Noise, Quiet, Silence
You can not have one
with out the other.
The noise in our lives
informs the kind of
quiet we seek.
The Quiet we find
informs the
Silence we create.
To silence noise
is to find quiet.
To reflect on the
types of noise that
batter the ears and
the soul
is to discover what
our restorative silence
is to be like.
Quite is simply
reducing the noise.
Silence is being able
to still ourselves
amidst the noise
and experience
The Divine.
Lord,
May I seek not just quiet
but also embrace silence
so that I may relate
to my noise world
from a place of response
rather than reaction.
AMEN.
Welcome to Chaplainhood, a place of spiritual reflection and contemplative writings on life as seen through my eyes as a chaplain, mother, wife and woman of faith.
Monday, April 30, 2018
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
Rain, Refresh, Renew
I invite you to pause for a moment and take some time for some contemplative play.
Start by letting this image fill your mind as you focus on your breath and letting yourself slow down into this time and this space. Letting your breath and this picture be all that you attend to right now.
What do you see?
What colors stand out to you? Why?
What does your imagination do with this picture?
What words come to mind?
What favorite quotes from your favorite spiritual literature come to mind?
I invite you to join in conversation with me in the comments below what has come of your contemplative play time today.
Start by letting this image fill your mind as you focus on your breath and letting yourself slow down into this time and this space. Letting your breath and this picture be all that you attend to right now.
What do you see?
What colors stand out to you? Why?
What does your imagination do with this picture?
What words come to mind?
What favorite quotes from your favorite spiritual literature come to mind?
I invite you to join in conversation with me in the comments below what has come of your contemplative play time today.
Monday, April 23, 2018
Hope's Living Labyrinth
You were birthed out of a need
To mark the existence of my Hope.
I lovingly designed you with intention.
Choosing the design
for my spiritual connecting points.
Choosing the plants for their beauty.
Creating, for me, the perfect space
of remembrance and healing.
Then plants died,
I replanted.
They died again.
I accepted the need to try
different plants.
It's was almost as if -
you were growing
creating your own identity.
Just like my little one would have grown.
I went out to tend you the other day.
To start waking you up from your winter slumber.
Again - plants had died.
What will replace them this time?
I don't know.
You are growing,
transforming again.
Just like my Hope would be.
My Hope would be 8 now.
Discovering new likes,
Embracing the personality forming.
Transitioning from a little child to an older child.
So perhaps it should not surprise me that
you also are changing again.
I think that this time I will not rush
to "fix" the empty spaces where plants were.
Instead I will listen.
Listen to your guidance.
I will let you tell me what your next expression
of self is to be.
Just like I would have done for my Hope.
You were birthed to honor the
living, loved child that never
made it to live in this world.
It is no wonder you have taken on
the living and growing that
was never to be for my little one.
You took on my Hope
that I gave into your care
when I created you in Hope's memory.
It is time for me to quit
making you into my image
and honor your path
and your gifts,
To let you be what it is
that you choose.
To mark the existence of my Hope.
I lovingly designed you with intention.
Choosing the design
for my spiritual connecting points.
Choosing the plants for their beauty.
Creating, for me, the perfect space
of remembrance and healing.
Then plants died,
I replanted.
They died again.
I accepted the need to try
different plants.
It's was almost as if -
you were growing
creating your own identity.
Just like my little one would have grown.
I went out to tend you the other day.
To start waking you up from your winter slumber.
Again - plants had died.
What will replace them this time?
I don't know.
You are growing,
transforming again.
Just like my Hope would be.
My Hope would be 8 now.
Discovering new likes,
Embracing the personality forming.
Transitioning from a little child to an older child.
So perhaps it should not surprise me that
you also are changing again.
I think that this time I will not rush
to "fix" the empty spaces where plants were.
Instead I will listen.
Listen to your guidance.
I will let you tell me what your next expression
of self is to be.
Just like I would have done for my Hope.
You were birthed to honor the
living, loved child that never
made it to live in this world.
It is no wonder you have taken on
the living and growing that
was never to be for my little one.
You took on my Hope
that I gave into your care
when I created you in Hope's memory.
It is time for me to quit
making you into my image
and honor your path
and your gifts,
To let you be what it is
that you choose.
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Alone and Silent
I invite you to pause for a moment and take some time for some contemplative play.
Start by letting this image fill your mind as you focus on your breath and letting yourself slow down into this time and this space. Letting your breath and this picture be all that you attend to right now.
Consider these questions also:
What do you see?
What colors stand out to you? Why?
What does your imagination do with this picture?
What words come to mind?
What favorite quotes from your favorite spiritual literature come to mind?
I invite you to join in conversation with me in the comments below what has come of your contemplative play time today.
Start by letting this image fill your mind as you focus on your breath and letting yourself slow down into this time and this space. Letting your breath and this picture be all that you attend to right now.
What do you see?
What colors stand out to you? Why?
What does your imagination do with this picture?
What words come to mind?
What favorite quotes from your favorite spiritual literature come to mind?
I invite you to join in conversation with me in the comments below what has come of your contemplative play time today.
Monday, April 16, 2018
The Heart of the Matter
To move into the heart of all things,
To see beyond the surface,
What would this do to the way I see the world?
The way I experience the world?
What kind of chaplain would this make me?
What kind of person would this make me?
What would I see?
Would I see the brokenness of the person
who seems to have it all together?
Would I see the beautiful gifts that the person
who is down on their luck,
the person who lives on the fringe of society has to offer?
Would I see the belovedness of the person I disagree with most?
Would I finally be able to move past me vs. them to us?
Would I finally do more to care for creation
and help our earth not only to survive but to thrive?
Would I come to a deeper understanding of myself
and my place in life?
I can only imagine that the answer might be yes
and more.
Pondering is easy,
Action is more difficult.
Lord, Give me the courage to see into the heart of all things.
And then let that change me. AMEN.
To see beyond the surface,
What would this do to the way I see the world?
The way I experience the world?
What kind of chaplain would this make me?
What kind of person would this make me?
What would I see?
Would I see the brokenness of the person
who seems to have it all together?
Would I see the beautiful gifts that the person
who is down on their luck,
the person who lives on the fringe of society has to offer?
Would I see the belovedness of the person I disagree with most?
Would I finally be able to move past me vs. them to us?
Would I finally do more to care for creation
and help our earth not only to survive but to thrive?
Would I come to a deeper understanding of myself
and my place in life?
I can only imagine that the answer might be yes
and more.
Pondering is easy,
Action is more difficult.
Lord, Give me the courage to see into the heart of all things.
And then let that change me. AMEN.
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Natural Windows
I invite you to pause for a moment and take some time for some contemplative play.
Start by letting this image fill your mind as you focus on your breath and letting yourself slow down into this time and this space. Letting your breath and this picture be all that you attend to right now.
What do you see?
What colors stand out to you? Why?
What does your imagination do with this picture?
What words come to mind?
What favorite quotes from your favorite spiritual literature come to mind?
I invite you to join in conversation with me in the comments below what has come of your contemplative play time today.
Start by letting this image fill your mind as you focus on your breath and letting yourself slow down into this time and this space. Letting your breath and this picture be all that you attend to right now.
What do you see?
What colors stand out to you? Why?
What does your imagination do with this picture?
What words come to mind?
What favorite quotes from your favorite spiritual literature come to mind?
I invite you to join in conversation with me in the comments below what has come of your contemplative play time today.
Monday, April 9, 2018
Tending
How has my garden gotten so overgrown?
My most special place filled with weeds
and detritus from it's days of hibernation.
It needs tending like so many places in my life.
I feel guilty Lord,
for letting things get to this point.
Sometimes the guilt is so large,
it is easier to just look away
and leave the tending for another day.
This looking away just leads to
the need for more tending.
With spring around the corner,
there is hope for new growth.
But first my garden needs tended.
Lord give me the strength
to do the tending,
to clear away the old
so there is space for the new growth
you have in store for me.
AMEN.
My most special place filled with weeds
and detritus from it's days of hibernation.
It needs tending like so many places in my life.
I feel guilty Lord,
for letting things get to this point.
Sometimes the guilt is so large,
it is easier to just look away
and leave the tending for another day.
This looking away just leads to
the need for more tending.
With spring around the corner,
there is hope for new growth.
But first my garden needs tended.
Lord give me the strength
to do the tending,
to clear away the old
so there is space for the new growth
you have in store for me.
AMEN.
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
Bridges
I invite you to pause for a moment and take some time for some contemplative play.
Start by letting this image fill your mind as you focus on your breath and letting yourself slow down into this time and this space. Letting your breath and this picture be all that you attend to right now.
What do you see?
What colors stand out to you? Why?
What does your imagination do with this picture?
What words come to mind?
What favorite quotes from your favorite spiritual literature come to mind?
I invite you to join in conversation with me in the comments below what has come of your contemplative play time today.
Start by letting this image fill your mind as you focus on your breath and letting yourself slow down into this time and this space. Letting your breath and this picture be all that you attend to right now.
What do you see?
What colors stand out to you? Why?
What does your imagination do with this picture?
What words come to mind?
What favorite quotes from your favorite spiritual literature come to mind?
I invite you to join in conversation with me in the comments below what has come of your contemplative play time today.
Monday, April 2, 2018
Worship
An older youth lets a younger youth snuggle up close.
An adult lets a young one crawl up on the lap
and in doing so,
acknowledges that young one's interest
in the adult's part of worship.
A family shares musical gifts together.
We gather not in individual family groupings
but instead together as one whole family
recognizing our interconnectedness in each others lives.
We hear words of hope and resurrection.
We hear words reminding us of our worthiness.
But it is in the actions of those gathered
of those around me
that I witness what it means to live as an Easter people.
As I ponder and wonder and cherrish
I realize not only have I worshiped
But I have sat intimately at the feet of God
Present in this ordinary place, through these ordinary actions
Making the experience extraordinary.
AMEN.
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