Looking Forward: 2016

 

Please consider this your open invitation to join me for Soul Care 2016.  Soul Care is a month by month, study, reflection, art journaling, discussion process that's main purpose is to deepen your spiritual connection to God.

 

You can join me here on the blog or over on the Soul Musing Facebook page. "Joining" Soul Musings 2016 can mean different things for different people. Some will simply read and reflect on what is written here or posted on Facebook. Some will comment or add their own thoughts. Some will buy an art journal or planner and create their own course of study or follow the one I am doing. Soul Musings is simply one avenue for you to walk the path God has set before you.

 

I'm excited for 2016!  God wants us to live a joyful life, and so often life here on this (at the moment) very rainy place we call earth can be complicated and stressful. Pain does exist and there are many storms to weather, both real and internally. As our faith grows and we seek God's will, some of those anxieties fall away and we are better able to cope with the multitude of things thrown at us.

 

I'm planning on a slightly different approach to Soul Care this year and I'd like to share it with you.

 

 

This is my new planner. It's a Happy Planner that I created a new faith based cover for. I have some other covers so I will most likely change them throughout the year. Last year I did both the planner and a Bible study so when I was thinking about 2016, I decided to combined both into one location. I'm not sure how it will work but we are about to find out!

 

 

At the beginning of each month there is a monthly page which I altered to work for my faith art journal. I haven't finished filling in all of the things for January yet. 

 

 

 

The inside of the planner has a monthly view and I will basically follow the same format in regards to monthly focus topics.  The first nine months of the year will focus on the fruits of the spirit.

 

Week One is always prayer week. This is a good time to ask for God's guidance for the month ahead and for him to open your heart and mind to Him.

 

Week Two is Bible Week and I look for and read verses pertaining to the monthly topic. It is amazing how often those verses speak to my life at the moment and uplift and guide me.

 

Week Three is Silence and Solitude Week which is the most difficult. Clearing my mind to hear God's voice is hard in this busy world. This year I am going to add the practice of lighting a candle during this reflective time as a reminder that God is the Light of the World and darkness cannot outshine his light.

 

Week Four is Express It Week which is when I tried to art journal my faith in some small way. The creative process opens our hearts to God in a different way than other forms of worship.

 

Any "extra" weeks in the month are bonus weeks to use however I wish.

 

 

 

The weekly views in the planner are set up a little different and I have a bit more room than I did in the spiral bound one in 2015. I plan to decorate each weekly view and use the sections as follows:

 

1. Top boxes will be used for the month Soul Care focus.

 

2. Middle boxes will be for art, doodles. inspirational pictures or other things of that nature.

 

3. The bottom boxes I am going to use to track my Bible study.

 

I am honored to share my ideas and thoughts with you and hope they help you on your journey toward a deeper relationship with God.

 

Hugs to all of you.

 

 



 

 

 

Fear: A Powerful Weapon

Fear is a powerful weapon of evil. It suffocates us with darkness and crowds the joy from our hearts.  It lures us into actions that perhaps we could otherwise avoid.  Unfortunately anxiety, worry and fear crowd in during the holiday season. The season of joy and peace can be transformed into a dark wasteland.

We can overcome fear, anxiety and worry by remembering to breathe. To let ourselves concentrate on the here and now with out worry of what might be around the next corner. God has our backs no matter what lies ahead. He never gives us more than we can handle. He teaches us through both trials and joy.

 

 

It's not an easy thing to do....to let go....and realize that God has this. Even when it feels like we are walking a tight rope hundreds of feet in the air.

 

Breathe

Pray

Look for joy

Do something fun

Sing

 

Give God a chance to work.

 

Hugs to each of you and may you let go of your fear and let God grow in your life in unexpected ways.

 

 

Living in Your Heart or Your Head

 

This morning as I headed out for a brisk walk/run I didn't know I needed to do some serious musing. I didn't know that God was going to bring into my life an experience that would bring clarity. Life has been complicated lately and it's easy for anxiety and stress to take its toll. As I looked up at the spacious blue sky filled with white clouds, it lifted me. My heart lightened and I knew there was a message here from God. The language of the soul is so often found in the wonder of God's creation. 

I started to ponder whether I am living in my heart or my head.

Living in your head is stressful. It creates versions of events and of the possible future that may or may not be accurate. Living in your head makes you think you are all knowing. When,in fact, most of what we conjure up are sheer fabrications that bring us to the brink of frustration and freeze our hearts with anxiety.

Living in your heart is a joyous experience. Now don't confuse this with being ruled only by emotion. That's not what I mean by living in your heart. Living in your heart creates an environment that allows faith, hope, and peace to fill your inner being. It fills you with a calm sense of knowing there is meaning in the universe.

At one point, I noted a plane's dark trail marring the seamless white backdrop created by the clouds. In life we experience dark trails that spread across the whiteness of our days. The beauty disrupted by so many human issues that cannot be avoided. As I walked I continued to watch that dark trail and reflect on it. While this is a "thinking" process it certainly felt more like a "heart" process because it came to me that over time the dark trail left by the plane was slowly dissolving and the white clouds gradually overtook it, sealing back together in seamless white beauty.

Life is like that. The blemishes of life fade and are overcome with other things. Sometimes its difficult to wait for that to happen. Yet if we can wait in our hearts instead of our heads we will save ourselves a whole lot of grief.

 

Hugs to each of you and may all your caterpillars become butterflies!

Violence, Hate and God's Promises

I watched CNN most of the afternoon yesterday. I know it's not really a healthy thing to do. Yet another mass shooting unfolding just mere days after the last one couldn't simply be ignored. We cannot hide our heads in the sand. Paris, Mali, Colorado and now California. Has the whole world gone mad?

Things are troubling in today's world. This emptiness inside of people grows. We can talk gun control, mental health and terrorism all we want but the plain hard fact is that none of those truly tell the whole story.  They are but simple human terms to try to describe something that we struggle to understand. It reminds me of an earlier post about the nature of good and evil. While good strives to "become" to move higher and higher in a spiritual swirl toward God, evil is the emptiness of the soul, a lack of meaning, the "unbecoming" until only the darkness exists.

We can enact laws, we can limit guns, we can increase mental health availability, we can bomb terrorist strongholds but none of those truly combat the emptiness. I'm a Methodist, but I'm pretty eclectic, the God or higher spirit that you chose to worship does not have to fit into my belief system but it has to exist. And it has to exist in harmony with others beliefs.  This isn't a competition between my God and your God. Without the existence of God, The Great Spirit, there is only the darkness. I agree with the headline that reads  "God isn't fixing this"

I'll be honest....I didn't read the article but I stand behind the headline. Here's why. God does promise to make something good out of the storms that devastate your life but that assumes you are going to be an active participant. You can't be passive, you can't ignore God and good and love and then assume that God is stepping in to clean up your mess. Not going to happen!

Cleaning up the mess doesn't require pointing fingers, endless debates and rhetoric. It requires two things. One that we live our lives filled with love rather than hate. Two that we recognize the emptiness created by a lack of some kind of faith in God or a higher being. When we recognize number two then we are open to achieve number one.

By now, most of you are shaking your heads saying..."it's not gonna happen." and you could very well be right. But without an end to hate in this world, there will be no end to violence. Truly moving in that direction would allow God to create something great out of the storms.

To simply pray for God to "fix" this is not what's required. Oh I'm all for prayer and it's powerful but we need to move past conversations with God and onto the path he has set forth for us in regard to living our spiritual lives. Now more than ever we must offer others the gift of a deep spiritual connection to God. For in the end, the whole world may be destroyed and even the stars may fall but God will fulfill his promises.

 

 

Hugs to each of you during these very trying times. May you reflect on words of love and seek ways to bring others into faith so they are not consumed by emptiness.

Waiting and God's Promises

Just a couple days ago I was talking with a friend about prayer and faith and "waiting" to see what happens in different situations. We both agreed that we were rather impatient people and unrealistically wanted "immediate" answers. He shared the idea of praying about "what should I be doing while I'm waiting?"  This opened my heart to being able to pray and I have been using his suggestion since.

Perhaps his suggestion allowed my heart, frozen by anxiety, to melt just a bit and in doing so it has caused me to muse about waiting and God's promises. I've written before about how my prayer life has evolved and how difficult sometime it is to not just "tell" God what you want to have happen but rather to take the situation to God and allow Him to work through it in his time and with his unique and all powerful insight and wisdom. Now I want to muse about that most difficult of all things....waiting.

 

I think the first thing to address is captured in the image above. God has a plan. He does not bring you to something that he is not willing or not going to bring you through. No matter how difficult and no matter the outcome in the end, He has a purpose. If He brings you TO it....he will bring you THROUGH it....perhaps in unexpected ways.

 

 

Here's another gem to remember. God's timing is always perfect. Oh dear me, I struggle with this as I want every thing settled immediately. I want my answers like NOW. But what if going through the waiting is part of the answer. What if the struggles you have in processing your situation are exactly what's needed for you to move forward in strong and powerful ways?  What if a fast answer is, in fact, stunting your growth?

 

 

Sometimes waiting feels like wishing on a star. Is it just randomly throwing our hopes and dreams and heart into the vast darkness of the universe?  Faith, even strong faith can let doubt seep in. Wait expectantly for God's answer (which we all know may not be the answer we want or expect). But wait expectantly, knowing that in God's time He will bring about the resolution that is right.

 

 

God's plan is bigger than all of us, more powerful and will increase your spiritual relationship with him. Don't fear it, embrace it and wait with a light heart for His answers.

 

 

Isn't this the truth? God's answers come at unexpected times, in unexpected packages, in words that surprise us, and suddenly all that seemed lost is resolved in sparkling clarity. This isn't a promise of rainbows and sunshine but know he will answer in the best way at the best time. Prepare your heart to receive his answer and wait filled with love and faith.

 

Hugs to each of you and may God's promises fill your December days.

   

Art Journals, Faith and Prayer

 

I created this page in my faith art journal. The next sermon series at College United Methodist Church is on the Lord's Prayer and this is the first installment. It sounds like a soap opera, right? (Installment) The sermon title was "Hallowed Be" which of course made me start musing about just how little I know about a prayer that I have repeated often through most of my life. I remember vividly saying these words on the night that a tornado struck very close to the mobile home we were living in at the time.  My nine months pregnant body was covering my sleeping three year old. The storm passed us unscathed.

 

Not all storms pass us unscathed though. We know that. Yet how is the Lord's Prayer a beacon of hope, a promise, and an avenue for worship.

 

Prayer isn't always about asking for strength and for guidance in times of trouble. It is about conversations with God.  It is one of the most powerful methods for deepening your spiritual connection with God and honestly, with the world also. (more about that in another post)

 

Hallowed Be....

 

Holy be Thy name

 

I was also just reading some other thoughts about the Hallowed Be part of the prayer, in which the author, Nathan Eubanks expounds that the Hallowed Be Thy Name part of the prayer is part of three petitions. (All essentially meaning the same thing)

 

Hallowed be Thy Name (Let your name be sanctified)

Your Kingdom Come (Let Your Kingdom Come)

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Let Your will be done on earth as in heaven.)

 

How is this different than the basic placement as part of the prayers introduction?  It places the Hallowed Be Thy Name...with the second part of the prayer rather than the first.

 

Essentially, as introduction it reads as follows:

 

Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallow be Thy name (introduction)

 

As part of the three petitions it reads as follows,

 

Our Father, Who art in heaven (introduction)

 

Hallow be thy name (petition 1)

Thy Kingdom Come (petition 2)

Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven (petition 3)

 

****Original work: What Does Hallowed Be Thy Name Mean

 

As a petition, the Hallowed Be Thy Name part of the prayer is calling out for God's name to be made known as holy to all in the world.

 

I'm not a Lord's Prayer expert and I certainly don't speak Greek or any other foreign language fluently. But I do like to muse and ponder and think about things. I think I'm going to like this new series.

 

I challenge you to look at your prayer life, how are your conversations with God going?

 

Hugs to each of you, as the storms of life come your way I pray that you will come through unscathed and if not I pray that God provides you with the strength to endure.

 

 

Soul Care 2015 Review and 2016 Plans

I know my blogging has been a little lacking these past few months but even when I wasn't blogging I was still musing. Pictured above you see the first 6 months of Soul Care 2015.  The event was created to help me keep focused and explore my spiritual path during 2015 and even though there have been some ups and downs I am pleased with how it has brightened my life. As you can see I selected a word each month to focus on, to pray about, to explore scripture that relates to the word or concept and to muse and create!

 I now find myself finishing up the month of October and I simply cannot believe how soon 2016 will be ending. As you can see I have two more words to explore in November and December: Blessings and Promises. Each month is like a breath of fresh air as I explore my spiritual relationship with God and seek a joyful life.  I was considering keeping these same 12 words for 2016 and then I came upon this (pictured below) and I decided to do something a little different in 2016.

I found this series of nine little books at Dollar Tree (yes Dollar Tree) and I immediately knew that I would use them in my soul care in 2016. Two of the words are repeats from 2015 (love and faith) but there is still plenty to muse about regarding them.  My store was a little picked over but if you are interested in the books you might be able to get all nine by visiting a couple different Dollar Trees. But, of course, you don't have to have these books to follow along here at Soul Musings and participate in the Soul Care 2016 event.  In fact, perhaps God will lead you to some other words, topics, or concepts to explore.

 

So the general plan is to study the nine fruits of the spirit January 2016-Spetember 2016 and then I'm not sure how October through December will unfold but I am sure something will present itself at just the right time, just as these books did. They are short, simple little books and will simply serve as the foundations of my musings but I felt drawn to them and decided to use them.

 

Hugs to all of you. Please be watching for your Soul Care 2016 event invite which I will publish in December. You can join the event on Facebook so you won't miss out on any posts or information. You don't have to comment, create or share unless you want to but by joining the event you will see all of my posts.  You can still join Soul Care 2015 by clicking on the ling below:

 

Soul Care 2015

September Soul Care: Harvest

For September I decided to use the word Harvest as the focus/theme for Soul Care. When I started out I was focused on being thankful for the many blessings God has bestowed upon me but then I started to think about "harvest" in another way. How are we harvesting for God? 

I'll be honest with you I'm not a big evangelical person. I don't shout my spiritual beliefs from the rooftops and try to "bring others to God" in that vocal manner. I don't criticize those that are able to do that, it's just not me.  One thing I've learned through soul musings is that we have to remain true to ourselves. Now that doesn't mean we use excuses to remain silent....I mean after all my motto is...."Get out of the boat."  But what it does mean is we use the talents we do have, meshed with our own personalities to have conversations with others about God, life, spiritual strengths, etc. I like to think I do that in my own special way.

I've "gotten out of the boat" here at Soul Musings by video taping some of my faith art journaling and sharing that on Facebook. I figure if we have to hear all the doom and gloom on Facebook, we might as well be assaulted at times by some positive messages. That's "getting out of the boat" for me because I'm truly not an artist. My art journal is not FABULOUS like so many I see on line and in examples. But I think perhaps that is a plus...because maybe, just maybe, others will see that you can use this spiritual growth method, even if you don't create masterpieces. I mean after all the humble page is just as powerful as the beautiful if it brings one closer to God.

Hugs to all of you. May you reap the harvest of God's many blessings and may you find your own unique ways to harvest for God.

August Theme: Sing

I've been a little preoccupied with life and blogging less and I REALLY miss it. It is through writing that I often ponder things and work through confusion, doubt, or any of those stumbling blocks I wrote about earlier.

I've been getting back on track in August as far as my personal reflection time and writing but not so much here at the blog. So I decided to "pop in" this morning and talk a little about the August theme and a little about Silence and Solitude Week which is coming to an end this weekend.

Sing is the theme I picked for August because I think it reflects both praising God and also of living a joyful life. I have written often about the joyful life and I truly believe that God wants us to live with joy. He has given us the marvelous gift of life and I seriously doubt He wants us to spend that in sorrow, doubt, anxiety or fear.

It's not always easy to sing. I'm not Pollyanna enough to think that. However I do think we can train ourselves to "let go" of past events that so often plague our minds, to be just a little kinder to ourselves and others and to look for ways to express our own unique joy.

Silence & Solitude: We are in month 8 and finally I think I have achieved a bit of wisdom on this idea of silence and solitude. The very first month I realized how hard it was going to be to find silence and solitude and even those fleeting moments I found it, I wasn't quiet sure what to do with it.

This month I decided to get up an hour earlier which gave me a greater chance of finding silence and solitude. I also made sure to have both TV and radio off and to avoid electronic devices. This hour was simply for reflection, writing (by hand) and reading. Sometimes it simply meant sitting and letting my mind clear from the whirlwind of life. It came to me that so often we complain that we can't hear God but are we ever quiet to give Him a chance to speak?

Hugs to all of you and may you feel joy in your life every day in some small way.

July Theme: Freedom

 

 

For our Soul Care July theme we will be examining Freedom.  What is freedom truly?  Is it the ability to do whatever you want?  Is it freedom from other people's control?  There are various ways to define and examine the concept of freedom. How does freedom relate to our relationship with God?

 

 

2 Corinthians 3:17 tells us:

 



"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."

While many Biblical scholars have written about this verse and the freedom of being able to read and understand the new "laws" as defined by Jesus's life. Sort of like..."I once was blind but now I see." I want to take a much simpler approach in my musing.

The Lord is the Spirit and he has given us the spirit also. The ability to see, to understand and to live life, to think, to feel, to access our spiritual connection to God in powerful ways. To me it is the ability to have a deep spiritual relationship with God, without any constraints. How powerful is that?

In Biblical times the world was ruled by laws, and rituals and man made rules. There was really little individual freedom as things were dictated by the law. This made life complicated and simple at the same time. You didn't really have to think or to ponder or to muse about anything. It was defined for you.  Punishment was harsh for those that did not conform. Jesus gave each person a new "right" and that was the right to think for themselves, to reach for a higher "being" than that which was dictated by culture. It was not necessarily a "dictate" to break rules but rather to examine rules.

"Test all things, hold fast what is good." Thessalonians 5:21

That's the freedom to think. To reach greater spiritual heights. To not be ruled by the laws of man but rather to work toward a better understanding of the laws of God. That doesn't mean all the laws of man are bad, it simply means that you are not confined spiritually by them.

I hope you will ponder with me the idea of freedom this month. Search out some verses that resonate with you and reflect on them during July.  Search your heart for the meaning of freedom.

Hugs to each of you during your quest for freedom, whether it is freedom from doubt or some other aspect of freedom, may you find it this month.

Looking for Rainbows in the Silence

 

This week I'm practicing Silence and Solitude. I came across this picture and it made me think about rainbows in the silence.

 

First it struck me that the rainbow path was a set of stairs. This in turn made me contemplate how all rainbows aren't smooth and easy paths. Sometimes when we follow a rainbow it's challenging. You have to climb to the top to really appreciate the rainbow.

 

Second the path made me think of following a rainbow and the warmth and comfort that the rainbow brings us. Right at the top, the lighted door and the safety and comfort of the home awaits. Then I went on musing and thought about how we can create rainbows for others....and in doing so that might require us to climb a few steps, put ourselves forth a bit...but in the end we are leaving a rainbow trail behind!

 

I also thought about rainbows in the silence...sometimes we do paint rainbows for others and they don't notice them, or they don't mention them or perhaps even they don't say thank you. That's ok. In the silence the rainbow is still there and it is not less powerful.

 

Hugs to each of you....may you find rainbows in the silence this week.

Rainbows and Random Thoughts

 

Rainbows come into our lives after a storm but have you ever traveled through a period of life or struggled with an issue in which you think there will never be a rainbow?  Those are the times to create your own!

 

Creating a rainbow takes more than just faith. It takes a conscious effort to seek out the light and to let that light filter into the darkest corners. It's not easy.

 

Rainbows can be so fleeting that we barely catch a glimpse of them. Tiny droplets of rain suspended in sunlight, fragile and yet mighty.

 

Don't chase rainbows....simply create them in life and let the power of their beauty speak to you and others.

 

How can you create a rainbow?  Smile at someone. Laugh with someone. Surprise someone with a good deed or a small gift.  Put a beautiful bouquet of flowers on your table. Cuddle your puppy. Be truthful. Be kind. Be authentic.

 

Hugs to each of you on this beautiful Sunday. May God send rainbows into your life today and every day!

June Soul Care: Look for the Rainbows

June is a month of quite reflection for me even though the month is full of things to do.  June is my second favorite month of the year, with October being my favorite!  Both months speak to me in ways, through nature, spiritual rejuvenation and "rebirth".  How you might ask is October "rebirth"? Well, that is a topic for another day.

This month, I'll be searching for rainbows and that might not be as easy as it sounds. So often we focus on the things "missing" from our lives, or the horrible things that occur. The unfairness, the injustice, and the unhappiness that seems to prevail in today's world.

I am not suggested we sit idly by and not fight for what we believe is right. While being passive at times is the right choice, I believe God calls us at other times to speak up and work toward making the world a better place. Yet in our lives we must take care not to be consumed by "our causes".  We must not lose focus of the fact that God wants our life to be joyous. Sometimes we doubt and we fall into the trap of thinking that "if only" this would happen I could live a joyful life. Or if this was right in the world I would be filled with joy.

The truth is if we wait for "everything to be as WE wish" to have a joyful life it will quite honestly never happen. At least not here on earth. There is just too much that can threaten to overwhelm us. I suggest when we start to feel that way, when we are wallowing in the "this world is beyond repair" that we count our rainbows. Take a break from being a crusader and look for the rainbows.

God's blessings are every where in your life. We simply need to turn our focus to feel the joy touch us. Now that doesn't "take away" the things that are wrong, the impossibly crazy things that seem to engulf us in this world. But it does allow us hope and joy in a sometimes bleak existence. It also makes us realize just what the important things are. When we seek God through our connections with others we begin to understand the path that Jesus walked.

Hugs to each of you and may you find your rainbows in the month of June and every month!

Paths: Week One Prayer Week

 

Week One focuses on prayers and while I certainly don't want to tell you what to pray about, I do want to share my ideas and what I will be focusing on. Perhaps this will be a springboard for your own conversations with God.

 

I am starting off the week praying about the month ahead. How might I use my time in ways that God directs. Am I becoming too consumed with my own personal interests to seek God regularly...to check in with him so to speak. Am I just rambling on and on without thinking about where God might be directing me? The key to this however is not to OVER THINK....one can just go in circles doing that and it is not what God intends.

 

Next. of course I will be asking God to help my feet find the right path, by opening and closing doors. Yes closing doors that are not right for me or distract from God's purpose for me.

 

I will spend time this week praying for family and friends that God will lead them on the paths that are right for them during this time of their lives. That he will walk along those paths with them and guide them.

 

I will pray about my spiritual path and what I should be seeking and the direction I should take in better understanding my own personal relationship with God.  To me my spiritual path should be my top priority but I believe many times it is not.

 

 

Hugs to each of you during this week of prayer. May you seek God's direction and may your lives be enriched by doing so.

April Soul Care Theme: Paths

We are finishing up our March soul care theme: The Cross this glorious Easter morning. The greatest gift has been bestowed upon us by God. The gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Savior.

 

This choice to make a year long commitment to "soul care" has been one that I knew would prove challenging,  March was just such a month as time flowed by so quickly and other things consumed my thoughts, time, and energy. I stumbled a bit, felt less creative, even a bit lost but isn't that the primary purpose of soul care?  To help us when we stumble? In all honesty it wasn't lack of faith but lack of energy that created the less than stellar month of seeking God. Yet here we are...at the Cross. Well no, today we are at the empty tomb and JOY is ours!

 

Last week was a bonus week and I so needed that!  I started a faith art journal just for the many I Am sayings and it has helped my heart , directed me forward in this spiritual journey. As I have mentioned before creative express takes us into a different arena with God.

 

 

This is one of the pages I'm working on... I am the light of the world. It's still a work in progress as most pages are because I continue to add to them as I go along.

 

 

This page is probably finished!  I am the vine!

 

 

Another partially completed page... I am the bread of life.

 

The new theme for April is Paths. We will pray about, read about and muse about the Paths that God sets before us. How do we find the right path? Is this the one God means for us to take?  Searching for direction is part of the spiritual experience and one worthy of time and thought.

 

Hugs to all.

Have a glorious Easter.

 

 

 

 

Square Pegs, Pits, and Stumbling Blocks

I've been a little weary of late, physically, emotionally and perhaps a bit spiritually also. I'm weary not through lack of desire for a deeper., more meaningful relationship with God but perhaps from discovering what that really means. It comes to mind that this is a pit (as I wrote about in a previous post). It's a pit of doubt, a pit about the "right" way of "being."

I feel a bit like I'm a square peg trying to fit into a round hole.  The truth is I don't mind others being in the round holes. I'm okay with that. I think it works for them and therefore is most likely exactly where God wants them to be. Some people call them "traditionalists" but that's just a word. I don't consider myself a traditionalist, although again that is just the way I view myself. Don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with traditionalists. They serve as the backbone of faith. It just doesn't feel like my path.

 

While I was pondering this I came across the above. Definitely not disillusioned with the spiritual search but can see how others reach that point quite quickly in today's world. The only way to combat it is through conversation with God and musing about your own personal relationship to God. No one else has the same relationship to Him that you do. God isn't a one size fits all. That's not to say there aren't very basic aspects of God that stay the same from person to person. It's just to point out that you might "know" God in a different way than I do and honestly I think that's ok. While saying that I must point out that there may be many that don't agree with that. They want you to fit into the round hole because it makes them more certain that their relationship with God is "correct."

 

Here's a little thought from our I Am Bible study.....

 

"When you find yourself in an unwanted place, you know that place in not a destination."  It's just a stopping place. Some stopping places are dark and dreary and we can't wait to move on but others are cozy and comfy and we tend to want to stay exactly where we are. Yet our spiritual quest is a journey, one whose destination you will not discover in this lifetime.  To me there is just as much "danger" in the comfy places that we don't want to leave as there is in the dark places. Oh be it, a different type of danger. The danger of stunted growth, of withering on the vine, of missing some aspect of the journey that God has planned for you.

 

I have written before about "becoming" and how is one to become if they stop evolving, stop questioning, stop considering?  If they are so comfortable with their "spot" that they stop venturing down the path.  As I was shaken in my own personal spiritual quest, as I started to stumble over that block, as I was getting caught up in "being right" or perhaps worried that other people's paths might be the "right" one...I was reminded by God that the "next step" was to stop worrying about it. God has this one! Where He leads I will follow and if it's a different path than others, I suppose I will rejoice in God making me a square peg rather than worrying about the round holes!

 

Hugs to everyone...

 

 

The Cross

It's March and the focus of Soul Care for March is The Cross. As I started writing this two things came to mind. The cross as a symbol and the cross as a way of life.

 

Something weird came to mind...The Mockingjay, from the Hunger Games series. The Mockingjay came to symbolize freedom, change, a call to rebellion so to speak.  Symbols are like that, they mobilize people. They take a lot of really BIG concepts and ideals and roll them into a symbol that pulls people together for a common cause.

 

The cross is probably one of the best know symbols of Christianity yet at the same time, it's origins are pretty common. Crucifixion on the cross was a common method of death in Jesus's time. It wasn't as if Jesus's death was "unique", at least in regards to method. Furthermore the symbol of a cross can be found throughout history, previous to Jesus's time. In fact the symbol of the cross as used in Christianity didn't come into existence until several centuries after Christ's death. So you may be asking...what does all this mean? What does it matter?  In truth, I'm not sure. Let's ponder it a bit.

Why do symbols exists?  I would propose that they exist as a means of drawing one in deeper to an understanding of a concept, a belief, that might just be "over your head" otherwise. Jesus came to us in human form to live the human experience. It makes sense to me that his death would be a human death. He wouldn't get some "special" treatment as his final hours drew near. Instead quite the opposite. He was dealt with in death as a common thief might be. The cross connects us to Jesus not at his heavenly level but at his most human. What good would it do to seek out or create a "heavenly" symbol of His death?  Who would even be able to relate to that?

I know that the belief is that it is Jesus's death on the cross that is the ultimate gift, a sacrifice for our sins and while I don't discount that....I truly belief that Jesus's life as a man was his ultimate gift to us. Yes He shed His blood for us but that is but the final act. His true gift was his journey through life.

And that brings us to the cross as a way of life. We can simply place our eyes upon the cross, the death of Jesus and his gift to us of eternal life OR we can place our eyes on His life. I'm not saying the first is wrong or that we shouldn't do that. I am simply challenging us to look beyond the final moments on the cross. I have written before about walking the paths of life and what better guide to have than Christ Himself? Open your mind and yourself to more than just the symbolism of the cross. Seek Christ as his journey through life.  The cross is but the final act in the greatest story of all time.

 

Hugs to each of you as we start this journey through the month of March. This week is prayer week so please focus on a better understanding of Jesus's life and what it means for our own.

Creative Conversations with God

It's Express It Week again (thank goodness, as I totally am struggling with finding moments of silence for Silence and Solitude Week)

You may be wondering why I keep harping on "express it." or faith journaling or spiritual creativity.

 

I want to list some reasons I feel like creative expression in our spiritual life is a useful tool.

 

1. During the creation of something we dwell in a deeper place inside ourselves. We immerse ourselves in this area, this core of our being and this is where our soul dwells also. Our soul can find it's voice in our creative expression.

 

2. Creative expression puts us out of our heads and into our hearts. It is here, I believe that God has easier access to us. A place where his voice is more easily heard.

 

3. Creating is a joyous experience (yes even for you non-artists). It's about the process not the end product. God wants us to find joy in daily living. He didn't put us here to merely survive.

 

4. As we doodle, as we paint, as we write, or draw or glue....we are opening ourselves to a different experience and while it might not be a heavenly experience, its not a run of the mill human one either. Perhaps in our creativity we will find the bridge.  

 

5. Creativity requires us to think differently, to access a different part of our brain, and in doing so, there are times when we "see" things differently, when we think things we have never thought before, when suddenly something that was foggy becomes clear...we discover connections.

 

6. Entering into the creative experience is a meditation of sorts, freeing our soul to seek a higher level and to have creative conversations with God.

 

 

Hugs to each of you....this week, use your imagination, create, and have creative conversations with God in the process.

February Week Three: Silence and Solitude

 

Well I doubt any of us here in Missouri will find our Silence and Solitude this week under a tree.....in a snow drift maybe! Last month this week...silence and solitude was the most difficult...who knew!

 

This morning when I woke up I drew a card for reflection...and I chose "stillness." This totally made me think of the week ahead. How often can we find even a moment of stillness. Yet stillness itself is what helps us calm our busy minds and delve into our very core to muse and contemplate so many things. Being centered helps us connect to our spiritual self....but wow is it hard! It is also in this quiet stillness that we can hear God's voice.

 

This week make a conscious effort to spend some time in silence and solitude with the Lord. Quiet your mind and spirit and listen for his voice. Remember that this month's theme is LOVE.  Listen for God's message about love.

 

Hugs to all of you and may you have some "stillness" in your life this week!