Posts

Seeking

Black-headed Grosbeak, McLane Creek Nature Trail, Olympia, WA USA

God has made us seekers of him and we do find him. He is in the beauty and magnificence of nature. He is in the consistency and precision of science. He is in the heroic self-giving of loving relationships. Most astounding of all; however, God is a seeker too. He seeks each and every one of us. In his innermost being God has revealed himself as love. A lover seeking his beloved. A love so deep that “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

So seek God; but perhaps more importantly, let him find you.


A Great Cloud of Witnesses

Flowering trees, Olympia, WA USA

It was a beautiful spring day and as I walked under the flowering trees it felt like the saints in heaven were surrounding me, witnesses in faith to the glory of God.  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith (Hebrews – 12:1-2).

Sober and Vigilant

Mule deer buck, Pueblo West, CO USA

This young mule deer buck, wearing a broken antler and scar across his snout, with eyes forward and ears pointed back, has learned to be sober and vigilant. 

So what do we need to be vigilant about? Perhaps many things, but one thing we need to be vigilant about is always having our eyes focused on God and the needs of our sisters and brothers, and not on our inward self.

Vigilance; however, does not mean living without joy. On the contrary, let us live life in abundance (see John 10:10). We have an infinite God and he desires us to dwell in his infinite love. We do this by participating in the self-giving love of Jesus Christ through prayer and service to the common good.


Small Things / Great Love

Female Anna’s Hummingbird on nest, Olympia, Washington USA

It is said that when Mother Teresa talked to a person no one else in the world existed to Mother Teresa except the person that Mother Teresa was talking to at that moment. Mother Teresa was a master at living in the moment, making the moment, in all its small, beautiful nuances, count. If you look at her great accomplishment of establishing missions throughout the world to take care of the most vulnerable, most of what she accomplished was done by doing small things with great love.

The foundation of Mother Teresa’s capability of doing small things with great love came from prayer and her love of Jesus. Each morning following mass, Mother Teresa would spend an hour in quiet prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

Mother understood that a life filled with small acts of charity was what Jesus expected of the Christian. “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.” (Matthew 25: 35-36)

Mother Teresa took Jesus’s words to heart for in each person she met she saw Jesus. “I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself, this is hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus. This one has leprosy or gangrene; I must wash him and tend to him.”

Let us live the simple life. Let us do small things with great love. Let us see Jesus in each person we meet.


Everything that Breathes

Canadian Goose, McLane Creek Nature Trail, Capital State Forest, WA

Praise him with trumpet sound;

  praise him with the lute and harp!

Praise him with the timbrel and dance;

  praise him with the strings and pipe!

Praise him with sounding cymbals;

  praise him with loud clashing cymbals!

Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord! ~ Psalm 150:3-6

The Psalms is the prayer book of Israel, the prayers that Jesus read. They are honest about the human condition, are honest about God, and are honest about our need for God. Often modern readers get turned off on the graphic descriptions of war and hostility in the Psalms, but I recommend reading these ancient prayers in an allegorical or analogical way. For instance each and every one of us; fights a battle if only in our minds and hearts, has to overcome obstacles that seem insurmountable, has to examine our conscience and ask God for forgiveness, and perhaps most of all has a reason to praise our Lord for blessings. The psalms is a great book of prayer that covers almost all conditions of the human experience, so take a minute and let God talk to you in the book of Psalms.


Love is a Gift

Sunset, Cayucos, CA USA

“We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

“Certainly as the Lord tells us, one can become a source from which rivers of living water flow (John 7:37-38). Yet to become such a source, one must constantly drink anew from the original source, which is Jesus Christ, from whose pierced heart flows the love of God (John 19:34)” ~ Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est #7


Freedom is Turning Toward You

Western Gull, San Simeon, CA USA

Today’s understanding of freedom, to do whatever one wants, whenever one wants, caves a person’s world in on one’s self, making the person captive to the never completely fulfilled desires of pleasure, power, prestige and security. The biblical understanding of freedom is a freedom toward the love of God and away from selfish desires, leading to true freedom. A true freedom to love others and enjoy, and understand, all the beauty around us for what they are, God’s creation, not our possession. Trusting in Christ, in what he has said and what he is asking of us, leads to true freedom. A freedom in God. A freedom each person was created to enjoy.  

Power, Love and Self-Control

Sunset, Cayucos, CA USA

What does power, love and self-control look like? In nature it might look like a beautiful sunset but what does it look like in humanity? Look at the crucifix. Read the gospel accounts of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. Read the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus asks us to take up our cross and follow him, to be like him, full of power, love and self-control.

For nearly two thousand years Christians have set aside six weeks of prayer, fasting and sacrifice, a time called Lent, to focus on following Jesus, taking up their cross, and become practitioners of power, love and self-control. Easter is coming. Jesus is inviting you to follow him, to be like him.


My Secret Heart

Long-billed Curlew, Morro Bay State Park, CA USA

King David was said to have a “heart like God” (1 Sam 13:14; Acts 13:22).  Yet David, the boy that slayed Goliath, the king that danced before the arc of the covenant, fell far grace.  David went from defeating Israel’s enemies in battle to laziness, to adultery, to murder in a short period of time.  How did David fall so far, so quickly?  Was it pride? Was it power?  Was it selfish pleasure?  Psalm 51 is ascribed to having been written by David after he was confronted with his sin of going to Bathsheba and then killing her husband, Uriah.  David’s words in Psalm 51 show an understanding of our need for a prayerful self-examination, an examination of our secret heart, least we fall from the Lord.   

Mother

Elephant seal mother with baby, California USA

“She is clothed with strength and dignity, and laughs at the days to come. She opens her mouth in wisdom; kindly instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband, too, praises her.” (Proverbs 31:25-28)


Worship

Evening Sun, Pueblo West, Colorado USA

Three wise men came to worship Jesus so many years ago.  Why do you suppose they came to worship him?  Why do we worship him?  Is it to gain favor?  Is it because God needs our worship?  Or is it perhaps, as St. Augustine said, because we need to worship him as we are “restless until we rest in him”.  And perhaps also it is because it is the just thing to do, to pay homage to the one through whom the universe was created.

Thank you Lord

Sunset, Olympia, WA USA

Thank you, Lord, for etching your love for me upon my heart.

Thank you, Lord, for passionately walking this earth and rescuing me from sin and death.

Lord, help me to show my love for you in how closely I follow you and how I treat others.