As a Christian, I’m passionately opposed to American pretensions that we have special standing with God; to political office-seekers who play on our religious differences; and to the religious arrogance that says, ‘Our truth is the only truth.’ Parker Palmer
Meditation: Jesus embodied and taught the inclusion of all. He questioned all those who believed they had a special standing with God. Jesus revealed and opposed where religion was used for political gains and political power. He disappointed even some of his disciples who hoped he would use his spiritual power for political gains. Jesus never wanted to become an “idol” as a form of abstract and intolerant “truth” that some Christians have made out of him. As those worship their own dogma, they try to control and kill others’ souls with words from the Bible. They randomly rip words out of its historic and cultural context and confuse everybody. All these three described spiritual estrangements (“sins”) are happening at this time, in this country. And so I join my teacher Parker Palmer in his passion for the inclusion of all, for spiritual freedom from manipulative political power and for truly listening to Jesus’s challenging words of the beatitudes instead of following an image of Jesus as an idol of our own making.
Prayer: Jesus, Your name is being abused more than ever before. Your message is being distorted. Christians worship a Jewish Old Testament God image of wrath and revenge to justify their rage  and their war and violence hungry ways. Religious practices from more than 3000 years ago are being used to legitimize their “eye for an eye” mentality. Jesus, it is as if You never came. We pray that You will convert this nation from their lost and distorted ways of worshipping violence, exclusion and war back to your message of non-violence, inclusion and peace. Jesus, have mercy on us. Amen
To those who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32

I try to live my life like my father lives his. He always takes care of everyone else first. He won’t even start eating until he’s sure everyone else in the family has started eating. Another thing: My dad never judges me by whether I win or lose. Ben Roethlisberger

Meditation: The day after the storm had passed, our family had breakfast together. My husband brought a  piece of paper down from 20 years ago. I had not seen it for that long, and he had my daughters read it to me. It was a wedding song that my Dad had written for us back then with his typewriter. I was deeply moved hearing his words coming from the mouth of my daughters. My father was battling cancer at the time. He also was the pastor presiding over our wedding. And for the celebration afterwards, he had composed a song for us as a couple in English (he had only started learning English again when my husband and I started dating three years before). He must have worked on that song for weeks. The words were filled with joy and delight about me as his daughter, and he valued his African son in law and poured his blessings upon us. He then made himself vulnerable singing this song with his guitar in front of all the guests at our wedding. This is what kind of Dad he was. This is a love a daughter never forgets, but takes with her forever.

Prayer: Gracious Father God, I am so grateful that my father was still alive and present at my wedding. Thank You for his Spirit of gentleness, vulnerability, love, inclusion and care. Thank You for his ways of expressing his love for me and for us as a couple. His words still touch me deeply even twenty years later. I am so blessed and grateful. Amen

Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? Matthew 6:26

The power of the future lies not in the hands of those who believe in scarcity but of those who trust God’s abundance. Walter Brueggemann

Meditation: Our German church suffered three major losses recently. Three of our engaged and faithful council members had to move away, some with their spouses and children. These were nine wonderful people leaving our church all at about the same time. Their absence is very much felt. We are grieving. Early this year our Church Council had the vision of reaching out to the German community and invite Catholic German speaking families. We wanted to offer them a spiritual home and help prepare their 7-9 year old children to first receive communion classes and then also the sacrament of first communion. This seems possibly like a strange vision for a female Protestant pastor and a German Diaspora Congregation to have. However, we walked forward in faith, not staring at our perceived scarcity, but looking at God’s possibilities and abundance. And somehow everything fell into place! Initially we only had two very motivated Catholic families. However, today we have five Catholic families and seven children all together! Also, a young ecumenically minded Catholic priest in Germany has agreed to fly over in May of next year to perform the sacraments of confession and first communion with and for us. What an abundance!

Prayer: God, in the midst of our grief of losing beloved sisters and brothers, You so abundantly bless us with a group of eighteen Catholic sisters and brothers who are accepting our invitation to join us! We are sad and happy at the same time. Help us to grieve while also open our arms and hearts wide for those incoming young families and their children. You are an amazing God who comforts and sustains Your people and Your Church. And we are grateful. Amen

And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. 2. Corinthians 9:8

 

Beauty is when you can appreciate yourself. When you love yourself, that’s when you’re most beautiful. Zoe Kravitz

Meditation: Yesterday I walked the dog and my daughter came along with her long board. She usually rides down the sloped parts of the street. This time I walked all around the neighborhood. When we got to a steep hill, I told her that it was probably a little too fast for her to go down. She said that she could do it, and off she went. She looked beautiful and confident as she went down the hill on her long skateboard. She was not anxious. At the bottom of the hill she realized that she would not be able to make an elegant curve as she had hoped. So, she made herself fall on the ground before hitting a mailbox. When she got up, she did not cry even though she had a bloody knee. Instead she said: “This was awesome. It was worth it. I will work on my curving and do it again.” She appreciated herself. She loved herself for being confident and courageous. And she felt beautiful regardless of her injured knee. And yes, seeing her ride on that long board, she was beautiful. (And as her Mom, I hope she will practice much more before she will be doing it again!)

Prayer: God, when we are congruent with ourselves, You delight in us. When we appreciate ourselves, no matter what the outcome of our endeavors, we grow to love ourselves. And then we are beautiful even when our bodies show some scars based on our living courageously. Thank You for my beautiful daughter(s). Amen

Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. Luke 12:7

 

 

 

 

Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. Lao Tzu

Meditation: When a storm interrupts our life, we are stopped cold in our tracks. For three days all schools closed in Atlanta, as we never had a coastal tropical storm reach us before. High wind gusts. The electricity went out. No Wifi. No landline phone. Limited cell phone and computer life span. As a family we searched for all the candles we could find. Thank God we still had water and gas available, so we ate macaroni cheese by candle light. Thanks to the flashlight on the girls’ phones we went down in the basement to look for old board games. And then for a few hours as we still had day light, we played some of the games our girls played when they were five or ten years old. It was actually fun. Good old times. At 8pm it was getting too dark to play and we all went to bed. Strange how power outages can bring a family together. We are being stripped down to the basics. Sometimes “less is more”.

Prayer: Gracious God, we pray for all who had trees fall on their houses and for all who had flooding invade their homes. Provide assistance with clean up. Let the community come together and provide for those families, so that they experience Your compassion while receiving hands on support. Thank You for these extra days off. Thank You for reminding us that sometimes “less is more”. And we are grateful. Amen

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Philippians 4: 11-13

The greatest gift you can give someone is the gift of inspiration. Cornel West

Meditation: There are times when a person says something or does something in our presence that opens up a whole new world for us. We get inspired! I remember such pivotal moments when mentors who had gotten to know me well said something to me that was “earth shattering”. Like: “I wonder what would happen if you became playful with your student?” or “What if you remained silent and did not defend yourself?” Our relationship was such that their suggestions catapulted me forward. Had I approached my work very seriously before, I now experimented with how playfulness might look like. Had I been reactive and defensive before, I now tried to breathe, not take things so personal and stay more differentiated. I don’t think my teachers knew how inspirational they were at that moment. What they suggested came out of who they were. And so, not just their words, but our relationship became the gift of inspiration. And so the greatest gift was not just that one inspirational sentence alone, but it was the gift of our relationship and of the role modeling and embodiment of that sentence in the mentor him- or herself.

Prayer: Spirit of God, we thank You for relationships that are gifts to us. We thank You for mentors, teachers, friends who inspire us, not only with what they say, but mainly with who they are. Thank You for liberating and inspiring us through relationships that you gift us with. And we are grateful! Amen

But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand. Job 32:8

 

This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet. Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands. Barack Obama

Meditation: Our current government has declared “There is no global warming”. Nature proved them otherwise. We mourn with all who lost their loved ones or their homes in the disastrous hurricanes striking. We pray for all who have to rebuild their houses and their lives. Let us resolve! We must come together! We must save this planet!

Prayer: God of this precious earth, we pray that people wake up. We pray that science will not be dismissed. We pray that those in power who value short term financial gains over long term preservation won’t have the last word. Empower those who are resolved to preserve our planet. Amen

I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable. Jeremiah 2:7

 

It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences. Audre Lorde

Meditation: My teenage daughter said today: “Mom, I am different from you! I need pressure to work at my best. I am not like you working days in advance. I just need that time pressure. And I always get my work done.” She is usually right. My challenge as mother is to stop “nagging” (as she says) and wanting things to go my way. I recognize if she does things my way, it soothes MY anxiety. To recognize that my daughter handles things and copes differently than me is the first step. (And she definitely makes sure I do not miss it!) My second challenge as parent is then accepting her as functioning differently from me, which is an emotional and spiritual task. When I spiritually celebrate both of us, her capacity to function well under pressure, and my capacity to plan ahead, our differences feel uniting rather than dividing. My emotional task is then to respect her need for space and freedom as a teenager who is developing her own style of dealing with life. Spiritually and emotionally I am asked as parent to see her as her very own person. She is not in my life to boost my self-esteem nor to take care of my anxiety. My self-esteem and my anxiety are mine alone to deal with.

Prayer: God, help me to accept and celebrate my daughter who is different from me. When I look for certain “ideal” behaviors, help me to remain humble and see that those ideals are more my style than general “ideals” or “truths”. Teach me to be like You and to look at my daughter from the inside. Let me recognize and learn how she functions differently from me. Help me to celebrate her in her difference. Help me to hold my anxiety and not unload it on her when she approaches life differently than I do. Amen

God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. 1. Samuel 16:7b

A higher rate of urgency does not imply ever-present panic, anxiety, or fear. It means a state in which complacency is virtually absent. John P. Kotter

Meditation: As several hurricanes are approaching our land, all of us are on high alert. While those in the path of the storms probably flee with much anxiety, others around them are getting ready to receive them as they become displaced refugees. After months of much political divisions, months where the worst of humanity has been coming out in toxic political “isms” dividing the land, suddenly parts of our land are literally being wiped away. And so, in these urgent times of dire need, we witness the best in humanity coming out. Neighbors helping neighbors, people with boats heading towards disaster areas. Our different ethnicities and backgrounds… we are reminded: we are all the same. This is about saving human lives, no matter who we are. I wonder how this urgency, this absence of complacency might wipe away and even heal some of the toxic political landscape from before? Will these disasters help remind us that ultimately we are one people and one nation under God, including the refugees and the strangers among us – now that many Americans experience becoming refugees themselves?

Prayer: God, in a time when all of us feel utterly awake, remind us that we are not utterly alone. We continue to pray for the people in Texas. We pray for those living on the devastated Islands and tomorrow for Florida, hit by the largest hurricane in decades. Our hearts reach out to all families fleeing or standing in front of their dilapidated houses or facing that nothing is left. We pray for lasting healing impact on the people living in Texas who suddenly realize that they desperately need the so-called “illegal immigrants” to help them rebuild their homes. Help us remember that we are all neighbors of each other. In the midst of these urgent times, change our country, change our hearts. Amen

Love works no ill to his neighbor. Therefore love is the law’s fulfillment. You know the time. It is the hour for you to awake from sleep. Romans 13: 10-11a

The willingness to consider possibility requires a tolerance of uncertainty. Rachel Naomi Remen

Meditation: I remember a time when my children were younger. They would often ask me if they could have or do something. Looking back I often responded in a very “German way”, always immediately either saying “yes” or “no”. Often that caused much frustration, interestingly either way I responded. It took me a while to figure out why. I was taking my girls literally, while they just expressed their curiosity and meant to explore the world with me. Eventually I learned that my direct answers were not helpful, as my daughters’ questions were often more about exploring possibilities than actually wanting a very specific thing. When I realized that, I changed my response to the sentence: “We will see” or “We will figure it out”. And this answer seemed to resonate much better with my girls. They usually remained calm, hopeful and even got more ideas of what else they could do or what else they might want. While God’s Spirit (in the shape of my girls) taught me to tolerate uncertainty better and become comfortable leaving things “open ended”, my girls blossomed in their ability to explore endless possibilities…

Prayer: God of possibilities, thank You for teaching me the art of responding in an open ended way. Thank You for having the curiosity of my girls teach me to embrace uncertainty more than before. Thank You that with them I enjoy the many possibilities there are. Thank You that they taught me to enjoy You and Your ways more than ever before. Amen

And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”. Matthew 19:26