Prayer Friday: Mark 12:31

You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Mark 12:31

Loving Creator, Living Christ, Holy Spirit...
Thank you for all of the blessings you surround us with at every second of the day. As your sun rises and sets let us thank you for our day.
We are guided to love our neighbor as ourselves. Lord, sometimes it is hard to love or understand ourselves, let alone those around us. We fall so short of this commandment. But we know You can help us do anything You ask us to do...so we ask for your support and help in loving. Let us find the place in our souls You have filled with love and shower it on ourselves and all those we come in contact with today.
May goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives...second by second may we be grateful and know it is Your Goodness and Mercy.
AMEN

Prayer Friday: Psalm 69

Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. Psalm 69:1

Loving Creator...Living Christ...Holy Spirit
Thank you that we have awakened again to this beautiful world. Thank you for this thoughtful creation of which You made us a part. Every small piece of it is beautiful and crafted with love.

Lord, there are so many people right now that feel as if they "have come into the high waters". Health, economics, marriage problems, so many worries. You told us not to worry, to reach out our hands to You, to lean on You, to trust in You. We seem to have so much trouble doing that. Maybe for a short while we do, then we forget and let the waters get to us.

Please help us to help ourselves look to You. See You before we see our troubles. Help us out of the goodness of Your love to stay close to You.

AMEN

Peace Train Starts Here

Whoever would love life and see good days.........must seek peace and pursue it. 1Peter 3:10-11

The peace train starts here with me. Whatever it is that is bothering me in the moment, I must make peace with it. Whether it is my weight, age, the economy, family, health, church, weather, barking dogs, bad golf shots, friends, work...whatever, I must seek peace, I must pursue it.

I think I am getting better at pursuing peace. Maybe it is age, maybe some things are not as important as they used to be, don't know. But I seem to be better able to put things into perspective these days. Prayer sure helps. Praying and finding my deep down, way in me peaceful and calm soul, then trying to let it become a part of my living in the moment. The train goes whether I want it to or not, it travels forward through this moment, I want to ride it in peace.

Looking For Lost Golf Balls

"Lent is the season to ask; What do I cherish in my life? What is it that I hide from? Am I aware of what I am missing or have misplaced interiorly? Have I given myself to the searching and finding of these treasures? What do I need to form my life more on the pattern of the Lord's death and resurrection? Who is it that I seek? Who is it that I hide from? How can I recover what I hold dear?" p 44, Fresh Bread and Other Gifts of Spiritual Nourishment, Joyce Rupp,osm

Last week during one of my rounds of golf, I had to search for a lost ball. When I say lost, I mean lost in the prickly, sandy, rocky, twisted arms of the desert landscape which surrounds our golf course. It was not pleasant! Why didn't I just give up? You would have thought I was looking for a pot of gold or at least a brand new Nike ball!! (It was an old ball I had found during a previous round :). As I was reading the pages for March in Rupp's book I was reminded of my search.
I looked so hard. I took all of the allotted time the rule book gives you. I had help. My cart partner was by my side looking also. I was patient, I did not give up until I found it and find it I did!
Do I look as hard, using all my time, patiently searching until I find my Living Christ in my heart and daily life?? Do I?
Lent has been for me, the last few years, a time of looking. Looking for the next step on the path toward resurrection. Looking for my daily manna God so assuredly gives me. Looking for answers. Looking for what is missing in my life or my family's life.
What are you missing this year? Health, love, friendship, faith, your way? Join me in looking for what we have lost since last year's Lent. I don't think we have misplaced it too far away.
If you are having trouble finding what you have lost, find someone who is wise and ask them to help in your search. Golf balls are easier to find with a friend, so is faith.