Follow The Star

My fellow travelers,
May we travel lightly on our paths.  May we be open to the Divine.  May we embrace this day as a gift.  May we see with the eyes of compassion.  May we act with the heart of Love.  May we be contributors and not just consumers.  May we give more than we receive.  May we recognize our own beauty so that it might shine for others, allowing them to realize their beauty.  May grace pour down upon us and uplift us so that we may live each moment glorifying the One who Created, Redeemed and Breathes Life into us.  Amen.  Amen.  Amen.

"Follow the star to a place unexpected..." 
Downhere 'How Many Kings'

 

Recipe #5

For my kiddos - they love this one as a treat

 

2-3 handfuls of frozen strawberries

1 banana

handful of fresh kale or spinach

1 TBSP flax seed

1 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice

ice & cold water (I use whatever cup I am using for the finished smoothie and just fill it 1/2 way with ice and just cover with cold water)

 

A great way to sneak in 2-3 servings of fruit and 1 serving of veggie each day.  Enjoy!

 

Blessed be!

I Love God More Than...

It was staff meeting and there was a birthday.  We took a 5 minute break for someone to get the cake, plates and napkins.  During the break I scrounged into my bag and grabbed a container of mixed nuts I put together and keep on hand.  I started to eat them and one of my co-workers asked what I was doing.  I said I was fasting and would not be able to partake of the cake so I was having a quick snack to help myself from creating a craving.  The cake by the way was amazing looking.  Homemade, chocolate and decadent, delicious.  But not for me.

My co-worker asked me how the fasting was going and if it was hard.  I said in the beginning it was so hard, so very hard.  But the whole point of fasting - whatever the fast is, cutting out a certain food, a certain electronic, a certain habit - is to get you on your knees and praying.  The purpose of the spiritual discipline of the fast is to call on God to fill you, uplift you, strengthen you instead of relying on whatever else it was we were using.  In the beginning of my fast I was on my knees hour by hour, almost minute by minute, crying out to God to take the craving from me to get me through the moment and I would then let my focus shift to praying for my Bishop, my Canon and my Cohort - the whole reason for this fast was to uphold always and in each moment these people as the Bishop discerns the assignments of our Cohort.

At a certain point in the fast I no longer needed to get on my knees quite as much and instead of needing to cry out for saving grace from a craving I realized I was breathing a mantra, "I love God more than..." and my heart would turn more quickly to praying for those on my heart.  God has done a good work in me!  The point of the fast is to reach out to God and allow God to reach back into you and it is a moment of glory when we surrender to all things material and open ourselves up to the Divine, praying out of the guidance of the Holy Spirit!

A dear, dear friend of mine gave me a book about a year (maybe 2 years ago) and I tucked it into my bookshelf after cracking it open for a few seconds to see a page she highlighted for me.  (Sorry MW!!)  My friend knew I should read the book, but I wasn't ready.  God guided me back to this book just 3 days ago.  I have been reading one chapter a night.  You could have knocked me over with a feather, flat out on the floor, after reading this paragraph:

"I thought about, craved, and arranged my life too much around food.  So much so, I knew it was something God was challenging me to surrender to His control.  Really surrender.  Surrender to the point where I'd make radical changes for the sake of my spiritual health perhaps even more than my physical health.  Part of my surrender was asking myself a really raw question. 

May I ask you this same raw question? 

Is it possible we love and rely on food more than we love and rely on God?" 

Lysa Terkeurst "Made To Crave" pg 28

If I had read that book a year or two ago I would have chucked it across the room with a huff proclaiming I loved NOTHING more than God and relied on NOTHING but God!  humph!

Last night the light of upcoming Epiphany shone bright over my head and a revelation was had.  My mantra "I love God more than..." came about because God used my fast to break me from my reliance on food, on my love of food most especially when I placed it before my love of God.  Those moments when I was sad, lonely, bored...fill in the adjective, and I grabbed a bite to eat instead of placing myself in prayer with my Creator.  Lord have mercy on my soul!  I didn't even know.

But God knew and God guided me back, Thanks be to God!

Recipe #4

No Blender needed ;-)

 

Dr. Oz's 3 Day Detox Cleanse Bath

(Just tell a busy mom of 4 she HAS to relax and take a bath in the evening! 

I love Dr. Oz!)

 

2 1/2 cups of Epsom Salt

10 drops of Lavender Oil

 

Then be prepared for a wonderful night of sleep.

Click here if you want to try Dr. Oz's 3 day Detox Cleanse for yourself.

Blessed Be!

Shepherd Creator

A few years ago I studied the 23rd Psalm using the traditional words from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.  It was a fascinating study looking at each verse and word and how it fit into context with the work of an actual Shepherd and how that context could lift more meaning into the psalm.

There is nothing static about the Word of God.  It is a living Word.  Full of meaning today just as it was yesterday.  It also moves and breathes through all cultures and contexts, God transcends All and is able to speak to each.

I am very interested in Native American spirituality - well the truth is I am interested in all spirituality and the more I study and learn, the more our interconnectedness becomes undeniable.  My mom happened to text me the other morning and wanted me to read the 23rd Psalm.  This version came to my mind and I thought I would share it for your consideration and prayer.

Native American Version of the 23rd Psalm

The Great Father above is a Shepherd Chief. I am His and with Him I want not.

He throws out to me a rope

and the name of the rope is Love

and He draws me to where the grass is green

and the water not dangerous

and I eat and am satisfied.

Sometimes my heart is very weak

and falls down

but He lifts me up again

and draws me into a good road.

His name is Wonderful.

Sometime, and it may be very soon,

it may be very long, long in time

He will draw me into a valley.

It is dark there, but I'll be afraid not,

for it is in between those mountains

that the Shepherd Creator will meet me

and the hunger that I have in my heart

all through this life will be satisfied.

He gives me a staff to lean upon.

He spreads a table before me

with all kinds of food.

He puts His hand upon my head

and all the "tired" is gone.

My cup He fills till it runs over.

What I tell is true.

I lie not.

These roads that are away ahead

will stay with me through life and after,

and afterwards I will go to live

in the Big Tepee and sit down

with the Shepherd Chief forever.

So be it.

~Author Unknown

Timeless

The Lord's Prayer.  AKA The Pater Noster; AKA The Our Father

Our Father who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us,

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

and the power, and the glory,

for ever and ever.

Amen.

 

1928 BCP Anglican/Episcopal translation

 
Do you know it?  Did you learn it as a child?  Has it been years since you said it?  Does it fall off your tongue as effortlessly as water over a waterfall in times of trial?  I am not sure it was meant to be a memorized prayer, it might have been meant to teach us "how" to pray, but memorize it we have and it provides a unity among all Christians.

The Lord's Prayer was taught to me as a child and I have taught it to my children.  It has always been my "go to" pray along with a Hail Mary, or two, or twenty.  :-)  It is the prayer that whispers itself from my soul without any thought or provocation.  It is my cry to God where I can dispense the words while also lifting outside of reality and letting the unsayable prayer squeeze out from my heart, from my core.  It is a timeless prayer, I know it was uttered by Jesus, but I often wonder if it was uttered in some similar translation by Jews  in times before.  I wonder if it was a conglomeration of Jewish spirituality and prayer to God?  I still have so much to learn.  I was speaking to someone this week who didn't realize Jesus was Jewish.  Yes he was born Jewish, to a Jewish mother and father and he died Jewish.  I was watching a documentary about Mary the Mother of Jesus and one of the Old Testament scholars proclaimed "Mary was a good Jewish girl and she died a good Jewish woman."  Christians weren't labeled until well after Jesus died and His way was still turbulent and stutteringly being followed.  In fact Christians didn't proclaim to be Christians.  Followers of Jesus were Jews following Jesus, they called themselves Followers of The Way.  Christians were labeled as such because they stood out for their strange ways and needed to be labeled by the "normal" masses.

Don't you find it interesting that now Christians are supposed to be a part of the "normal" masses?  What happened to being different?  What happened to standing out in pursuit of following the example of Jesus?  What happened to "they will know we are Christians by our love"?  Do you consider yourself a Christian?  If Yes - how would anyone know?  If No - how would anyone know?  Have we all gotten so caught up in the image of "normal" that we wouldn't know?  You know what I love about Islamic Spirituality the most?  The call to prayer.  A Muslim will stop in their day and pray - wherever they are, whomever they are with to acknowledge God in praise and worship.  It is not for show it is a genuine dedication to the discipline of stopping throughout the day to acknowledge the Almighty Creator.  I wonder if they pray the Lord's Prayer as taught by Jesus.  I wonder what would happen if Christians reclaimed this ancient way of prayer and stopped their day, no matter what they were doing or who they were with at the appointed hours and turned their hearts and minds to the Almighty Creator?

I know the Lord's Prayer.  I could shout it, whisper it, mumble it, sing it; the prayer can pour forth from my soul with no effort of discipline.  But will that make me forget it?  Does this fantastic familiarity and comfort also make rise to inconsequence and take away the import and the power of this sacred prayer.

The Lord's Prayer is timeless; as it was in the beginning, is now and shall forever be.  Today, if you are like me and know the Lord's Prayer as intimately as you know your own heartbeat, try this version.  Say the old in a new way and feel the Spirit guide you.

The Lord's Prayer

Eternal Spirit,

Earth-maker, Pain bearer, Life-giver,

Source of all that is and that shall be,

Father and Mother of us all,

Loving God, in whom is heaven:

The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!

The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!

Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!

Your commonwealth of peace and freedom

sustain our hope and come on earth!

With the bread we need for today,

feed us.

In the hurts we absorb from one another,

forgive us.

In times of temptation and test,

strengthen us.

From trial too great to endure,

spare us.

From the grip of all that is evil,

free us.

For you reign in the glory of the power that is love,

now and forever. Amen.

From A New Zealand Prayer Book (Harper Collins, 1997), 181.