Signs of Hope

How lovely is your dwelling place,O Lord of hosts!

My soul longs, indeed it faints

For the courts of the Lord;

My heart and my flesh sing for joy

To the living God.

Psalm 84

I awoke this morning to snow all around my lovely beach cottage.  I associate the beach house with summer and sunshine.  Snow somehow seems out of place here, and while beautiful it catches me off guard.

So, too, does the beauty of the night sky take my breath away.  The daylight seems to be the time of reflection upon the creation and all its magnificence ;  even the interstices between day and night, sunrise and sunset, reveal the artist God at work.

But deep night surprises me with its echoes of Divine Presence.

Just as the long northern night surprises me with its echoes of the Sun.

The aurora borealis is such an echo. The lights seen are caused by the interaction between energetic charged particles from the Sun and gas molecules in the upper atmosphere of the Earth.  They flare out and spread across the sky in vibrant, coiling colors. 

Standing on a icy porch, watching the lights, stops time and worry.

This is the dwelling place of God ; darkness, the lights, the sun, the moon.  Each tells its own story of Divine Presence.

And each is an echo of something more, something deeper.

Within our own dark nights we will find signs of Divine Presence if we will stay still long enough to look.

As winter gives way to spring, perhaps a green shoot struggling through the earth reminds us of hope.

We are dwelling within God, our hearts are the courts of the Lord.

We do not need to look much further than within for our own northern lights, or our own greening hopes.

What shall be a sign for you of the echo of Divine Presence ?

How lovely is your dwelling place,

O Lord of hosts!

My soul longs, indeed it faints

For the courts of the Lord;

My heart and my flesh sing for joy

To the living God.

Psalm 84

 I awoke this morning to snow all around my lovely beach cottage.  I associate the beach house with summer and sunshine.  Snow somehow seems out of place here, and while beautiful it catches me off guard.

So, too, does the beauty of the night sky take my breath away.  The daylight seems to be the time of reflection upon the creation and all its magnificence ;  even the interstices between day and night, sunrise and sunset, reveal the artist God at work.

But deep night surprises me with its echoes of Divine Presence.

Just as the long northern night surprises me with its echoes of the Sun.

The aurora borealis is such an echo. The lights seen are caused by the interaction between energetic charged particles from the Sun and gas molecules in the upper atmosphere of the Earth.  They flare out and spread across the sky in vibrant, coiling colors. 

Standing on a icy porch, watching the lights, stops time and worry.

This is the dwelling place of God ; darkness, the lights, the sun, the moon.  Each tells its own story of Divine Presence.

And each is an echo of something more, something deeper.

Within our own dark nights we will find signs of Divine Presence if we will stay still long enough to look.

As winter gives way to spring, perhaps a green shoot struggling through the earth reminds us of hope.

We are dwelling within God, our hearts are the courts of the Lord.

We do not need to look much further than within for our own northern lights, or our own greening hopes.

What shall be a sign for you of the echo of Divine Presence ?

We pray that we may come unto this Darkness which is beyond light, and, without seeing and without knowing, to see and to know that which is above vision and knowledge through the realization that by not-seeing and by unknowing we attain to true vision and knowledge;-Pseudo Dionysius

The winter is a time of darkness upon this Northern Hemisphere and quite often, within the soul.  Where I grew up, 50 miles south of the Arctic Circle, there was more darkness than light at this time of year.  I was raised to enjoy winter darkness and the sparkling crystals  of nighttime snow fields.

Pseudo-Dionysius was raised far from the northern climes of my youth but he does speak to a reality of darkness that many have experienced.  I like to call it the other side of darkness.  When we move through or into the darkness of night, or grief, or depression we find there a gem of radiant beauty.

I am not suggesting that depression and grief should be ignored while we wait for this gem to appear, but rather that these trials create a new stream of possibility within the heart.  Darkness makes a pathway into empathy and deep love.

The ancients called this gem of God’s presence the dazzling darkness, and I like this phrase a lot.  It reminds me of those sparkling moonlit snows of my youth.  If I allow myself to look hard enough at the darkness I experience I will find hope and new life.

I will not forget my dark moments, but I just might begin to know that the presence of God does not rely on my perception of light or dark, happy or sad, success or failure.  God is present with me at all times, and in all places. 

And for this, I am grateful.

Blessings,

Debra

The Eyes of my Heart

My heart’s eyes behold

Your Divine Glory

from whence does my help come ?

My help comes from You,

Who created heaven and earth.

-Psalm 121 (Psalms for Praying)

From time to time I like to read the Psalms from a new translation.  This helps keep alive an attentive reading within my heart because, while the sentiments are familiar, the words challenge and reveal some new ways of praying the Psalms.

The translation by Nan Merrill-Psalms for Praying-is more interpretation than translation and it is pointed at a contemplative reading of the Psalms as an invitation to silence.

This reading of Psalm 121 reminds me that it is not just my eyes that see the glory of creation, but the eyes of my heart, which respond to a deeper presence within the scene that my eyes may be taking in.

The eyes of my heart are the place of enlightenment.  This is where I have a dawning perception that the world is not just what I see and perceive, but there is always more going on than I can comprehend.

This deep seeing is a place of mystery, as well.  And so, I respond to the question about help in the Psalm.  I know that my help comes from the Lord.  I don’t know how it will come, or when it will come, but I know it will come.

The One who made heaven and earth, which includes me, knows what I need.

The Psalmist’s unsaid question is simply this, ‘Do I trust the Lord of the Universe to care for me ?’

And, for me, this is where the prayer really begins.  When my fear and my hope meet, a spark of desire is created that fuels my prayer for a moment or a lifetime.

I need to ask the real question then.  The one that is simmering to be cried out.  The one that is uttered before the Psalm begins.

What is your question ?

Blessings,

Debra

Tuned to the Spirit

Presentation of the Lord

There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2 :36-38

     A piece of the story from the day of Presentation highlights Anna, the Prophet.  She  gets very little mention in the retelling of the story and in the sermons that are often preached upon this day.  It would be easy to think, well, she is a woman and an old woman at that—a person of little consequence then and now.

    But, I think this omission or slight is more about the prophet Anna than the woman.  In fact, she does appear, which tells us something about her importance, doesn’t it ?

     Prophets are, in general, an odd group who give themselves up to fasting and praying at all times and places.  They are uncomfortable examples of a deep devotion to God.

     Nobody wants to be a prophet, and yet, those who are called and can give their hearts to God in this way have been the guides of nations and groups of the faithful.

     Anna has been waiting a long time for a glimpse of God-or at least that what it looks like.  My suspicion is that glimpses of God were her bread and butter.  Her attentiveness to the Spirit caused her to be there that day when Jesus came to be presented  Because she was familiar with the sound and tone and touch of the Spirit, she knew that God was there.  She recognized Jesus, because she already knew Him.

            We can follow Anna’s example beginning today.  We, too, can pray and fast and listen for the sound of the Spirit.  We can tune our hearts to God’s music so that we will have glimpses of the Holy each day AND recognize it !

Blessings,

Debra