A Different Kind of Sunday Morning Prayer

When I sat down for my "sacred space" yesterday, I heard the "click-click-click."  If you keep up with my posts, you might remember the one I journaled a few weeks ago about the Unwanted Guest.  As far as I could tell, there was (is) some kind of critter making its home under the armoire that houses my computer -- though I have not heard it since I had the exterminator give me a couple of sticky pads.  However, yesterday's noise alerted me again to the situation.  But this time, it wasn't coming from my left, but from my right.  And knowing I could in no way concentrate, I got up to investigate.  

I first looked in a bag hanging on the back of the Jefferson rocker.  Nothing in there I could see.  So I attuned my ears a little more, determined to find this source of irritation.  And there it was.  A very small caterpillar, not more than a quarter of an inch in length ... caught in what seemed to be an invisible web.  Quite frankly, I didn't know a small insect could make such a noise. But I guess if I were to find myself in the same situation with an 8-legged creature hovering above me, I could make some pretty hefty sounds, too.  And that's exactly what he was doing.

I know this may sound really strange, but something about the whole scenario intrigued me; so I got my coffee from the table next to the couch and placed myself cross-legged on the floor, and for the next 15-20 minutes, I just sat and watched.  

Though there was some pity for the little creature that was caught, it was, actually, all quite interesting.  When the caterpillar would stop its clicking sound, the female spider would come down her web.  When she got close to her captive, he would begin his noise making again, and she would retreat back up the web to her mate (who would scurry away from her). Then I noticed something interesting.  The caterpillar was slowly being lifted off the floor.  Yes, somehow the spider was pulling him up toward her.

Like I said, the whole thing was so fascinating to watch.

It would be easy to surmise that my quiet time that morning was a total waste.  But I beg to differ.  Could it be that it was not only NOT a waste of time but a moment of sacredness as I entered into the moment ... the "now"? As I partook of the Creator by stopping to partake of His creation?  

Sometimes I think we confuse praying with prayerfulness.  For sometimes prayer happens without any prayers.

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always... 

Luke 18:1

Just an ordinary moment...

The Woman of Firehouse Subs

I grabbed my book and entered Firehouse Subs for a quick lunch while out running some errands last week. After placing my order and stressing out at the drink machine (however I am getting more proficient at the 120+ selection -- you can read about that here), I found a table by the window.  The woman who stood behind and ordered after me took the table directly in front of me.

As I waited for my chili to arrive, I took out God's Favorite Place on Earth, which is not Firehouse Subs, mind you, (though I do think Jesus might enjoy a good "Hook and Ladder,") but Bethany ... and the title of the book.  I turned to the page where I had left off and began reading.  But what happened next disturbed me so that I had a hard time concentrating.  The lady I mentioned earlier, who was probably a few years older than I, pulled out a book, too!  The only difference was that she was sitting with her husband and I was alone.  At first I thought she might be sharing something with him out of the book.  But, no, she starting reading, and all I could think of was, "How rude!"  I kept watching just knowing, hoping really, that any minute she would put it down and give him her attention.  But she didn't.  Her nose remain buried.

And the amazing thing?  He sat there perfectly content.  No disgruntled look.  No exasperation on his face.  No heavy sighs.  He wasn't even watching the television in the far corner.  He just gazed on her with pure contentment. Yeah, every now and then he would say something and she might look up and answer, but for the most part, she was totally engrossed in the suspense novel she was reading, completely oblivious to the man at the table.  Her husband.

I finished my chili before their food ever arrived and left the eatery with my book  -- along with a hardened feeling toward the woman who was being so callous toward her husband.  How, indeed, could she treat him with such insensitivity?

Until...

Until the next morning when I came into my sun room, my "sacred space," to meet with the Lord and He reminded me of my own indifference.  My own carelessness in OUR relationship.  For how often have I lit my candle to signify this hallowed time -- but instead of talking with Him, picked up a "book" to read. It may have been in the form of checking messages on my phone ... or seeing what was posted on Facebook the night before or what pictures had been added in Instagram.  A return email may have gotten first dibs of the morning.  Or it may have been a book with real pages just like the lady at Firehouse.  The point is, how in the world could I throw such jagged stones when I, myself, have done the same thing time and time again to the Lover of my soul?  

Ironically, as much as I am that woman of Firehouse Subs, I also saw the Lord in the face and attitude of her husband.  Indeed, God looks at me like her spouse looked upon her.  With no judgment.  No annoyance.  No irritation.  None of these things.

No, He looks upon me with persistent love and patient longing ... just waiting for me, like the woman's bridegroom, to turn my gaze toward Him and acknowledge His presence.

And so I do.  I put down my book ... and my stone.

Just an ordinary moment...

Unwanted Guest

It's not the first time an unwanted guest has found its way into my house.  But that doesn't mean I'm used to it.  When I sat down to have my quiet time early one morning last week, I heard it.  At first I thought it was just the way I was moving the paper next to me on the couch.  But upon sitting still ... I heard it again.  I opened my devotional book and turned to the prescribed passage in my "Spiritual Formation" Bible to begin my "sacred space," and ... that sound.  I stood to see if I could pinpoint where the noise was coming from and follow it.  But each time I moved, there was nothing but quiet.  So I sat to begin my reading once more.  There it was again.  It sounded ... crackly.  Like paper.  And as hard as I tried, I could not concentrate for knowing that something was lurking about me.  Something I could not see.  But only hear.  What was it?  A lizard?  A gargantuan cockroach?  Or heaven forbid, a snake?

I tried to set my thoughts on the Scripture passage.  I tried reading the devotional.  I tried praying.  But constantly, my mind was going to whatever "it" was every time "it" moved.  It was consuming my every thought.  And, quite frankly, instilling a little bit of fear.  You know, the kind when something brushes up against your leg in the ocean.

This was ridiculous, and I finally could take it no more.  I got down on my hands and knees, put the side of my face to the floor and looked under the armoire, the large wardrobe converted to computer "desk".  Sure enough, several pieces of paper had slipped up under it and made a nice carpet for anything that might be treading upon it.  Thus, I assumed, the crackle sound.  I got the broom and pulled out the debris, trashed it and went back to my spot on the couch.  Finally, a little peace.

But you know as well as I do I had only removed the sound and had not touched the source.  It's the old sweeping of the cobwebs without getting rid of the spider routine.  You can destroy that web as many times as you like, but until you do away with the spider, you're just going to have to keep dusting.  So even as I sit here right now, something, (hopefully only a lizard -- whose lifespan is about 3 years), is quite possibly watching me.  So however I do it, whether my husband is around to remove the problem and place it outside or I take the aforementioned broom to escort it to lizard heaven, it's GOT to go.  Or else there's not going to be any real peace around here.  At least not for about 3 years.

Reminds me a little bit of how I often treat the sin in my life: removing the manifestation  but allowing the root to grow.

Maybe it wasn't a wasted quiet time after all.

Just an ordinary moment...

Written Into ALL Things

I can't help but love it when an old passage becomes new.  You know what I'm talking about.  That Scripture you've read over and over and over for years and years and years -- and all of a sudden, BAM!, it's fresh.  For me this morning, it was John 1:1-3.  

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  ALL things came into being through him, and without him NOT ONE thing came into being.

It sounds a little bit like Colossians 1:16, doesn't it?  For in him ALL things in heaven and on earth were created ... ALL things have been created through him and for him.

ALL things?  Do ALL things have the stamp of Christ upon them?  Is His nature inherent in ALL things?  Is His will written into the very structure of it ALL?  Are we "predestined" by the very nature of things to be Christ's?

Is sounds to me like a big fat Yes!  That there is both a Christ touch and a Christ purpose in creation.  That ALL is made not only BY Him -- touch; but FOR Him -- purpose.  In other words, there is a destiny written into not only the God-created order of nature but into my blood, my relationships, my life.  Into ALL.  

It's also the very make-up of YOUR being.

Therefore, may we ALL live according to the Divine design written within each of us.  And may God extend His mercy when we choose otherwise.

Just an ordinary moment...

Come and See

To say that I am moderately challenged by the latest technological advances is to be gracious indeed.  I can do what I can do and that is about it.  Especially when it comes to cell phones.  What used to be a device that was used for nothing but talking to another person (in your own town, mind you), has now become a tool to access the whole world.  And so when I woke up recently and discovered my "life line" was not responding, I did the only thing I knew to do:  I got in the car and headed 12 miles up the road to the hospital phone store.

Fortunately, I was early enough that I didn't have to wait, which was a good thing, because I spent the next 4 hours of my day there being helped by an incredibly patient young man.  We found out that indeed my phone had seen its last day having passed quietly in the night, and with no time to mourn, the tech proceeded to ask me the only question worth asking:  "What are you looking for?"

Quite frankly, I wasn't sure.  Should I go with another Android?  After all, it's what I had been using for several years now and really all I knew.  Seeing my confusion, the tech said, "Come and let me show you what I've got."  And so I followed, and for the next 30 minutes, we cased the walls and he showed me all he had to offer.  Certainly, most of it was more than my little brain could comprehend.  But after many questions and much thought, I finally settled on the phone that I thought would suit me best.

You know, there was Another who said, "What are you looking for?"  Strangely, not until I began looking for this particular verse did I realize these were the very first words John records Jesus as saying.  "What are you looking for?"  It was not a harsh reproof as He turned and saw John the Baptist's disciples following Him.  It was an invitation to their desires -- to state their wishes, to express their feelings, to lay open their minds and hearts to Him.

Yes, He turned toward the disciples at their first inclination to follow Him and sincerely asked, "What are you looking for?"  No doubt, He poses the same query to us: what is it you are looking for?  Why not take some time to answer with what is deep in your heart, with what is weighing on your mind, with what is turning in your spirit, and then listen for the same invitation He gave to John and Andrew that particular morning: "Come and see."  

And when we do respond, the truth is it's probably more than our little brains can comprehend.

When Jesus turned and saw them following, He said to them, "What are you looking for?' They said to him, "Rabbi" (which translated means Teacher), "where are You staying?"  He said to them, 

"Come and see"....

John 1:38-39

Just an ordinary moment...

"We Just Take a Pill"

The first thing I noticed when I walked into the little mom and pop restaurant was the table groaning from the content of breakfast sitting in front of the couple squeezed together on the bench overlooking the trough.  As the waitress placed yet another plate of pancakes in front of them, the fellow said, "I think I know y'all.  Don't you go to the gym?"  He proceeded to tell us that he had signed up back in September but had only been a couple of times but he thought he had seen us there.  We said we do in fact go, and the conversation continued back and forth, off and on, for the next 15 minutes or so as we took the booth behind them.  They  told us about their "business" and handed us a card.  It appears one can take this pill and then eat all or whatever one wants and still lose weight.  Dang, sign me up, I thought, as I ordered my one scrambled egg, 2 slices of crisp bacon and a piece of dry wheat toast.  Believe me, there was nothing wrong with my breakfast; it was very delicious ... but Barbara's sausage gravy over not one, but two,  grilled biscuits could be all mine if I just had one of those little power pills.

Call me weird, but this scenario is what came to mind this morning while thinking about abiding in Christ and of being alive in Him. You see, those who trust Christ as Savior truly do have a power pill -- the indwelling Christ who presents Himself to us as the Holy Spirit.  Very God of very God.  Yet here's the problem: we so often pop that holy power pill and stop there.  But to be a Christian is to change.  Conversion -- passing from death to life -- may be the miracle of a moment, but the making of a saint is the task of a lifetime.  I like what Maxie Dunnam wrote in Irresistible  Invitation: "The new process of saint-making is to work out in fact what is already dynamic in principle.  In position, in our relation to God in Jesus Christ, we are new persons.  Now our condition -- the actual life that we live -- must be brought into harmony with our new position."  

Yes, this new life in Christ is pure grace.  Big-time grace.  Grace of epic proportions.  And that grace is soundly enough to cover every sinful act we have ever even thought of doing.  But if we are to abide in Christ, if we are to be alive in Him, then it seems like some discipline just might be in order.  And I'm not just talking about sausage gravy.

... Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.  Philippians 2:12

Just an ordinary moment...

My Presenting Face

I was confronted with a thought provoking statement this morning in my quiet space (a.k.a. devotional time).  It simply read, "Reflect on the face that you present to other people."  I have to admit, I wasn't sure I wanted to do that ... especially at this season of the year when time seems to be our greatest commodity and traffic as well as lines at the post office and retailers our greatest irritation.

But what face do I present?  Do I offer people a CHEERFUL and GRACIOUS presence?  Is my smile mostly GENUINE or is it phony?  If like begets like, does mine cause another to be born in someone else's face?

Writing of her experience in Uganda where she had not yet learned the small village language,  Katie Davis relates in her book Kisses From Katie: "Although we were not able to speak to one another, we found many other ways of communication; the children seemed to know I loved them, and I knew they loved me, too. ... Days were spent learning to communicate, laughing hysterically with my students and trying to laugh at the frustrations that came with this new job."  In other words, the "face" Katie presented to those children was one of love and joy.  And they got it.

To some it is easy for me to offer graciousness in my face.  Those whom I love and enjoy, for example.  But to others -- those who are less desirable, those who irritate and rub me the wrong way, whose character offends me, whose own lives are so wracked with dysfunction that they don't even have it in them to be kind to their own self -- it is sometimes less so.  I don't have to speak an unkind word.  One look at my face, and they know.  

Could it be that a friendly smile is enough to make a difficult nature open up?  That a kind look really could heal a broken heart or just help someone make it through the next few hours?  I really think it could.  But what I'm coming to understand is that's not the real object.  The ultimate purpose in being kind -- in reflecting a gracious face and ultimately a gracious spirit ... especially to those who are less than deserving of such ... is to rejoice the heart of our Lord.

I'm convicted.  What about you?  To whom could you offer the gift of a pleasant face this week ... someone who needs such quiet affirmation -- and in the meantime, bring joy to the Lord as well? 

"For if you love those who love you, what reward will you get?  

Do not even the tax collectors do as much?  

And if you save your greetings for your brothers, 

are you doing anything exceptional?  

Do not even the gentiles do as much?  

You must therefore set no bounds to your love. ... 

In so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, 

you did it to me." 

Matthew 5:46-48; 25:40

Just an ordinary moment...

Unexpected Source of Blessing

The Scripture before me this morning during my sacred space ... the one literally sitting in my lap ... was this:

O God, You are my God;

Early will I seek You.

My soul thirsts for You

My flesh longs for You --

in a dry and thirsty land

where there is no water.

Psalm 63:1

I read it numerous times.  I meditated upon it. I even memorized it.  At least for the short term.

A number of things struck me.  For one, the word "are" in the opening line is not in the original rendering.  It actually should read, "O God.  You my God."  It sounds a little bit Tarzan-like, but it worked for me as I pointed to heaven and said, "You!"  And then toward myself: "My God!"  (Try it yourself.)

I also couldn't help but camp on those words that spoke so of yearning and personal suffrage: words like thirsts, longs, dry land, no water. Have you ever been there?  Me, too.  And so I began to contemplate the way God waters my soul; the way He brings refreshing to my spirit.  The way He rains down on me.  And I began putting Him and His ways in box... I began using well-worn formulas.  "I do this/He does that" kind of thing.  

Normally when I'm having my "quiet time," I don't keep my cell next to me.  And if it is close by, I most often refrain from answering any beeps or vibrations.  But today was different for some reason.  I heard an email come in so I reached over and hit the icon.  It was from a precious woman, Telina, who had been in a couple of Bible studies I had led some 3 years ago.  We hadn't talked in a long time, and this was just a quick note; but it ended with, "Groovy baby!"  Right then and there I burst into a hearty laugh.  "Groovy baby"???  When was the last time someone had said that to me?  

After a moment of letting the joy of it settle on me, I laid the phone back down and turned my attention back to the Scripture in my lap ... and then it hit me.  REFRESHING!  God had just used the gift of "happy" He has placed in Telina to water my own weary soul! That's how He so often does it:  through the faithfulness of others!  And through the faithfulness of you and me. So you can bet I picked up that phone and I hit her number.  When she answered, I said, "I just had to call and tell you how God used you in my life just now."

You see, God's blessings and times of refreshing often come in unexpected ways ... and that is why it is so important to be present to the moment.

Oh, to tap into the eternal.  It's a mighty good thing.

Just an ordinary moment...