purpose

Today’s Word: Rain

Steve · September 8, 2013 · 2 Comments

Today’s word is rain because, well, it’s raining. I’m up early this morning after a late night out with my band, and I’m sitting in my favorite chair next to an open door. The early morning breeze is cool and a gentle rain has been falling for the past hour or so. Off in the distance thunder rumbles. This rain, hitting off the deck outside the door and splashing noiselessly into the thirsty earth, today speaks to me of prayer and the presence of God.

St. Ignatius once described our interaction with the Spirit as “lightly and gently, like a drop of water that enters into a sponge.” Think of the gentleness of that; it’s barely noticeable until we are filled. Without the Spirit, we are an empty shell of being, dry and useless, just taking up space. But when we open ourselves to the Spirit, when we set ourselves out in the rain, so to speak, we can be filled, inundated, inebriated even by the gentle yet powerful presence of God. Then we become more that we could ever become on our own, filled with joy and purpose and ready to serve others.

Ask yourself in silence: Do I make time to “set myself out in the rain?” Am I willing to empty myself of my own desires in order to be filled by the Spirit of God?

Today’s Word: Sustained

Steve · September 4, 2013 · 1 Comment

The egret goes down to the shore everyday and waits for the fish to come in. Its beady eyes pierce the sand and the foam and — quick as lightning — it plucks a minnow from the froth. Moving away from the waves so as to lessen the chance of escape should the prey be dropped, the bird manipulates and maneuvers the tiny fish in its beak until it finally tips its head back and swallows it whole. Then the egret goes back and does it all again. And again and again, answering some inner egret call, taught by a preceding generation of like-minded egrets. It does what egrets do and thus is sustained.

We, too, seek a shore that sustains. We search for an edge, a cusp that connects our world to the sustaining sea. Day after day we hunt and peck, hoping our efforts are not in vain, transfixed on an idea that there must be something meaty swimming in the froth of our lives, something that will get us through our days, our months and years. What we grasp there we must also judge. Is it what we need? Is it real and healthy or a piece of plastic that can harm? Both good and bad float in the foam. We need quick, discerning vision and even quicker movements that allow us to reach out and grab what the sustainer offers — something fresh, alive, whole and holy. Just what we need and nothing less or more.

Ask yourself in silence: What sustains me? What gets me out of bed and pulls me through my day?

Today’s Word: Seed

Steve · September 2, 2013 · Leave a Comment

harvest — Ferguson Farmer's Market, St. Louis. SJG photo.

My father used to grow vegetables from seed. Beginning in the dead of winter, he would plant seeds (some purchased from the Burpee catalog, some gathered from last year’s harvest) in small containers in our basement, lit and warmed from above by fluorescent lights. By spring, the plants were big enough to be replanted in our backyard garden. This was my first lesson in patience and growth. If we want to see the fruit (and vegetables) of our lives, we have to plant the seeds and wait. Or we have to care for the seeds that someone else has planted.

In his book, A Search for Solitude, Thomas Merton wrote: “Every moment and every event of man’s life on earth plants something in his soul. For just as the wind carries thousands of invisible and visible winged seeds, so the stream of time brings with it germs of spiritual vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of men. Most of these unnumbered seeds perish and are lost, because men are not prepared to receive them…”

God plants these “spiritual seeds” in our lives every day. They are the seeds that may grow into an abundant harvest — a cornucopia of increased prayer, spiritual wisdom, service to others and other fruits of the spirit. These seeds land on us each day, looking for fertile soil that has been prepared by our participation in prayer, worship, scripture and sacraments. Our part in all of this is one of awareness and perception. For being aware that the people and opportunities that enter our lives very well may be gifts and seeds from God, we are better prepared to respond and nurture these seeds into fruitfulness.

Ask yourself in silence: What seeds have settled into my life today? What seemingly insignificant and barely visible moments and people may be calling me to increased faith and prayer? What happened to me today?

Today’s Word: Story

Steve · August 27, 2013 · 3 Comments

While I hesitate to speak for others and try to never say, “we all” do or say something, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say, “I think we all have a story to tell.” We may not all want to share it publicly or write it down for posterity, but nevertheless there’s this story — this ache, perhaps — inside all of us that is just waiting to come out. Last year, I spent a few months as a volunteer for a local hospice organization, where my only job was to ask people to tell me their stories. Some folks told me they had no story to tell and sat silently until I primed the pump by asking a few questions. Then I just had to sit back and listen.

This power of the word within us is a mysterious and sacred thing, for the stories of our lives are the histories of the movement of God in us over the course of time. To tell these stories of “God within us” is akin to proclaiming the word of God. To listen to another is an act of love and a sign of community, a “holy listening” that tells the other that they are a child of God whose life and story are sacred, distinct and worthy of our time and respect. To listen to another is to give purpose and meaning to their life. The power of our story lies in our place in God’s creation — we are creatures of the Creator and thus capable and called to create our own stories.

Ask yourself in silence: Am I willing to try and find God in the people around me by listening to their stories? Do I respect the stories of those around me as I respect the Word of God?

Today’s Word: Journey

Steve · August 25, 2013 · Leave a Comment

For me, the best descriptor of a life of faith has always been “journey.” Like a great road trip along a classic highway like California 1, what happens and what we see along the way of faith is as important as the paradise we discover at the end. So while we’re all shooting for heaven, we have a responsibility (and a privilege) to use the journey to build the kingdom for others and draw ourselves closer to God along the way. Whether we’re cradle Christians or newer to the faith, the journey to and with God is what makes us who we are.

We don’t become Christians in one brief, emotional moment. Neither do we become “complete” in a sacramental instant, however important and meaningful that may be. We are loved by God from our moment of conception, but the journey home to God — our life of faith and family — is the legacy we leave to all those we eventually leave behind. When we arrive home with God at the end of our lives, we will claim our treasure and inheritance as children and heirs of God. But the journey along the way will stand as witness and testimony to the life we have lived and the lives we have touched.

Ask yourself in silence: Where am I in my journey to God? If I died tonight, what would the legacy of my journey be? What do I need to change in my life?