another leak. Another leaky roof. I have to wonder about things around here with all the leaking roofs. Maybe it is me screaming at the process in general. Silent Prayer.

Ice, Ice Baby

How unpoetic..... A vanilla ice rap song. I am content with my coffee and things I need to do today. No hurry. No worry. Peace, Quiet. Love.
Thinking about one of those Caribbean cruises I have been on.

Another Mystery – Solved!

I have been waking to a light being on in the bedroom and I did not turn it on. I come home and the lamp is on and I know it was off. We have touch lamps on nightstands that make life easy when we turn them on or off when we need light. To have them come on by themselves had me wondering.
I know whenever we had a power flux, they might come on but it was just happening too frequently so I thought they were failing.
I was in there yesterday and the phone rang and the light came on. I found out the why!!!
It appears when I moved some power cords I had crossed the phone line over the power cord. EM interference. I thought I had retired from this kind of stuff.
At least I don’t have the lamps going on anymore….

Lunch Buddy

I was asked to be a lunch buddy at one of the local elementary schools. I signed up, went through the mandatory background checks, then said I am available to anyone that needs a buddy. I was assigned a 3rd grader. This has been so much fun because I go in every few weeks and sit down at tables about half human size and eat fine dining, elementary school style. I also see kids from the local churches and neighborhoods that know me. It is so funny to see the smiles and waves from all of the kids. Well today, I had lunch with my “Honor roll lunch buddy” as I called him. He smiled and it was good to see him start to relax. I just love seeing all the smiles and hearing the stories from them. The kids in trouble for break dancing during PE. The kids having a silent lunch for talking out of turn. The strange things you can do with ketchup. I think this is a break from the past two weeks I have had. Seeing young ones is always a treat.

Excited

I was working last night on stuff and I kept hearing strange noises on the roof. I went out and found out it was sleeting, freezing rain and snowing. Sweetie has 1 inch of snow for her B'Day. I was exited enough to call out in German to her. Shades of getting snowed on in Munich and Salzburg. Those are good memories. 5 Years ago in Arlington when MIL got stuck with us for 5 days because of the blizzard....... you decide.

12:59 AM

I woke up again this morning soaked and hot but this time I had the Goose on me. He was asleep on my chest. I moved him and Alex moved in for his purr time. Goose them proceeded to stomp me and did circles over my head and around me. I do not think I slept well last night.

So here is Goose in a face plant on the bed.

Don't we all wish we could sleep this well?

Lent

A new journey. A new time. I am hoping to have more prayer time this year. I think that is what I am taking on. More time in silence. A thought in this world of noise and confusion.
Lord, open me to walk with you.

Mardi Gras

Great Tuesday is the literal translation. Eat and drink like there is no tomorrow because tomorrow you may die. Guess what? Everyday is like Mardi Gras. A gift. I think I might just be a little down today. 75 outside and I have to work. Really have to but it is my calling. Maybe I should put my bicycle outside so it remembers what warm weather is all about.

Missing Charlotte

Last night as I went to bed, I checked on her spot to she if she was settled in for the night. I then remembered that she has passed on.

Bird Feeder

We purchased some cheap (cheep) bird food at one of the chain stores. Talk about picky. The birds did not touch it. I put up a suet feeder and it remained untouched for a few days. No hawks or falcons that I can see but still no action at the bird feeder. I dumped the stuff and put in "premium" bird food and what a difference. Gold finches, cardinals, chickadees, tufted titmouses, junkoes and others all over the place. Do they have expensive taste?

Reflections

Yesterday was a bust as far as snow goes. Not much of anything. Waking to freezing fog was different. I've been thinking about this past week. What a blur. I just can not believe how much I had to do, go too and be at in a professional capacity. I think I will take it easy tomorrow and read some. The snow is forecast east of us.

Snow

They are forcasting nasty stuff for this region tomorrow. I guess I can stay home and watch movies!

Creation

Are we a perfect accident?

Something to think about.