Be with us on dreary days

 Lord, be with us on dreary days

Where cold bites at us

And grey clouds cover the sun.

Remind us in our hopelessness

Of all things good and beautiful.

Restore our inner vision to light.

Amen

Musical Contemplation on God’ Love

This is a beautiful, peaceful contemplation accompanied by Greg on guitar. May it bless and uplift you.

“His Love is like the morning…..”

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YEENt9Eu5o

Holding the known and the unknown

How do you hold the known and the unknown together? Can the pain of the past and all the wrongness you have suffered, be mitigated in the future? 

“ The danger is that where there is “unknown” and yet there are big decisions to make, with potentially frightening consequences, fear can loom in so large that it can incapacitate you, destroy, paralyse you,  make you so unable to think, feel and know anything but the fear, that it is hard to make the right decision or ask the right questions or take the right path forward.

It can stop you from seeing a clear path ahead or to trust in people, especially when or if you have been let down and harmed so many times before. 

How do you rebuild trust when it has been demolished time and again?

How do you find hope when hope has been dashed time and again and, not just that, but that you have been destroyed almost to the point of death, by incompetence, by people doing wrong things to you?

All the time you don’t know what is actually wrong with you there is always this juxtaposition between what is known from the past and what is unknown in the present about the future. When you don’t know what you need to know, you worry until you do know something, but when you never find out what you need to know, then there is a constant state of worry that eats at you.

Then you really have to try and push out your own energy, your own belief, your own faith, your own hope, your own trust in yourself, your own judgement and push that forwards into the future, so that you can actually take a step forward and breathe.

That is what I constantly have to do, to try and make a life, make something good happen, make something safe happen, by waiting when I need to and believing that I can, even if it is still impossible and not let that fear or doubt disempower me and make me so afraid, because my life is just so physically horrendous, that I cannot act or make a better future, because the fear can be so incapacitating, because of past experiences, that it feels like nothing different can happen, nothing can come right, even though you want, need, hope it will be so.

You have to banish the fear then.

Or you have to push through the fear, or go above the fear or go around the fear, whatever way feels right for you.

You may even have to still carry a certain amount of the fear with you, but bless yourself so that the fear cannot overcome you, so that you can still keep breathing, keep moving, keep hoping, keep moving towards the goal you need to achieve, even if it feels unachievable and impossible right now, incredibly painful, difficult and even terrible to imagine. It just might be different if you can grip your fear and see things wisely and trust in a different path to the one already trodden that damaged you.

This is where grace comes in and love holds you and nurtures you and walk with you.

God in the world

 Whilst God is in the World, His living presence here with us, there must always be hope for all the Earth; hope of healing, hope of light, hope of truth, hope of safe passage, hope of miracles, hope of blessings, hope of life after death. What incredible Hope He brings!

In brighter moments

In brighter moments

Where things look more hopeful

And a sense of peace touches your life,

Give thanks and praise to the Lord

And rejoice in all things good

That bless and help you.

Amen

When all is going wrong

 

When all is going wrong

And life is feeling stressful

Lord gather us close 

And free us from fear.

Bless us with your Holy Light

To help us choose a new direction

To follow.

Amen

We humbly ask

Lord, we humbly ask that you be with us now

Lord, help us feel you near,

Lord, comfort us in our confusion,

Lord, show us Your way

Lord, be with us when we pray,

Needing Your help and inspiration,

Lord answer us Powerfully and Totally! 

Amen

Help us

 Lord help us 

When everything becomes chaotic

And peace is lost.

Save us

When we lose sight of the right path

And get lost in our fears.

Strengthen us

When we lose our way

And say the wrong thing.

Comfort us when pain pounds at us

And light seems to dimiinish.

Forgive us

When we do not do as we would like others to do unto us

And cause hurt.

Restore us 

When we forget who we are

And that is Love.

Amen

Video prayer song

 

Greg put my prayer to music and recorded this beautiful prayer song. Msy it bless you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL3DK1oJjyQ

New possibility prayer

 

Lord, show me who I am

Show me my purpose

Lead me to love

Guide me through the chaos

To an oasis of goodness

Where hope abides

And love heals

And your light shines brightly

Giving me a new vision

Full of possibility.

Amen 

Being a pillar of strength

 ...it is SO hard, perhaps it's the hardest place of all, trying to be a pillar of strength to another, while being acutely aware of one's own brokenness, fraility and vulnerability. The amazement, to me, is how we do bring strength and courage. The older I get, the more I am astonished at the power of love to transcend our tininess, maybe it is because ,as Leonard Cohen once wrote, "there is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in." Out of our brokenness healing flows. 

Creativity

 

Creativity

Creation is a vibrant ever growing ever- changing powerful experience. 

The whole of the earth and everything in it is caught up in this creative , chaotic, unpredictable energy.

To engage in any  act of  creation, whether art, music, gardening, painting, web design, cooking, to name a few, there is a constant choice of what to do next. Sometimes this is obvious, others you get caught up in the process and do not notice. 

Many things can go wrong at any moment as well as go right. You can create beauty or ugliness with just one move, a wrong stroke of the brush, a wrong strum of a string, a wrong snip with the secateurs,  a wrong piece of code. 

This can lead to harmony or distress.

The whole of life is actually a form of creation. Every single moment we can chose how we live it, whether creating peace and harmony or chaos and disturbance, whether we cope or give up, whether we react or respond. 

Every response we have is a choice, even though we  may not always feel it is. 

With severe illness the choices are pared back and at best simple, but more often than not they are very stark. Sometimes they are only about choosing life, choosing to keep on, even choosing not to do something leads to the pattern of the way you live your life.

 Each word can be kind or unkind. Each thought can be loving or harsh. 

Each feeling can be expressed or suppressed.  Each action can be considered or thoughtless.

 Each moment can be a moment of awareness or dullness.

 Each response can have a different outcome, much like creating a work of art can.

Let us ask God then to help us grow in awareness of the choices we can make and the love we can pour into the lives we live. 

Let us ask for creativity to heal us and bless us and comfort our days. Let us find peace and beauty even in the centre of pain and chaos that is beyond our ability to control.

Forgiveness a possibility

 I have been through times in my life when forgiveness did not feel possible. When hurt is raw or deep it may seem that nothing will ever fundamentally change how you feel. However, I have been surprised by how, though it has taken a very long time, I have been able to forgive what seemed unforgivable.

I think that to get to this point I have had to proactively try to forgive, even if it meant working through my anger, hurt, past memories, and still walking on, feeling unforgiving. A hope or a desire to be free of the hurt that binds you is a starting point, but I don’t think it is easy to move on from deep impactful hurt without spiritual help.

 I can only say that the fruits of seeds planted decades ago have taken their time to become possible and grow, yet grow they have.

The fruit of your labour to deal with, then let go of hurt, to move beyond the pain and anger of unforgiveness, can be seen, as new energy builds between you and the person who hurt you and goodness can ultimately arise, it seems,  even in the most barren places, in time.

This then is a kind of message of hope, that even if you cannot forgive, yesterday, today or even tomorrow, yet one day, eventually, many tomorrows away even, a shift might occur, hurt might diminish or you might find yourself with new energy and a different outlook. You may have gained enough wisdom, discernment and engaged in proactive intention, blessed with prayer, maybe, just maybe, that healing will be possible, will gradually happen and love will win through the days.

 I was reminded only a few days ago of something Christ said, recorded in Matthew 7, that you should act towards someone tge way you would like them to act to you.  In other words, be kind, be gracious, be understanding, be loving, be giving and forgiving, be your best self, for when we receive the unconditional kindness of others, it brings healing and when we behave graciously to others, that too can bring healing, especially when previous hurt has made you feel they might especially not deserve it. 

 For love is higher than that. It brings warmth, comfort and new possibility and you can feel the change in energy as hesling occurs and a new path of healing opens up. Praise God.

Hope of the Spirit

 This post was written in 3912, still fresh today!

Hope

Today we are struggling to find hope. Hope seems elusive.  How quickly things can shift. If we place our trust or build our foundation upon emotions , upon other people, upon systems and structures, upon expectations, we will always be disappointed and this disappointment  can so easily lead to despair if we are not vigilant and understand ourselves and our circumstances.

So how can we find hope in the midst of struggles and suffering? How can we find hope in bitter disappointment? How  can we keep finding hope every day , living with ME and all the injustice that goes with it?

We must turn our inner eyes to God. We must seek the goodness that is present and possible . We must look with eyes of hope toward the future. We must embrace  above all the stillness and the Truth of our being, which like the daffodils just opening are alive with mystery, light and life.

Hope, it seems,  then ,is not of the head, but of the heart. Is it not about knowledge, it is  about goodness and faith.  Hope is of the Spirit. It is moving , constantly blessing and lifting us always above our present reality, so that we will always prevail This is why we need to open our inner eyes and lift them higher than material things that trouble us , to feel the presence of hope within us.

This is what Christ came to teach. He did not come to teach us dogma and rules , rather he was more concerned with feeding the poor, setting people free, bringing goodness in to peoples lives, but above all he taught us to see with new eyes - and with new eyes, we realise, that we  may never know  exactly what hope is, but with humility we  can live in the mystery and the blessing  of hope and in  so doing , we do not despair.

Let us ask then to constantly remember hope. Let us always keep our inner eyes on God, who keeps us safe  and brings  us the gift of hope each day. Amen.

Sometimes prayer is…

 

I have posted this prayer a few years ago but it has come to my awareness and I was encouraged by the words, so wanted to share it sgain. Hoping it blesses you.

Sometimes prayer is words

Sometimes prayer is silence

Some times prayer is laughter

Sometimes prayer is song

Other times prayer is tears

Sometimes prayer is dancing

Sometimes prayer is gardening

Sometimes prayer is stillness

Other times prayer is doing the washing up

All times prayer is service

All times service is prayer in action

Always pain can be felt as prayer

Always compassion is prayer

Always life is prayer

Living itself in all aspects of life is prayer

Any action can be prayer

Any thought can be prayer

For we are all one in Spirit

And the Spirit is One in us!

Amen

God with us in suffering

H

For us, the discovery of suffering is to find God with us, in the centre, not just in the centre but all around. God with us as opposed to God somewhere else. God is right here with us, always. For us, it not about “why” but “how” do you approach suffering? The only way that makes sense to us, is with this awareness of God that lifts, blesses, brings light, peace, calm, grace, wisdom to our lives.

Unexpected Blessings

 

As we enter more fully into our awareness of God with us, so we find unexpected blessings coming our way. It is good to recognise God working in our lives. It is good to follow His Way. 

His words,”Seek and you shall find,” always encourages us.