The Contemplative Cottage

Mondays are for counting thanks to 1000 and beyond…

One of my church’s missionaries, Carl, told a story about the healing impact of the Gospel that he has seen through his ministry in Asia. The projects that the mission is involved in hires people from the surrounding area. During training for the jobs, they discuss values found in scripture, such as forgiveness, service, and equality, which provide the foundation for the relief work.

After one of these training sessions that focused on God seeing all people as equal, a local man shared that he started to view his relationship with his wife in a new way. In his culture and tradition, his wife would prepare his meals each day, serve him, and then leave him to eat. After he was finished, she would eat whatever was left over.

The clash of the teaching on equality and his own practice disturbed him. One evening, when his wife came to serve him dinner, he invited her to stay and share the meal. He split the food into equal parts. It was the first meal they had ever shared together.

From that point on, their relationship was transformed.

Good news. God news. Life-changing news.

It doesn’t have to be something huge, just listening and seeing, and then being obedient to what the Spirit calls us to do. And I don’t think it’s about expending a ton of energy to do “the right thing” or “what we should,” but simply allowing ourselves to be troubled and then taking the next smallest step toward a new possibility.

A step, such as eating a meal in a new way.

**

Seeing through the eyes of gratitude today…

401. Carl’s work with Wycliffe in Asia and that the Spirit transforms lives and relationships.

402. Wind rustling in the trees

403. Sweet peas in bloom

404. The Anne of Green Gables stories…what a delight!

405. Bees on flowers

406. Sunshine!!

407. My mom’s recovering and healing

408. Madeleine L’Engle’s wonderful book on art and faith, Walking on Water.

409. Joy

410. A place of peace

411. A furry creature–what colors God has given her!

412. The Tierra Nueva mission team. What a great experience to work alongside them! (For more photos from the Bethany Presbyterian Mission Trip, go here.)

Mondays are for counting thanks to 1000 and beyond…

While I love Seattle, I need to get out of the city every so often to a place with more grass than concrete and more birds than cars. My ears long to escape from city sounds and I want to smell the earth and trees and sea. A couple months ago I had a talk with God about it. Not being a driver, leaving the city (and public transit) behind requires a little more planning, and I’ve loved seeing how God has been working things out without me thrashing about trying to orchestrate it. He’s been teaching me trust and patience–inviting me to tell him what I need, then step back and see what happens.

392.  On Friday I leave for the high school mission trip. Leave may not be the right word since the students will be staying in Seattle for the week working with, mostly, inner city ministries. When I said yes to helping out, I knew that this was not going to be one of those times to get out of the city, but I felt both a call and joyful excitement to be involved no matter what.

Without my saying anything to anyone, I was placed with the team of students going to Tierra Nueva, a ministry reaching out to migrant farmers, 90 minutes outside of Seattle. Most of the week will be spent working on the farm there.  I am thrilled!

393. An wonderful invitation to spend some writing time in a rural house on the peninsula.

394. The gift of a pile of beautiful garden magazines.

395. A lovely day at the Nisqually Estuary with friends, seeing so many different kinds of birds.

(for more photos of the wildlife refuge, look here.)

396. A balcony sanctuary, where I can listen to the mingled sounds of city and nature.

397. A spontaneous day in Bellingham and journaling time on a rock at Larrabee State Park.

“If I spend too much time in these wild places, I will shed the trappings of what I wear in the city and slowly meld into the rock, and sea, and woods. These words even now are full of the waves and foam and splash, no longer empty, no longer easily erased. Words written on my heart.”

398. Pots of growing things now blooming.

And while not about getting out of the city, two more amazingly wonderful answers to prayer:

399. The long-term loan of a piano keyboard from my friends Cathee and Brian.

400. Fifty one pages done toward my dissertation first draft, and no more anxiety as I write.

Continuing to count all that I am grateful for…

385. Leading the retreat, Cup Overflowing: Joy as a Lenten Practice, for an amazing and wonderful group of Massachusetts United Church of Christ pastors.

386. The beauty of Ipswich, MA, and the Notre Dame Spiritual Center where the retreat was held.

387. “who, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2

388. Resurrection joy and the tree with the leaves of healing for the nations…

389. A feathered friend’s home.

390. Watching ducks land. Hilarious.

391. Visiting with many good friends in Boston and being back on campus.

392. Signs of spring when I returned to Seattle.

393.. A wonderful surprise visit from a friend I haven’t seen in a long time.

390. A great birthday,  crowned High Queen Susan, and served a yummy dinner with an amazing dark chocolate cake. Thank you Kimberlee, Doug, Jack, Jane, and the twinfants!

391. Chocolate smiles and dancing.

Years ago, I entered a new world of desks

in straight rows, bells, and tasks like

see-jane-run and

m is for mr munching mouth.

I loved mixing more

paints and colors with gooey glue

all over hands and

paper blue birds with beak and tongue

(Birds need tongues too)

Time was everywhere at once yet now

smaller

faster

marked off by things to do

read. listen. repeat. write.

a start-stop world.

When Time-to-Clean-Up arrived

I always chose my favorite featherduster

to-ing and fro-ing far from the flurry to finish

unworried by missing mittens or colorful gluey messes made

and teacher let me be, for a moment

free

(an edited repost from the archives, Susan Forshey, 10/2009)

“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. (Matthew 5:14-15)

Grace is often a warm and happy word.  A word said with a sigh of thankfulness.

As I’ve been reflecting on worship, I’ve run into a different experience of grace.

When this grace-light shines, I want to shut the door and reach for a basket. Thank you, God, but I’ll keep this to myself.

It’s the grace that God shows me in weakness, through weakness.

I admit, I’m not really a fan.

“God, couldn’t you just change that part of my personality? No need for grace. Just take out an eraser and do some editing. Here, I can show you where.”

I close in and close down around my weaknesses: my self-consciousness; my awkwardness when I don’t know what to say, or how to say it, or say the horribly wrong thing; when I let friends down; when I don’t trust God to take care of me so I try to do it on my own; when I fear failure and regret, even more than death. I’m embarrassed by it, certain others will walk away disappointed or disgusted. I find the nearest strength to cover it, thick black-out curtains or fig leaves I’ve gone seeking to earn.

But when I hide this inner-most poverty, I hide where God faithfully meets me over and over.

Even more, God’s grace touches each of us uniquely and shines in our weaknesses in a way just so, a way that could speak grace to another person.

And so I write, trusting that at least one person other than me needs to read this:

“My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor 12:9)

It’s time to take off the basket, let the grace-light shine through it and see what God will do.

“Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.”  (Matthew 5:16)

****

Counting gratitudes today:

371. The hard grace-light

372. Thomas Howard, Christ the Tiger.

373. Annie Dillard, A Writing Life.

374. Don Miller, Blue Like Jazz.

375. Ann Voscamp, One Thousand Gifts.

376. Phillip Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace?

377. The glorious musty dusty inky smell of old books, and the sweet smell of new well-published ones.

378. A prayer for forgiveness.

379. A clean kitchen

380. The smell of eggs and cinnamon toast

381. Ideas for the joy retreat

382. Ensemble singing

383. Singing “O God Beyond All Praising”

384. Playing hide and seek with Jack and Jane in the church. (And what a great place they found to hide!)

They came through the doors, two or three at a time. Wrote name tags and found a place in the circle.

Thirty eight middle and high school students from three Seattle churches gathered for a Saturday of defining words, learning history,  and wrestling with issues.

Laughter from icebreaker games filled the fellowship hall–like guessing the names of famous people stuck to our backs and “shuffle your buns” (a new one that left me quite thankful to be photographing, rather than playing)…..

…turned  into serious discussion as students tackled writing definitions for five words:

prejudice

discrimination

racism

stereotype

institutional racism

Afterwards, we went to the Northwest African American Museum and then heard Rev Dr Samuel McKinney speak about his life and experiences–a close friend of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the person who invited King to visit Seattle in 1961. We learned how King had to speak in a different location after the reserved venue cancelled at the last minute without reason. Students learned that much has changed, but so much remains to be done.

And at the end of the day I listened to the students share thoughts and questions and frustrations as they reflected on hard history that began before their birth, that continues to today. I marveled at their energy and  conviction, and hope filled me…these are the next generation. Bless their efforts, Lord.

Grateful for…

361. Museum Without Walls, which gives students and adults opportunities to hear from living witnesses to times such as the US civil rights movement, Japanese-American internment after WWII, and the Holocaust.  

362. Suzzanne, MWW Founder and Executive Director.

363. Rev McKinney and his willingness to share his story and memories with us.