Only Connect

Once upon a time I stood in the stacks of the Library Science department at the University of Alberta,  in Canada,  and met God. That was during my “angry” feminist years of searching . . . in the 1970’s. . . when women were confusing assertiveness with aggression, and struggled to be free of old destructive beliefs without knowing any new models to reach towards.

And so I stood there, and opened a book, (the name of which I do not recall). And the words fell out: “ONLY CONNECT”.

When you get “a WORD” from God . . . a message from the Holy Spirit . . .
It stays with you forever . . . and you reflect upon it over and over and over
again . . . learning new wisdom and insights that will guide you on your way.

Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dearest husband on your
70th Birthday! Oh how I have cherished our years together.
Here is just one of your special moments.

Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory!

It was 1965, 50 years ago this spring.
You had just turned 20, and I was 17.
We’d dated a few times and had been writing
letters to each other for a little over a year.

It was the year of the march to
Selma, Alabama; and there you were, in the midst of
making history.

You had gone off to Morehouse College, the alma mater
of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., on a student exchange program . . .
one of 3 white students at an all black college for men.

I wondered: “what was this tall, blonde, handsome, Scandinavian
guy doing – – going off to risk so much in these turbulent times?
What had awakened you to this movement for civil rights?”

With Eternal Love In Christ ~ ~ ~ We Lit The Candle

It was on this night 48 years ago that we lit the candle.

I walked down the aisle to meet my Beloved, and in front of family and friends gathered there, we said: “I do.”

We said: I do take you ~ to love and to cherish ~ above all others ~

I choose you to share my life ~ for better or worse ~ richer or poorer ~ in sickness and in health until death us do part.

We knelt together, blessed by the pastor, with a song of prayer sung over us ~ ~ then we lit the candle.

We took our own individual flames and joined them together as One in Christ.

We lit the candle to say:
Now our two lives are lived with the guidance of a Higher Power ~ a Sacred Presence ~ always with us no matter what we face.

May We Always Send Forth Ribbons and Doves

I was very angry at our neighbors. Their choice to burn slash piles had significantly damaged my health. I was angry that my health had relapsed once again and I could no longer leave our property.

Someone reminded me I needed to do something to get rid of my anger, or it would bring more harm to my health. So one day I set out walking towards the boundary of our properties. As I walked the winding prayer path, I fantasized how I would shout my anger towards their land and throw sticks with a vengeance.

Then suddenly I became aware of a pink ribbon in my pocket on which our granddaughter had written the word JOY. There was also a metal piece with a dove shape cut through the middle and the inscription: Where there is hatred let me sow love.

By the time I got to the boundary of our land, I could shout no anger after all. God had removed it from my heart. I could only thread the pink ribbon through the dove and place it at the point where our properties meet.
O Lord, give us the strength to withstand injustice, and the courage to choose not to send more hatred into the world. Instead, make us channels of your peace.

Soul Story – Feed My Sheep

 

In 2000, on a stormy gray day, I stood on the beach in Galilee where Jesus is said to have appeared to his disciples for the last time. It was a small, pebbly, utterly unremarkable beach, but something in its atmosphere brought me to my knees.
Although I have a lover’s quarrel with the churches erected in his name, Jesus has
always been the greatest love of my heart. I loved him as a small boy, and I shall love him until the day I die; I pray always that my last thoughts will be of him.

What is Truth? The Hyena Story

What is Truth?

Truth goes beyond the facts of this world. Truth is based on faith.
Truth is felt with our whole being.
It can be a joyful, exuberant feeling . . . like when we see the miracle of life in a new born child, or know the cherished love of someone dear.

There is a story full of truth about a classroom in a mission school in Africa . . . Kenya.
The school was located on the edge of the community.
It was near the town, so that students came from both the bush and the town to study there.
The town students came wearing their fancy Western clothes and carrying their brief cases . . . strutting proudly into the classroom.
The students from the bush walked timidly in.
They carried no brief case. They had no new clothes.

Marker Stories

The week before I was ordained into ministry, I was invited to assist in worship at the church in which I had grown up. After the service I was surrounded by well-wishers, some of them with faces beaming as they said: “Do you remember me? I taught you in Sunday school years ago.” And my mind would soar back to a distant time when I sat in a little chair and first heard the stories of Jesus and his love.
How could I ever forget these dear people through whom God first conveyed the gospel?

We call them “marker stories” – those people and events through which God’s Spirit touches our lives . . .