This morning while looking for a particular book on my office bookshelves, I ran across a small,green,laminated card that I had created for a retreat I led a few years ago. The card listed the Seven Whispers from a book by Christina Baldwin. The book’s subtitle is "Listening to the Voice of Spirit." The small book gives guidance for living an intentional, mindful, Spirit-centered life. Each chapter holds simple yet rich ways of going about our daily living.
The first intention is "Maintain peace of mind." Easier said than done. I don’t know about you, but it is very easy for me to take one small annoyance and throw gasoline on the fire. What began as a small blip in the day turns into a tsunami of emotion, activity, disconnection and negativity. If in the face of whatever caused the annoyance, I can "maintain peace of mind",my peaceful approach will cause a much more peaceful outcome.  This peace of mind connects me with the mind of Christ, reinforcing that I am indeed connected to something greater than myself.
So, today as I go out into the cold winter morning, in addition to enjoying the beauty of the sun on snow, it will be my intention to maintain peace of mind. My prayer is that in maintaining peace of mind I will also spread peace on my path.
More about the Seven Whispers tomorrow.

I have been a part of a small group of people using the Saving Jesus dvd-based study. For more than three months this rather large "small group" has gathered on Sunday evenings to listen to theologians, scholars and clergy talk about who Jesus was and who Jesus is for the 21st century. Each week for 90 minutes we wrestled with scripture, our own experience and theology, our commonly held beliefs and those places where we didn’t see eye to eye. We prayed together,laughed together, expressed our hopes and our fears about what it means to say we are Christian in these times. Some people came and went from the group as they vacationed or experienced illness but there was always a lively group ready to respond to people like Marcus Borg, John Shelby Spong, Helen Prejean, and Matthew Fox. It was truly food for the intellect and for the spirit.

At the suggestion of one class member, we went out to eat together after our last gathering. As we left the church the snow had just begun to fall. It was beautiful as we walked out into the night. Making our way to the Namaste Cafe on Hennepin Avenue, we gathered in a lovely room in this old house turned restaurant. The deep orange of the walls reflected the light from candles all around. We sat at a long series of small tables pushed together to fit the group. Sharing food around the table, food from a far away culture, I looked down the table at the faces….some old, some young, some new to our community, some who had been known to our church for more than fifty years……all beautiful. Looking down the table I realized that these were people, many of whom would never come into contact with one another during a regular day. But they had chosen to come together around the common search for understanding this person Jesus. They were people called by their questions and their certainty, their faith and their doubt.

I was reminded of another table, long ago that was surrounded by friends, sharing food and drink, stories and questions, hopes and hurts. Jesus sat at that table….and I believe he was also with us in spirit around ours. As the snow continued to fall, I thought how appropriate the name of the restuarant…….Namaste Cafe. The-God-in-me greets the-God-in-you Cafe.  Communion…..a taste of heaven.

I remember someone saying once that Dr. King did not say " I have a five year plan" but " I have a dream". Dreams carry us where we think we will go and also to places we never thought possible. Dreams push us beyond our comfort zone, are frightening, cause us to risk and be filled with courage. Dreams don’t follow ordinary time but flow out in confusing and amazing ways, fueled by the Spirit. In the years since his death, as a people we have made great strides toward the realization of the dream and its inclusivity and also missed the mark in very tragic ways.

As we celebrate Dr. King’s birth, I am reminded that his life and his message were grounded in his faith, in his understanding of God’s movement in his life, God’s call on his life. His dream came out of what he believed and what he hoped. His dream was grounded in his hope for the kin-dom of God to be realized here on earth.

I came across this affirmation of faith today which I hope contributes to honoring the Dream:

We believe in sacred power within and around us-a divine spirit that we call by many names and expereince in many ways-that empowers and heals-that calls us forth. We believe in our creativity and doing justice.Justice that compels and empowers us to risk whatever we must risk to create a climate in which people can be who they are. We believe in our dreams. We experience the world as it is-in both its ugliness and beauty and we see what it can become. We believe in making peace. A peace that is based on openness, honesty and compassion. We believe in hope. We expect changes to continue to occur in our world. We rely on our courage to continue to bring about these changes. We believe in love. A passionate love within and around us that laughs and cries, challenges and comforts, a healing love that perseveres. We believe in potential. We know who we are-painful as that can be at times-yet we continue to call to each other to become more of who we are. We believe in celebrating. We remember and commemorate. We create rituals. We play and dance and sing and love well. We believe in diversity. We affirm our many shapes and sizes, colors and traditions, emotions and thoughts, differences and similarities. We believe in life. Life that wells up within and flows out of us like a streaming fountain. We believe that we are good and holy-a sacred part of all creation.

Let us continue dreaming together…….

"In pursuit of knowledge, every day something is acquired. In the pursuit of wisdom, every day something is dropped."  Lao Tzu

Our church has been engaged for the last year in a process of discernment. The hope of this discernment is that,through collective prayer and conversation, we can come to understand what it is that God is calling us to in this time and in our place in the city. Much good has come of this endeavor. At a meeting last week, a document was presented that in some ways outlined our identity as we see it and as we hope it will evolve. One of the most surprising and I believe powerful statements says "we will gently and fearlessly let go of those ministries which no longer fit us."

Letting go is very difficult work. To do this gently and fearlessly is well, nearly impossible! How can we do it? How will we know if we are "right" about what we choose to not do any longer? These same questions apply to our work as a church community, our work as a nation, our work as individuals. None of this work can be done without very intentional reflection, prayer, trust, support and faith.

It is not a common practice of 21st century people to be reflective. Instead we forge ahead, keep the ball moving,don’t look back. But reflection is imperative to change and growth, to living faithfully, to living creatively. The pursuit of knowledge demands that we keep adding to our life. The pursuit of wisdom demands that we take the time to reflect, pray, trust, and let go of those things which no longer serve us well. It is not either/or, it is both/and. Knowledge and wisdom.

It’s Friday. I hope to take some time this weekend to add knowledge to my life in some way. I also plan to be reflective…..to come to a place of wisdom about what I can gently and fearlessly let go. Join me?

My husband has a belief that the words most people really want to hear are:"It’s going to be o.k." If you read the scriptures, the words most often spoken-usually by angels, messengers of God- are "Do not be afraid". From Genesis to Revelation, your will find "do not be afraid" or "fear not" more than any other words. The scripture writers must really be on to something.

"It’s going to be o.k." and "Fear not!" send for all practical purposes the same message. I have thought all morning about the importance of these words spoken at just the right moment. I have been thinking about the words because one of the people who spoke those words to me passed on to eternal life last night. This Messenger of God, my friend’s Mother, was truly an angel and one of the best pray-ers I have ever known.  In her deep alto voice, in a way only she could, she would say: "Listen, darling, it’s going to be o.k. I am praying. " In her nonanxious way, she delivered her message to me at two very important times in my life. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer and I was frightened beyond movement and when my father had a stroke and was dying. In her simple, faithful way, she spoke those words and I believed her. At that moment in time I was consoled and comforted and felt held in her prayers- and more importantly in the arms of the Holy.

As I reflected this morning on her wonderful, generous and prayerful life, I wondered: Who will take up her words in the world? Who will speak those words we all need to hear? Is it me? Is it you?

Traveling mercies, dear one……

I rarely make New Year’s resolutions. I’ve never been terribly successful with them. However, this year in addition to religiously taking my daily dose of calcium, I decided to do one thing. I decided to slowly read through the Book of Acts. I had read something last year about how the church of today is more like the early church than ever before. In choosing to make my way through the book, I have made a point of recording in my journal what insights I have made about these early believers life together. (More about that at another time.)

A particular line today grabbed me. I am using Eugene Peterson’s version of the scriptures entitled The Message, chosen for its readability and often fresh ways of using language. In translating David’s words in the second chapter, Peter says:"I’ve pitched my tent in the land of hope."

I’ve pitched my tent in the land of hope. Sounds like a good plan to me. Knowing that these early Christians didn’t live in a world less violent, less filled with injustice or oppression, less torn by poverty and inequity of power, less frightening, than we do now, it seems an audacious statement. Granted, in our day we know so much more about what is going on in the world through media and instant information that is can seem as if we are in a constant state of fearful chaos and that those long ago would find it much easier to make such a statement. But I really don’t think that is true. Their world view may have been smaller but the ways in which humans choose to behave toward one another hasn’t varied that much. After all, they had witnessed the brutal killing of their beloved teacher Jesus and were now trying to shape their future together.

As the year 2007 begins we are still at war, we still encounter those who live on the streets and ask how this can be happening in the wealthiest country in the world. We hear news reports that make us cringe and it would be easy to fall into despair. The wisdom of this early community must have been their decision to pitch their tent in the land of hope. Otherwise we might not be telling their story today and our story as people of faith might have been very different. It could have disappeared with their despair.

A couple of years ago I was at a wedding in which the couple, who had written their own vows, promised to "be witnesses to hope in the world." What a promise! And what a way to begin a life together. To wake up every day knowing that today it was my promise to my beloved that I would witness to the hope that is often visible, sometimes hidden,yet always present in the goodness at the core of Creation, always waiting to be revealed.

Hope?  Perhaps 2007 will  be the year when we all decide to pitch our tents in the land of hope. Who knows what a difference it might make?

It is easy to live another day. Take for instance, yesterday. This morning I was busy looking at the things from yesterday that I had not accomplished. My list was quite long. This led to rethinking all the places I could have and should have done things differently so I could have finished all the tasks on my list, returned all the calls, answered all the emails. Very soon I was living yesterday, not today.

Then sometimes it is easier to live tomorrow.Thinking ahead to all the events that need to take place tomorrow, places I need to go, people I need to connect with, meals I need to think about, laundry that needs to be done, books I’ve been meaning to get to, weight I mean to lose. You know how goes. It is easy to quickly find myself living tomorrow instead of today.

And yet today is truly where I am living, breathing, walking around. It is this day that God gives me, as the song goes. And so to that end, I try to follow a practice that a spiritual director taught me which I now offer to you. As you open your door to go wherever you are going, say these words:

I step out of the past.

I step into THIS day.

I step into myself.

I step into the Mystery.

You can do this as you go out your door in the morning. You can say it as you head into an important meeting. You can say it as you sit on the edge of your bed and prepare to get up in the morning. It has great power to bring us to the present moment and to help us to be present to this day.

A scripture comes to mind: "Give your attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes." (Matthew 6:25 The Message)

How about we step into THIS day?

I see the Moon and the Moon sees me. God bless the Moon and God bless me.

I remember singing that song with my children when they were small….looking up at the moon, sometimes in our backyard and sometimes at the cabin. It was always one of those powerful moments of cosmic connection for me. Gazing up at the sky, holding these small ones I love so dearly and resting in the Mystery of it all.

The Moon is never more beautiful to me than in these winter mornings. I am an early riser…it is perhaps genetic….my Dad met his buddies every morning at 5 a.m. for coffee. They gathered and replayed Friday nights’ game, solved the world’s problems and I am imagining talked about their kids and their problems every now and then.

I also rise around 5 a.m. and as I go out to get the paper, I look up at the sky and see that white orb shining down and am always struck with its beauty, its ability to pull me in, its ability to fill me with humility. It is always a holy moment.

Last night at a class I lead, we were discussing all the ways in which humans experience the Holy and in turn use language to describe that experience. Those differences can be  a great source of inspiration and revelation for us but instead often become the place of argument and division. One of the class members said she read something from another tradition that was helpful to her. One of the wisdom sayings of this tradition goes something like this: "The same Moon shines upon us all."

Today my prayer is that as I go about my life, as I read the paper and watch the news, that at some deep place in all our differences, we might remember that the same Moon shines upon us all and the same Creator holds us dear.

I see the Moon and the Moon sees me…God bless the Moon and God bless you.

This morning the first words from my husband’s mouth after "Good morning" were "Do you remember what you were dreaming?" I didn’t. He then told me that I had awakened him with the words:"I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you." Wow! It must have been unnerving. I am a usually a very peaceful person, calm for the most part, not given to daytime or nightime threats.

But last night I couldn’t get to sleep. So I roamed the house. I read fiction. I read nonfiction. I made lists of all the things I hadn’t gotten to that day. I worried.I prayed. I tried again to sleep only to get up and go back downstairs to wait for the sound of our son coming into the house. Back in bed, my dreams must have taken me to places that reflected my fitfulness.

This morning I was reminded of the words from one of my favorite books, one I return to over and over. Sabbath:Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives by Wayne Muller. The author tells of his own work to reclaim the ancient Hebrew practice and observance of Sabbath. He begins by talking of how Americans particularly like say " I am so busy" as a badge of honor. The busier we are, the more successful. Muller writes that the Chinese pictograph for "busy" is composed of two characters: heart and killing.

Many faith traditions put great stock in dreams. In fact even our Christian ancestors did. The wise ones have always interpreted dreams and changed their lives as directed by these nighttime stories played out in our unconscious. The Holy often visits in dreams, when we are not too preoccupied by the to-do lists, the distractions, when we are at rest in the place between doing and being.

I wonder if it was "busyness" I was trying to kill in my dream? I wonder if I was trying to save my heart?

You are welcome to Pause….. In writing my Advent blog on the subject of Holy Mystery, I found that it became a wonderful spiritual practice for me. To nearly every morning take the time to reflect on a scripture or poem, became a time for me to pause in what can be the busiest times for a woman, wife, mother who also is a church professional. And so I began to welcome the time I would pull up to the computer and write.