paravanes:meditations

My house went TV-free almost a month ago. I don't miss it as much as I thought I would. My TV had become a news/weather/traffic announcement appliance. Now that I've gone TV free, I am seeking out and using other sources of news and information. Now that I've gone TV free, I realize my TV betrayed me. Much of TV news didn't show me a real picture of what war looks like in the 21st century. I knew there were wars everywhere except Antarctica. (In North America, Mexican drug wars count). Why did I think the deadliest war was in Afghanistan? It isn't. It's in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a place where rape is now an established and almost never prosecuted crime and weapon of war. According to the United Nations , over 460 women and girls were raped in the first quarter of 2009. Ages of known victims range from three to 75. Many of their injuries are so severe, the rapes so brutal, the victims require surgeries and have lost control of their bodily function...

"I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone 'like a son of man', dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: 'Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever. And I hold the keys of death and Hades.' " --Revelation 1: 12-18 However you interpret some of the images here in the writer's description of the ascende...

"If we want to be anything other than what God has made us to be, we are wasting our time. It will not work . The greatest accomplishment in life is to be what we are, which is God's idea of what he wanted us to be when he brought us into being; and no ideas of ours will ever change it. Accepting that gift is accepting God's will for us, and in its acceptance lies the path to growth and ultimate fulfillment." --Thomas Keating, The Heart of the World: An Introduction to Contemplative Christianity

--image from jacksonfish.com Am I praying from a knowledge of God's presence and care, or am I just fishing for my hopes and dreams on the lake of life? Am I intentional, or am I hoping to get lucky? Am I still struggling with asking for my will or for God's will? Do I have the suspicion that God's will is something painful, unpleasant, or endlessly difficult? Do I really believe God's will offers joy, a fulfillment of my talents, energy to love others and express myself freely in the world? Do I believe God is personally and directly concerned about me and acting on my behalf? Honest openness in prayer forces me to repeat these questions until I can acknowledge a truthful answer. As long as I believe God's will is something that brings mostly pain and drudgery, I will never seek it with all of my heart. I will always make an excuse for settling for something else. I will always think less of God and more of myself. When I don't get what I want, I will tend to s...

"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you." --Jesus Christ, in John 15:7 This is one of those troublesome scriptures naysayers enjoying highlighting as untrue and saints silently scrimp away from without answers or explanations. How many times have I prayed for something and it didn't happen? I have prayed for people to live and they died. I have prayed for a job, or job interview, and it didn't happen. I have prayed to stay healthy and I got sick anyway. I have prayed for financial prosperity and my car required (suddenly, and right away, it seemed) a major repair. On the other hand, there have been times when I have prayed for insight, direction, or wisdom, and these things came to me clearly. I have prayed for someone's welfare and well-being and they overcame a huge challenge. I have prayed for safety and was kept safe in a dangerous place. When I had enough time to reflect on it all, I realized death was ...

--Celtic Knot of Motherhood, from tglass.net 2009 will be my sixth Mother's Day celebration without my mother. In addition, my grandmothers and (ex) mother-in-law, a woman I never met, are also deceased. I am grateful for the "play mothers" who have filled in with a love and concern that go beyond short phone conversations and holiday gifts. "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." --Proverbs 31:30 Love and beauty are two of the qualities most associated with what most of us consider to be feminine. My mother's love was expressed to me as a child when she taught me to help her in her rose garden and took the time to carefully explain how she cared for the plants. She loved the color and fragrance of the roses, and I came to love them, too. Her love was gentle, but contagious. Whenever I see a vibrant, healthy rose bush or a dozen roses in a vase, I think of her. M. Scott Peck wrote tha...

A musical reminder of what it is all about... I have no affiliation with and make no endorsement of the church named at the end of the video.