The Promise of Resurrection – Quote of the Week – Martin Luther

Spring Blossoms Outside My Door (Photo credit: Josiah Mackenzie)

Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection,

not in books alone,

but in every leaf in spring-time.

Martin Luther

10 Provisions for Your Spiritual Journey

My husband and I traveled last week in Arizona.

We didn’t know the roads or what awaited us beyond each turn in the road.  But we were loaded down with all the essentials to find our way: our GPS unit, one city and two state maps, plus the one sheet map given to us by the rental car agent. I brought along the AAA Arizona guidebook, several dozen brochures, and two sheets of Google map directions.

We only got lost twice. Not bad for two Midwesterners exploring the west.

I wondered what I bring along to help me find my way on my spiritual journey.

Reflecting on this last night when I couldn’t sleep (my body was tired, but my mind still believed we were in the Pacific time zone) I began a list of what has helped me grow closer to God and ideas of some tools God may be inviting me to use before I get lost or stuck on a long dusty detour.  The first five I do okay with, the last five I have far to learn yet and need more practice:

1.     Sitting with the Sacred – Prayer is an essential to any soul traveler. We engage in precious conversations with God, expressing our feelings, our dreams, our perceived needs. We lift others up into His light then sit silently listening and gazing at His loving face. Time spent in being with God provides strength, direction, and nourishment for our journey.

2.     Study – God’s AAA guidebook for living this trip we are on while on earth. Studying the Bible feeds both the mind and the heart. Chewing on its words for infinite meanings and memorizing its verses allows their roots grow deep within us to stabilize us, especially during rocky times. Studying Christian classics and current readings also give light to our path. And don’t forget to study nature and creation – God’s nonverbal language of love.

3.     Share – God planted each of us in community and we need community for safe travel. We commune with Him as we worship side by side with friends and family. We support one another. We listen, even to complete strangers’ stories. I know participating in group spiritual direction more than once has redirected my path and given me insights into my struggles. Reading fellow bloggers’ words of wisdom and honest reflections of their lives keeps me on track too.  Like the voice in my GPS unit, having someone give us directions guides our way.

4.     Scribbling – Many of you know I love writing in my journal, but next to prayer, writing out my prayers, discernments, fears, concerns, joys, and insights continues to be a primary way for me to grow closer to God. Most of my writing is prayer but something powerful happens when I take the pen and put visible words on those pages.

5.     Silence and Solitude – Like peanut butter and jelly, these two could be separate items, but for me they go together. Getting away from the outside noise and quieting my inside know-it- all chatter, I hear God in new ways. The practice of having daily quiet time and yearly going on retreat is necessary for me. To be honest I fail some many days and this last time it took three years before I recently spent four days at retreat, but God waits nevertheless. “Bidden or unbidden, He is there.”

6.     Service – God calls us first to be, then to do.  Too often I rush into the do without the being. As I have tried to be still more, listen, and obey I find myself full of good intentions that never go anywhere. We are called to be the hands of Christ and I know God is inviting me and all of us, to serve Him more by helping those in need. My prayer is to see Christ in whomever is in front of me and be Christ for that person.

7.     Stop – Many trips contain planned and unplanned stops. Pausing before entering most intersections is a safe way to travel: so it is true on our spiritual journeys.  Waiting for God to show us the way is frustrating at times but often He wants us to wait for His timing.  “But I want to go on, Lord and get going,” I whine. A word I am pondering this year is discernment.  I am learning halting my to-do list, reining in my urge to accomplish and letting God be God, not me – is difficult but a part of the journey. Most trips have times of dry scenery, bad roads, or boring turns – sometimes those detours become fun adventures.  I hope someday I can truthfully say I found joy and peace on waiting on God – a lesson to learn yet.

8.     Simplicity – another growth area for me. I take along too much stuff when I travel. We recently bought a new set of luggage – ultra light ones (so I can pack more, right?) that came with a light indicator if the weight exceeds 50 pounds. I struggle with extra baggage on my spiritual journey too – lugging along opinions and beliefs, anger and discouragement and possessions I really think I will need someday  - all burdens that weigh me down.  God is inviting me into simplicity.

9.     Smile – Smiling, even when you don’t feel like smiling, lifts the spirit. So I practice smiling even to myself.  I also engage in cloud watching or as I call it cloud chasing ( Now there is a book idea I want to write). The very act of lifting my eyes upward raises me heavenward and my spirit soars. Worship moves me the same way by reminding me to keep my eyes on God, not my ego or my problems. Practicing joy and gratefulness are keys to healthier journey.

10.  Surrender – Will I ever learn to have an undivided heart and be completely devoted to our Savior? This is my heart's desire and the gas, the power, the Spirit that drives me to my final destination. Loving God with our entire hearts, minds and spirit takes surrender. I have lots to learn in this area yet.

So I have these ten necessities packed in my bag and ready to go around the next turn in life.  I use some of these supplies daily and frequently.  Others are buried deep in my backpack and are squirming to get out and show me the way. 

What provision helps you on your journey?

Lists – What’s on Your Bucket List?

Patty Wysong has created a fun meme where once a week bloggers posted on the letter of the week. Check out the details here. It is called A2Z: Take 2. A2Z as she challenges bloggers to write a post each week going through the alphabet.  Take 2 since this is the second time she has used this meme. Anyone can join in and you don’t have to always participate.

This week’s letter is L:

L = Lists

What’s on Your Bucket List?

One of the best Christian radio stations is WBCL. They have a wonderful program at 10 am each morning called Midmorning where they discuss a whole variety of topics. Last week they discuss bucket lists.

What is on your bucket list?

A bucket list, in case you don’t know, is a compilation of things you want to do or places to go before you kick the bucket. You take the time to ask yourself, "If I knew I were going to die next week, I would most regret not doing _______." 

I think the benefit of a bucket list is the power of writing out dreams. Once you see them listed before you, often the list inspires us to make a plan to achieve some of those wishes.

Last week my husband Bill crossed something off his list. He has always wanted to see spring training in Arizona. We attended three Cincinnati Red games and took several side trips to see that scenic state. Of course we journeyed to the Grand Canyon – more on that trip on a later post.

Trips are always on my bucket list. One place I want to visit is Scotland and I am excited to share with you we are going there October. And yes we will get to spend two days on the Iona – a very special spiritual place.

Both Bill and I want to see the Northern Lights and we hear while we are in Scotland we are far enough north we might see them. Wouldn’t that be something to cross two items off our list on one trip?

Writing is high on my bucket list. I long to publish a book that draws people closer to God and a children’s book that becomes a classic. 

Is this all self centered?  I have mixed feelings about even writing a post about this topic because it may feed the ego instead of the soul, but I do know God gives us dreams. I believe He wants us to enjoy the world He created. And the process of identifying what we want in life can lead us closer to God in many ways.

So what is on my spiritual bucket list? 

I would love to attend and learn biblical story telling. Graduates of this program bring the word of God alive. At my son’s ordination, one of his friends told the story of Samuel being called by God – word by word from 1 Samuel 3. It was amazing and set the word of God on fire.

Another dream is to go on a 30 day Ignatius Retreat. I love Ignatius spirituality and know doing the full 30-day retreat would be a nourishing experience.

Going on a short-term mission trip is another idea.

Erma Bombeck said, in one of most favorite quotes (and a good way to end this post)

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me'.

So I am curious: What is on YOUR spiritual bucket list?

God’s Writing on my Heart – Lectio Divina

“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel

after that time,” declares the Lord.

“I will put my law in their minds

and write it on their hearts.

I will be their God,

and they will be my people. Jeremiah 31:33 (NIV)

Write it on their hearts.

Alpha, Omega and Lord of all the letters, write your commandments on my heart.

Take your divine pen with permanent ink, compose a message planted deep within me that I will never lose nor forget.

Scribble Your thoughts and dreams for me.

Engrave Your blueprints.

Inscribe Your name.

You said You will be my God and I will be one of Your people.

I cling to that promise and bare my heart to Your fountain pen.

My heart is empty, blank, void without You.

I long to connect with You through Your words and Your grace.

Once Your ink penetrates me I will be forever changed.

Your word so close inside me I will never forget You again.

A eternal reminder of who I belong to and who I follow.

Lent – A Clearing Season

If we picture all the obstructions between us and God as a wilderness, Lent presents us with time to clear and cultivate a part of that wilderness, to create an open space in it. 

In this newly opened space, we may live more freely and commune more closely with the divine. 

We can transform this wilderness and make it our home, our garden, a place that invites God in and asks God to stay.

-Sarah Parsons


A Clearing Season: Reflections for Lent

You’re Already Amazing – New Book by Holley Gerth

My eyes filled up with tears. Maybe I was just tired or maybe it was the message so many shared that day. I do know and agree with the Frederick Buechner quote:

“Whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially unexpected tears, 
it is well to pay the closest attention. They are not only telling the secret 
of who you are, but more often than not of the mystery of where you have come from and are summoning you to where you should go next.”

So I paid attention to what they said:

“I am not good enough.”

“I am never enough.”

“I don’t deserve God’s love.”

I shook my head along with the knowing I too struggling with that false belief. 

We need to hear a new message. Perhaps that is why I like Holly Gerth’s new book, You’re Already Amazing – Embracing Who You Are, Becoming All God Created You to Be.  What a phrase to ponder. What intrigued me though, was the front cover of the book and how the title emphasized the word ALREADY. Just think how our lives would change if we really lived as if we were ALREADY amazing.

Besides a creative writer, Holley is a licensed counselor and life coach. This book is full of wisdom and fun tools and exercises to learn to know ourselves better, but not written academically like some counselors would do – but written from the heart of one friend to another. For example identify your strengths, find your skills, and analyzing your emotional style. 

This easy to read book overflows with encouragement and hope. I think it would be fun small group book discussion (there are discussion guides for each chapter in the back of the book) and a great gift to give a friend.

In the final chapter Holley not only summarizes in a heartfelt encouraging way but writes poetic hope in each section:

You’re loved

More than you know.

More than you see.

Deeper than you’ve even dared to dream.

All that you fear holds you back

Has been wiped away, forgiven,

covered up by grace.

And the One who created you,

Knows you, calls you His own

looks at you with love

And says, “You’re mine forever.”

Your heart has a home-

And it’s not a place

But a Person who will never let you go.

This is a message I will repeat to myself next time I feel I am not enough. 

This is the message I pray those who shared the same feeling with me at the retreat will also hear and know in their heart as truth.  

We are His Beloved. We are already amazing.

Thank you Holley!

Disclosure: You're Already Amazing is published by Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, which provided a free copy for my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

InCourage is featuring Holley’s book this month in a book club discussion beginning Monday, March 26. They are also hosting a giveaway at their site. Click the InCourage link for details.

The Special Ks

On Tuesdays this year I have been having fun participating in Patty Wysong’s blog meme where once a week bloggers posted on the letter of the week.

Check out the details here.  It is called A2Z: Take 2. A2Z as she challenges bloggers to write a post each week going through the alphabet. 

This week’s letter is K and the letter K starts one particular word that is number one in my heart:  well that is not entirely true:  Three words to be exact.

Kyla

Korbin

Kastin

Meet my grandKids – three K’s and as our good friend Don nicknamed them:

The Special Ks

Kyla will be three in June and is a bubbling full of life toddler. She has been featured on this blog right after she was born and also several times when just watching her taught me spiritual lessons. 

Here what I wrote the day Kyla was born about God’s whoosh sweeping into our hearts.

The wonder and curiosity of little ones teaches us also.

So many lessons such as celebrating our firsts in life, too

Korbin and Kastin were born July 17. We get asked all the time if they are identical twins and we reply we are not sure.  At times you can tell them apart and times they look alike: so the best answer to that question is they will definitely look like brothers.

Here is a post when I first learned in the middle of the night that my daughter was expecting not one, but two babies:

and of course my Two-riffic announcement the day they were born.

I am so grateful for these little ones in my life and thank God every day for them. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to be taken over by love this way. Never did I imagine God teaching me so much through them.

I wrote the following in a post two years ago:

Lord, when did I lose the wonder and curiosity of a child?

How did this “I can do it all” attitude take over my brain?

When did sarcasm, doubt, fear and anger invade my every cell squeezing out trust, faith and the ability to marvel at the ordinary?

Lord I ask you for the eyes of a child:

To giggle at silly noises and pay attention to the whispers beneath the clamor

To peer deeply into the eyes of someone who cares

To squeal with delight with daily discoveries

To see the ordinary from a different point of view

To crawl on the floor exploring whatever is right in front of me

To learn something new each week and savor that moment

To feel the thrill of the quest in spying a desired object across the room and concentrating to use my entire body to reach it.

To smack my lips with new tastes and celebrate the miracle of each moment.

Lord pour into my heart refreshing waters of curiosity from your well of life, hope, and delight.

Touch my eyes to your marvels and heal my grown up blindness.

Connect me once again with your divine curiosity and sacred surprises.

I pause and to realize the bottomless love I feel these for precious kids and then it hits me. God loves each of us much, much more. Isn’t that amazing?

We are God’s special Kids too. God’s special Ks.

So forgive my grandmaisms today. Guess I am one the “those” grandmas. But they are pretty special  - My special K’s.

God’s Handiwork – Lectio Divina

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)

God’s handiwork

Creator God, I marvel at the work of Your hands.

I gazed at Your twinkling Venus and bright Saturn in perfect alignment this week in the nighttime sky. Your ongoing design work amazes me.

You wave Your hand and the purple and yellow crocuses emerge. I feel renewed with Spring’s resurrection.

I hear of friend’s granddaughter’s birth and know You and I both celebrate new life.

When I dare to ask, “Who am I, Lord?” This astonishing verse responds:

“You are My handiwork. My masterpiece.”

Why do I continue to dismiss that belief? Doubt You really mean it? Shrug off this wonderful news?

My true identify remains in Your hands, carefully and lovingly created by the Sacred Sculptor.

God Himself, the Divine Designer, carved His name in my heart and left His fingerprints all over my soul.

God marks me with a permanent label clearly stating:  Created by the Master Artist. Delicate details added by the same One who paints the sky blue, who gives the orange its juicy color, smell and taste, and the One who takes our breath away with incredible sunsets.

Shaped by the Potter. God forms each of us in His mighty hands.

Thank you Creator God for making me, me – Your handiwork.

An Irish Blessing – Quote of the Week

Image via Wikipedia

May the road rise to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face.

And rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

Irish Blessing

The Tender Gaze of God – a Silent Retreat Experience

How do you describe time spent in the presence of God?

First I want to thank many of you who held me in prayer when I went to the four-day silent retreat last week. I encourage you if you have never gone on retreat, whether a silent one or one filled with life-giving presentations, to try this spiritual practice. You will receive priceless nourishment for your journey in life.

Even as a writer, I have difficulty finding the words to illustrate these precious quiet days with God. So I will borrow a phrase from Anthony de Mello:

Look at God…looking at you… and smiling.

I experienced being enfolded in the hands of God and beheld in His tender, loving, and unfailing gaze.

I found this statuette and took multiple photos of this father and baby since they best represent how I felt.

“You are precious in my eyes. I honor you and love you." Isaiah 43:4

Often at the beginning of a retreat, the director will suggest some Bible verses that may guide us on our weekend. As soon as Susan mentioned Hagar, I knew God was inviting me to sit with her.

Genesis 16: 8 – “and he said, ‘Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”

I knew Hagar’s story. Having Abraham son, Ishmael when Sarai couldn’t bare any children. And when Sarai did give birth to Isaac, Hagar and her son were sent out into the desert. There the Lord promised to take care of them.

What I didn’t know was the Genesis 16:8 verse above was taking from the first time Hagar fled to the desert, while pregnant. I never realized she left two times.

Oh, how those passages in the 16^th chapter of Genesis fed my weekend:

The questions: where have you come from and where are you going?”

 Sarai mistreating Hagar. Who was my Sarai I was running from in life?

 An angel searching for her and finding her in the desert.

 Hagar’s direction to return and submit.

God’s promise of hope.

Perhaps the verse that lingers now with me is verse 13: “She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her, ‘You are the God who sees me.”

"The God who sees me"

We have a God who sees us. Whose eyes never leave us. Who continually watches over us in love and delight.

"The most difficult thing in mature believing is to accept that I am an object of God's delight." 
 Alan Jones

I do struggle with the idea that God delights in me and loves me unconditionally; after all who am I, but a mere flawed human. But after a weekend of being saturated by His love, I know He tenderly touched me deeply and began the healing of that misconception.

I leave you with a poem by Macrina Wiederkehr that took my breath away:

O God

Help me

To believe

The truth about myself

No matter

How beautiful it is!

May you experience the awesome love of God and be held in His gaze.

Journaling our Journey

Patty Wysong has created a fun meme where once a week bloggers posted on the letter of the week. Check out the details here.   It is called A2Z: Take 2. A2Z as she challenges bloggers to write a post each week going through the alphabet.  Take 2 since this is the second time she has used this meme. Anyone can join in and you don’t have to always participate.

This week’s letter is J

J = Journaling our Journey

TEN!

I counted ten people continually carrying journals.

More than one third of the people on the silent retreat with me last weekend carried some form of journal with them. Blank notebooks, plain or with fancy covers, spiral notebooks, sheets of loose papers – many scribbling, capturing precious moments and lessons learned in sacred stillness of the retreat.

I watch them. Prayfully they held their journals in the chapel. Slowly they recorded thoughts, prayers, verses, and experiences within these treasured pages in the reflection room. I am sure many of them wiped tears from those scribbled sheets within the privacy of their rooms.

Journals. Words are powerful. The actual act of writing words clarify, provide direction, and offer a way to sort through the junk to find the treasure.

The last morning of my four-day retreat I gazed across the quiet dining room as we ate our breakfast in silence. The only sounds were the tranquil piano hymns playing in the background and the occasional clicking of silverware. 

I shared the table with a young lady I didn’t know, other than I called her in my head, “Blue Sweater.” Blue Sweater slowly ate her eggs, sipped her juice, and read the same two pages of her journal over and over again. I couldn’t see what she had written in her small printed handwritten that filled the pages from top to bottom, edge to edge, but she studied, actually gleaned the messages many times.

She read. Circled a word or two. Read some more.

In the middle of her page, she added parenthesis around a phrase and then drew a line from that point to several paragraphs down, uniting two thoughts.

Reading again over and over again. Then she would write squeeze in another sentence at the top of the page.  I watched her write several more words along the edge. If there was any white space left, she slowly added more memory, more depth, more insight to her journal.

She would close her eyes – I wondered if she was reviewing what wrote with Jesus.  Her writing became prayer. The dining room hallowed ground. Not only was she nourishing her body with the food that morning, but nourishing her soul with Bread from heaven.

Journals capture our fleeing glimpses of God.

My own journal from this weekend is written in different shades of ink – sacred splashes of colors. I recorded prayers, verses, images, reflections, struggles, and joys. I am so grateful for stillness so vivid you could feel with your fingers, silence to sift through all the noise I carry with me so I finally could hear His voice and time in solitude, just to be held in His hands and bask in His love.

Writing in journals grounds and centers us. Journals help us find meaning to our experiences and weave the scattered fragments of our lives into patterns we can embrace and accept. Journals become prayer and moments of communion.

Capturing words within a journal is a powerful discipline to practice on our journeys in life. I know my journals sustain and nourish me. I have several older posts about this practice you can read here  Here are just a few:: Journals that Sustain,  Journaling for Discernment,  and Spiritual Legacies. 

How often you write in a journal, doesn’t matter – daily, weekly, or only occasionally. But each time we write, we capture a moment in time and create a significant signpost for our journey. And that can be priceless.

If you journal, how has writing helped you grow spiritually?

God’s Foolishness

For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. 

1 Corinthians 1: 25

Foolishness of God

The foolishness of God? Lord what does that mean? 

Is it irreverent to think of You, as foolish?

Yet the verse tells me Your foolishness is wiser than any human wisdom.

How many times in my life have I asked You for answers? For guidance? For wisdom?

I should have been asking You to shower me with Your foolishness!

Pour out upon us Your upside-down view of how we should live.

I marvel at the strange idea of God coming to earth as a baby, the lessons and messages Jesus, Your son, modeled for us with His life, and the incredible feat of Easter morning conquering death forever.

Ages ago nothing existed until You exploded creation and set Your plan in motion. Did the angels dance with glee, celebrating Your foolishness that day, Lord?

I know I am not strong enough, even on my best days, to follow You completely. 

I need You, Lord.

Your foolishness saves me from my own stupidity. Your light glistens through my cracked inadequacies.

What I cannot do, You do.

What I cannot be, You are.

May I abandon any false pretense of wisdom I cling to and live each day in the foolishness of God!

Trust the Slow Work of God - Quote by Teilhard de Chardin

Above all, trust in the slow work of God. 


We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. We should like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new. And yet it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—
and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you; your ideas mature gradually—let them grow; let them shape themselves, without undue haste. Don’t try to force them on, as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be. Give Our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you, and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
 in suspense and incomplete.

—Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ

Reading the Small Print - Perpetua and Felicity

Perpetua and Felicity (Photo credit: Nick in exsilio)

Don’t forget to read the small print!

My church has the Bible reading printed on a separate sheet of paper each week with the bulletin. At the bottom of the final page is a section titled “Preparing for Next Week,” listing the upcoming scripture readings and a commemoration of Christians remembered from our past.

I like this section. Besides preparing my heart for the next week’s Word from God, I discover a stories about people from our collective Christian roots.

This coming Sunday many churches will commemorate Perpetua and Felicity.

Who? That was my reaction. I didn’t know anything about these two women!

No saints were more honored in the early Christian era than Perpetua and Felicity. The two women were arrested and imprisoned Carthage in 203 A.D. Perpetua was 22-year-old noblewoman with a son a few months old; Felicity, a pregnant slave. Their crime was defying Emperor’s prohibition of conversions to Christianity.

They were taken to prison where Felicity gave birth. Fellow Christians adopted her child. At their trial, they bravely announced their belief in Christ – a certain death sentence.

Much of what we know about this story comes from a unique source - The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity  - a diary and first hand account of early martyrs. Perpetua herself wrote the middle chapter about her experience in prison and her impending martyrdom.  This account represents one of the earliest known pieces of Christian literature written by a woman.

In one section Perpetua tells about her visions that give her hope as she leaves her infant son and his future to God. Imagine this young woman of considerable wealth and education, not allowing these bleak circumstances to defeat her. The prospect of torture and death could not break her spirit. Perpetua refused repeated opportunities to deny she was a Christian and so hand in hand Perpetua and Felicity bravely faced martyrdom together. They were charged by wild animals and then beheaded. Observers noted she went joyfully as though on the way to heaven. The story is told that their faith led prison guards and others watching in the arena to Christ.

I have often wondered if I had the courage to die for my faith. These two women went against the norm, stood together facing death, and left their families including their children, for their belief. They never denied Christ and kept their eyes and hearts on heaven.

 

Selected quote

When my father in his affection for me was trying to turn me from my purpose by arguments and thus weaken my faith, I said to him, ‘Do you see this vessel—waterpot or whatever it may be? Can it be called by any other name than what it is?’ ‘No,’ he replied. ‘So also I cannot call myself by any other name than what I am—a Christian.’”

Perpetua

Wow  - ‘So also I cannot call myself by any other name than what I am—a Christian.’” – Now that is the small print I don’t want to miss!

PS – I appreciate your prayers as today (Thursday) I leave for a four day silent retreat. Will share about my experience next week. I ask for your prayer that I quiet my heart and mind to hear God’s message.  Thank you.

What lessons do you hear from the lives of these two women?

Three Ways to Use Your Imagination Spiritually

I played in a spaceship when I was seven years old.

I spent hours exploring new worlds found in my imagination while never really leaving my backyard.

My spaceship? A stocky tree with great climbing branches planted next on the southeast corner of our house. Different limbs warped into sections of my spacecraft: the galley, the lookout, the bridge for guiding my rocket into the mysterious universe.

Sigh. I loved that tree.

Patty Wysong has created a fun meme where once a week bloggers posted on the letter of the week. Check out the details here.   It is called A2Z: Take 2. A2Z as she challenges bloggers to write a post each week going through the alphabet.  Take 2 since this is the second time she has used this meme. Anyone can join in and you don’t have to always participate.

This week’s letter is I.

Image via Wikipedia

I = Imagination

Imagination can be a helpful tool, even for adults. We use our minds to dream up decorating ideas, plots for novels, and innovative approaches to problem solving. But have you ever thought of how you use your imagination spiritually?

Imagination is the ability to form a mental image of something not present to the senses. It is our capacity we have for innovative thinking and creative expression.

St. Ignatius Loyola was born in 1491 and is the founder of the Jesuits. His writing is a deep well for spiritual directors, those seeking discernment and anyone with a hunger to grow closer to God.

Ignatius encouraged the use of imagination in our spiritual walk. Here are three ways you might want to try imagination with your faith:

1.     Bible reading – Try imagining yourself as one of the characters or even a witness in a scene from the Bible. The gospels offer many opportunities to become part of the story: What if you were the woman at the well speaking with Jesus? Which character are you in the story of the Good Samaritan or the prodigal son? The man being lowered from the roof of the house, seeking healing? Walking with Jesus on the road to Emmaus? Visualize the event as if you were making a movie. Pay attention to the details: sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and feelings of the event. Lose yourself in the story.

2.     Prayer – Often I set an empty chair in front of me and imagine Jesus sitting there as we talk. I imagine Him asking me, “What do you want? Where are you right now?” What has surprised me over the years of this practice is so many times I only hear how He loves me (hard for me to hear to be honest) or we just enjoy each other’s presence with no words between us.

3.     Discernment – When faced for a decision imagine the consequences imagine if you followed one way or another. Does this bring you closer to God or take you away from Him? Does going in one direction bring you peace, energy, and hope or does it drain your spirit? Trying writing down what your life would look like after making a decision. This is one place keeping a journal is so helpful.

Quotes about imagination to ponder:

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.  ~Michelangelo

You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.  ~Mark Twain

Your imagination is your preview of life's coming attractions.
 - Albert Einstein

Believe that you have it, and you have it.
 -Latin Proverb

The soul without imagination is what an observatory would be without a telescope. Henry Ward Beecher.

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life's realities. Dr. Seuss

How do you use your imagination spiritually?