FINDING GOD IN EVERYTHING!

AWAITING

THE LORD IS NEAR

(Ps. 16) 
by Nan Merril, Psalm for the Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness

Remain ever before me, O Living Presence,
for in you am I safe.
You are my Beloved; 
In You and through You I can do all things!

I look to those who are One with You,
and learn from them of your ways.
My delight increases,
each time I sense your Presence within me!
Songs of Praise well up from my heart!

I bless the Counselor who guides my way;
in the night also my heart instruct me.
I walk beside the Spirit of Truth;
I celebrate the Light.
I bask in the Oneness of All!

Thus, my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
I shall not be afraid,
nor fall in the pit of despair;
For in Love's presence I know the fullness of joy.

You are my Beloved and in you will I live forever!

"Some people look for a beautiful place. Others simply make a place beautiful."

FINDING GOD'S PRESENCE IN THE "HERE AND NOW"

May God's Indwelling  Presence

allow us to recognize, to trust  and to celebrate 

God's abundant grace and blessings

dynamically working in our midsts!

As we begin the liturgical season of Lent,

let us be reminded of the Church's invitation for us

"to turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel."

May our acts of penance, meditation & ascetism 

prime God's grace more fully into our lives

 and make us more deeply grounded

in our embracing the poor, the suffering and the needy

in our midst! 

GOD'S BLESSINGS ON US ALL!

Blue Macao's Balancing Act at Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga

HANG IN THERE! 

PROVERBS 3:5

Hope we'd become stronger and wiser 

in whatever struggles and hurdles 

we encounter each day 
and always see God's Grace 
in all of our 
life experiences!

FOR I AM THE LORD, YOUR GOD,, "DO NOT FEAR, FOR I AM WITH YOU,

DO NOT BE AFRAID, FOR I AM YOUR GOD,

I WILL STRENGTHEN YOU, I WILL HELP YOU

I WILL UPHOLD YOU..!" ISAIAH 41: 13

You are in our thoughts and prayers!

Thinking of you!

"Be Joyful in Hope, Patient in Affliction,

Faithful in Prayer." 

Romans 12:12

Just letting you KNOW that 

someone's REMEMBERING YOU in PRAYER

and trusting God to TOUCH your LIFE

with WARMTH and LOVING CARE!
GOD LOVES YOU!

DRAW ME TO YOUR HEART

"Wise and Faithful Guide,

keep my spirit entwined with yours.

Teach me about the poor and the pained.

Fill me with your mercy and compassion.

Help me to find your peace in my troubled moments.

Let love be the response I give to those who

oppose me.

Constantly draw me toward all that is good.

Urge me to give my best to those who need it.

Lead me to learn from my discouragement 

and struggles.

Be the light that I need to find my way in darkness.

Fill my hollowness and emptiness with your love.

Most of all, continue to dwell with me

because your gracious presence is all I ever need.

It is enough to bring me through the deepest canyons

and the darkest crevices of my life.

Divinine Companion,

draw me to your heart where wisdom resides

and daily let me choose to follow your way."

Joyce Rupp, from Prayers to Sophia

May we always find our Center, 

especially in the most mundane situations

and in the most daily routine things that we do,

and let God's Peace and Glory 

shine through! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

GOD AS THE CENTER OF OUR LIVES

COILED SHOOT OF A GIANT ANCIENT FERN

"What you get by achieving your goal is not as important

as what you become by achieving your goals" 
-Goethe-

ALL EMBRACING GOD, 
THANK YOU FOR THE REMINDER
THAT WHATEVER I HOLD AT THE CENTER OF MY LIFE

CAN HAVE THE POWER TO INFLUENCE 
AS TO WHOM I MAY BECOME.

LORD, I IMPLORE YOU TO DIRECT NOT MY FOCUS
ON MY FALTERING SENSE OF SOLITARY SELF, 
ON MY RELIANCE ON FALSE POWER AND SECURITY
AND ON MY ATTENTION TO FLEETING HAPPINESS.

RATHER, SET MY HEART ON FIRE WITH LOVE FOR YOU
AND FOR YOUR MYSTICAL PRESENCE 
 DEEPLY PLANTED IN MY HEART
AND IN ALL OF LIFE.

YOU HAVE CONSTANTLY STIRRED LIFE IN ME;

NEVER STOP TO SEIZE ME WITH YOUR CARESSES.
CONSTANTLY SURPRISE ME 
AND KEEP ME IN AWE AND WONDER
AS YOU DRAW ME CLOSER TO YOU.

EVER LOVING GOD,

KEEP MY HEART EVER VIGILANT AND GRATEFUL

AND SO THAT I CAN ALWAYS 
RECOGNIZE & CELEBRATE 
IN EACH MOMENT OF MY AWARENESS
YOUR EVER UNFOLDING SELF-REVELATION
DAWNING INSIDE OF ME AND IN ALL OF CREATION.

O, GOD-WHO-IS-WITH-US,
BLESS ME IN MY UNDYING DESIRE 

TO MAKE YOU THE CENTER OF MY LIFE!

 As the Christmas Season approaches,

let us remember those whose lives have been interrupted by sudden, unwanted and uninvited losses.
May our celebration of God's coming into our midst 

bring us deeper consolation and hope.

GOD IS OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH, A LOVING PRESENCE IN TIMES OF TROUBLE

The Beloved is our refuge and strength,

a Loving Presence in times of trouble.

Therefore we shall not fear though

the earth should change,

though the mountains shake 

in the heart of the sea;

Though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

Psalm 46 (Psalm for the Praying, Invitation to Wholeness)

Nan Merril

May Faith, Hope and Courage
be our Guiding Light
today and always!
May God be praised!

REMEMBERING NELSON MANDELA ON RESILIENCY

EVERGREEN TREE ON TOP OF THE STONE MOUNTAIN 
STONE  MOUNTAIN, GA
(elevation is 1686 ft and 825 ft around sourrounding area)-

"Difficulties break some men but make others. 

No axe is sharp enough 

to cut the soul of a sinner who keeps on trying, 

one armed with the hope

 that he will rise even in the end."


"Everyone can rise 
above their circumstances and achieve success 
if they are dedicated to and passionate about 
what they do."

 "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear,
 but the triumph over it. 
The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, 
but he who conquers that fear."

"Do not judge me by my successes,
 judge me by how many times I fell down 
and got back up again."

-NELSON MANDELA-

May our visions and life directions be enriched and our spirits be inspired
by the rich legacies that he lived and shared with us all!

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

THE  PROFOUNDEST LOVE

"LOVE is not a feeling;

it is AN ACT OF THE WILL, A COMMITMENT  
THAT SUSTAINS THE RELATIONSHIP

even when the Beloved 

is no longer even likable."

Instances abound like

"the LOVE OF THE MOTHER of the death-row convict,

the LOVE OF PARENTS when their children say,

"I've found someone I love more than I love you -

at least in a different way,"

the LOVE OF THE ALCOHOLIC FAMILY,

the PRODIGAL LOVE OF THE FATHER

for his runaway son,

GOD'S LOVE FOR US

when we say,"I don't need you,"

and

OUR LOVE OF GOD

when God chooses to be silent."

-William O'Malley, "Redemptive Suffering"-



May our lives continue to be enriched and to be transformed
by the profound love that others have lived and shared
and may their examples ever propel us 
in our efforts to "know God more deeply,
love God more dearly, 
and follow God more closely"
in our lives!

PRAYER - SURPRISE AND COMMUNION WITH GOD

PRAYING does not always take place 
in a contained or predetermined place of reflection.

 We NEVER know when 
there might be an interior turning 
toward the one who dwells 
within us and among us.... 
       

...at any time and any place 

we can be 
SURPRISED and DRAWN INTO COMMUNION

   by the unanticipated sense of God's nearness.

- Joyce Rupp, Prayer -



May we always be open to be surprised
and to be transformed in our lives
as "we know God deeper, love God dearer and follow God closer!"

GOD'S SEEMING ABSENCE AS GOD'S PROFOUND PRESENCE

"Dark Night of the Soul" is a profound feeling of God's seeming silence
and distance to everything that craves for deeper union with God

I have experienced the "Absence of God" so  profoundly

and that this "negation" has gradually became 
God's New Presence in my Life! 
May God be Praised!

EVER PRESENT GOD, 
THANK YOU FOR REMINDING ME 
THAT YOU ARE THE GOD OF DARKNESS AS WELL.
EVEN IN MY DARKEST MOMENTS, YOU ARE THERE,
SEIZING ME AND LOVING ME.
I PRAY THAT I MAY ALWAYS FIND YOU
IN THOSE MOMENTS 
WHEN I AM UNMOVED TOTHE BEAUTY OF CREATION, WHEN I AM FROZEN TO THE LOVE OF COMMUNITY, WHEN I AM OBLIVIOUS OF YOUR ABIDING PRESENCE. AMEN.

You made the night your cloak,
you covered yourself in a canopy of storm clouds.
Psalm 18:11

You are the Light of my Life

"Yes, You are the Light of my life;

You shine through my darkness.

Yes, with you I can do all things;

and my spirit soars like an eagle.

Your way lead to wholeness,

O LOVING PRESENCE;

Your Word in me is Life;

How tenderly You live in my heart!"

Psalm 18

-Nan Merril, Psalms for the Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness

Draw Me Close to You

Creator of the Dawning Sun,

draw me with your eternal energy.

Filter your transforming glow

through every fiber of mine

until I am transparent

with the power 

of your 
enlightening beauty!

-Joyce Rupp-

LIVING ABUNDANTLY
"I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." - Jn 10:10b

SPIRITUALITY AT WORK

is NOT first and foremost about achieving our goals, 

making more money or becoming better managers, 

or finding ways to get others to do what we want,

or even about becoming happier,

although any and all of these may and do happen 

when soul-making is taken seriously.

WHAT SPIRITUALITY AT WORK 
IS ABOUT ABUNDANT LIFE:

living fully into each moment paying attention

to what is happening within us and around us,

understanding what our lives are about

and how we're meant to make a difference

within the larger communities of which we are a part.

It is, finally, 

about deciding to act,

to make creative choices

that will move us and our organizations

toward a 

DEEPER WHOLENESS.

-Whitney Whererrer Robertson-

Live and Livelihood

"CALLED TO LOVE"

A MEDITATION/REFLECTION BY JOYCE RUPP

For one being to love another,

that is perhaps the most difficult of all tasks,

the ultimate, the last test and proof.

The work for which all other work is but preparation.

-Rainer Maria Rilke - 

Jesus, you are "filled with love" for me 

just as you were for the rich young person who came to you. 

I, too, have riches, a wealth of love within me, 

that is meant to be shared. 

I yearn to have a deep desire for goodness 

so that I can leave some of the things I'm greedy for 

and focus my heart on the deeper values of your love.

  I yearn to love as you have loved. (Mk 10:17-22).

Jesus, there are places within my heart 

that are still unfree and fearful. 

You made yourself available to the Samaritan woman 

and you pursued her with your strong belief in her inner treasures.  

I, too, am meant to be a person of love 

who announces hope to others (Jn 4: 1-42)

Jesus, you told a powerful story of a person 

who stopped on a risky road to care for someone's wounds. 

Help me to stop at the unpleasant places in my life, 

to be present to those who need a touch of love,

 especially on those days 

when my life is moving hurriedly and intensely.  

Grant me the courage to be less fearful of reaching out 

and walking with others 

who need a gesture of kindness and care. (Lk. 10:29-37)

Jesus, you welcomed a penitent woman 

who came to bathe your feet with her tears. 

Your recognized the beauty of her love and the depth of her sorrow. 

There are tears within me which need to be shed 

for the pain I've cause and the hurt I've generated.

 You are a loving welcome for me 

as I come with repentance. 

Thank you for all the times 

you've welcomed me home. (Lk 7:36-50)

Jesus, you loved your own, loved them to the end."

 You bent low before them, smelled their dirty feet,

 and washed them tenderly. 

You then asked them to share that same great love with others. 

I, your, servant, am called to share my gifts 

and talents with those who are part of my life. 

I am not meant to be a doormat for them 

but I am called to be generous and humble 

with the deeds that I do.  

May it be so. (Jn13:1-15)

Jesus, you called your disciples friends. 

You recognized the great blessing 

they were for you on  your journey. 

Thank you for the gift of my significant persons, 

for the privilege of walking through life with them.

 Remind me often of the strength and courage

 these loved ones give to me.  

May the joy I experience through them 

radiate love in my life to all who know me. (Jn 15: 1-7)