This Thanksgiving week in 1970, I had just been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and had arrived at St Jude Children’s Hospital the previous Thursday.
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Last week we completed the last of our 4-part “Be the Bridge” book study and discussion about being instruments of God’s work for racial reconciliation. The gatherings were powerful, unsettling, and provided opportunities for people to be open, honest, and discover God’s gracious, guiding Presence in small groups. As we read the early chapters, many of us…
How do we become aware of God’s healing Presence? That is exactly what we will be exploring in the new “Practicing Prayerful Presence” prayer groups meeting every week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 am. Join me in this process of experiencing God’s grace in the rhythm of our lives.
This is an unusually difficult, “liminal time” in our world’s history. The journey through this will not be easy. And it will be a long trek. We will need to do a lot of soul-searching and soul-care in the moments along the way. You and your soul are invited to join me and others on this journey for “Practicing Prayerful Presence,” any or every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 9:30 am.
Over the years since the 1970s, I have discovered many spiritual practices and words that point to what I began discovering in my most vulnerable of times as a patient at St Jude. This Sunday, June 7, is National Cancer Survivor’s Day. If you or someone you love is a cancer survivor, we invite you to join us to share personal stories and explore some of the challenges and gifts of having to deal with cancer.
I am excited to announce that starting on Memorial Day at 9:30 am, we will begin a new group meeting called: “Practicing Prayerful Presence.” Among other things, it will be a follow-up from Dr. Tim Bruster’s sermon series “A Healthy Spirituality for Our Time,” and is open to all.
What is prayer anyway? Sometimes to me prayers are statements of my perspective or my hopes and dreams. Often a prayer is my intention to be aligned with God’s work in the world, though honestly I don’t always have a clear vision of that. How about you?
In our own awakening to God’s Real Presence, we become more present to the power of compassion that naturally seeks healing and wholeness wherever and however brokenness happens. So if we play this golden opportunity right, I believe the process will actually sow the seeds for an awakening to the deep power of compassion.
In recent decades, we have learned much about how easy it is to be distracted by our technologies, and not truly listen or be present to ourselves and others. But in this time of overwhelming vulnerability, we are discovering that we can use much of that same technology to connect deeply with others.
Every year at this time, we find our way through Lent into Palm Sunday and Holy Week. And like the first disciples, we too easily miss the main point, or forget what we have learned about how to truly see and be fed.