In the third paragraph of LP’s Lenten Prayer* we read

Help us to build a community known for the risks it takes to help others experience your loving presence.

Have you experienced that risky feeling lately? For those of us blessed enough to hear him on March 17, Bryan Stevenson exhorted the group gathered (at Christ Cathedral in Cincinnati) to get Uncomfortable & Inconvenienced as one of his key principles. For many people, risky brings along uncomfortable and/or inconvenienced for the ride…  🙂

ACTION OPPORTUNITY – as we experience this day, let’s be intentional. Consider finding a place to be inconvenienced and/or uncomfortable. Maybe that’s with a group from your faith community in organized efforts already scheduled. Or perhaps on your own? (some examples are below**)

May you intentionally find yourself uncomfortable and inconvenienced in the week ahead, sharing Christ’s example while strengthened and spurred by the Spirit!

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* In the early 2010s, Rev. Dr. LP Jones prepared and shared a Holy Week prayer with the MWPC community as part of his weekly newsletter column [read or listen to the entire Lenten Prayer HERE]

No, the Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God. ~ Micah 6:8 (Good News)

The song We Are Called, written in the late 1980s, has been an inspiring part of worship services ever since. Many of us think of this song as Come Live in the Light!

The background of We Are Called is HERE, including this commentary:

The first stanza invites us to “Live in the light” of God’s grace and freedom and to reflect that light with “joy and . . . love.” Stanza two, following naturally in the spirit of the first stanza, invites us to “Open our hearts” to “mercy” for all who live in “fear,” “hatred,” and “blindness.” The final stanza invites us to an eschatological vision of the future when “all will be one!”

While reflecting on the Micah 6:8 passage and feeling the urge to action, consider spending a few minutes enjoying this wonderful folk tune

• HERE is a version by the Notre Dame Folk Choir, seemingly showing the vibrancy that David Haas may have envisioned when writing it? (thanks Chris D!)
• HERE is a COVID-19 era version with a virtual choir, allowing focus on the instrumentalists and director as well as the singers [and lyrics so you can sing along should you choose ]

PRAYER: Creator God, help us to live in the light, acting for justice, being faithful and living obediently. Amen

May you enjoy this day, filled with song and the Spirit!

In a continuation of the last CP post, we think of the Dorothy Day effect in the larger community. Not only did she share personalism with those living in the NY area, her witness and legacy grew 70 x 7 (and more!)

An MWPC friend shared a Dorothy Day experience that touched his extended family and ultimately thousands of Cincinnatians.** Over-the-Rhine Kitchen – now called Queen City Kitchen – was established because of the energy and light that Dorothy shared at House of Hospitality in New York City (more details at the website HERE.)

Isn’t it nice to know such efforts can have such an amplification effect? Bet it’s happening based on your life too, though perhaps at a little smaller scale than for the Dorothy Days of the world (but no comparisons allowed!)  🙂

 

As we continue Moving Towards the Light, it’s nice to have beacons like Dorothy Day…

Enjoy this day, perhaps with a personalism perspective, loosening life’s self-focus and allowing more strengthening and spurring of the Spirit in the process!

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The Lord is my light and my salvation – why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger – why should I tremble?  Psalm 27:1 NLT

Dorothy Day has come into several conversations over the past few weeks.** She definitely fits the mold of “Move Toward the Light” from the last CP post (HenriNouwen.org contributions)

Looking for examples of those willing to Trust God, Dorothy Day seems a model. CP can’t do justice to her in one post so a follow-up will be forthcoming.

Church scholar David J. O’Brien has called Dorothy Day “the most significant, interesting, and influential person in the history of American Catholicism.” One of Dorothy’s major contributions was founding the Catholic Worker Movement which resulted in millions of meals being served, among many other good works.

Today’s CP focus is on Dorothy and the Personalism approach. According to the webpage HERE

Personalists believe you can change the world by changing yourself, but also that we are morally responsible for one another. People ought to be self-governing, sincere, determined to harmonize means and ends, and bent not just on personal conversion but on shaping law, policy, and institutions, all of which in turn shape people.

Dorothy’s focus was on individual “guests.” Getting to know them, their issues, what they thought about topics and more. She ACTED, and with such action made it possible for millions to be positive affected and effected by altruistic egoism efforts of personalism.

As we continue Moving Towards the Light, it’s nice to have beacons like Dorothy Day to follow!

Enjoy this day, perhaps with a personalism perspective, loosening life’s self-focus and allowing more strengthening and spurring of the Spirit in the process!

 

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Move Toward the Light. Ah, that we might do as the Henri Nouwen post HERE describes…

I want to see you come closer to me and experience the joy and peace of my presence. I want to give you a new heart and a new spirit. I want you to speak with my mouth, see with my eyes, hear with my ears, touch with my hands. All that is mine is yours. Just trust me and let me be your God.”

Trust God.

Why is that so hard? Could it be that society’s focus on being self-sufficient has hardened our hearts to a God moving through us? If so, what a pity to miss the inspiration of new heights.

Let’s think about loosening our grip on our hearts and spirits in a variety of ways…

POTENTIAL ACTIONS: This season will likely find increasing numbers of folks looking for food, presenting opportunities to

• share financial and/or food offerings with a local** food pantry
• check with your faith community about upcoming opportunities to feed community members
• volunteer to help with a local mobile food pantry, community dinner
• find a Little Pantry in your area and help stock it with shelf-stable food items

**  for those in the Cinci region, some food organizations are listed HERE

Enjoy this day, strengthened and spurred by the Spirit!

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Wonderful images of thanksgiving invade while reading LP’s Lenten Prayer,* including:

• special people – their embrace, welcoming eyes
• exuberant melody of the songbirds
• ability to laugh (including at ourselves!)
• a new face in the crowd
• hand in need of a touch
• open arms waiting to receive us

WOW! As we experience this day, let’s be intentional. Consider taking time to sit and be surrounded by thanksgiving moments, many we miss because of our focus on “what’s next?”

May you enjoy a thanksgiving-filled day, strengthened and spurred by the Spirit!

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* In the early 2010s, Rev. Dr. LP Jones prepared and shared a Holy Week prayer with the MWPC community as part of his weekly newsletter column [read or listen to the entire Lenten Prayer HERE]

God’s a gonna’ trouble the water…           

Wading in the water is not always a positive experience or a guarantee of an easy life, is it? Avoiding slave catchers comes to mind in particular. Even the less negative examples like Jordan River and baptismal waters still have associated challenges (HERE is a little Wikipedia history if you’re interested in more.)

Worry can come along for the ride. Yet such wading can also produce important perspective and wisdom.

ACTION: Consider listening to traditional versions of Wade in the Water or those with Wade in the Water influences for important perspective

• Sistah Lala’s “Troubled Waters” version is HERE – a really nice combination of traditional and faith-filled message in this one
• Chapel Folk’s “Wade in the Water – a Stoned version” is HERE
• A few more traditional versions HERE

Ready to “wade in the water” today? [at least figuratively, if not literally? ]

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May we be willing to wade in the water regularly while staying Christ-centered, strengthened and spurred by the Spirit!

The Henri Nouwen Society website posting HERE can be effective on several fronts. First, the visual. Can you relate to balancing based on that Unsplash.com picture?

Then there is Nouwen’s text including

Jesus’ response to our worry-filled lives is quite different. He asks us to shift the point of gravity, to relocate the center of our attention, to change our priorities. Jesus wants us to move from the “many things” to the “one necessary thing.”

Reading that commentary is an important reminder. It can also bring a smile for viewers of the movie City Slickers. In the scene HERE, Curly talks about The Secret of Life and the ONE thing.

Creator ~ help us journey effectively in this world, worrying less and balancing so many aspects of life while also doing a continuous re-centering on you. AMEN

May we be willing to make a suitable number of tries while attempting to stay on “the Christ-centered log,” strengthened and spurred by the Spirit!