#LENT: Pumping Up Courage Muscles (with LOVE!)

Posted on April 12, 2019 by Virginia

“Where God’s love is, there is no fear, because God’s perfect love drives out fear.” (I John 4:18)  This is something I say over (& over) again: “God’s perfect love drives out fear.” Seems like there’s always something to be afraid of when fears of all shapes (& sizes) overpower our courage muscles (& not just @ night.)

Fear can cripple our courage muscles to be and do – because we don’t think we’re good enough, or we don’t want to get up again after falling down (failure, once again?)

Watching the Captain Marvel movie, one of my favorite parts is when the bad guys (no spoilers here) get in Captain Marvel’s head with scenes of her failures, but she turns herself around with pictures of how she got back up again & again (from a derby car crash as a child, to picking up a baseball bat after a fast ball knocks her down, to getting back up after falling during military ropes training.)

After she breaks free of failure constraints she then kicks some serious butt… (it’s a seriously fun movie, my big sis-not-a-super-hero-movie fan even enjoyed it.)

Maybe (unlike Captain Marvel) we’re having a hard time getting back up this go round with whatever is facing us, but we’re not alone. That’s the point: GOD’S LOVE is what drives our fears out and strengthens our courage muscles.

“The mystery of God’s love is not that He takes our pains away, but that He first wants to share them with us.” Henri Nouwen

“God is faithful even when we aren’t. When we lack courage, God doesn’t… When the disciples were weak, Jesus was strong. God is greater than our weakness. Our weakness reveals how great God is.” Max Lucado (“A Gentle Thunder”)

grace, peace & courage muscles

Virginia : )

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#LENT: Speaking Truth to Power (of a sort)

Posted on April 11, 2019 by Virginia

On this Lenten Thursday, here’s more about judgment (as per yesterday) but with a different twist.

“Although Jesus taught us not to sit in judgment, He never suggested we turn a blind eye to evil… To speak the truth was obviously to Him more important than to make His listeners comfortable: though, equally obviously, His genuine love gave Him tact, wisdom and sympathy. He was love in action.” J.B. Phillips (from ‘For This Day’)

“It is true that God is our ‘refuge’ but God is also our ‘strength.’ The Christian life is essentially an adventure. We have no right to pray ‘Let me to Thy bosom fly,’ when we should be out in God’s strength fighting the dragons and evil in the world.”  J.B. Phillips

As our Lenten journey takes us closer to Good Friday, remember it’s not just what we’re not doing in our lives of faith (no-no lists) but what we ARE doing for God (our to-do lists) that matters:

Being Light in the dark (DARK) corners of our world.

Being LOVE to the unloved.

Lifting up the oppressed (breaking their chains.)

Sharing the fragrance of hope & joy & peace where evil’s decay has had its way.

grace, peace & (fragrant) to-do lists

Virginia : )

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#LENT: Reforming ourselves (vs. others)

Posted on April 10, 2019 by Virginia

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2)

Why do we spend so much time judging the specs of dust in others without addressing the dirty planks in our own lives? Guess it’s easier to harp on what’s wrong with others (it’s on them to fix it) whereas if we take a good hard look inside ourselves, we might a few dirty planks hidden away in the depths of our hearts. Instead of ignoring our internal dilapidated state (the easy way out) we need to get busy with our spiritual tools.

Thank God for mercy & grace (& major-league Forgiveness with a capital ‘F.’)

Next time we judge someone – not just out loud to others, but even just in our minds – let’s take a moment to reset our judge-meters to me-meters and take a look at what needs refurbishment inside us.

“You and I must first be what we ought to be; then we shall have cured what concerns ourselves. Let each one do the same, and all will be well. The trouble is that we all talk of reforming others without ever reforming ourselves.” Saint Peter of Alcántara

grace, peace & transformative reform

Virginia : )

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#LENT: Prisms of Hope

Posted on April 9, 2019 by Virginia

Here’s a quickie quote for this Lenten Tuesday:

“Faith goes up the stairs that love has made and looks out the window that hope has opened.” Charles Spurgeon

It’s something to think about – what window has hope opened up in my heart with the healing Love of Jesus?

What do I see out that window?

Possibilities? A new me (or at least a less tarnished & varnished me?)

grace, peace & prisms of Hope

Virginia : )

“Whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

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#LENT: Seeing (& seeking) Beauty

Posted on April 8, 2019 by Virginia

Sometimes we get so busy we don’t notice the beauty around us. The other day waiting at a stoplight in a busy intersection, I looked over to see what looked like a bluebird land in a tree across the street. Rolling my window down, sure enough – Mr. Bluebird flew up and down a few times from his branch to the ground showing off his bright blue glory.

The light changed and I went on my way, but with my day considerably brighter. (Bluebird sightings are occasions for joy in our home: they were my precious mama’s favorite bird.)

bluebird sighting outside house (iPhone handy)

Then there are beauteous spring flowers, God’s heavenly paintbrushes (so so so) busy this time of year. Seeing their beauty is an occasion for joy in my book, celebrating delight in our Creator’s might.

our Japanese cherry tree (sunny day)

“Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God’s handwriting – a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing.”   Ralph Waldo Emerson

our Japanese cherry tree (rainy day)

On this Lenten Monday, let’s take a moment to seek (& see) beauty around us (even in the rain.)

grace, peace & beauty groupies

Virginia : )

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#LENT: Fighting Fear (with Christ at our side)

Posted on April 7, 2019 by Virginia

 “We cannot be Christians part-time. If Christ is at the center of our lives, He is present in all that we do.” Pope Francis

As we move closer to Easter on this fifth Sunday of Lent, our hope clings to the Cross and what it means: Christ in us, with us, by us, above us, around us, for us – forgiving us, loving us, taking our fears.

Our fears can sometimes cripple our forward faith momentum, but the love of Jesus is bigger than our fears, tears, and despairing hearts.

We can trust and open our ears of faith to hear His voice:

DO NOT BE AFRAID. I AM WITH YOU, ALWAYS.

Always means wherever we go, whatever we do, however we are being (in fits of despair, supreme sereneness, and everything betwixt & between.)

“This, then, is our desert: to live facing despair, but not to consent. To trample it down under hope in the Cross. To wage war against despair unceasingly. That war is our wilderness. If we wage it courageously, we will find Christ at our side.”  Thomas Merton

grace, peace & Hope (in Christ)

Virginia : )

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#Lent: acts of kindness (small & large!)

Posted on April 6, 2019 by Virginia

 “Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. The third is to be kind.” Henry James

What does it mean to be kind?

“Kin” and “kindred” connote family. Kindred spirits are of like minds and hearts.

To be kind means to treat others like my kin, like family, with respect, care and compassion. To be and do something nice for them.

With all the derogatory, divisive rhetoric going around our world today, we could use more acts of kindness.

A smile. A warm greeting. (In the south where I’m from, that’s a given.) A gesture of welcome. A look in the eye that says, ‘hey you, we may look different, but I value you – you are precious in God’s sight and precious to me.’

Lots of folks are scared these days: scared of each other, scared to reach out.

But we are all kin – whatever our hue – human kindred.

Human beings and human doings that sometimes leave us undone.

Looking around it might seem too big for one person to do anything that matters.

Big acts begin with small acts done all the time.

Small acts of kindness.

Try one on for size today: a small act of kindness (or big one, hey!)

grace, peace & kindness

Virginia : )

 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23)

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#LENT: God’s (blessing of) Tenderness

Posted on April 5, 2019 by Virginia

Yesterday I shared about how at the end of an 8-day silent retreat, Sister Maria asked me to pick a blessing on a folded slip of paper out of a bowl. After praying that blessing (for Holy Hilarity) Sister Maria asked me to have another go at the bowl (methinks she put this one near the top for me to ‘pick’…)

“May the God of Tenderness be with you, caressing you with love, gently drawing you into the tenderness of God’s own heart, mellowing you and gentling you as you allow God’s tenderness in you to unfold and blossom.  And may the experience of this tender love so transform you, that others become drawn to our God of love. 

May the blessing of Tenderness be upon you.” 

On this Friday of Lent, it’s something to contemplate – the tenderness of God, of Christ with His scarred hands open with sacrificial love to hold us and tug us gently toward the Light of His eternal mercy and grace.

grace, peace & tenderness (God’s kind)

Virginia : )

p.s. My brother & I are taking off tomorrow morning for a week-long holiday but no worries, Blogger Virginia’s post-a-day Lenten gig will continue (after 7½+ years blogging, finally figured out the schedule buttons!) One catch – I may not respond to comments as expeditiously as usual contingent upon wifi access, but they are always (always) welcome & keep Blogger V going.  Blessings!

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#LENT: Holy Hilarity & (healing) Laughter

Posted on April 4, 2019 by Virginia

At the end of an 8-day silent retreat awhile back Sister Maria asked me to pick a blessing from a bunch of folded papers in a bowl. Putting my hand in, out came this blessing, much to my amused spirit. For over 20 years I have prayed every day for the gift of Holy Hilarity (much needed for relief & development workers in conflict zones, even more needed for busy caregivers.)

“May the God of Laughter be with you, blessing you with the inner joy that calls you to chuckle at your own seriousness; and may your sense of humor lighten your heart and the hearts of those who share your journey. May your laughter bubble over to others, causing them to smile and laugh. 

May the healing God of laughter gently hold and bless you.”

One thing I learned through the care-giving gig with my parents: the “how” really matters.  Doing that love thing while mopping up poo (or pee) and ‘turning’ my bed-fast quadriplegic Papa (which involved slinging him about) – how I did it mattered.

With love, for love, in love – plus humor definitely helped. Taking Mama through ‘the Beauty Shop’ (getting her showered & spiffy clean) Papa loved to hear us giggling.

How I thank God for the gift of holy hilarity that made those times with Mama so special.  Despite her crooked back & swollen knees, I know she felt beautiful as we sang hymns & shared joyful times together @ The Beauty Shop. (Not just hymns, we’d also sing, ‘rub a dub dub Mum’s in the tub!’)

On this Lenten Thursday, let’s ask God to enliven us with the healing laughter of Holy Hilarity.

grace, peace & holy (healing) hilarity

Virginia : )

“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” Victor Hugo

(even my teddy bear, Bumbles, & Freddy the Frog!)

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#LENT: Singing Spaceships & New Day(s)

Posted on April 3, 2019 by Virginia

One of my favorite science fiction books (reread often) is “The Ship Who Sang” by Anne McCaffrey. Throughout the story Helva, the spaceship who sings (& main character), suffers loss and faces challenges of many shapes and intergalactic sizes.

After traveling with Helva on her arduous journeys (with a few tears usually leaking out along the way) the book ends with the traditional military requiem of Taps heard as a new beginning:

“Day is done.
Gone the sun.
From the sea, from the land, from the sky. 
All is well.
Rest in peace,
God is nigh!”

“Each day dies, to let night with its darkness for sorrowing and sleep complete its course and bring… a new day.”  Helva, The Ship Who Sang (Anne McCaffrey)

On this Lenten Wednesday (with Easter less than 3 weeks away) maybe it’s time to let go of what is deadening our hearts in the darkness of our fears and let Christ do a new thing in us in a new way.

grace, peace & new days

Virginia : )

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