Close to the Star

As the days of December speed by, we draw closer to the star, the symbol guiding us to Christ's birth. On this journey, I am reminded of all the things that distract us, that cause detours and delays in our journey. Things that threaten to overwhelm us or block our path. Not things you might think, like holiday shopping or parties or baking cookies. No not those things. Even though they may pull us at times away from the center of Christmas they can also be joyous occasions of sharing and fellowship.

I'm thinking more of the hard truths of life, the things we have no control over and threaten to capsize that boat that we are afraid to get out of anyway. Things like death, depression, hunger, cruelty, anxiety, and injustice.  Each seeking to rob us on our journey to Christmas. To rob us of the quiet peace, the glorious gift, given to us by the Christ Child.

Do not despair. The journey to Christmas doesn't just happen in December. It doesn't end on January 6th with Epiphany. You don't have to fear you have missed it, that somehow it's passing you by. 

The journey to Christmas is ongoing. We seek the Christ Child, in many ways all our lives. Do not be discouraged. The star is always there for anyone who seeks him, not just during the brisk cold days of December but every day. 

Hugs to each of you as we draw closer to the star. The star shines bright and we will always be guided by it. 

Tentative First Steps

What do you do when you are preparing for a journey? Pack your bags? Buy snacks? Get out the map? All are good places to start. You're leaving home, traveling through unknown locations, and moving closer to your destination. 

But what of the journey to Christmas? When do you take the first tentative steps into advent and how do you travel? Do you follow a map? A set of rituals and customs that you use that both support and comfort you?  There's nothing wrong with that...but this year....this year I'm throwing away the map. It's not a case of being a rebel, more a case of seeing where this journey leads me. That's not to say there won't be some road signs to follow, some items to pack and some resources to use. Each day I will start afresh, without a plan, no maps, no goals, just the open road. I'm a little nervous. Where will this journey lead me this year?

Here's where my tentative first steps of this idea started.  I normally attend the 9:00 church service but I decided I was going to attend the 10:30 service for a change of pace. I also decided that during advent I would take sermon notes to reflect on throughout the week. All this really entails is jotting down any sentences, words, phrases or ideas that resonate with me during the service. 

"Which star are you following?"

This was part of a video talking about the star in the sky that appeared at Jesus birth. It jumped out at me. So often we feel we are going about life as it was meant to be but what if we are following the wrong star?  In that case, our journey to Christmas will not end with us greeting the Christ Child. I jotted that down for further reflection. There were other elements that obviously popped up during the sermon but this was the tentative first step to this crazy, downright wacky idea that my journey to Christmas this year will not be a scripted predetermined path but rather will evolve as the days go by and will last well past Christmas Day itself. I'm going to follow that star and I'm trusting it will take me just where I need to go.

College United Methodist Church is my church home and it will always be my church family but it also popped into my head during the service that perhaps advent is a good time to visit some other churches. Not looking for a new home, just following that star. 

I also picked up this resource provided by our church. Just because I'm going on this map-less journey doesn't mean resources aren't valuable. Sometimes the star isn't in the sky, sometimes it's in a song, or a book or in the whispers of a prayer. 

I invite you to go with me on this wild journey to Christmas, to delve into the possibilities that God provides us with, and to travel through advent with a sense of joy and adventure. 

Hugs to each of you. Find your first steps, tentative or sure! 

September Promises

I've been playing around with different faith journals and ways to stay on track during my faith journey. When I was using my planner set up sometimes I got discouraged or felt guilty because there were days or weeks when I didn't really "keep up". This was self-defeating and served no real purpose. Yet now I have the urge to go back to my planner version of faith art journaling, realizing that even when I don't complete each page it still moves me further along than a more loosely organized journal. I'm itching to start but I just can't bring myself to start a planner in September. I love starting my new planners in January so until then I'll use a makeshift version to get me through the year! 

I also miss the weekly framework I started this adventure with several years ago.

Week One: Prayer Week

Week Two: Bible Week

Week Three: Silence and Solitude

Week Four Express It

Fifth Week: Choice (as applicable)

Lastly, I miss my word or theme of the month. I know...if I miss all of it so much why did I wander away? You know...the novelty of new and the guilt for not producing something on every page. Well, hindsight is 20/20 so not going to dwell on it. 

Here are my monthly themes for the rest of the year. 

September: Promises

October: Lost

November: Found

December: Journey

Hugs to each of you. I am so looking forward to musing with you again here on Soul Musings. As always my hope is that you will find some small thing to encourage you, support you and inspire you here on the blog. 

Doubt and Doers

As much as I consider the "Get Out of The Boat" my motto, I also can relate to Thomas in a big way. Its not a bid deal nor a small deal, it just is what it is.

^"24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus^[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

²⁶ A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

²⁸ Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed"    John 20: 24-29

For Thomas, seeing was believing and that's a lot like me, I often say, "I'm from the Show-Me State. I'll believe it when I see it."  Now, of course, this is mostly rolled out when I'm not really believing what I'm hearing. And let's be honest, caution in today's world is not a bad thing. But what about on the spiritual level, what about faith and trust in a divine plan. Even that could be doubted...I mean as mere mortals we have no way of knowing or understanding what this divine grand plan is here on earth. 

Lets take a closer look at doubt. Where is it born?  Doubt is never born in the sunshine, in the glorious joy filled moments of living. When we are feeling on top of the world we feel blessed and happy and like all is right with the world. Doubt is born in the darkness, in the despair we feel when our world seems to be collapsing, in grief, in the tired feeling we get when we put one foot in front of the other but never seem to really get anywhere.

Where does doubt dwell?  Sometimes doubt is a fleeting moment. Passing quickly as our intellectual and emotional selves recover from whatever blow we have taken. Yet at other times, doubt moves in, it sets up house in our head, but more dangerously in our hearts. It seeps from our pores, it clings to our skin like sweat on a hot summer day. We breath it in. Few people go through life avoiding things that allow doubt to take up residency. Deaths, divorce, poverty, war, all manner of human experience can cause a "For rent" sign to flash like a neon light in the darkness. 

What feeds doubt?  Doubt can move in and dwell in our daily life but it can't "live with us" long unless we feed it. Doubt feeds on despair, on a loss of faith, lack of hope and a belief that we are alone. There are so many life stories that make it easy for us to understand how this could happen. Bad things happen, things that cut into our soul. 

So where does that leave one?  Drowning in doubt? It brings me to the point in my musing about "doers"  Doers keep putting one foot in front of the other. Not only that,  doers continue to live life "as if". As if at any moment around the next corner, over the next hill, they will discover and answer to their questions, a solution to their problem. Some may feel this is foolish, but is it more beneficial to "give up"? To let doubt set up house in your soul?  

Not only do they don the cloak of "as if" they also take action for themselves and others, be it small or large. They look for the rose among the thorns. They take a small step to work toward feeling better. They unselfishly give to others even while lacking themselves. Giving isn't all material, it can be a smile, a hug, a word of encouragement. By brightening others worlds, they are brightening their own. They continue to allow the light of God to shine into their lives even when the sky they view is dark and ominous. It is a faith that only exists because of their spiritual relationship to God. 

Hugs to each of you. May you evict doubt in your lives and be a doer, finding ways to live joyously in this chaotic world. 

Calling the Sinners

Everyone that's read my "Investigating Jesus" mini series know that John is my favorite gospel. The Jesus portrayed in the words of John is someone I can relate to. His approach to life is just as relevant today as it was when he walked on earth. Today I'm starting another round of "Investigating Jesus"  I've been trying for a while to get back to blogging but life gets in the way but then the point that cascaded through my mind was that saying that was really not exactly true. We all prioritize things in life and not setting aside time to do something that is spirit and soul soothing to me is neglecting an essential part of who I am.

This isn't from John but it's what I want to focus on for this particular post. It is particularly fitting in today's world.

Like all things in this world, at times there is great debate and argument when people refer to Jesus as a rebel. I've done it many times without even realizes that to some it has a negative connotation in some way. Go figure. 

So as I so often do I mused on it over time and I still think of Jesus as a rebel and I love him all the more for it. Jesus refused to be stuck in a stereotypical role, a role of what a spiritual leader was viewed as in his day. 

He refused to follow worldly "rules" that He knew were in conflict with God's. He "hung out" with sinners, he drank water at the well with the Samaritan woman, he healed lepers, he challenged the "established norms" of his day. Why?

"I have not come to call the righteous but the sinners..."   Sometimes to call those sinners we have to be present in their world. Being present in their world doesn't necessarily mean dragging them into our church on a Sunday morning. Honestly, that might come much later. Being present in their world doesn't mean going into a dangerous neighborhood either. What I mean by being present in their world is to suspend judgement of their life and honestly make a serious attempt to see things from their world view. It's hard to step up to people we don't know, to have a conversation with someone that is "different" than we are, to open ourselves to a "life" that is not as we imagine it "should" be. How much it enriches our soul to do so though. 

We need more light in the world and light shines the brightest in the darkness. Fear Not

Hugs, I feel like this was a rambling post but then some of my best reflections start out as vague disjointed thoughts. Be the Light. 

Messages from Self

I've written before about listening for God's whispers, those messages from the universe that lead to great discoveries. There's another kind of message that we receive daily, messages from self. Sometimes the messages are helpful and some times not so much. Let's examine the different types of messages that might flow into your life.

Some times the messages are like drops of rain. They slowly descend into our minds like little pings of rain. They can be gentle and soothing or they can hit hard and sting. These drops occur off and on over time. Pay attention to them or they can become a thunderstorm. These are little subconscious messages, at times they are warnings that if ignored create problems. People often refer to the raindrops as intuition, gut feelings that are best listened to.  

Other messages are like the gentle ebb and flow of the seasons, creating a cycle in our lives. Some cycles, like the seasons are useful and fill a need within us of a pattern of existence. However other cycles are less useful and become a vicious repetition that we long to break but feel trapped or defined by. These cycles send messages that make us doubt ourselves, that diminish who we are, and rob us of the joy we are suppose to experience in life.

The important thing to remember about self messages is that we do have control over them. We can filter our messages into a gentle flow that doesn't overwhelm us but rather supports us. Yet the very most important thing about our messages is that what we seek is what we find. We are influenced by the messages both from self and others that we let into our lives. It always reminds me of this quote:

Guard carefully the things you embrace, the seeds that you plant and the path you follow. What you seek is also seeking you. It is a dual relationship that you can bring into being. Take care that your messages move you closer to the things you want. 

Hugs and may your week be filled with messages that you can embrace and bring into being.

Inactivity and God's Messages

It's January 10th and I still have assorted Christmas decorations bunched in groups here and there waiting for my inspired organization to set in that will facilitate them being put away and stored in a wonderful new system, Yeah. right. I have to admit this has been my least productive first ten days to the year EVER.

As I was just about to get busy this morning and tackle that to do list which has been lingering in my planner, I suddenly remembered my commitment to writing more. Procrastination? Most likely but then this little whisper in my head asked me...."how does this inactivity in the mundane things is life relate to inactivity in our spiritual relationship to God." Is He always on the back burner? Do we waste the precious moments that he sends our way?

So before you moan that you don't have one more second to spend on anything, let alone your spiritual journey, let me assure you that the journey is best walked in the midst of our every day tasks, interwoven into all the little (and big) things that comprise our days. The spiritual journey is not some separate entity that lingers just out of reach. Rather it is the journey that we walk every day. Not apart from us but in us.

Now none of that really explains my inactivity. What am I doing with my days? I'm not even sure. I'm not engrossed in TV, or writing or art journaling. I'm not even spending time online. It's like I'm in a sustained state on inactivity. Oh yes, I'm accomplishing a few things each day but certainly nothing to cheer about. Maybe it is a cocoon of hibernation?  Good intentions have not brought it to an end but today...writing this....it feels different. As if a seed of inspiration has been germinating and has suddenly taken root. I have written before about finding joy in the mundane, in knowing God's love through even the smallest tasks, perhaps just perhaps that inactivity was meant to remind me of this. That each thing we do, no matter how small and no matter how ordinary is a step on a journey of discovery.

Hugs to each of you and may your to do lists always include the joy of walking the spiritual journey every day.

Conversations with God 2018

We are nine days into 2018 and one of the things I wanted to do in 2018 is start blogging again. Blogging is easy on the best of days when ideas flow and the internal critic does not limit the flow of words onto the page. It's hard on days when no ideas seem to present themselves for dissection. It's extremely difficult on days when one lets the doubt of self expression creep into the mind and sometimes into the soul. The whole " I have nothing worthwhile to say" permeates and discourages.

Writing doesn't happen in isolation. It happens from nudges and whispers, from a kaleidoscope of things, both external events and internal musings. Often here at Soul Musings I am guided by my spiritual wonderings, whispers from God and topics that just keep presenting themselves for consideration. Sometimes there are things I feel compelled to write about because for me writing is a method of sorting through things, bringing myself to a higher level of  awareness. As I've mentioned before I primarily write for myself and if in the process something I write is helpful to someone else in some small way then that is an added plus. 

Conversations with God 2018 is a series of topics I hope to ponder. God calls us not to accept the world as it is but to work toward a more compassionate, loving world. Not an easy thing in 2018. I don't have a predetermined list, I am counting on God to present to me the things that I need to reflect on. He has a unique way of doing this. Sometimes he hits me over the head with it and at other times there are gentle nudges. At times a person wanders into my life that is the seed of spiritual reflection. Surprisingly, or maybe not, this is not always a "church person" or someone whose life is dedicated in the typical way to God. I learn from all for as 1Thessaionians 5:21 instructs us.....

"Test all things, hold fast to that which is good."

Hugs to each of you as we embark on this journey through 2018. May God's conversations with you bless you life in unexpected ways.