Author Archives: The Woman Went Her Way Ministries

About The Woman Went Her Way Ministries

First and foremost, I am a child of the Most High God. Then I am a wife of 39 years and mother to five beautiful children and foster mom to over thirty children through the years. I have a life filled with struggles and traumas and joys and love. The one thing that I know to be true is that He who began a good work in me has carried me through all of it and will continue to do so until I am complete in Him. I am enkindled with a love and longing for my Creator and I hope that my ministry awakens this desire in you as well. Give me a Bible and a message in my heart, and you will find me sharing it with whomever will listen. Please join me on this journey....
Feb4

Woman of God, Do Not Lay Down Your Sword

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Witness, Originally released to St Francis Women’s Retreat, 2021

Woman of God, do not lay down your sword.  As in every generation before us, we are living in unprecedented times.  We, you and I, were born for this moment, to be here right now, living through this pandemic, this political chaos, this civil unrest.  God has prepared us our entire lives to be His Remnant in these times.  We are called to “Armor Up” in the armor of God as given to us through the Sword of His Spirit, in His holy Word:

 Ephesians 6:10-18

“Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. 

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able stand your ground and after you have done everything, to stand.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.  With this in mind, be alert and always praying for all the Lord’s people.”

Sisters, it is not the time to grow weary or complacent or faint.  It is the time to Armor up and grab our swords.

I.

Have any of you ever experienced that gnawing feeling in the pit of your stomach for no reason? Perhaps it is accompanied by a phrase that repeats in your head.  You pray over it and discern it is God’s whisper.  This has happened many times to me over my life and I’ve learned to listen and to heed.  It happened again beginning at the end of November, 2019.  Our retreat team was preparing for the upcoming women’s retreat and I had discerned to be one of the four to give my personal witness.  I’m ashamed to say that for a long time through that journey, I was a grumbling Hebrew in the desert at the moment when God whispered in my ear, “A hard time is coming.” “No kidding, Lord.” Was my initial response thinking He was referring to the witness I was about to give at the retreat.  I was struggling with being open to being vulnerable and honest in my sin and how God was able to transform me to bring Him the glory from my situation. But that phrase, His whisper, would not leave me.  In January, we heard of the Coronavirus and the whisper  “a hard time is coming” continued to be heard louder in my soul.  I had completed writing my witness and began to take more notice to what He was trying to prepare me for.  Shifting in our world was coming, indeed a hard time.  The retreat over, I looked forward to a lazy spring of catching up on my life that had been put on hold for many months in preparation of the retreat and my talk.  And still “a hard time is coming” being whispered to me over and over again.  Urgently whispered.  I began to prepare… water, food, chocolate, toilet paper, you know, all the essentials checked off and stored or hidden (the chocolate was for me not my family) in my pantry.  When we, the entire world came to our desert moment and the hard time had arrived.  COVID19 was in the world and the world was shut down for all but the essential to keep the minimum of society going and to bring healing to the very sick. God, in His mercy had been preparing me for a time such as this… a hard time that came.

Centerville shut down essentially.  I was surrounded in my home by two of my daughters and my husband.  Never. Ending. Human. Interaction. For my sisters who like me are at their very core are introverts, who need long periods of peace and quiet and aloneness, to be surrounded by others 24/7 afraid of contracting a virus that is not visible to the human eye is indeed a very hard time.

Mass stopped.  We were no longer allowed in the church during Mass nor to receive the Sacraments, no Eucharist.  A dearth of grace normally given to God’s people was extended throughout the world.  But God in His wisdom and tender care, extended that grace to us though livestream of the daily Mass.  He uses all things for our good and His glory, even those times when authorities feel that Mass is not essential in their quest to keep us safe.  I remember participating in the Mass through streaming: the tears flowing freely and the yearning so deep in my heart that it physically hurt to not physically be present at Mass.  I thirsted for God… for the Living Water present in attending the Mass in person that would quench my thirst.  A hard time.

Day after day, week after week, month after month…. Fear of the virus, fear of the civil unrest that naturally came after such a long period of people living in isolation instead of their normal lives, fear of the political chaos that we had been living through for many years regardless of which political party one was affiliated with.  Fear that maybe we had gone too far from Him and He no longer heard us, and the crying out to Him daily, “Lord, do you not hear the groanings of your people.  Please bring an end to this pandemic.”  But we know through His word in Psalm 34 that “the Lord Hears the cry of the poor.  Blessed be the poor.” So God’s remnant put on His armor and went to battle for Him regardless of our fear and doubt.  Knowing that He promises in Isaiah 41:10 that we are not to fear for He is with us.  We are not to be anxiously looking about us for He is our God.  He will strengthen us, surely, He will help us.  Surely, He will uphold us with His might righteous right hand. 

My sisters, I am here to share with you today how you too can armor up and trust that as part of His Remnant, He will never forsake you and your loved ones through these unprecedented times. We are at a Red Sea time, needing an Elijah moment and He is going to bring us and our world the healing we so desperately have been seeking for He, unlike Baal, is the One True God.  So let’s get our armor on and pick up our Swords and go about the business of healing our world through His strength and grace: one prayer, one hug, one act of kindness at a time being His feet and His hands, His eyes and ears, His Words….

II.

In 2018, the relics of St Padre Pio came to St Peter in Chains Cathedral in Cincinnati. A dear friend and I got ourselves up and down to Cincinnati that morning for the 7:30 right of reception and the veneration to follow.  I was somewhat familiar with St Pio as he was one of my sons’ name saint.  St Pio had also been greatly popularized in the late 90’s and early Y2K by the New Age movement due to his publicized ability to bilocate.  As those who have previously heard my witness might remember, at that time I was very involved in the New Age Movement before giving it up to follow my traditional Catholic faith at my Lord’s urging.   I was familiar with St Pio, but that familiarity did not prepare me for being present that morning in 2018 to venerate his relics.  I remember how cold the cathedral was when we first arrived.  I remember how long the prayers lasted.  I remember wondering what exactly I was doing there so early in the morning as those who know me will attest that I am most definitely not a morning person.  Soon, the cathedral settled down to prayer and contemplation and gratitude for this moment to be with St Pio.  My friend had encouraged me to bring a rosary, a medal, and other things to have St Pio bless.  When it came time to go before his relics and to have him bless the few things I had brought, I got up and stood in the back of a very long line.  Immediately, there was heat.  A fire surging deep within me.  I was so hot, so very hot.  I looked around me and the people were all complaining of the heat.  Fanning themselves… and I’m not just talking women of a certain age who are used to having moments of extreme heat.  Old, young, middle age, men, women, children, all fanning and sweating and speaking of the heat.  Meanwhile, those sitting in the pews were wrapped in coats and scarves as the cathedral was quite chilly.  I knelt before him and asked him to bless the rosary and medal I had brought and sat back down in my pew.  I was immediately cold again.  I looked at Yvonne and asked had she felt that and she said yes, the heat was intense.  So being the Protestant raised skeptic that I was to the saints, I jumped up with my big, old Bible and got back in line.  Heat….. again….. I knelt before the relic of a handkerchief that had drops of his blood on it and raised my Bible to the relic to bless it.  You can imagine what happened at that point, a little old biddy like myself lifting this heavy Bible, OT and NT combined, up to this little relic in a glass frame with her arthritic fingers…. Yep, the relic started to tip over.  I have to say that I have never seen men move so fast as those guards did when they grabbed that relic and prevented it from toppling over because my Bible had to be blessed by St Pio.  It was a moment.  As an aside, since having him bless my Bible, I am not able to use any other Bible.  I’ve tried so that his Bible could stay nice and special.  Nope, that is not his way….. it’s that Bible which speaks to my soul and allows me to know what God is speaking to me.  A blessing for sure. And thus began my devotion to St Pio.

I bring St Pio to our attention today, not only because I am very devoted to him and seek his guidance and prayer intentions regularly, but because this dear saint understands how we as people of God have felt these past months in isolation through social distancing, limiting contact with our loved ones, and enduring quarantine when we’ve become ill with the virus or have been exposed to it in spite of all of our precautions to stay healthy.  You see, St Pio was also forced into isolation by the Vatican.  In 1924 and again in 1931, the Vatican refused to allow him to appear in public and stripped him of performing all confessions and public Mass due to a fanatical following he had amassed of medical doctors, church authorities, and curiosity seekers regarding his bearing the five wounds of the stigmata. The authenticity of his stigmata was questioned and he was placed essentially in isolation.  He was basically stripped of his flock, his family of parishioners with whom he loved very much.  A very hard time, indeed, for St Pio.

Out of curiosity, how have you dealt with our current situation of isolation and living a life differently than you are used to? Have you grumbled through it, questioning why it is necessary?  Questioning if your civil liberties have been violated?  Been fearful of the change in life while holding on wistfully to memories of life as you knew it before COVID?   Until recently when I strictly limited my social media, I was on FB throughout this pandemic.  It was a way, I thought that I could continue to connect with those I care about.  Well, I can tell you unequivocally that the majority of people have not faced this pandemic with full trust in God and acceptance of any suffering they’ve encountered these months. Sadly, some have been dealt a harsher card than others in these times with the loss of dear ones to the virus or to the violence we find ourselves in as a country.  I’ve seen very little true joy in this suffering.  And, ashamedly, I include myself in the grumbler group.  Interestingly, regarding his isolation,  St Pio never complained.  He bore His isolation much as he had lived his life: armored up in prayer and devotion to God offering up his suffering for his love of Jesus, stating  “I have no wish whatsoever to have my cross lightened for it is a joy for me to suffer with Jesus.”  It is a joy for me to suffer with Jesus.  Wow… Have you found your suffering during times such as these to be a joy?  That we, my sisters, may learn to place total confidence in God that we might count it all joy is what Padre Pio is encouraging us in this time of chaos in all our lives.  “Pray, hope and don’t worry.  Worry is useless.  God is merciful and will hear your prayers,” according to Padre Pio.  Have you trusted God in these times with your whole heart to hear your prayers?  Have you trusted Him in the good things you’ve experienced as well as the difficult times recently?  Can you trust Him in your suffering, now?

A simple saint who on more than one occasion was attacked by Satan, Padre Pio knew how to put on his armor in the spiritual battle that every one of us from the moment of Eve in the garden when she had to answer the serpent who asked, “Did God really say not to eat the fruit of that tree?” until every moment of every day until the day of Christ’s glorious return to gather His chosen, we each are warriors in this battle whether we are aware of it or not.  I’d hazard to guess that you, like me are very aware of the battle we are in right now.  Never, in our life times as I’m sure many before felt the same, has there been such evil running rampant and spirits of depression, fear, anger, rebellion are surrounding all of us around the world.  This simple saint, Padre Pio, teaches us to armor up.  Be faithful, be prayerful, be humble in frequently going to confession, partake of the Eucharist in person as often as you can, take up your rosary every single day, read Scripture, put on your scapulars and your holy medals, your St Benedict cross.  Do not complain of the troubles of today nor live in fear of that which you cannot control.  Rather, follow the footsteps of a humble saint who knew that God in His abundant mercy and steadfast love always hears the cries of His children.  Our acceptance of our pain and suffering while offering it up to Him the Great Healer and our casting out fear in His name is a fragrant offering that is most pleasing to Him.  So as most likely all the old biddies like myself in your lives have chastised you again and again, “Offer it up”, my sisters.  Put on your armor in this moment.  And if you still are wondering how you are going to put on His armor, then fall on your knees and ask Him for His discernment and His wisdom and His plan for you in this moment.  For anytime you seek Him, it brings Him glory and is pleasing to Him.  He desires us to be in prayer with Him continually.  So seek Him now…

This past September, I began again as I had in my past to have dreams which felt real.  Some were reassuring and some were disturbing to me.  I passed it off as stress from all the chaos we have all been dealing with in our lives this past year.  But the dreams continued sporadically.  I contacted a mentor of mine and told her of one of my dreams, one of the beautiful ones, to see what she thought.  She quoted Joel 3:1 to me: “Then afterword, I will pour out my Spirit upon all mankind.  Your sons and daughters shall prophesy; your old shall dream dreams and your young shall see visions.” First, I want to say that as with many women, I found it interesting that God was putting me, a young 59, in the old people category.  But there we have it, you can’t even hide your age from God. Secondly, I realized that these types of dreams were from God and He was telling me something in this way, so like His whispers, I need to take heed. I share this with you to encourage you to believe that in this life we are in spiritual warfare.  Evil is real and it will come for you if given the chance.  I know this as a few weeks ago, I had another dream.  Praise God, I remember very few of the specifics as to how I got to where I was, but I know it must have been frightening for suddenly I found myself in my dream standing before Satan. Those around me bowing down to him.  I stood there amazed at his beauty.  He was a shining light of brightness.  One might mistake him for a saint or an angel except for the fact that his eyes were a burning red.  It was the only sign that I had as to who he was.  Immediately, I said to him, “Oh no, I’m not even going to stand before you.”  And just like that it felt as if I was slammed back into my body and I was wide awake in my bed and shaking uncontrollably.  Immediately grabbing my rosary on my bedstand, I put on my armor.  First my sword, the Word of God, reminding myself of those passages that have brought me comfort over the years and are His promises.  I will not leave you nor forsake you.  I will walk through the valley of the shadow of death with you.  Do not fear evil for I am with you.  Then I grabbed my shield of faith and began to pray the prayers I know for protection.  St Michael the Archangel defend me in battle.  Be my protection…. Hail Mary full of grace pray for me.  Calling out to St Joseph,  St Padre Pio and St Benedict to pray for me and for my family and for our protection.  With my helmet firmly on my head knowing that I am saved by the blood of the Lamb and He knows I am His and He calls me by name.  The breast plate of righteousness protecting my heart from the sin of bowing to evil even in a dream. The girdle of truth wrapped around my waist so that I can recognize satan as who he is, the father of lies and I can plant my feet firmly in God’s shoes of peace knowing that My God was there with me in the deep of the night in my bedroom guarding me from what I had witnessed in my dream and He was not a God of chaos and disorder but of peace.  His perfect love would cast out all my fear in that moment.  I wondered the next morning and prayed for an answer as to why I would be made to stand in front of satan. I came to realize that God wanted me to understand that satan and the occult are ever present in our world right now.  They appear as light and beauty; as those things we know are wrong but are widely accepted by others.  Even as those things masquerading as “Christian” or “Catholic” or acceptable to God until we dig deeper and realize that they are not from Him at all. Sometimes one must look closely to recognize what is not from God and what is from God. Frequently, we must be armored up to discern the difference.  He calls us to put on his armor and not be deceived by satan’s lies.  Do not be overcome by evil, my sisters, rather overcome evil with good.

III.

Listen to these words from Michelle McClain Walters from her book Esther Anointing, “Can you imagine an all female army-women marching in complete synchronization with the cadence of the Holy Spirit, moving together in unity with distinction and dignity to advance the kingdom of God?” We are at that time, here and now.  This is the time God has called us to… a time of a worldwide pandemic with no certainty as to when it might end…. A time of political upheaval and civil unrest…. A time when those around us are influenced by spirits of fear and anger and rebellion and depression.  Many of us have been experiencing these things in our own lives day in and day out for many, many days.  Today I am telling you to follow the path of beloved St Padre Pio.  He knew that there was power in the name of Jesus.  He knew that by armoring up and putting our focus on Jesus and our joy in everything happening to us both easy and hard, God will break every chain, every strong hold formed against God’s army.  Dear ones, we are that army.  You and I.  We are called to call on the power of Jesus’ name to break every chain, to rid our land of every altar set up to other gods and to Blow the trumpet in Zion so that every heart will awaken to God’s love.  Dear sister of God, do not lay down your sword.  Pick it up and wield it with His steadfast love and tender mercy in the strength of your faith.  Know His Word, Partake of His most Holy Eucharist, Go to Confession, Pray…. And know in the very depth of your soul that God is pleased with what He sees in you, you, His beloved daughter of His army.  Amen and amen.

Feb3

Walk on the Water

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Patoka Lake, Indiana, Summer, 2021

Matthew 14:22-33

The he made the disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening, he was there alone. Meanwhile, the boat already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. At once, (Jesus) spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” After they got into the boat the wind died down. Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying “Truly, you are the Son of God.”

“Take courage, it is I!  Do not be afraid.”  How many of us have read these words from Matthew and wondered if Jesus was speaking to us specifically, as He was then to the disciples in the boat who were filled with fear when they saw a Ghost coming towards them in the storm.  How many of us right now, right here, need to hear these specific Words of our Lord and hold them in our hearts. Take courage!  Do not be afraid.   Be fearless in the safety of His arms.

Here is a little known fact about me…. I am a counter downer.  I have all sorts of count down apps on my phone.  For instance, did you know at the time of my writing this piece it is exactly 324 days, 13 hours, 8 minutes, 43 seconds until Christmas, 2022? My husband and children are constantly being reminded of that timeline throughout the year, because there is never too early of a time to listen to Christmas music and start planning the gift giving and the celebration.  Christmas in the Travers’ household is definitely a high holiday.  It is also according to my countdown app exactly two months, 27 days, 13 hours, 7 minutes and 18 seconds until the first day in the Travers’ household for Boat Season to begin.  The Travers are boat people from May 1 through September 30.  Being blessed with two boats, not only an old fishing boat that we use for, well duh, fishing… but also for water sports like skiing and tubing and wakeboarding and picnics on the lake followed up with a nice nap.  We have an old, yet respectable houseboat as well on “our” lake, which happens to be owned by the state of Indiana and is surrounded by beautiful, natural forests.  We dream of someday winning the lottery and getting an actual respectable houseboat, but we are grateful for what we have and make the most of it.

As water people, people who spend long periods of time on a boat on the water through all sorts of weather, I can tell you that we have become very aware of the sky and what may be coming our way.  Anticipating in a way if bad weather is approaching and what we need to do to keep ourselves safe in a storm.  I remember once, twenty years ago, new to boating, we were on the reservoir with our middle school sons having a most excellent day of sun and water.  Suddenly, we looked up and it was astonishing how fast the sky was turning gray and obviously a storm was brewing.  I dropped Hubby off at the dock to get the car and the boys and I headed to the launching area to wait for him and the trailer to get the boat out of the water.  Naturally, the lake was filled with water people who were also watching the clouds and coming to the same conclusion as us, all the boats heading towards the launching area.  Suddenly the wind picked up.  I understand in Matthew 8, when it says “a violent storm came up and the boat was swamped by waves.”  Our boat was swaying back and forth.  There was no controlling where it was going and we ended up being bashed against a parked boat on the dock while other boats were bashing against us.  The rain was pelting down on us and the streak lightening was hitting the water all around the hundred boats trying to get off the water.  It was terrifying.  I was trying to push us off the boat that was bashing into us from one side.  My twelve year old was trying to push us off the parked boat we were bashing into.  My fourteen year old was sitting in the back of our small boat with his eyes closed, obviously to me he was too terrified to help in any way.  An eternity later, which was most likely five or ten minutes, the fury of the storm passed.  I looked up and there was my husband standing on the dock waving at me, as drenched as I was and waiting for me to come pick him up to get back in the boat.  The storm had passed and he was ready to finish the day on the lake.  Once Hubby had re-entered the boat and we were safely back on the lake, my twelve year old, looked at my fourteen year old and with the most disdain I had ever heard in his voice said to his brother, “You were absolutely no help during that storm just sitting there while mom and I were trying to save us.” to which my other son quietly replied, “I was praying for us.”

Have you ever been in a storm that created great fear in you?  Perhaps it was a weather storm in which you were traveling down a highway in white out conditions, or the rain was pelting so hard you couldn’t see the road to stay in your lane.  Perhaps your storm was for the fight of your life following a devastating medical diagnosis for yourself or a loved one.  The fight for your marriage after finding out your spouse has been unfaithful or maybe it was you who were unfaithful.  The daily falling on your knees for the salvation of your grown children who have strayed so far from the church that you aren’t even sure they can see the path back to our faith.  Maybe, you have been directly in the storm the past two years which we as a world have struggled with…. The storm of Covid, a worldwide pandemic with no real end in sight.  This I know to be true:  all of us are in the midst of storms, no one escapes the storms of life.  As Frodo said to Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, “I wish none of this had happened.”  Gandalf replied: “So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide.  All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” Today, I want to talk with you about fear and faith.  About Great Faith and how we respond to Jesus in those moments when the storm has come, and our boat is swaying, being tossed about in the waves with the wind against it. Do we find him walking through the storm on the water towards us with arms outstretched?  Is our faith so great that we meet Him there on the water?  Do we Walk On The Water?

If we look at what is happening in  Matthew 14, we find that Jesus has just fed the multitude of people through His mighty miracle and grace from five loaves and two fish.  Can you imagine?  Have you ever hosted a family event, large party, wedding?  Did you manage to feed a multitude of guests with just seven pieces of food. Currently, I’m planning a birthday celebration for my husband with approximately 150 guests.  I can tell you that way more than five loaves of bread are going to be eaten.  Just the thought of all that food is exhausting and makes me so thankful for the caterer.  However, Our Lord,  He met the crowd and was filled with pity and moved to heal their sick.  He broke what little bread and fish they had with them, blessed it, gave it and it was sufficient.  His mercy and blessing are never ending.

Then Matthew tells us that Jesus “made” the disciples get into the boat and precede Him to the other side.  As a mom of five beautiful adult children, and if you don’t believe my kids are great just look at my social media cause it never lies…lol, I can tell you that I love that word “made” in this verse.  Made: to compel, to force, no choice.  Now think about it for a moment.  Jesus knows everything that is going to happen to His chosen.  He knows these fishermen and followers, whom He is making get into that boat are going to encounter rough seas.  And yet, He does not hesitate to send them off.  As a mom, I can tell you that there were many times I made my kids do things that I knew might not be what they wanted to do, but was what they needed to do, like go to bed on time, go to school with unfinished homework, drive alone to the store the first time.  Jesus kissed their cheeks and sent them on their way so He could go to the mountain and pray by Himself. He had been through a lot that afternoon and I am sure He needed His “Me” time with God to restore and reenergize for what His people would need next from Him.  He was fully human, hence fatigue and a need to be with God; and fully divine, hence the many miracles.  I can attest to the fact that after I host a huge event, I want nothing more than to curl up with my little dog and a good book for at least the next five days to re-energize myself.  So I totally can understand Jesus, knowing what is going to happen, still implores His followers to get on the boat.

Who amongst us have entered their storm willingly?  Did you raise your hand to God and declare with full conviction, “Oh Lord, let me experience this hardship so I can grow.  I promise to be fearless throughout it.”  I know that has never been what I’ve experienced when the storms arise.  I don’t choose to grow through the hardship of fearful situations.  When the pandemic began two years ago, I don’t recall any of us saying, “Oh great!  A chance to grow in my faith.”  We didn’t say, “Oh Lord, push us into the Covid storm so we can grow in faith.”  And yet, He allowed, the pandemic to happen.  The God of the Hebrews who made the Pharaoh impotent over God’s Chosen people and smote the Egyptians; the God who parted the Red Sea for the Safe passage of the Hebrew People even though he knew they would fall back to the worship of the golden calf; the God who sent His only begotten Son to die on a cross and be resurrected on the third day in atonement for His creation’s sin.  That God could end this pandemic if he chose to with the blink of His eye.  But we are told that all things will be for our good and for God’s glory.  So for His purposes, we as His creation find ourselves put on the Covid boat two years ago with no choice.  In the midst of this storm, a storm which has brought great fear to our world, we have the opportunity to show great faith.  We have the choice to move through our lives in these days fearless, knowing we are safe in His arms.  Will you meet this Covid storm and all of the storms of your life with fearlessness and great faith?

So the disciples find themselves on a boat with wind and storm, being tossed about the waves, trying to make it to the other side and it is late at night.  They left in the evening and it is now dark.  Let me tell you about night on a lake.  It can be the most beautiful experience you may encounter when the weather is cooperating.  When the sky is clear and you are on the lake in the middle of the forest in the middle of the night, you can look up to the sky and see His Magnificent Milky Way.  The stars are too many to be counted.  The lake is calm and the moon’s reflection on the water is indescribable.  However, I’ve also been on the lake in the middle of the night in a storm.  You cannot see the clouds covering the moon and stars.  The sky is pitch black.  You have no idea what is coming your way.  We were once on the houseboat in the middle of the night when a big storm came up.  Fortunately we were on dock that night, but the houseboat swayed back and forth, lightening striking around us, the wind howling.  A couple of hours later, it calmed and we all went to bed at that point.  The next day, a message came through from family asking if we had been on the boat the night before when a tornado had gone over the lake.  We had no idea there was a funnel cloud near us…

So I can imagine the discomfort they felt with the lake not being calm.  It’s dark.  It’s windy.  The waves are rolling.  They look out and see a “ghost” walking on the water towards them and are filled with fear.  Notice the timing of Jesus arrival.  He didn’t rush in at the first sight of the storm to save the day.  He knew full well what they were experiencing in that period of time.  He knew before He sent them on their way what was going to happen to them on the boat.  Though we know that they were never without Him in those moments for Jesus has promised us that He will never leave nor forsake us.  In the disciples exhausted state in the midst of the roaring waves and sea spray, they mistake Jesus as a phantom, a ghost, a specter of death and are afraid. Jesus knows their fear.  He knows they are exhausted and confused and concerned as to how they’re getting to the other side.  He calls out to them, “Take courage, it is I.  Do not be afraid.”  Did you catch that important pronoun in Jesus proclamation to his weary followers.  “It is I.”  “I AM.” “Yahweh.”  He proclaims His divine name in the midst of their fear. 

Have you found yourself in the midst of the storm, fearful, and seen Jesus coming towards you, but you do not recognize Him in your fear and confusion?  Has He proclaimed to you, “I AM is here.  Take courage.”  For the past two years, in the midst of COVID, I have ashamedly found myself crying out to Him, “Do you not hear the cries of your children?  Why must we endure this pandemic?  Innocents are dying or worse…” Take heart, my friend,  Job, who had lost everything that had meaning in his earthly life says of God, “though He slay me, yet I will trust in Him… He shall be my salvation.”  And so, I meet my fear of Covid and put my hand out to Jesus and say, “even in this, Lord, I will trust in you.” As Psalm 77 tells us,  “I cry aloud to God.  I cry to God to hear me.  On the night of my distress, I seek the Lord. By night my hands are stretched out unceasingly.” 

And Jesus responds to my plea immediately as He did to Peter on this night when Peter as in Peter’s usual fashion, questioned Christ. “If it is you, Lord, command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus has heard and will hear these words many times over the course of humanity.  If it is you, then do xyz.  Are we doing that now in the storm we find ourselves in?  If it is you, Lord, heal my broken body.  If it is you, Lord, save my marriage.  If it is you, Lord, bring my children back to the Church.  If it is you, Lord, bring an immediate end to this pandemic. But Jesus is not confined by our boats or our storms.  He is unshakeable.  His plan is that of the Father’s.  He does only as the Father wills, not as man wills.  And God in His perfection will do all things for His glory, in His time, and for our good.  So what is there to fear in these storms?

Jesus, says to Peter, “Come.” And like many of us, Peter’s faith is great in that initial moment and he walks on water towards Jesus, until he becomes fearful of the strong wind. Notice that Jesus didn’t calm the waters for Peter’s path on the water to be easy to get through.  The waves are still rolling and the wind is strong.  But Peter stepped into the storm in full confidence that Jesus was right there with him.  Right now, we may be getting weary in our storm.  Life is getting harder with Covid.  As in everything, there are two sides pitting us against one another.  Mask or unmask, vaccinate or unvaccinated, social distance or not, in person or remote.  Satan is having a field day creating all the fear and division he possibly can amongst God’s people and amongst the people of the World.  Dear friend do not lay down your swords right now.  Armor up in the armor of God.  Step out on the water and walk to Jesus in the midst of this Covid storm. In the midst of every storm you are enduring in your life right now.  Be courageous and steadfast for He is always with you.

When Peter became fearful, He began to sink.  And He cried out, “Lord, Save me!”  And then what I consider the true miracle of this experience happened.  Jesus didn’t look at Peter and say, “Wait a minute.  Just a moment ago you were questioning if it was even me.”  He didn’t think about all the sin and denial that Peter was going to spew towards Him in the days to come.  He didn’t look around and say “Oh yeah, I’m due at Starbucks in fifteen, catch ya later Peter.”  No, Our Lord, IMMEDIATELY, reached out and caught Peter and saved him, sin and sorrow and fear and distrust and all.  Our Lord always, always swoops down, His arms wide in covenant love for us.  He lifts us up in His arms and helps us to safety.  He doesn’t chastise Peter.  He quietly says to Peter, “O you of little faith.  Why did you doubt?”

Are you doubting right now?  I know that I’ve fallen prey to the stronghold of doubt recently.  Wondering why so much suffering?  When will this all end?  When will we get back to normal?  Is there a normal to even get back to anymore?  “O, me of little faith.”  And I stretch out my hand to Him.  And He reaches down and swoops me up: sin and fear and distrust and all, bringing me to safety.

Upon climbing into the boat, the wind dies down and the waves slow to a peaceful calm.  Peter is safe in the arms of Jesus and those present finally believe… You are the Son of God.  Don’t you wonder, did Peter hold on to Jesus in the boat?  Did he weep, shedding the tears of shame and sorrow for having not trusted with great faith?  Was he remorseful?  Was he in awe of Jesus’ mercy and grace and willingness to save him despite his doubt and fear?

It is now our moment.  Will it be one of great faith and fearlessness in the storm?  Will We look out to the stormy waters and see Jesus standing there?  Will we hold out our hand as we climb out of the boat and trust that He is there with us and will bring us to safety.  Will we walk on the water? 

In the midst of the chaos of the storm, when we are forced to embark on an uncertain journey, whether it be Covid or any of the other storms which enter our lives, we have the opportunity to see God revealed in our midst as the disciples saw Him coming across the water.  It is our response to Him in these times which show our great faith.  Friend, will you walk on the water towards Him with me?

Amen and Amen

Nov30

Advent: Watch

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Advent

Wait, watch, pray, prepare

Advent, the season of waiting, watching, praying, preparing.

The year is 2020 and there are no rules according to most social media. We are faced with the pandemic of Covid, election shenanigans leaving us still wondering who was rightfully elected, and lives which are very different from twelve months ago when we had no idea that masks and social distancing were soon to become a part of our daily routines. Though 2020 has no rules, it can give us a time while many of us shelter again to flatten the curve to silence ourselves, to wait and watch and prepare and pray during Advent for the coming of Christ’s arrival, Christmas.

I’m the mother of five beautiful children. If you don’t believe they are all perfect, check my Facebook posts…. definite proof of perfect children. I remember when I was pregnant with my first babe and being convinced that she was a she; while preparing her nursery with all things pink and Sunbonnet Sue, little baby dolls, and lace on everything. We took our Lamaze classes and practiced my breathing with Dear Hubby coaching. We had three baby showers that filled our home with all the things we needed to properly raise our little one upon her arrival. We prayed over this dear babe and we longed to see her face. I read book after book and handed them over to Hubby to read in his spare time. No stone was unturned in my preparing for this precious baby of ours. As an aside, it wasn’t until just before she was born that I had the dreaded thought that I might have made a mistake and we were about to birth a beautiful baby boy. Mother instincts were spot on happily, and our precious baby girl arrived just as planned.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is talking to His apostles the night before the Last Supper as well as to each of us. He is preparing all of us that though He is about to leave, He will return and is warning us to be prepared. No one, not even Jesus but only the Father, knows when Jesus’ return will occur. (Mark 13:32 But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.)

I wonder if we truly understand this fact. Jesus is returning and we are to be watchful, alert, prayerful, prepared. Advent is the season for us to pause and really think on this truth. Our Lord is coming…. perhaps now, perhaps ten years, a hundred years, a thousand years from now. Regardless of when, how have I prepared my heart, my soul for His coming?

As we continue to live in this challenging time of political and social unrest, of a pandemic which has all of us living with masks and distancing and restrictions, of lack of supplies or jobs or friends, I encourage you to prepare much as I did when pregnant with my first babe and as Mary did when carrying our Lord all those years ago. Prepare your heart for his coming this Advent season. Step away from the world for these forty days and put your focus on God and His Son’s first and second comings. Celebrate Mass and the Eucharist. Pray your Rosary. Go to Confession. Read God’s Word everyday. Fast. Journal. Give to the needy. Celebrate His coming soon with loved ones even if it’s through Zoom. Put your Creche in a place of honor. Do not let Him find you sleeping in the lull of worldly chaos or pleasure but keep your heart guarded for Him.

Jesus is coming. Are you ready to welcome the King of Kings?

Mark 13:33, 36-37, 33Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. 36May He not come and find you sleeping. 37What I say to you, I say to all: “Watch!”

Psalm 85:8, Show us, Lord, you love; and grant us your salvation.

Feb12

Crying Babes

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Last Sunday in Mass there was a young mom with her littles sitting behind us. Toddler Little was all over the place and loud about it. My inflexible old grouchy self wanted to be stern and uninviting. I had my own struggles. The pews are hard and hurt my back. The kneeling is slow with my bad knee from two falls last October. My hearing isn’t what it used to be from listening to all those bad hair bands in the seventies. It’s hard to focus in Mass cause it’s stressful, cold, depressing winter and my life is filled with those in need of prayer and so little time to pray. Plus, we arrived late and someone had the audacity to sit in our pew resulting in us sitting in a totally different area of the sanctuary because it was so crowded. So I wasn’t in the mood to be patient with littles. But then I remembered all those moments of the elderly’s impatience with my littles. How alone and judged I felt. How hard it was to go back week after week. My heart softened and I turned around at the sign of peace and shook momma’s hand and those of her three beautiful babes and welcomed them. Coincidentally, littles were very quiet and focused the rest of Mass. I imagine it is so pleasing to Him who is working a good work in each of us, the crying babe and the grouchy biddy, when we welcome each other, help each other, are kind to one another as we gather to give Him the Glory and Praise. Peace to each of you in the middle of this cold winter.

Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:13-14
Feb1

Betrayal

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John 13:30 So he (Judas) took the morsel and left at once.  And it was night.

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Judas, one of the original twelve, Jesus right hand man and treasurer.  So many of us know him as the one who betrayed Christ.  Yes, Judas was the betrayer.  Yet through his story, we are challenged to look at our own “judases” in perhaps a new, softer light.

Who among us has not felt betrayed?  Have we not all seen betrayal doled out to others in our lifetime. In my own family, we had a betrayer.  A supposed man of God, baptized and baptizer, treasurer of his church, well respected in every circle he ingratiated himself into.  Yet this man was a man of horrible choices and severe personality disorder who raped and pillaged the women in his midst. Who even in his dying breath was violent in that he killed his wife in cold blood because she suffered Alzheimer’s and then shot himself, rather than asking for the respite he most definitely needed.  Like Judas, a man, who through the many choices in his life up to his last breath chose the darkness over the Light.

In my Bible study today, I was reminded of this man from my past as we talked about Jesus, washing feet, eating one last meal with loved ones, and of course Judas and betrayal.  It is Passover, and Jesus knew that His hour had finally arrived. (John 13:1)  He had humbled Himself to become man to teach us a new way to be.  He had performed signs and taught of love and forgiveness. We find him in the upper room, ready to share what He must surely know is His Last Supper with these twelve imperfect humans whom He has tried over the previous three years to teach and strengthen and love. Judas is there among The Twelve, with his life of poor choices, self interests, and frustration at not being able to make The Son of God adhere to his whims.  Had Judas not recently complained when Mary, the sister of Lazarus, had anointed Jesus feet out of her love for Him and her foreboding of the changing attitudes that would only mean death for her Teacher?  Judas, who is about to make a very horrific choice, is to become the betrayer of Emmanuel, God Among Us (His creation).

So it is time for a Passover meal and The Twelve are at the table, reclining, dirty feet and all on the cushions set at table, waiting to be served.  Jesus, who in coming to us as a simple man and having disrobed His Glory when arriving here as a mere Babe to a poor carpenter’s family, arises to humbly serve His Twelve, in love and respect He takes on the humble service normally provided by the lowest of servants.  He disrobes and pours the water in a basin, much like He will soon pour out His Blood for the forgiveness of our transgressions.  Ever so tenderly, He takes each precious foot and begins to wash it and then dry it with the towel around His waist.  No one is left out of this washing.  Not Peter with his protesting nor Judas with his betraying nor those who most likely sat there in awe wondering if they were His favorite.

Has anyone ever washed your feet?  I’m not talking the pedicure you just received from the local salon so your sandals look pretty in summer.  I am speaking of whether someone you respect as a good man has taken your feet into their hands and washed and dried them with a cloth around their waist.  I have had this happen twice while participating in our church’s Christ Renews His Parish retreat.  The last service at this retreat is when our priest washes each participants feet.  When Father Paul washed my feet, I cried.  I cried because, who was I to have my priest lower himself and touch my stinking, dirty feet. I cried because I knew that it was my job to go out and wash the feet of others.  An overwhelming task of which I alone am not worthy of undertaking.  Yet, I hold fast when trying to humbly serve The One Who Sent Me to His Promise “I am confident of this, that He who began a good work in (me) will carry it through to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6) Yet in our lesson today, Christ, The Son of God, The Messiah, The Savior of the World, Emmanuel, is washing feet of everyone, those who love Him and the one who will betray Him.

When Jesus is done with the foot washing, he arises and puts his outer garments on, much as He will put on His glory at the Resurrection.  He, The Teacher, who has given so much of Himself to the ones He loves, continues in these final hours to reach out to The Twelve to teach them a better way to live; a life of humble, simple acts of love to all, to the least, even to the betrayers.

Jesus then gives them a warning, a prediction, of sorts while feeling troubled that one of them will betray Him. Of course, none of The Twelve know of Judas stealing from their coffers nor of his hardened heart nor of his being tempted by satan and allowing satan to enter him.  They are confused and questioning.  Jesus does not condemn.  He does not bring to light in front of the others Judas’ sins in the past nor the sin he is about to partake in.  Jesus simply places a morsel of dipped bread into Judas’ hand.  Judas has been caught so to speak.  He must surely know that Jesus is on to him.  It is his last chance.  Confess!  Confess! is what I want to yell at him.  It is about choice.  Judas, you have the chance right now to make a different choice, change your heart and your ways.  Jesus is offering you with love and respect a different way to be, just as Jesus offers this to each of us no matter our sin.  Alas, Judas is a stubborn one with a plan of his own, and no willpower against the temptation of satan.  He leaves quickly and heads into the night, into the darkness, leaving the Light of the One who came to Save him behind in the upper room.  Jesus, the Light of the World, must surely know that all of The Twelve in the end will betray Him in their own way.  Yet, He continues on through these Last Hours showing love and forgiveness even unto His Final Hour.

So we are left with the knowledge that our choices will draw us closer to the Light of Christ or leave us wondering in the darkness.  Just like Judas, our life is made up of a multitude of choices every moment of every day.  These choices will culminate into the whole of our life.  A life, if we choose, of living in the Light of God or wandering in the night of separation from His Light.  “As long as it is day, (we) must do the works of Him who sent (us).” ( John 9:4 )  Those works include how we deal with our judases.  Are we filled with anger, condemnation, darkness?  Do we plot our revenge so that everyone might know of the hurt we have been dealt?  Do we hold that grudge for eternity?  I’d like to think that though we are human and prone to grudge holding anger, we might look to Jesus and walk in His Light of humble love and respect. It is not our place to condemn nor judge.  It is God’s place to judge with a Holy Judgment at the time He sees fit.  For God does not leave us to deal with our judases alone.  He strengthens us and endures our pain with us, no matter the situation.  He also provides us with an unending peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7) when we give Him the darkness and stay to the Light.

Though many were angry when the man in my family passed, I was not angry, nor filled with condemnation for him.  Rather, I was then and most days still am filled with an incredible sadness that he chose as an example for his life the same darkness that Judas chose.  So many choices he made could have been different and would have brought him despite his sin to Christ.  Jesus, who watched over this man’s life as He watched over Judas’ life would have welcomed both of them Home to Him had they only realized their sin and asked forgiveness from the Great Forgiver.  If Jesus had been willing to forgive them, then who am I to hold on to my unforgiveness?

Praying that each of you find your path to forgiveness with the judases in your life.

May you find Gratitude and Peace in every moment,

Joan

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Aug5

To Be a Witness, If My People, Day 6

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“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

 

Today, in our If My People prayer pilgrimage Day 6, we are looking at those final words Jesus spoke to the disciples before he ascended into heaven to be with the Father.  Evangelization, plain and simple… We are to go everywhere, teach everything and baptize everyone.  It doesn’t get more forthright than that when looking at what Jesus asks of us.  If He knows that I am fully capable of going, teaching and baptizing, then why do I find this direction from my Savior so daunting and overwhelming.  Who am I to evangelize?  I’m comfortable in my faith and uncomfortable when forced to be anything other than a Catholic mom who walks the spiritual side in her life by attending Mass, practicing the Sacraments, raising her family in the faith, teaching Sunday School, going to Bible studies and writing in her blog.  I like the easy way.

“To be a witness does not consist in engaging in propaganda, nor even in stirring people up, but in being a living Mystery.  It means to live in such a way that one’s life would not make sense if God did not exist.”  Cardinal Emmanuel Suhard

 

Several years ago, this quote by Cardinal Suhard was printed on the back of our Parish bulletin.  I was so filled with joy when I read and thought about the meaning of this quote.  It seemed so natural, easy.  No street evangelization.  No asking strangers, “Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?” No Bible Thumping. No propaganda.  Not even stirring

people up with insults and insinuations that they needed to get right with Mother Church.  Just simply living my life as a mystery… a prayer… in such a way that only God’s existence would complete my life and make my life story valid.  The most compelling way to share the message of the Gospel, the Good News of His coming, to bring wild hope to others, would be to live a conscious life for Him, to bring Him glory. Jesus came to redeem the assault of evil on our lives and to offer another way to live, filled with mercy, love, kindness for the least of our brethren rather than revenge, eye for an eye justice, and a harsh life of fulfilling man’s law in God’s name.  Somehow, this idea of evangelization seems more fulfilling, an easier way of following His path that makes sense to me when I see how He treated the least of His followers in the Gospel.  He did not judge nor condemn the sinner begging for healing.  How many times did He chose the more difficult aspect of healing His people’s faith through forgiveness?  “Your sins are forgiven.  Go in peace and sin no more.” A much more important healing for each of us than the easier physical healing that many of us have begged for over the course of humanity.  And yet, He lovingly and faithfully healed physical ailments as well. So it must be for each of us to find a way to live as a Mystery for Him through our willingness to show steadfast love, tender mercies, unabandoned hope, unasked for forgiveness.

Soren Kierkegaard: “All genuine instruction ends in a kind of silence, for when I live it, it is no longer necessary for my speaking to be audible.”

So we look at the propaganda that goes on in the name of evangelization and realize that many times it is not love, mercies, hope, nor forgiveness.  It comes down to the words.  Are you saying the right words with the correct tone of voice?  Are you saying the words loud enough and often enough and to everyone?  In the end, it truly is not about the words.  People will agree or disagree or be noncommittal with our words.  We must begin the hard work if our life is to relay the sense of God’s existence, to show our beliefs, values, convictions into our daily life; our worship, our work, the sustainability of our life, our interactions with others.  This is our witness.  As James said in 1:22, ‘Be doers of the Word and not hearers only.  Thereby deceiving only yourself.” To be doers and not hearers only we must do two things.  First, we must commit to a God Centered, not culture centered life.  We must seek out His Will and conform our thoughts, emotions, words, and actions to what we know He is leading us to.  Then we MUST respect the silence, the quietness with gentleness and kindness towards others.  We quietly go about showing steadfast love, tender mercies, unabandoned hope, and unasked for forgiveness to whomever crosses our path, #BlackLives, #BlueLives, #AllLives, #MuslimJewishProtestantHindiCatholicAgnostic………  We leave the judging and condemning to God, who loves us with a Holy Love and who judges with Holy Condemnation.  We become His living Mystery.

Praying that each of you may step out into Evangelization with steadfast love, tender mercies, unabandoned hope, and unasked for forgiveness to all whom cross your path.

May you find gratitude and peace in every moment,

Joan Marie

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Jul26

True Sight, Leo Buscaglia

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Leo Buscaglia, 1924-1998

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. Leo Buscaglia

Have you found yourself recently needing to use strategies to help soothe yourself in the chaos that surrounds us?  You may be getting in touch with your creative side by crafting, cooking, painting.  Taking a daily walk in your neighborhood to relieve the stress may be your go to rather than filling your head with the newest media crisis to befall our nation.  Perhaps, you may be taking a keen interest in keeping your home spotlessly clean and your husband has all of his laundry ironed and hung neatly color coded on his side of the closet. Trust me, I have been trying all of these strategies recently as the media continues to bombard us with the latest political scandal, terrorist attack, police officer killing and hashtag group taking it to the streets. Of recent, I have found myself filling my thoughts with the writings of Leo Buscaglia, a great educator, author and soul of the twentieth century.  I remember first seeing Dr Buscaglia on Public Broadcast System television back in the 1970’s when I was a high school student living in a small town in Ohio.  He struck me with his wisdom and desire to help those listening to him find their way to love, life, and kindness.  His stories of growing up with an Italian mama and larger than life family were interspersed with his thoughts on how we can reach our fullest potential by becoming who we truly are rather than whom others think we should be.  And always, he came back to love and touching, reaching out to others with hugs of true affection.  Watching his televised talks back then were truly magical, making me want to grow up to be just like Leo.  A person, not afraid but strong, not artificial but genuine, not cruel but kind and loving.

Only the weak are cruel. Gentleness can only be expected from the strong. Leo Buscaglia

Now, all these years later, we find ourselves in a new global community.  One where nothing is hidden; no distance from the poor choices and violence of those filled with evil and weakness. It no longer feels as if the cruel are weak, but rather that evil is stronger than goodness.  Suddenly, we are forced to really search out what is right, what is fair, what is beautiful.  We must remind ourselves, daily-sometimes moment to moment, that this evil is an illusion.  Truth and love and kindness are actually all around us.

We are no longer puppets being manipulated by outside powerful forces: we become the powerful force ourselves. Leo Buscaglia

We must come to look at this ever changing world we find ourselves living in with a quiet mind and a new sight.  As those of the generation before me would say, “It’s time to put on our rose colored glasses.” This idiom means we must consciously look at the world around us not through the lens of what evil is befalling, but, rather, we look with a view of what beauty is surrounding us as everything around us suddenly comes alive with the possibility of life.  It is as if we suddenly are seeing life for the first time.  Nothing becomes insignificant.  Everything holds beauty and possibility.  The drinking in of this beauty, the magenta flower tipping towards the sun, the birdsong as morning is breaking outside our bedroom window, the tall pines with sunlight dappling through their branches, the momma holding her young babe, the love filled greeting our pooch gives us as we walk through the door, will become a healing balm to our stressed and broken souls.

I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things… I play with leaves. I skip down the street and run against the wind. Leo Buscaglia

How do we develop this sight for beauty over angst? It is a learned phenomenon which is available to anyone.  It is never to late to learn to focus on the good, the kind, the loving.It takes patience with oneself to learn a new focus of our attention to calm ourselves.  One simply must determine to make a choice for good over evil.  We must decide to create the life we want which is emboldened and filled with all the goodness God wants to bestow on us.  Being open to experiences and peoples that are different than what we may have known in the past is crucial.  Breaking down separation and division and reaching out in love to share this beautiful world with all.  For perfect love drives out fear (1John 4:18). The choice is for each of us to make.  A life full of stress in which we live at the media’s whim of all that there is to fear in this world?  A life filled with the beauty that surrounds each of us every day if only we see it with a calm mind and clear vision?

Love always creates, it never destroys. In this lies man’s only promise. Leo Buscaglia

Wishing you at this time to live with true sight to see the beauty and love that surrounds each of you.

 

May you find gratitude and peace in every moment.

Joan

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Jul25

Peace Pilgrim, If My People, Day 5

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Jeremiah 29:11-13: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

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His desire, as I contemplate His Word for Day 5 of my If My People prayer pilgrimage for our nation, seems as if it should be that we are at peace with and in Him.  It is His desire for us to know that His plans for us are joy, and hope, and peace and a future, as individuals and as a nation.  We only need turn to Him in humility and prayer with open eyes and open hearts.  So as I think of peace and prayer and a simpler life for each of us, I am reminded of Peace Pilgrim.

“As I looked about the world, so much of it impoverished, I became increasingly uncomfortable about having so much while my brothers and sisters were starving.  Finally, I had to find another way.  The turning point came when, in desperation and out of a very deep seeking for a meaningful way of life, I walked all one  night through the woods.  I came to a moonlit glade and prayed.  I felt a complete willingness, without any reservations, to give my life – to dedicate my life – to service.  ‘Please use me!’ I prayed to God.  A great peace came over me.”  Peace Pilgrim

Honesty with ourselves focuses our awareness on the true relationship between the actions of our body, speech, mind and the effects of these actions on our nation.  For there to be true change in our nation toward one of respect for all people we must still the distractions of our minds, such as fear and anxiety, to “grasp the truth” (Mahatma Gandhi) of how we effect our nation.  As the Dalai Lama  states, “I believe in justice and truth, without which there would be no basis for human hope.”  Most importantly, as Jesus, our Savior, has taught us that the greatest commandment is to love our God with our whole heart-mind-soul and secondly, to love our neighbor as ourselves. (Mathew 12:30-31)  If we are able to place our faith, our trust in God’s plan for us, then he will bring peace to our nation by our realizing that in serving and supporting others regardless of their race, religion, sexual orientation, disabililty, we are serving Him who knows the plans He has for each of us. Where there is suffering His plan most surely calls for us to soothe it with compassion, mercy and justice.

How does one calm the anxiety, fear, anger that is so rampant among many in our nation?  The brain is a magnificent organ which is able to process thousands of subconscious stimuli while allowing us to focus on one thought at a time.  Over the course of time, these thoughts begin to flow one into the other, much like waves in the ocean.  Thoughts may be about our trying to relive a past event, worrying about future events, awareness of all that is happening in our nation from civil unrest, separation of peoples based on skin color and religious beliefs, to terrorism here and abroad.  St Paul to the Philippians (4:4-7) tells us to “Rejoice in the Lord always.  I shall say it again,: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all.  The Lord is near.  Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.  The the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”  So we are to rejoice, not show anger, worry, anxiety in the state of things which we have no control over.  We are to show kindness at all times.  For the Lord is near, we must only seek Him in others we encounter.  We are to have no anxiety, but rather we are to pray at those times we find ourselves separated from His plan for our life.  A plan of prosper, hope, a future….

“To be at one with God is to be at peace…peace is to be found only within (one’s self), and unless one finds it there he will never find it at all.  Peace lies not in the external world.  It lies within one’s own soul.”  (Ralph Waldo Trine)  Our faith in Him leads us to a path of peacemaking in our thoughts, words, and deeds.  The emergence of peace will only come about when we have learned to respect the rights of others: people, of all color, beliefs, abilities differences.  Respect is evident by our honest appraisal of our lives in relation to others, sensitivity to the injustices endured by our brothers and sisters, and experiential changes that are consciously determined by what we know to be true.  We do not turn from our own or others suffering.  Rather, we look through the lens of compassion at the reality of our nation.  In honesty, we see the injustice around us and we begin to look after ourselves and one another in a kind, sensitive, and healing manner.  We find our voice and begin to speak out in love and truth for those who cannot, ourselves included.  As Jimi Hendrix sang, “when the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”  Where once we routinely closed our eyes and returned to the safety of our habits and unconscious actions, we now have the ability to open our eyes to what is happening around us and respond with honest actions out of compassion.  This is our spiritual journey, moving from unconscious to conscious choices in our thoughts, words, and deeds leading to a life of simplicity and harmony.  This is our path to peace.  As stated by Martin Luther King, Jr., “Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.”

Mildred Lisette Norman, better known as Peace Pilgrim, was just a normal person, like you and I, who took on a personal mission for the last 28 years of her life to bring awareness to peace among mankind.  On January 1, 1953, she began her personal pilgrimage for peace and walked 25,000 miles until her death on July 7, 1981.  On her pilgrimage, she vowed to “remain a wanderer until mankind has learned the way of peace, walking until given shelter and fasting until given food.”  She lived a simple life as a pacifist, vegetarian, and peace activist.  There was no organizational backing for her pilgrimage, no hashtag label to separate her from others, and no money to provide food and shelter.  Her only belongings were literally the clothes that she wore, a  blue tunic which read “Peace Pilgrim” on the front and “25,000 miles on foot for peace” on the back of the tunic.  Her message was simple,  “This is the way of peace:  overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with love.”  By the end of her life, Peace Pilgrim became a frequent speaker at churches, universities, and for local and national radio and television programs.  Peace Pilgrim was able to respond to the suffering she saw in the world around her by opening not only her own eyes, but those of the people around her.  She was able to bring awareness to others of the need for peace through the simple act of walking.  “No one walks so safely as those who walk humbly and harmlessly with great love and great faith.”  (Peace Pilgrim)

May I simply step out with my eyes open to the suffering around and within me.  With simplicity and harmony, I seek the path of peace through my thoughts, words, and deeds, knowing that He is ever with me in my seeking.

May you find gratitude and peace in every moment!

Joan

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Jul20

A Slave of God, If My People, Day 4

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Deuteronomy 28:1-3 New Living Translation

28“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. 2 You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God:

3 Your towns and your fields will be blessed.

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If My People prayer pilgrimage, Day 4, has us really thinking about some hard stuff, mainly,  on obedience to God.  In our ego driven culture of self fulfillment, immediate gratification, monetary wealth, it is hard to think of answering to a higher being… to God.  While few of us have any trouble maxing out our credit cards and selling our soul to the banks for immediate gratification of whatever trivial thing crosses our path, we bulk at the thought that we owe our humility, our love and respect, our very existence to One Mightier than All Others… God.  

Today’s Word tells us that if we fully obey God and carefully keep all his commands, that he will bless our nation and each of us individually. In James 1:1, he begins his book with “James, the slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ…”  A slave of God. I have to tell you, the first time I read this verse several years ago, I was irritated.  Who wants to be a slave to anyone, including God.  If I was a slave to God, that would mean that I needed to give up who I was and become totally who God wanted me to be and continually do His bidding.  I just didn’t want to think about it as I had been existing quite happily with my compartmentalization of God to Sunday morning Mass and Thursday evening small church group with a prayer tossed in here and there.  It was a balanced life with no one even thinking of tossing me into the Bible Thumping Group.  I knew where God fit in and more importantly, God knew where He fit into my life.  It was convenient.  It was safe.  It was acceptable to the culture that I lived in.  But it wasn’t the plan He had for me, which I soon discovered entailed so much more.

A slave of God is actually found many times in the Bible.  In the Old Testament the word doulos (meaning slave, one who is subservient to and entirely at the disposal of his master) is used from ancient Greek to describe the Patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament including the following:  Moses (1 Kings 8:53), Joshua and Caleb (Joshua 2:8 and Numbers 14:24), Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Deuteronomy 9:27), Job (Job 1:8), Isaiah (Isaiah 20:3), Amos 3:7, Zechariah 1:6, Jeremiah 7:25.  For these men of the Bible, the title of doulos was one of honor.  Was it difficult?  Yes.  Challenges and strife along the way doing God’s work?  Definitely.  Worthwhile and meaningful?  Without a doubt.

“Obeying God to the point that we are His slave,” what does that really entail? Am I filled with images from Civil War era movies of cuffs, starvation, ill kempt, bone weary work.  Is this what God has in store when I grudgingly agree to do His bidding.  No!  Of course this is not His desire for any of us.  I have to get my heart in the right place when I think of being His slave.  I give Him my absolute obedience.  I am absolutely His possession and I agree that I will follow Him in whatever He has in store for me without thought or question.  I give Him my absolute humility.  I focus myself on my duties and obligations to God over my privilege and rights.  I give Him my absolute loyalty.  I am utterly pledged to God and to everything for His glory, not my own.  If I can fill my heart with obedience, humility and loyalty to Him who knew me before He formed me in my mother’s womb (Jeremiah 1:5),  He will bring blessing not curses to me.  Blessings too numerous to list here.  For being His slave is so different than being man’s slave or even slave to this battered world we live in.  He brings light into the darkness of the world (John 8:12), beauty from ashes (Isaiah 61:3), plans of hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).

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So in this time of darkness with racial tension and ISIS and inflation and lack of jobs to the point of homelessness of many, where many children are being raised by social media and our elderly mostly forgotten, it is time to grab on to His promise that if we commit our ways to Him, trust in Him, He will act (Psalms 37:5).  He will act with justice and steadfast love and tender mercies.  He calls us to obey Him and follow His commands.  The greatest of these is to love our God with our whole heart and to love our neighbor as our self (Matthew 22:38).  He says love all our neighbors as our self, whether they are black, blue, Muslim, homeless, disabled, gay and on and on and on.  He does not say to pick and chose the neighbor that makes you feel most comfortable and looks like you and thinks like you and has all the same stuff you have.  No, He gives us more of a challenge today just as it was when Jesus walked among us 2,000 years ago.  Love the Pharisee. Love the Gentile. Love the Good Samaritan. Love the Police Officer. Love the Thug. Love the Woman in Burqa. Love the Transgendered Woman in the Target Bathroom.  Love the Gay Couple stating their vows.  Love. Love. Love.  Let the judging and the justice come from Him above, not from us.  Reach out your hand, though you may be filled with fear and just Love….  Then, He will place you where your doings and loving and kindness will bring the greatest glory to Him and He will then bestow you with great, magnificent blessing.

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Praying that you find that place in your heart to say, “Lord, I am your slave.  Do with me as you wish.”

May you find peace and gratitude in every moment.

Joan

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Jul15

Peace of God, If My People, Day 3

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Philippians 4:6-7

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

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It is with a heavy heart that I begin my blog tonight for Day 3 of If My People forty days of prayer for our nation.  Sadly, as most have heard already, another heinous act of violence has occurred in Nice, France, during their Bastille Day celebrations earlier today.  A terrorist drove a lorry into people leaving the fireworks display, killing 80, injuring 100 with 18 of those in intensive care at last count.  Ismail Khalidi, an American-Palestinian writer, described the scene immediately following the attack in these words, “I’ve never seen a stampede like that. I have never seen that level of chaos and hysteria and terror and a total lack of information about what’s going on.”  Now, both presidential candidates are speaking of the US engaging in war against the terrorists though using different strategies.  My heart aches with sadness at the incomprehensible, unwarranted violence that we as a global community are once again faced with tonight.  Trying to make sense of the senseless and feeling the anxiety of “if them, then me.”  When will we start seeing this type of violence on our streets?

In my Bible reading today, I came across this verse Job 37:1-2 “At this my heart trembles and leaps out of its place.  Listen to his angry voice and the rumble that comes forth from his mouth.”  Though Job is describing God and His Majestic thunderous voice which brings marvels to all under the heavens, it feels like Job is describing the terrorists who we see across all medias with their angry voice rumbling, roaring their hate-filled, venomous ideology at those who are different than they. There is great evil in the world as we have seen in our country since terrorism began to effect us directly on 9/11.  And we tremble with anxiety and fear at it.

So we come to Him with our anxiety, our fear, our grief and tears.  St Paul says to us in today’s Word, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication…let your request be known to God.”  St Paul gives us a way to overcome our anxiety, our fear, our frustration with the way our world is going; we are to hand it over to God.  For He is capable of bringing great change to our world and unsurpassable peace to our hearts. He is aware that the world will have trouble, but we might have peace in Him as He has conquered the world (John 16:33).  So we humble ourselves and bow to Him, pleading for mercy, grace, protection.  Then we wait until we hear once “again His voice roar, His majestic voice thunder; He does not restrain them when His voice is heard.  God thunders forth marvels with His voice; He does great things beyond our knowing.” (Job 37:4-5).  As in Egypt in the time of Moses, God now hears the cries of His People in bondage to the fear of terrorism which is plaguing our world.  He will answer our prayers for an end to this evil and  He will bring us peace just as He freed the Hebrews from the Egyptians.

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We live in a world of great evil.  However, when I calm myself by being in God’s presence in prayer and spending time in His Word, I know in my very being that there is greater love, greater goodness, greater mercy to be seen.  I recall these words from the movie Love Actually, “General opinion’s starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don’t see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it’s not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it’s always there – fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge – they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that love actually is all around.“

Though we saw once again a very disturbed man bring great evil to innocent lives, I encourage all of us to be anxious for nothing.  To come to God with our prayers and supplications and with thanksgiving give Him our fear, our frustration and our anxiety over terrorism and world events.  Knowing that when I give my God who is almighty all that I am, He will give me His peace, which surpasses all understanding and guard my heart and mind through Christ Jesus.

Praying for His Peace to wrap around each of us and the people of France tonight so that “the God of hope (will) fill (each of) us with all joy and peace in believing, so that we may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.“ (Romans 15:13).

May you find gratitude and peace in every moment.

Joan

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Eternal rest grant unto them who passed in the terrorist attack in Nice, France, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace.

Amen.