It’s not necessarily easy to make it through a daily efforts as part of “A Seven-Day Experiment with Wholeness.” Even the best ideas still can take longer to accomplish than desired.

Day 4 is on Thankfulness. My good buddy Lee made it a practice to take a gratitude walk, verbally listing his thankfulness the way Lynne suggests in her article on Day 4. Psalm 103, verse 2 says: “may I never forget the good things God does for me.”

While our written lists of thankfulness will not necessarily fill pages, may our verbal/conscious lists on this day be voluminous.

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, May 13, 2018:

• Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
• Psalm 1
• 1 John 5:9-13
• John 17:6-19

This week’s best intentions will include trying what Lynne M. Baab describes in THIS ARTICLE as “A Seven-Day Experiment with Wholeness.” Lynne shares a daily combination of action, prayer and reflection.

Today’s activity involves Nature: take time out for the natural world and Psalm 104.

Care to join for this week of wholeness activity?  🙂

May our hearts be stirred, our brains expanded and our countenances brightened!

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, May 13, 2018:

• Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
• Psalm 1
• 1 John 5:9-13
• John 17:6-19

It’s the weekend!

We’re hoping you’re able to enjoy a relaxing weekend ahead and that 5 minutes of your weekend could be shared with Christian Playbook by providing some feedback. The goal of this survey is to make CP as meaningful and useful as possible for our readers!

We are using a reputable website called surveymonkey.com for our survey and it is here:     https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/356G3DX

Please click on the website in the line above and fill out the 10 question survey. The website estimates that it will take you 3-5 minutes. There are no promotions on this and it is truly just for informational purposes    🙂

If for whatever reason you can’t do this in the next few days but could next week, please save this message and go to the survey at your convenience. We’ll always welcome feedback!

Many thanks for being part of the Christian Playbook community, whether you have time to share comments or not! 🙂

In case you’re interested, HERE’S a Youtube of the song I Will Testify to Love…

Enjoy the day, filled with the Spirit!

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, May 6, 2018:

• Acts 10:44-48
• Psalm 98
• 1 John 5:1-6
• John 15:9-17

Waiting in Anticipation is the subject of today’s Our Daily Bread devotional (Click HERE to read it and HERE to hear it along with the scripture – about 3 minutes total!) In this devotional, Lisa Samra talks about folks on May 1 watching for light in the darkness and getting the opportunity to hear beautiful music.

That darkness can sometimes feel so dense that light cannot penetrate.

“Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you. I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.” ~ Psalm 130 1-6 (NIV)

ACTION: Do you know someone feeling heavy darkness? Consider ways you might be the light for that person. Can you take action on one of those today?

Go in peace, enjoying the day, filled with the Spirit!

WANT TO READ A LITTLE MORE?

For some of us, May 1 is also “May Day.” The title for the devotional above, “Mayday, Mayday” seems appropriate also for a Waiting in Anticipation given this background on the term:

“Mayday got its start as an international distress call in 1923. It was made official in 1948. It was the idea of Frederick Mockford, who was a senior radio officer at Croydon Airport in London. He came up with the idea for “mayday” because it sounded like the French word m’aider, which means “help me.” “

~ www.wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-does-mayday-mean

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, May 6, 2018:

• Acts 10:44-48
• Psalm 98
• 1 John 5:1-6
• John 15:9-17

Many thanks to Joan S. for sharing these thoughts from her experiences…

Having come from the Catholic tradition, I had been heavily influenced by the representation, in early catechism classes, of the soul as a half-pint sized “milk bottle” tucked beneath one’s sternum. Thought of in that way, the soul seems like such an insignificant piece of one’s existence. In the “milk bottle” model, small (venial) sins were represented as black dots on the soul; mortal sins turned the entire soul black. Surprising how deeply those early images had imbedded themselves in my subconscious. And so it was, when I first encountered these words by John O’Donohue (quoted in the recent Christian Playbook piece), I was completely taken with his idea of the soul:

“The soul is not simply within the body, hidden somewhere within its recesses. The truth is rather the converse. Your body is in the soul. And the soul suffuses you completely.“

When one visualizes the body as in the soul and the inner life with a depth and breadth every bit as vast a landscape as the outer world, the presence of the sacred takes on a wonderfully different dimension – and importance. This paradigm shift, for me, was huge.  I love this image – and I loved O’Donohue’s book Anam Cara,  literally “soul friend”, (from which this quote originated) when I read it a decade or so ago. Seems to me we put so much stock in our intellects that we forget how very much we can learn through our bodies and souls!

Wonderful commentary – thanks again, Joan!

ACTION: On this day, may we relax and allow O’Donohue’s vision of soul to suffuse us completely!

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, April 29, 2018:

• Acts 8:26-40
• Psalm 22:25-31
• 1 John 4:7-21
• John 15:1-8

The Book of Common Worship is a wonderful resource that is available in printed form and also on the internet. While seeking prayers on any variety of subjects it’s a fabulous resource. This one seems to be calling out today – hopefully it’s Spirit-led to share meaningful perspective to you or someone you know?

How great is your love, Lord God,

how wide is your mercy!

Never let us board up the narrow gate that leads to life

with rules or doctrines that you dismiss;

but give us a Spirit to welcome all people with affection,

so that your church may never exclude secret friends of yours,

who are included in the love of Jesus Christ,

who came to save us all.

Amen. ~ #27 For an Inclusive Church; Book of Common Worship

ACTION: Are there ways today that you can show friendship and love to those of a different faith tradition?

Enjoy the day, filled with the Spirit!

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, April 22, 2018:

• Acts 4:5-12
• Psalm 23
• 1 John 3:16-24
• John 10:11-18

Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love!  ~ Sitting Bull

“Embraces of the sun” is a great descriptor. For me, I’ll take 15 degrees cooler in the wintertime if the sun will just shine!

HERE are some additional springtime quotes from Guideposts.org, complete with a visual for each of the quotations.

Let your light shine today, and may you enjoy the day, filled with the Spirit!

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, April 22, 2018:

• Acts 4:5-12
• Psalm 23
• 1 John 3:16-24
• John 10:11-18

Some of us find it difficult to quiet our lives enough to meditate.

In this drum video, Christine Stevens talks about the value of drumming for the mind, body, spirit and community (the first 4 minutes particularly relate to meditation.)

Here are two other Youtube videos you may want to try to drum along with as you work towards enhancing “prayer without skipping a beat”

• Heart and Art of Drumming – several different beats you can play along with while meditating (become part of the community, virtually)
• Drumming for Meditation

If you don’t have a drum, don’t despair. A spoon (wooden or metal) on Tupperware or some other resonating item that doesn’t get easily ruined works fine. 🙂

Enjoy the day, filled with the beat and the Spirit!

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, April 15, 2018:

• Acts 3:12-19
• Psalm 4
• 1 John 3:1-7
• Luke 24:36b-48

…Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As God who so loved me has sent me, even so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive sins, they are forgiven; if you hold them bound, they are held bound.” ~ John 20: 21-23

In The Rising**, Ms. Wright talks about these verses in John and says “What they {the followers} receive in this sacred aspiration is the power to forgive. It is as simple as that. This is the miracle of Easter, that whatever is bound, enchained, enslaved, or unfree, can be loosened, liberated, and freed through our forgiveness. In fact, if we do not exercise this God-given capacity, our lack of action is not neutral. Without forgiveness, we hold each other bound. Without being forgiven, we cannot be free.” (p. 131)

ACTION:  Since our lack of action is not neutral, maybe you’d be willing to join me over the next week in sharing/saying these Four Things That Matter Most*** to family members (and others!):

• Please Forgive Me [For Any/All Hurts You Have Sustained From Me]
• [If There are Things You Wish I Could Forgive, Know That] I Forgive You
• Thank You [For Being Part of My Life]
• I Love You

Expressing these four things does not suggest that hurts are gone or that you somehow excuse all that transpired. It does, however, affirm the desire for love and peace.

Let’s encourage one another to actively increase peace. Winning peace within our family and friends would be a great start, wouldn’t it?!

Enjoy the day, filled with the Spirit!

—————–

** from The Rising: Living the Mysteries of Lent, Easter, and Pentecost by Wendy M. Wright

*** from the book The Four Things That Matter Most by Ira Byok, with added words in [ ]

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, April 15, 2018:

• Acts 3:12-19
• Psalm 4
• 1 John 3:1-7
• Luke 24:36b-48

Our Daily Bread’s daily audio devotions are a nice deviation from my usual reading of devotional material. Click HERE to hear the audio devotional about Bitter & Sweet** – it’s a really good one. The perspective from the Psalmist and Keila Ochoa is timely as several friends are dealing with substantial levels of “bitter tastes.”

The perspective Keila shares – “Mayans also valued bitter chocolate for its healing and medicinal properties.” – is important. We don’t always like the taste of medicine and the need to heal, even though they frequently lead to a better future life. In similar fashion, some of life’s most bitter moments lead to sweet next steps. Having perspective is so frequently the key.

That reminds me of an element of my daily prayers that fits here:

Thank you, God, for all the experiences of this lifetime, even those that hurt deeply! [James 1:2-4: Consider it pure joy, my brothers {and sisters,} whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.]

As you move through this day, may the bitter be effectively balanced with the sweet…

Enjoy the day, filled with the Spirit!

** you can also read the devotional HERE if reading is better for whatever reason

P.S. Happy Birthday Mom – thanks for recommending Our Daily Bread to me. I love you!!!

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, April 8, 2018:

• Acts 4:32-35
• Psalm 133
• 1 John 1:1-2:2
• John 20:19-31