Possessed

Another day dawns with the sky glowing red, orange, pink, yellow and purple. Scripture says the Messiah will come at dawn; I say Christ comes every dawn with each new day offering new opportunities and new challenges; a new invitation to follow him and to invite Him to possess me and fill me with the Light of Life.

Someone asked me this morning, "Why are you so interested in spiritual direction?"

Why, indeed?

Uncle

Uncle! Okay I said it: Uncle!!

It's been 6 days since I broke my ankle and living with the consequences is hard.

This is not a piece of cake.

I'm eating crow.

I wrote rashly and without due consideration (read knowledge, i.e. stupidity) of the challenges of life with one leg. Think shower. Think bathroom. Think snack, not to mention meals. Think getting up and down stairs (or not) in a 3 story house. Think taking a walker everywhere I go, even to get out of bed.

In all circumstances, give thanks...

When morning gilds the skies

When morning gilds the skies, my heart awakening cries, 'May Jesus Christ be praised."

Clutching the back door, I hobbled out onto the deck to snap this

stunning morning sky. It still makes my heart sing.

Hobbling and hopping are my means of locomotion these days. My mantra: patience, patience, patience.

Matt asked where were my Yaktrax when I fell. I hadn't thought about the irony of my downfall (pun intended) despite that thoughtful gift.

Jesus, I trust in you.

Wrap yourself up

Somewhere recently I read this piece of advice: Wrap yourself in the love of God. Let that love be your fortress against every challenge or trouble.

Quite independently, a friend talked about Paul's advice to 'put on the armor of God'.

I'm reminded of the psalmist: "God is my hiding place", "my rock", "my refuge".

New Order of Things

Well, once again my life has dramatically shifted gears.

Walking in the neighborhood Monday I fell and broke my ankle.

A soft boot, a walker, and no weight bearing for at least 2 weeks later and I get to once again "glorify God in these circumstances." (See John 8).

Fortunately I have experience with this drill! Time to slow down (actually come to a screeching halt) and live more meditatively for the next few months. Also, I get first hand insight into the experiences of my friends at the nursing home who live with loss of independence and mobility all day every day. It will be good for me.

My leg hurts, but not the rest of me. For that I can be grateful. Compared to leukemia this is a piece of cake.

Home by another way

Christmas tree came down yesterday. Usually that's a job I put off but this year I felt peace as I worked and once everything was put back to order.

This morning the clear sky let the nearly full moon cast long shadows. It would have been a disastrous if I'd been trying to elude detection for the moon shone like a spotlight. The bone-chilling cold combined with the fierce wind kept me from lingering any longer than absolutely necessary. Even Heidi, prone to nose around a bit was easily urged in!

I remembered that shining moon during church this morning as the story of the magi, led by a shining star, was read.

St. Gregory the great wrote: When the king of heaven was born, the heavens knew that he was God because they immediately sent forth a star; the sea knew him because it allowed him to walk upon it; the earth knew because it trembled when he died; the sun knew him because it hid the rays of its light. 'The manifestation of the Son of God to the world begs belief from us by which we will be led home by another way. (from Magnificat, p. 52.)

From my experience, God will lead us home by a better way than any I might have chosen on my own.

The new year tip toed in last night. Although we're not revelers by nature, the quiet seems fitting: It's a time for reflection and prayer as the past is put to rest and the new dawns with the the flip of a digital clock. We're waiting and hoping each in our own way that our own yearnings be satisfied and our anxities relieved.

No promises except those of God to meet us in our needs and provide. Can we trust that even when God seems distant, inaccesible? The New Testament, particularly with people like Simeon and Anna, the woman with the hemorrhage and the man born blind, gives rich evidence that God comes to people usually unexpectedly and often after long years of prayer.