Pieces of the Puzzle

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. ~Psalm 57:17 (ESV)

“Faith is not belief in an afterlife based on today’s moral litmus test. To the contemplative ‘bad’ and ‘good’ makes no matter. Each has the capacity to become the other. Out of bad much good has come. It is often sin that unmasks us to ourselves and opens the way for growth. Mature virtue is tried virtue, not virtue unassailed. Great good, on the other hand, whatever its effect, has so often deteriorated into arrogance, into a righteousness that vitiates its own rightness. But both of the, both bad and good, lived in the light of God, blanch, are reduced to size in the face of the Life that transcends them.” ~From Illuminated Life by Joan Chittister

Heavenly Father, I stand amazed at how You can take my brokenness and turn it into beauty. I thank You for allowing me to see myself through the light of Your eyes. Thank you for putting my world into perspective. Amen.

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ~Hebrews 10:22 (ESV)

“Life is not a game we win, and God is not a trophy we merit. No matter how ‘good’ we are, we are not good enough for God. On the other hand, no matter how ‘bad’ we are, we can never be outside of God. We can only hope in each instance to come to such a consciousness of God that no lesser gods can capture our attention and no trifling, self-centered gods can keep us from the fullness of awareness that is the fullness of Life. It is the project of life, this coming to Wholeness, this experience of Purpose beyond all purposes, this identification with everything that is.” ~From Illuminated Life by Joan Chisttister

Draw me ever closer Lord to a true heart in full assurance of faith. Protect my heart Lord from an evil conscience. Help me to remember that I am a new creature washed pure by You. Amen.

I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear and be glad.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together!

I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Come, O children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
What man is there who desires life
and loves many days, that he may see good?
Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
Turn away from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it. ~Psalm 34:1-14 (ESV)

“You called, shouted, broke through my deafness; you flared, blazed, banished my blindness; you lavished your fragrance, I gasped, and now I pant for you; I tasted you, and I burned for your peace. ~From The Confessions  by Saint Augustine

Almighty God, You never gave up on me. You have pursued me, wooed me, You have gently turned me towards Your Love. I will never be the same now that you have touched my heart. Guide my steps so that I may never stray again away from Your love. Amen.

“And now, O sons, listen to me:

blessed are those who keep my ways.

Hear instruction and be wise,

and do not neglect it.

Blessed is the one who listens to me,

watching daily at my gates,

waiting beside my doors.

For whoever finds me finds life

and obtains favor from the Lord,

but he who fails to find me injures himself;

all who hate me love death.” ~Proverbs 8:32-36

“To the degree that we Christians surrender ourselves freely to the leadership of Jesus Christ through the mystical oneness we enjoy with him and in him, to that degree we can say we are Christians, living members of his body. We will know experientially that we live in his light by the gentle love we have toward each person whom we meet in each moment.

Thus we will be led from moment to moment into greater light as we see, by increased faith, hope and love, God’s loving presence in all events. Complete abandonment and childlike trust are the Holy Spirit’s gifts to those who are ready to die to their false selves and begin to live in the truth of the new creatures that they are and have always been in the eyes of the heavenly Father.” ~From In Jesus We Trust by George A. Maloney

Heavenly Father, You created me and called to my heart wooing me closer to You. Pour out Your Holy Spirit on me today so that I may be a wise steward of the gifts You have bestowed on me. Amen.

Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” ~John 20:21-18 (CEB)

“We move away from doubt at our own pace and with our own set of doubts and beliefs to master. While our first step is a matter of belief and ultimate trust in God, there are many other and some even more difficult steps to take in out movement from doubt to belief.

One step along this journey that causes many people to stop and struggle is the step of actually believing God loves them and that they can be lovable in God’s sight. This more than any other step along the journey makes men and women, young and old, stumble and fall from faith to doubt. Why is it so hard for us to believe that God’s love really is unconditional and that we should imitate God’s love not only for others but also for ourselves?

Perhaps we have regarded self-centered behavior too harshly. We are unwilling or unable to give ourselves the same gentle grace that God offers us and that doubt to belief and remember that God loves you, in God and in God’s creation. ~Rueben P. Job, A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God

Almighty God, send your transforming power into my life as I seek to serve you this day. Grant unto me wisdom, courage, grace, and strength to faithfully fulfill ministry to which you have called me. In the name of Christ. Amen.

Teach me your way, O Lord,

That I may walk in your truth;

give me an undivided heart to revere your name.

I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,

And I will glorify your name forever. ~Psalm 86:11-12 (RSV)                                                                       

“God is, above all else, a being of immense beauty. It is this beauty that continues to draw us and enfold us in eternal goodness. This mysterious Beloved is forever wooing us, longing for us to be totally immersed in love of the purest kind. As I look at my life, I count as my greatest blessing the gift of God’s own essence. Being able to know this wondrous God of beauty, being embraced and welcomed home time and again, all of this is truly powerful.

I see this immense goodness of God reflected in every variety of people and in all the facet of the universe that sing out the goodness of the Creator. Each one mirrors the essence of God’s beauty. Each one is a vessel filled with manifestations of the Creator. I know this beauty, also, within myself, in the silent encounters deep within my own being. Every once in a while, each of us senses, for a moment, this rare blessing of the touch of God. Brief as it is, it is enough to remind us that there is an underlying harmony beneath all the chaos. There is an eternal beauty giving a loving texture to all of life.” ~From The Cup of Our Life by Joyce Rupp

I thank You, Heavenly Father, for blessing me with another day. You are my greatest gift. You are my biggest treasure. You are the music my heart sings. I thank You for calling to me every morning. Amen.

The smoke of the incense offered for the prayers of the saints rose up before God from the angel’s hand. ~Rev 8:4

This is a picture of my grandmother.

I remember the first time I met her. I was about the age of my daughter in the picture. When she saw me, she wrapped her arms around me in the biggest hug. She hugged me as if I had been lost and she finally had me back in her arms.

My Grandmother was a great example of Christ’s love. Although she had 8 children of her own, she took in different nieces and nephews when times were rough during the Great Depression. Her home was ‘marked’ by hobos as a home that would kindly give you a meal if you needed it. Her home was always open to those in need. She never had much but she always was willing to share what she had.

My own life holds examples of loving kindness and acceptance that she showed me during my growing up years. As a teenager trying to understand my past, her unconditional love anchored me and her prayers sustained me. Her quiet ways showed me what it meant to live as Christ’s hands and feet in the world. Her love was God showing me who I was and to whom I belonged.

She is part of my faith story.

Today is “All Saints Day.” Saints are people who have been “set apart” for God’s holy/special purposes. On this day, as a church community, we remember all the believers in the family of God that have gone before us. Saint Peter, Saint Paul, and others that we read about in the bible as well as the many other men and women of God who were disciples of Jesus Christ down through the ages, . . . like my grandmother.

Although I sometimes still feel like that small, insecure child, the stories I read in the Bible assure me that I am part of a bigger family. The Bible is like my family album. It tells the story of great men and women of faith in the family of God. It reminds me who I am, and whose I am. As a believer in Jesus Christ, I am part of the family of God and I can claim these great stories of Abraham, Moses, Esther, Peter, James and John, all of them, as part of my faith family.

Heavenly Father, thank you for the examples You have sent us to show us Your love in the world. Help us to follow their example, and show Your love to those we meet. Amen.