Keep Hope Alive

Some years ago I remember seeing a billboard on the side of the road that read, “Keep Hope Alive.” These three simple words have stayed in my memory and have encouraged me to ponder the importance of hope in our lives and in our world. Hope is to our spirits what oxygen is to our lungs. Our spirit dies when our hope dies. Therefore it is imperative that we nurture hope in our lives and in our communities. Sometimes it does seem like our hope comes crashing down crushing our spirits, yet that is when we need to turn to God, dig deep and hold on to a hope that outlasts our brokenness. Life often gives us challenges along the way, yet with the help of God we can navigate our way through the obstacles and be reassured of God’s presence. What we need is hope for today, not a childish hope that God will give us whatever we want. But a mature hope, that God will be with us and hold us up when we are feeling down. Turning to God in prayer is one way to keep hope in our hearts. So during this Holy week when we remember Jesus, and how he died on the cross for us, we gather, grateful that we are given a hope that can never die. So let hope rise this Easter season and “Keep Hope Alive!!!”

Enjoy a good laugh today

Some years ago around New Year’s, my husband and I decided to come up with New Year’s resolutions for each other. A risky venture I have learned. I don’t remember what I said to him, but he suggested I work on my sense of humor. I suppose that I had become a little too uptight. I hate to admit it, but he was right, I did need to “rediscover” my sense of humor. At times, life can certainly beat the joy right out of us. We get discouraged and downtrodden. Yet no matter how dormant our joy, one thing life can’t take from us, is our innate ability to laugh. Laughter is a choice. I marveled at people’s ability to have a quick wit, a creative comeback, and the capacity to laugh at themselves. Humor is a gift from God and we need to nurture it. Laughter is so important to our health both physically and spiritually. I pray that today we will find opportunities to delight in the joys around us for laughter expresses the beauty and the spirit we all carry within. So keep praying and keep laughing!!

A bucket full of rocks

This past week I gave a Children’s sermon about prayer, I don’t know if the children understood it but I had plenty of adults who appreciated my metaphor. I used a bucket of rocks and explained how the rocks represented our burdens. Our burdens weigh us down and are often hard to carry on our own. Each rock represents a concern. We have concerns about our grandfather who is sick, or a sibling who is having a hard time. We struggle with work or school, or paying the bills. We miss our parents or friends who have died and we mourn their loss. We've made some mistakes and we feel bad, we feel guilty and ashamed. We worry about our world, all the injustices, a lost plane, and the people who do not have enough food to eat. All of these burdens weigh us down like a bucket full of rocks. Yet if we have a friend to help us carry the bucket it is not as heavy. And if we share our burdens with others and allow the people around us to cart a few of the rocks with us our load isn't so heavy. If we lift up our concerns to God, then the bucket is much more manageable. That is how I believe it is within the life of the Church and with a relationship with God. Life can certainly weigh us down with a big bucket of rocks, yet as we journey together and with God the load becomes easier to bear.

 So I encourage you to lighten your load and keep sharing and keep praying!

As we begin the season of Lent we contemplate the wilderness of our lives. “My soul thirsts for you, for God,” (Ps. 63). In the midst of the wilderness we desire to know God. The Bible talks about the wilderness as a place of testing, or trial, or emptiness, or absence. It is often in the wilderness that we discover what is essential. Perhaps we are in the wilderness because we have experienced a serious illness, or a medical uncertainty, perhaps we are depressed or experienced a form of prejudice. You may be walking down the road of darkness and grief and know all about the wilderness. Most people relate it to being in a dry and weary place desperately longing for a cold drink of water. Lent is a time of being in the wilderness and discovering the temptations that plague us. It reminds us that life is difficult and the Christian life is difficult. So we gather in the presence of God and ask, “Create in me a clean heart, and put a new and right Spirit in me.” We draw close to God, pleading, weeping, and longing to be forgiven and to be strengthened. Lent is a time to have a heart to heart with God. So keep talking, keep questioning, keep wondering... it is that season.

Trying to be honest

This might not sound very good coming from a minister, but some years ago my New Year’s resolution was to actually pray for people when they asked me to. I confess that people would often ask for prayers and I would respond positively, but then not always follow through. Sometimes I would tell someone that I would pray for them, and then I would forget. I am not proud of this, yet I have stuck to my resolution and I do much better now. I am probably not at 100% but I feel much better about my prayer life and lifting up prayers of those around me. I also feel better about myself that I actually do what I say I am going to do. In fact, now I love praying for people, for myself and for the world. It is amazing the many connections that I have made through prayer. So my fascination with the world of prayer – and meditation – and talking to a higher power has only increased. I am anxious to share some of my thoughts with you, and also curious about what kinds of practices you might have when you talk to God. In what ways do you find talking to God helpful in your daily life? Or do you?

Wow!! I can't believe I am actually writing a blog!! We are creating this blog to encourage a conversation about how and when we talk to God. I look forward to hearing from different voices and learning together to enrich our relationship with God. Stay tuned...