We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts. How can God entrust great things to one who will not thankfully receive from Him the little things? Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Meditation: It is challenging for children to understand why we ask them not to lie in small things. Little white lies, why not? However, it is important for children and adults to understand that all those little things make our character, and also eventually make the big things in our life. If I am wiggling out of uncomfortable situations by telling small lies, can I trust myself that I won’t wiggle out of very important and challenging situations? The same with gratitude. If I am not thankful for the small things in life, how will I be receptive and grateful for the great things? Gratitude, honesty and faithfulness begin very small, and yet translate into the character building and lifelong traits a person develops. Let us practice as parents and role model for our children how to be grateful, how to be honest and how to be faithful, so they can begin practicing with us.

Prayer: Gracious God, thank You for preparing us and pointing us to the many small things in life that You want us to be grateful for, that You need us to be faithful in and that You want us to be honest about. This is how You build Your Kin-dom among us. When we Christians become and remain grateful, honest and faithful in the many daily things, then You will be able to entrust us with Your large things: The re-establishment of “Justice, Peace and Righteousness” in this world. Let Your Church become a beacon of hope. And let it begin with me. Amen

Whoever is faithful in little things will be faithful in large ones. Whoever is unrighteous in small things will be unrighteous in large ones. Luke 16:10

We humans have lost the wisdom of genuinely resting and relaxing. We worry too much. We don’t allow our bodies to heal, and we don’t allow our minds and hearts to heal. Thich Nhat Hanh

Meditation: The day after Thanksgiving is usually a commercial day of being seduced into shopping in stores or online. It is the day most businesses count on for revenue and end of year sales. If we are not careful, we will miss this Friday after Thanksgiving as an opportunity to rest. We might miss the chance of being alone or with family and allowing our body to rest and our minds and hearts to recover during this special “in between time”. Society wants to force us to remain extroverts, when sometimes we just need to go within and allow ourselves to be introverts. What about trusting that the “good deals” will be there until the end of the year? Instead of hunting for things, we might want to make ourselves a hot cup of tea, eat some delicious left overs, read a good book, and spend quality time with ourselves, with family members or pets. A resting day. A counter cultural day of going inside, resting, relaxing and not worrying too much. A healing day.

Prayer: Jesus, you modeled the art of “getting away”. When life just gets too busy, when the demands and worries of life overtake us, when we don’t even have time to eat or sleep anymore, You say: “Come with me to a quiet place and get some rest”. Thank You for your role modeling and for Your ability to balance Your calling and Your work with enough rest, self-care and recovery. You do not want us to burn out. You want us to have life in its fullness. Amen

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest”.  Mark 6:31

I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness — it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude. Brene Brown

Meditation: Thanksgiving is a special day for most Americans. Family and friends are gathering around a festive table. Traditional meals are being served and people talk about what they are thankful for. Some family are also painfully reminded especially on this day that certain family members are absent. Either due to illness, incarceration, death or physical or emotional distance. Some families would also rather not choose to be together, as conflict is their daily bread. In those circumstances it is very challenging to find gratitude. Grief, loss or conflict seem to overshadow everything. When we find somebody we can talk to about our experience of not having a good “Thanksgiving”, we make a first step towards accepting our circumstance. Prayer can also open up as an option. God may become the One we can talk to. Is there something we are still grateful for, in the midst of our circumstances? We might not rejoice. We might not find extraordinary things. However, we might notice a few moments today that bring a smile or gratitude to our hearts. Let us capture those moments. They are healing balm for weary souls.

Prayer: God, when we have a different Thanksgiving than (we think) everybody else has, remind us that many families are struggling during the Holidays. Help us to reach out to those who have nobody to celebrate with. Help us to accept that our Thanksgiving is not extraordinary. Help us to notice and savor those moments that touch our hearts today, and help us be grateful in the midst of our challenges. Amen

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1. Thessalonians 5:16-18

 

 

Feelings of worth can flourish only in an atmosphere where individual differences are appreciated, mistakes are tolerated, communication is open, and rules are flexible – the kind of atmosphere that is found in a nurturing family. Virginia Satir

Meditation: What makes a family, a church or an organization nurturing and life giving? When we appreciate our diversity and tolerate mistakes, relationships between very different personalities are possible. When we keep communication open and are honest with each other, healthy relating follows. And when we treat rules as helpful guidelines and reminders and less as laws that are being enforced no matter what, the community or family thrives. It is surely hard to live like this when differences rub us the wrong way, when conflict happens, when feelings are being hurt or misunderstandings cloud our vision. We don’t have to be perfect, just be honest about our limitations. And then we are invited to practice every morning anew, how to become a family, a church, an organization that is life giving, generous and affirming.

Prayer: Gracious God, when we fail as families, churches or organizations to be nurturing and worth affirming places, come with Your Spirit. Help us be patient with each other. Help us call injustice by name, while asking for and granting forgiveness. Help us community and church leaders and us parents admit our limitations and yet become role models of appreciation, tolerance and forgiveness. Amen

We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people. 1. Thessalonians 5:14-15

The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away. Pablo Picasso

Meditation: Finding our gift and then giving it away… what an amazing suggestion of meaning for our life. However, sometimes societies or families corrupt this idea, by telling people what their gift should be. Especially women hear it a lot: “Having children, becoming a mother is your gift to your husband, to society, even to God”. However, this reduction of women as a “gift” of bearing and raising children is a dangerous myth. If a woman chooses freely to become a mother and to use some of her gifts in this way – that is different. If society and family, however, tell women what their gift should be, oppression begins. All of us are called to find our unique and God given gift. Not the gift that others want for us, but the gift that we have innately received from God. When we discover this gift, when we nurture it, allow it to grow and then give it away generously, we will feel free and deeply blessed, and we will become a blessing for many. I pray that we as parents and as members of society will not project our ideas onto others, but that we will patiently wait for each of our innate gifts to be revealed in due time.

Prayer: God of all gifts and graces, we pray for protection from any oppression and from any projection that could hinder us from freely developing the innate gifts you gave us. Restrain us when we project our family legacy or our values onto our children, without observing what their unique and innate gifts are. Let us all resist a culture that creates stereotypes of what a woman or man should be like. Open our minds and hearts to the bountiful graces and gifts You have given to each one of us. Amen

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 1. Peter 4:10

The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it. Karl Jung

Meditation: I am wearing three rings. Each of them costs not more than $100, but each of them holds a lot of meaning to me. One I bought when I was in my twenties when struggling to love myself. It was my commitment ring to myself, promising that I would learn to love myself. The second is the friendship ring I received from my boyfriend (now husband) before we were separated for three years of living in two different continents. Having it on my finger helped me make it through that time of separation. The third is my wedding ring. We did not have much money back then, but I never wanted to exchange it. It reminds me of those precious early years of new beginnings. Three small things with huge meaning. What is it that accompanies you that does not cost much, but holds your faith, your hope and your strength? Is it a photo holding precious memories? Is it an item your grandmother used to have, and that keeps her spirit present? Is it a stone taken from a grave side, and holding it, the relationship with the person you loved becomes present? Hold onto those least of things, as they will mean most to you in the end. They will help you move mountains.

Prayer: God of the small things, thank You for Your life giving Spirit that fills the smallest things with meaning. Thank You for giving us the ability in faith to see the value in the smallest things that the world often misses while chasing for great things. Thank You that true value does not mean money, but love, connection, commitment, and hope. Help us teach our children this mystery of faith. Amen

For truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. Matthew 17:20

For that again, is what all manner of religion essentially is: childish dependency. Albert Ellis

Meditation: If people who create the institutions within religion keep other people in a childish dependency, they are using religion for their own purpose of achieving power or for having control over others. This is abuse. Abuse of claimed “god given”, but really “man made” authority. If the goal of religion is to infantilize people, it becomes “opium” for the masses and seizes to have any meaning other than becoming a method of brainwashing and manipulation. However, when we realize that the true goal of religion is to empower and mature humanity, we attach ourselves in a healthy way to the “God beyond God” (Term first created by Meister Eckhart and later used by Paul Tillich). And so, the dependency on “God beyond God” is not meant to keep us in a childish state, but it becomes a relational and maturing power of connectedness. Finding myself in a primary relationship with an empowering and liberating God, helps me develop a mature spirituality. Being fully dependent on the “God beyond God” actually frees us from all earthly and religious authorities that claim power and obedience from us. Being dependent on this “God beyond God” helps us grow into independent and differentiated mature adults. If we can just surpass the “God that religion tries to sell us”.

Prayer: “God beyond God”, thank you for allowing us to depend on You, while giving us the freedom to become responsible and mature adults. Thank You that we do not have to stop our critical thinking. You encourage us to question all worldly powers, including religious authorities. Our dependency on You frees us from any  and all false authorities that try to keep us immature, dependent and non-questioning. As Jesus was individuated, mature and free from worldly and religious attempts to control him, You want us to become mature, differentiated and free followers of Jesus. And we are deeply grateful. Amen

When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a (wo)man, I did away with childish things. 1. Corinthians 13:11

 

We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth. Virginia Satir

Meditation: The first two words in sequence my daughters learned to say as babies were “hold you!” They had heard me say many times “Wait a moment, I will hold you”. So, whenever they felt they needed a hug, they would stretch out their arms and say “hold you!” While children have the ability to ask for what they need, touch and receiving an embrace is often missing in our adult lives. Living alone many times deprives adults of regular touch. But even when partners live together, they might forget to hug and touch each other regularly. Teenagers often seek touch outside the family and become vulnerable to sexualized touching. How can we practice safe touch within our families and friendships so that we all receive the healing hugs and the holding we need to thrive and grow? And if we live on our own, how can we invite healing touch into our lives? How can we physically and emotionally hug ourselves 4 to 12 times a day, when we do not have others who could meet our need for touch? Maybe through a massage therapist or a Reiki practitioner? Wrapping ourselves in a warm blanket, making a hot water bottle for cold feet or taking a warm bath can serve as a hug. Even wrapping one’s arms around oneself and literally holding oneself can be healing. Or gently putting lotion over one’s body can have a soothing and healing impact as well. There are many creative ways to hug oneself. And as we need 8 to 12 hugs a day to thrive and grow, even as adults, let us become more gentle and creative in giving ourselves and others hugs. Let us all become more vulnerable in asking for hugs, in offering touch and in exchanging blessings with others.

Prayer: God, we are grateful that You became embodied in Jesus. And we are grateful how naturally he touched, hugged and blessed children, women and men. He practiced safe and healing touch wherever he went. Help us to ask for touch. Help us to become more mindful and gentle with our own bodies and our need for touch. Help us as families and friends to practice safe touching and hugging, so our children and teens don’t have to seek touching that is unsafe. Amen

They brought young children to Him, that He might touch them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them… But He took them up in His arms, put His hands on them, and blessed them. Mark 10:13+16

It’s no accident many accuse me of conducting public affairs with my heart instead of my head. Well, what if I do? Those who don’t know how to weep with their whole heart don’t know how to laugh either. Golda Meir

Meditation: Being a leader requires both head and heart. In today’s business world white men are still in the majority when it comes to corporate leadership. Most men thrive on merely using their intellect to solve problems and to lead companies to financial success. They reduce reality to “the financial bottom line”. However, as women increasingly enter leadership positions, the leadership style is expanding. The “bottom line” talk and concerns are being put in a bigger context. Success is no longer just measured in financial gains, but is seen more holistically. It becomes more heart and relationship focused. New questions arise: “How does a product or service make a difference in the world?” “How are workers being treated fairly while producing?” “How does the production not damage the environment and cause irreparable harm?” These are heart questions. These are leadership concerns that recognize the interconnectedness of all that is. These are questions that acknowledge humanity over production. These are questions that lead us out of greed into God’s promising future.

Prayer: God, we are living in a time when white males are stripping this country down to “the bottom line” by creating tax laws that benefit only themselves as the already rich (and mostly white male) 2%. As this is happening, we pray that you continue to fulfill Your promise. We pray that You will prepare the hearts and minds of the next generation of leaders who will undo the injustice that is happening today. We pray that You will bring women and men to power who lead with both, head and heart. We pray for a heart of flesh and a new spirit for Your future leaders who will save our planet, who will provide justice for all, including those on the margins of society and  who will limit the power of those taking advantage of exclusionary systems they created for themselves. God of our future leaders, have mercy on us. Amen

And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 7:19

Today is a most unusual day, because we have never lived it before; we will never live it again; it is the only day we have. William Arthur Ward

Meditation: If we live life only to prepare for retirement, we might be wise. However, we might also be foolish. Tomorrow is not promised. Today is all we have. If we are too anxious to seize the day, we might miss it. Days will begin to accumulate like water drops, instead of being unique experiences like snowflakes. If my life becomes routine, it is no longer new, surprising or exciting. I will eventually drown in the water of a boring everydayness. However, when I see each day as an unique opportunity, every day will be a “little life”. Like snowflakes, I will notice that each day has its own unique “crystal formation”. When I withdraw from putting all my energy into the future, and when I realize that today is the only day I have, I will see the uniqueness of each day and not miss it.

Prayer: God, You are a God of today. You invite us to be fully present and alive today. You want us not to miss the gifts you give us today by being anxious about tomorrow. God, teach us to live in the here and now. Amen

Seize life! Eat bread with gusto, Drink wine with a robust heart. Oh yes – God takes pleasure in your pleasure! 8 Dress festively every morning. Don’t skimp on colors and scarves. 9 Relish life with the spouse you love each and every day of your precious life. Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange for the hard work of staying alive. Make the most of each one! Ecclesiastes 9: 7-9