POSITIVE PANDEMIC PLANS--KEEP PRAYING!

3/21~and so it begins---life as we've never known it before. As the weeks go on....

GOOGLE reminds us to "Keep Washing Our Hands". 20 seconds!!!

3/22~Grace for theMoment~Pray for all people, asking God for what they need and being thankful to Him  (1 Timothy2:1) ....starving children, hurting people, people in cancer wards & in assisted living...look beyond the darkness, so as not to miss the answered prayers. 

4/3~ Trust in the Lord with all your heart and stay home to stay safe. Is that a mixed message. I don't think so. I see it as a way of showing respect for others. Keep reading God's word.

5/5~Mask-up Memphis Keep wearing a mask to show respect for others!

Fear not for I am with you; (even behind your mask)

Be not dismayed, for I am your God. (Isaiah 41:10) Keep trusting God.

People party as May ends and Covid-19 related deaths in our nation spike.................

6/15~ Keep watching out for others by respecting their lives with clean hands, a well fitting mask and social distancing. Death has a human face.

7/4~We too celebrated Independence Day from our patio/porch. in unity---apart, together. (Psalm 133:1)

.....and now we will enter August with an even greater resolve to keep praying!

Meditation Practice w/o dangling participles

9/24/12 Monday blogs are normally somewhat easy to write because I usually start the week with selected scripture. Scripture for meditation. Then, I just share it. Today---not so easy. I felt like Miss Rosa Nourse, 7^th grade teacher at Virginia Street School in Hopkinsville, KY, was looking over my shoulder. She was a stickler for correct grammar. The improper usage of the predicate nominative pronoun I and dangling participles were two usage problems that she attempted to pound into our heads. The nominative gaffe caused me to shudder recently when during a prayer, the participant requested prayer for “my wife and I”----Miss Rosa would NOT have been pleased. I, on the other hand, felt bad that I even noticed it because the request was so heartfelt.

As for the participles (all those words ending in  “ing”)….. this week’s meditation includes several participial phrases. I’m fearful that I won’t set them off with commas or that any paraphrasing and explaining I do, might not relate back to the subject. Hm-m-m, even “relate back” sounds like a redundancy. But oh-h-h the fear of a dangling modifier that would dishonor Miss Rosa’s teaching.

But God….is the One who inspired all scripture so unless the chosen translation messes up, then it will be correct in the way it speaks to one’s heart. In meditation, that’s what counts. Chew on all 5 of the participial phrases listed in this prayer and see if you don’t agree. Pray it for yourself and others.

Because of this, since the day we heard about you, we haven’t stopped praying for you and asking for you to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, with all wisdom and spiritual understanding. We’re praying this so that you can live lives that are worthy of the Lord and pleasing to him in every way: by producing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God; by being strengthened through his glorious might so that you endure everything and have patience; and by giving thanks with joy to the Father. He made it so you could take part in the inheritance, in light granted to God’s holy people. (Colossians 1:9-12)

Praying it for my family, I experienced great joy----with or without the dangling participles. I was too caught up in my prayer time to even notice.

BOOK BYTES---Bits and Pieces from my current read…..

2/25/12  ….Sanctuary of the Soul: Journey into Meditative Prayer, by Richard J. Foster.

The book....

This book accompanied me on my “retreat” week ---and influenced my desire for that still listening silence that can be difficult for me, especially in the midst of the “dailies” of life---even retired life.

This glimpse at the notes are there to whet your appetite for more of this book or just to use parts you can apply to your own prayer times. It is in no way an exhaustive commentary on this Richard Foster Book. Part of this disclaimer as well as his is that no one method works for everyone---if you desire to hear God’s voice

Inner sanctuary of the Heart---spiritual space

Meditative prayer opens door to heart---soul of that inner sanctuary

Divine Whispers---inward prayer filled listening—an interior knowing

1-2-3s of Worship (my label for his “group retreat” type experience)

• Center down---let go of all distractions & feelings 
• Be gathered in---into the power of God who can blend spirits and hearts together 
• Attend ---to the Holy spirit’s guidance, not running ahead (my enthusiasm to run ahead would be a “no-no”) nor lagging behind---be fully present/ silence mind from meandering thoughts & silence mouth of many words.

....the notes

3 steps to Meditative Prayer    

 I.   RECOLLECTION—“attempted meditation” will be indeed a time of warfare (E. Underhill’s quote on p. 62 ) very eloquently describes this & more) /Romano Guardini states---meditation is not easy. Unrest redoubles in intensity (similar to folks trying to sleep at night when cares of world enter head with a force they do not possess during the daylight hours. (my paraphrase)

p. 63 “Give up the need to watch out for number one because we have One who is watching out for us.”

II.            BEHOLDING THE LORD--inward steady gaze of the heart upon God, the divine Center

Richard Rolle (14^th C) “interior sweetness…spiritual flame that fed into his soul

Madame Jeanne Guyon (1685) p. 69. Guyon used scripture to quiet her mind but once in His Presence she says, “now hold your heart in God’s Presence”---by faith this can be done. Wait before Him. Turn all your attention toward your Spirit---Lord’s found within your spirit---in recesses of your being---this is where He dwells---continue to discipline mind to be quiet before the Lord---allow mind to rest…

If all this seems too hard Foster gave ways to “crack open the door to His Presence.

III.            PRAYER OF LISTENING---part of great interest t me---deals w/ discerning God’s voice---no formula given but scripture (Phil. 4:8) to understand that those nudges are from Him----the whispers of God---might lead us to simple acts of service and kindness---Portable sanctuary w/ Brother Lawrence (The Practice of the Presence of God)

Where is sanctuary? One possibility = Portable sanctuary, as answered at end of book along w/ more questions---“we are a portable sanctuary and by the power of God we can sanctify all places for meditation. (my THOTS--- Yes, but for me some places are more conducive, a place that draws me regularly)

So much more (including  list of resource books and an examples of Foster's forays into the experience)---but that’s your bits and pieces.  I would offer to share my book but I got it at my local library. Imagine that! It’s due March 1---so then it will be up for grabs.