The Single Greatest Thing You Can Do for Your Relationship with God

To be a writer, the single greatest thing I can do is write.  To improve my relationship with God, the single greatest thing I can do is spend time with Him. That's what I used to think.

Writers procrastinate all the time.  I'm magnificent at it.  The same holds true for us in our relationship with God. We want to have a real connection with our Creator. We have the best of intentions. We talk about it. Some of us even talk a lot at Him. It doesn't seem to work. He doesn't seem to be listening. Or we simply never find the time to be with God.

Just exactly how are we supposed to BE with someone we can't even see anyhow?

Since God is everywhere, there's no particular place to GO to be with Him, right? So can't we spend time with Him anywhere? And you've been trying to listen but getting no answers.  I'm right there with you. I get it.

Looking at relationships around me, I see some are vibrant, touchy-feely, happy. They KNOW each other's likes and dislikes, habits and fears.  Others are in their own little world clueless to details in the lives of those with whom they live or work. That's me plenty of the time.

One of the worst feelings in the world is when no one listens or cares.  Right? That's God's dilemma. What? He doesn't have dilemmas, you say? He doesn't need us. He has everything. Wrong.

He is Love. All love wants to do is give and receive. That's the nature of Love.  It keeps giving and giving in eternal hope of us choosing to love back in return.

The single greatest thing you can do to strengthen your relationship with God is to care. That's what turned the corner for me. I was curious about Him because others had such glowing things to say about Him. I wanted to know more about Him. I went to church every Sunday; studied His Word in bible study. One day, I started to do what you do when you care about others in your life:
* I became more interested in Him. What did He think or want?
* I talked to Him about little things. "Hey! I could use Your help here."
* I LISTENED. Just listened. As long as I was talking, I wasn't learning anything new. Besides, I remembered He knows everything, so what need was there to tell Him what was in my heart. So I shut up and started listening. That was brilliant. I'm sure He had something to do with it.

In a foreign country, we understand little of any conversations around us at first. We get lost and hungry but can't read the signs or the menus. We hear directions but do not understand. We jabber in our own language and get nowhere.

The discipline of listening in silence to His still, small voice brought me to my goal of being closer to God. I didn't hear with my ears, but I began to understand some things. You might find something new by trying it. Go somewhere quiet and let God lead you by giving Him one of your most prized possessions. For most of us, it's our time or our heart.

It's scary because you are attempting to release control for a few moments. Do the thing you fear to do and that's the death of fear, a friend once taught me.  (Thank you, Mary Kay Slowkowski.) It's counterintuitive. I've found a lot about God to be counterintuitive. I have to give to receive. To live, I must die. When I sin or ignore Him, He forgives me. It goes against what I think I know.  I kinda like counterintuitive stuff.  It's like an adventure in discovery.

Black holes in space contract inwardly. That's what happens when we focus too long on our needs and wants. Light - and Love - expand. It is their very nature.

I waited like a bird before dawn. My cares turned toward the Other. Watching and listening, the eyes and ears of my heart opened. Try it. You'll see.

Start by caring. About Him. It's all any of us wants. Somebody who cares. It's the crack that lets in the light. It's the greatest thing you can do.

Here in the south, when I ask where something is in a grocery store, I hear this: "It's in Aisle 3.  I'll take you there.  Please follow me."  I push my cart after him.

Behold, I make all things new. Revelation 21:5.
#procrastination #timeforGod #writers #knowGod #GetToKnowGod #SingleGreatestThingToDoForGod #chrismanion #MaryKaySlowkowski #Caring

The Jesus Prayer

I have practiced the Jesus prayer off and on for several decades and it has not stuck as a practice for me. Some of my friends have it running as a "working" prayer in their subconscious all day long. It is my go to prayer in times of desperation and fear. It brings me into the heart of Jesus instantly.

 The website of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America shares the following introduction to the prayer. www.goarch.org

In order to enter more deeply into the life of prayer and to come to grips with St. Paul's challenge to pray unceasingly, consider the Jesus Prayer, which is sometimes called the prayer of the heart. The Jesus Prayer is offered as a means of concentration, as a focal point for our inner life. Though there are both longer and shorter versions, the most frequently used form of the Jesus Prayer is:

 "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

 This prayer, in its simplicity and clarity, is rooted in the Scriptures and the new life granted by the Holy Spirit. It is first and foremost a prayer of the Spirit because of the fact that the prayer addresses Jesus as Lord, Christ and Son of God; and as St. Paul tells us, "no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:3). 

THE SCRIPTURAL ROOTS OF THE JESUS PRAYER

The Scriptures give the Jesus Prayer both its concrete form and its theological content. It is rooted in the Scriptures in four ways:

In its brevity and simplicity, it is the fulfillment of Jesus' command that "in praying" we are "not to heap up empty phrases as the heathen do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them . . .” (Matt. 6:7-8).

The Jesus Prayer is rooted in the Name of the Lord. In the Scriptures, the power and glory of God are present in his Name. In the Old Testament to deliberately and attentively invoke God's Name was to place oneself in his Presence. Jesus, whose name in Hebrew means God saves, is the living Word addressed to humanity. Jesus is the final Name of God. Jesus is "the Name which is above all other names" and it is written that “all beings should bend the knee at the Name of Jesus” (Phil. 2:9-10). In this Name devils are cast out (Luke 10:17), prayers are answered (John 14:13 14) and the lame are healed (Acts 3:6-7). The Name of Jesus is unbridled spiritual power.

1. The words of the Jesus Prayer are themselves based on Scriptural texts: the cry of the blind man sitting at the side of the road near Jericho, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me" (Luke 18:38); the ten lepers who "called to him, ‘Jesus, Master, take pity on us' " (Luke 17:13); and the cry for mercy of the publican, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner" (Luke 18:14).
2. It is a prayer in which the first step of the spiritual journey is taken: the recognition of our own sinfulness, our essential estrangement from God and the people around us. The Jesus Prayer is a prayer in which we admit our desperate need of a Savior. For "if we say we have no sin in us, we are deceiving ourselves and refusing to admit the truth" (1 John 1:8).

The training to practice the Jesus Prayer, according to Meg Funk, author of Tools Matter:

“To make it a habit we must say the words slowly, mindfully, and with respect for their meaning. We do this repetition at specific times with a certain number in mind, somewhat like repeating the prayers of the rosary, fifty times in five sets. Then we rest and repeat it another fifty times in five sets. We do this morning and evening for two weeks. Then we increase it, repeating the words one hundred times in two sets, morning and night.

“The Jesus Prayer is a ‘working’ prayer done as we do other things. It is not a meditation practice like centering prayer. We concentrate on making it happen while we are doing our ordinary tasks of walking, driving, cleaning, cooking, managing children, or teaching a class. We keep increasing our repetitions gradually until we start to feel the prayer rising automatically in the in-between times. If for some reason we stop our practice, we start it again with three sets of fifty repetitions. After about two months, this ceaseless Jesus Prayer will be self-acting all the time.

A Lesson from Parsley

Parsley recently taught me the power and need for confession. 

I always end up with a clump of parsley in my vegetable bin of my fridge because it’s sold in clumps larger than I need. For years I would throw out old wilted parsley. One day, someone taught me to trim off the dead ends of its stalks and place the bunch in an inch or two of water on the counter.  Within a few hours, the parsley that had drooped over the cup’s edge pitifully, with no sign of life apparent, stood straight and tall, green and perky.  

The grace of the sacrament of Reconciliation works with similar efficacy. To trim off what’s dead in us, what’s preventing us from receiving the water of life from God, we step into the life-giving sacrament. We tell the priest what we wish to trim away. We express our contrition for we don't like our droopy looks and actions. We can't seem to stand up on our own. He absolves us and the grace of God floods us. Our soul is immediately refreshed; our body responds happily with the removal of the weight of the sin(s) we’d been carrying. Our heads and hearts no longer droop.

October Surprise Helps Grace Arise

     Oh my gosh, I must be really out of it. I looked out the window here in Michigan.
     "Oh, look! It's raining," I said.
     My daughter and son-in-law look out at the view.
     "No, that's not rain, Mom," my daughter responded.
     "Oh, is it the stuff from the trees?" I quickly corrected myself, looking at the forest that abuts their property.
      "Noooo, Mom. That's snow. Do you remember snow?" she asked teasingly.
      I am so not ready to be looking out the window and seeing snow falling.
      It's over now. Thank goodness.
      The chilly temps of this Michigan day converted the clouds' weeping to a new form of water.  The inverse seems to happen  in our prayer times when we lift the heaviness in our hearts to God who draws it into the heavenly warmth of His loving thermals and dissipates it into wispy clouds of lightness and relief. We don't know why we feel lighter afterwards. Or perhaps we simply don't remember what snow is.

Who are You Below the Surface?

Living on the water has its benefits.  Daily reminders to pay attention to what lies below the surface of things occur sometimes hourly as mullets jump, schools of fish shimmer their scales in the sun, and dolphin fins pop up like toast.

Every person we walk by, sit beside, work or live with is the same: a depth of memories and emotions that shimmer and pop up unannounced looking for nourishment or company. Or a breath of fresh air.

Search below the surface of a familiar face today. What don't you know about them? What assumptions may prove false? Enrich your life with a deep conversation. Put a tantalizing bait on the tip of your tongue, throw out a question into the depths of a friend or co-worker, and wait with calm compassion to see if you catch anything. 

There's a lot of good soul out there today. Some need to be caught. Even only for a moment.  Some moments last a lifetime and change you forever. Feel like fishing today? See a shimmer in someone?

Why I Write

Yes, push! Dad said until the end.

His strong will urged, "Write on, my friend,

to souls who need encouragement

to trust in God, to give consent.

"They wait a word or two or more

 to mend their hearts then to adore
 the One their soul is longing for.

Oh, hold not back! Write on! Explore!

"Be not afraid to write your truth.

 Stand strong like poor Naomi's Ruth.

Strip off your pride. Step on your fear.

Your time to write is now, is here.

"Don't you hold back, just let her rip.

Dry souls all need a quenching dip

into the Word that you have heard.

Tell them it's love. Don't feel absurd

"To speak of the one, only thing

that springs from trust so peace can ring

that softest bell within all hearts

that souls know well ne'er departs.

"It's love above, below, beyond.

No need for some old magic wand

to dispel darkness in your night:

It's love, sweet love, God's subtle might.

"That's what you know so write it well.

It is the truth that makes hearts swell

in knowledge from antiquity

of undivided unity.

"Your words are strong, your words are clear.

They sing along as God draws near.

 They give us freedom, finally

 to melt into eternity.".

Clothes, Logs, and Window Washing

Entertainer Ruby Gettinger posted the following story recently.

A young couple moves into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they were eating their breakfast, the young wife notices her neighbor hanging her wash out to dry.  "That laundry is not very clean.  She doesn't know how to wash correctly.  Perhaps she needs new laundry soap."

Her husband observes but says nothing. Every time her neighbor hangs her wash out to dry, the woman makes the same comments. A month later, the woman sees a nice clean wash on the line and says to her husband, "She's finally learned how to wash her clothes properly.  I wonder who taught her this?"

Her husband replies, "I got up early this morning and washed our windows."  And so it is with life.  What we see while watching others depends on the clarity of the window through which we look.

This simple story reminds me of the lesson Jesus taught about removing the log from your own eye before dealing with the speck in your neighbor's eye. Matthew 7:5       My father was a great teacher.  Like the husband in this story, his actions taught more than by his words. He'd show me something once then walk away. I'd protest loudly to no avail. Then I settle down to figure out how to do it, knowing it could be done, and leaned into his belief that I was more than capable.

Wether it's Muslims, gays, fourteen Presidential candidates, or Confederate flag wavers that get us flapping our tongues, we all have a few windows to wash of our own before we speak too many words about neighbors.  I was taught years ago that when I point a finger at someone, three others are pointing back at me.