Seeking Authentic Voice

God of all hopefulness, God of my life On this holy day of Palms and Passions and through this the holiest of weeks, when our Lenten journey finds its completion through pain sorrow despair illness losses of all kinds, through fear anger hatred vitriol and finger pointing. Through a self-examination of all the ways we work against you - against your hopes and dreams for creation against your love poured out in flesh and blood - we hang our heads and bow our hearts seeking your forgiveness yearning for your guidance desiring your compassion. Fill us we pray, with the ability to turn to you, kneeling before your grace open our spirit that we may take you in let you in receive you in taking You in.. Into our hearts and minds and souls Let you in that we might turn to you, return to you, be transformed in you, through you, by you, for you. Transformed once more, this day, this week, into a new self, me, you. May we become a new people, a gentle people, a people of love and compassion, bor...

Songbird over at RevGals offers this Friday Five Meme as we prepare for Holy Week: Please share with us five ways you redo or refresh or restore your body, your space, your blog, anything in your life that needs perking up this week. I wrote about this recently as I reflected on generating regeneration (see previous post). That reflection was primarily about recovering from a cold that seems to come back over and over while at the same time trying to commit to a workout schedule at a fitness club. I have never someone who goes to the gym, if I can't workout at home I don't workout. But this new place is too small and with three big dogs it's impossible to work out here, except for dog walks. So, off to the gym I go. It helps that my daughter goes too. Thus, working out regularly is one way I am trying to renew, restore, redo, and refresh this aging body. Exercise is good for the mind and spirit too. Usually I take one or two silent retreats a year at a local retreat center....

In less than a month I have packed up a house, loaded a moving truck, driving across country, unloaded the truck, rested for a few days, flown to the East Coast, interviewed for a new job, flew back, and landed with a cold. I haven't had a cold in awhile, since last April, some 11 months ago. Then I was never sure if it was a bad cold or a bad allergy from a horrible sand storm. Anyway, I haven't been sick in a long time. This cold is odd, though. Relatively mild as colds go. Maybe because I've taken Chinese herbs and done yoga and rested? It began in my head, clogged, hard to breathe. Moved to my throat, scratchy and sore. Moved to my chest. Yesterday I felt better. Today I feel like its come back. Viruses are like that, they regenerate. My daughter and I have started to going to a health club. I've never been fond of clubs, even though I exercise regularly. I usually have my own routine that I do at home. But this place we are staying in is too small, and well there a...

(photo from flickrphotos) God of all new things, God of Spring, and fragrant flowers, and unexpected snow. God of hope and new life, Bless us, we pray, this day. God of all things passing away, God of old and yesterday, the One who is with us in our despair and fear. God who sighs and weeps, God who wipes away our tears. Hear us when we pray. Incline your ear to our words, silent shouting cries, mournful whispers. Be gentle with our hard hearts. Be gentle. Be gentle. Anoint us with your touch the softness of your love breaks into our hardness and opens us anew. A new thing. A new life. New sight. Anoint us, Holy One and fill us with you loving touch. Fill us that we can touch in your love and fill others. Fill us gently. Fill us. In your name we pray. Amen. Crossposted on RevGalBlogPals and RevGalPrayerPals

A reflection on the readings for Lent 5C: Isaiah 43:16-21 and John 12:1-8 Right out of college, in the late 1970’s, I had a small career working in dance and theater. By 1991 I was a stay at home mom with a two year old, yearning for a little something I could to do to earn money but also make my own schedule. My college roommate had carved a career for herself as a massage therapist and it seemed to me that dance and massage therapy would go well together. So, in the fall of that year I enrolled in a 14 month program that would earn me a certificate in therapeutic massage. We had classes on physiology, anatomy, and kinesiology which included memorizing all the muscles and bones in the body and how they moved. We learned various techniques for relieving muscle strain and lactic acid build up, and we had classes on oils. Now a course on oil is not as silly as it might sound. As it turns out there is good reason to be mindful of what kind of oil one uses. I was surprised to learn that a ...

Jan, over at RevGals asks us to "Share your preferences, opinions, and recommendations about movies! Choose 5 types of movies to discuss: action thriller mystery drama comedy foreign animated children's science fiction western/cowboy other? Bonus: Tell about the first movie you ever saw and/or the last one! I'm going to begin with the bonus: The first movie I saw at a theater was The Sound of Music. The first movie I remember watching at home was The Wizard of Oz. And the last movie I saw in the theater was, Julie and Julia. Last night my husband and I watched a movie at home but the name escapes me, it was about a lonely professor from Connecticut who returns to his apartment in New York for a conference and finds some people living in the apartment. The couple living in the apartment are undocumented, one from Senegal and the other from Syria. It was a delightful film, sad, as well. Broadly speaking I like any movie of any genre that reflects people growing, transforming...

(Photo from the files of Mompriest, Grand Canyon tree) Creator God from whom all life springs forth We give You thanks Come, one and all, Celebrate and rejoice! Celebrate and rejoice - The old has passed away Everything has become new! Forgiving God with whom We seek to reconcile our brokenness and the ways we break into a new creation! Celebrate and rejoice - The old has passed away Everything has become new! Lving God, father, son, mother, daughter Family, friend, one, all With, through, and by Your Prodigal love Reconciled. Celebrate and rejoice - The old has passed away Everything has become new! Cross posted on RevGalBlogPals and RevGal Prayer Pals