Category Archives: observation

Eyes Wide Open

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Open wide the eyes of my soul that I may see good in all things

I keep a card that my friend Penny sent me in 1992. I doubt she thought much of it at the time – we exchanged cards and letters often; I’m sure she didn’t think that I’d still have that card almost 30 years later.

I keep that card as a bookmark. It reminds me of the joy and laughter Penny brought to our friendship, and it reminds me of the transient nature of all things (Penny died in 2001). Penny wasn’t without her flaws – no one is – but she made the world better for her being in it. She made my world better for being in it. If I looked only for the  small imperfections, I might have missed that great, good truth.

I keep that card for the saying on the front: What you see has more to do with the eyes through which you look that what you look upon.

I keep that card for the parting words inside as well: Love, Penny

I pray that the eyes of my soul are open enough for me to love the world I see, even when I have to look for good among the not-so-good. I pray that I hold to that good, so that when I leave this life, my last offering for everyone and everything is Love, Johnna

[For the complete prayer, click For Today: Phillips Brooks Prayer above.]

Clean Hearted

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Help me to keep my heart clean, and to live so honestly and fearlessly that no outward failure can dishearten me or take away the joy of conscious integrity.

Being honest isn’t the same thing as living honestly; the first is a matter of telling the truth, the second is living the truth of who we are when who we are may not seem like such a grand truth. It takes courage to attempt, and stamina to sustain because judgement and rejection are coming our way. It’s tempting to hide behind a false self – at least then, the inevitable judgement and rejection may not be quite as devastating.

But if we want to live a joyful life, or any kind of life at all worthwhile, we have to fess up to who we truly are. When we do, we just might find that falling short and failing aren’t as devastating as we thought…

God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Ps. 51:10 The Message

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Ps. 51:10, NRSV

 

 

It’s the little stings

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Preserve me from minding little stings or giving them

One of the most destructive people I’ve ever known never raised her voice. A backhanded compliment offered here, a snide remark whispered there, a sarcastic line spoken with a smile: she made it her business to know everyone’s vulnerable spots and she spent her workdays poking small holes in them with verbal needles. The damage was barely noticeable at first, but it added up. A workplace cheerful in her absence became tense and sour in her presence. When she left for another job, everyone started to breathe easier.

While few people had her talent for destruction by little stings, I think most of us have returned them when we’ve been on the receiving end. But if we can overlook such little stings, if we can remember that minor insults are only harmful if we take them seriously, we can refrain from returning the verbal (dis) favor.

The thing about little stings: they come at a cost. To sting another effectively, we must put ourselves in the others’  shoes: how else would we know what will damage them? Every sting we give, we try out on ourselves first. Such damage adds up, even if we never receive a retaliating sting.

Lord, give me strength to avoid the whole damaging cycle altogether. Amen.

[For more on this series, and for the full prayer, click For Today: Phillips Brooks Prayer.]

Heart Trouble

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O God: Give me strength to live another day; Let me not turn coward before its difficulties or prove recreant to its duties; Let me not lose faith in other people; Keep me sweet and sound of heart, in spite of ingratitude, treachery, or meanness; Preserve me from minding little stings or giving them; Help me to keep my heart clean, and to live so honestly and fearlessly that no outward failure can dishearten me or take away the joy of conscious integrity; Open wide the eyes of my soul that I may see good in all things; Grant me this day some new vision of thy truth; Inspire me with the spirit of joy and gladness; and make me the cup of strength to suffering souls; in the name of the strong Deliverer, our only Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

[Phillips Brooks, For Today, Forward Day by Day, inside back cover; Cincinnati, OH:Forward Movement, www.forwardmovement.org]

Construction paper hearts and flowers taped to a window  with a Thank You for the mail carriers; balloons tied to a street sign with a Get Well, Mallory poster, placed where they can be seen from her hospital window; nurses singing songs to patients in isolation. None of it can stop the loss of life that comes with this pandemic, but any and all of it can soften hearts that might otherwise become bitter and cynical.

My heart, not my mind, is what shades the world I look upon every day. A sound heart reveals a beautiful if imperfect world, full of broken, holy people. Such a world is a privilege to love, even if loving it brings some pain and disappointment. An aching, bitter heart expects insult, arrogance, and disregard; in this, it will not be disappointed: what the heart sees is usually what the heart gets.

But even the most cynical, sarcastic heart can’t control everything. Grace and healing can come like a thief in the night, stealing the heart’s store of ingratitude, meanness, and treachery. When that happens, only hope and love are left behind – one of God’s holy reverse thefts.

Let me not lose faith

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For Today

O God: Give me strength to live another day; Let me not turn coward before its difficulties or prove recreant to its duties; Let me not lose faith in other people; keep me sweet and sound of heart, in spite of ingratitude, treachery, or meannesss; Preserve me from minding little stings or giving them; Help me to keep my heart clean, and to live so honestly and fearlessly that no outward failure can dishearten me or take away the joy of conscious integrity; Open wide the eyes of my soul that I may see good in all things; Inspire me with the spirit of joy and gladness; and make me the cup of strength to suffering souls; in the name of the strong Deliverer, our only Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Phillips Brooks

A Meditation by Bill Albritton, leader, teacher, child of God:

Sometimes you have to look hard at a person and remember he’s doing the best he can. He’s just trying to find his way, just like you. (Katherine Hepburn, On Golden Pond)

When I have lost faith in other people, I’m sometimes forced to admit that it’s not the other people’s problem – it’s mine. They haven’t lived up to my expectations. And why should they? Maybe, just maybe, I need to lose faith in my expectations? What gives me the right to expect people to behave according to my rules, or ideals, or MY anything? Who died and left me captain of the world?

During these tremulous times of Coronavirus,  I have been encouraged by the selfless commitment of “other people,” who as Dale Carnegie put it when talking about a track coach training a jumper, throw their hearts over the bar and the rest of the body follows. I didn’t really expect this, but I’m not surprised, either. After all, just like me, these are God’s people.

[Found in Forward Day by Day. For more information, click For Today: Phillips Brooks Prayer above.]

Be Brave

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Be brave.

My upstairs neighbor, George Greer, said that the first time he said goodbye to my nine month old son, Colin; they were his parting words to Colin every time after. I thought it was an amusing way to part company with a baby at the time, but over the 20+ years since, I’ve come to see it as a powerful benediction:

Be brave. Take on the day’s adventure  – who knows what will happen on any given day, in any given minute? Do the work which may be necessary but won’t always be easy or fulfilling.

Be brave. Don’t hide who you are. Meet whomever and whatever comes as your true self, not hiding behind a mask.  The world may knock the stuffing out of you sometimes, but it will also provide steadfast companions to help you on your way.

Be brave. Don’t live a lesser life because a deep one involves loss and pain. You can change the world in ways no one else can, but it takes some fortitude.

Be brave. With God’s help, be brave.

Let me not turn coward before its difficulties or prove recreant to its duties. 

[For the full prayer, click For Today: Phillips Brooks prayer above]

Give Me Strength

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O God, Give me strength to live another day.

Existing is easy, but that’s not the same thing as living.

Give me the wisdom to choose living over existing, Lord.

Without you, I might not have it in me to choose living.

Give me strength. Amen.

[This is one in a series. For the full prayer, click ” For Today:Phillips Brooks Prayer”  above]

 

O God

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The world wasn’t created by me, and it isn’t limited to my life span or experience. I wasn’t self-created, and I’m not self-sufficient or self-sustained. I am a beloved child, living in God’s creation – not the center of it.

As I begin my day, may I remember that this life of mine is a gift from God. I am never alone.

And the same is true of everyone and everything else.

For the full prayer, click “For Today: Phillips Brooks Prayer” above.

What will I do with it?

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Monday, April 13th, 2020

The wind howls outside, shaking the windows and snapping the flag just over my back fence. Power lines dance and branches clap their twiggy hands. The storm will continue for hours, then move on – not the same deadly force it had in the South, but enough to offer downed lines and flooded roads.

I don’t fear the storm – my house is well built and I’ve seen many a more severe one. In a few hours, the sun will return; in a few days, the seeds I planted yesterday will be green shoots. I can enjoy the wild weather because the mild days are on the way. Life renews itself, asking little of me but recognition and participation.

But weather isn’t the only storm. Everyone is hunkered down, waiting for the pandemic to pass. Many have perished, and many more are suffering. This will end, just as the storm out my window will, but the cost is far greater and the damage far worse.

When I can return to something like my normal life, will I do so with a greater appreciation for the blessings I have? Will I do my best to make sure that the part of this world I call my home is better prepared should it happen again? Will I take action to strengthen and serve the most vulnerable among my neighbors?

What will I do with the time I am given? Will I live a resurrected life, a grateful life, a holier life? I hope so. Will I return to old habits that waste time and effort, focus on myself to the exclusion of others, take my life for granted? I hope not, but I expect I will – at least in part.

God forgive me if I live the rest of this life as if Easter never happened.

Asking the Impossible

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My God,

All these things I’ve prayed for these past few weeks are things I cannot accomplish or attain; growing in faith and living a prayerful life are beyond my limited spiritual capacity. I need a love far deeper than my own to steady me, to guide me, to embrace me when I fall and when I stand. I need you.

I know what I’m asking for is humanly impossible. But you aren’t limited by my limitations. Have mercy, have patience. With your help, I’ll try to do the same. Amen. 

[Kyrie, Mr Mister, Welcome to the Real World, RCA, 1985]

And as I cannot in my own strength do this, nor even with a hope of success attempt it, I look to thee, O Lord God my Father, in Jesus my Savior, and ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

A Morning Resolve, Forward Day by Day, inside front cover; Cincinnati, Ohio: Forward Movement. www.ForwardMovement.org.