I hold a lot of things in. I’m always making sure everybody is okay. I usually don’t rage; I usually don’t curse. So for me, it’s a great thing to be able to scream and say whatever I want. Beyonce Knowles

Meditation: Yesterday one of my daughters needed to get her rage out. She was in the back of the car expressing some bottled up emotions. At first it felt overwhelming, and usually I try to redirect or stop such rage fits. However, this time I told her: “I hear you. Is there more?” And she had more, and more… A whole year’s worth of anger and rage came out. Some of it she addressed directly to me, which felt very personal and offensive. When we arrived at home, she calmed down some, yet still angry. I repeated back to her what I had heard. She seemed startled at my repeating the personal insults… “This is not what I meant”… We gave each other space to process what had happened. Later she came to apologize. “Being 13 sucks, but I did not mean what I said about you.” I forgave her. The sadness, anger and rage of an usually calm and well-adjusted 13 year old needed to come out.

Prayer: God, you can handle our rage. You are good at holding our emotions. Just as in the book of Iob and in the Psalms you allow us to wail, even accuse You (though we deep inside know You did not do what happened to us) and scream loudly. You are OK with our anger and rage. And we are grateful. Amen

For I cry inside myself in front of my food. My cries pour out like water. What I was afraid of has come upon me. What filled me with fear has happened. I am not at rest, and I am not quiet. I have no rest, but only trouble. Iob 3:24-26

I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever. Thomas Jefferson

Meditation: What is happening in the US related to health care is an injustice that cries out to heaven. A few rich men decide the fate of millions of people. Millions will lose access to medication, medical treatment and preventative care. Thousands will go bankrupt as they try to pay off the medical bills for their loved ones without access to health insurance. Those who need medical care the most will not be able to afford it. And those who make these decisions of shifting the resources further to those who are already rich, do not think twice. They have no hesitation. All they want is to gain even more advantages and to secure and increase their privileges. However, God is justice. And God does not sleep. What a man sows, that he will reap. The illness of greed will poison and destroy the hearts and minds of those who pursue this kind of injustice. And the oppressed masses will rise up. Injustice will not last.

Prayer: God of justice, You do no slumber nor sleep. You know the illness of greed and injustice that is pervasively destroying our country. God have mercy on those who will be directly impacted and whose lives will be vulnerable and sacrificed by those who are currently in power. Use this time in US history to prepare us and the next generation to seek justice and to walk humbly with You, our God. Amen

Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. Isaiah 1:17

Just remember, some friends come, some go. The ones that stay with you through everything – they’re your true best friends. Don’t let go of them. Also remember, sisters make the best friends in the world. Marilyn Monroe

Meditation: My sister is five years younger than me. The first 20 years it looked like I was “wise”, as I was older. She was somehow living in my shadow. However, as she came into her own, her wisdom was deeper than mine and her light started to shine bright. Many times the depth of her compassion and love, especially for children, and her patience were an inspiration to me. She has the amazing gift of unconditional acceptance of people. Even though we now live in different continents, my sister and I feel deeply connected. When we meet, we laugh a lot and sing. My teenage daughters say that we sound like “one laugh” and “one singing voice”. And this is true. My sister is my best friend for life. I hope my twin girls will share the same bond throughout life, no matter what.

Prayer: Gracious God, thank you for my sister. Many times she makes me laugh. Her loving words towards me bring tears to my eyes. It is such a gift having a sister. Thank you for her wisdom, her kindness and her role modeling of resilience and joy. I am deeply grateful. Amen

Love wisdom like a sister; make insight a beloved member of your family. Proverbs 7:4

I’m still experimenting. Stevie Wonder

Meditation: The older we get, the less likely we are to experiment, make changes or try out new things. Our brain  gets easily used to certain patterns and habits. The older we become, the more we cherish rituals and predictable ways of being in the world. However, artists and creative people like Stevie Wonder never get old in the sense of arriving at set patterns or unchangeable ways of being. They thrive on trying something new, different and out of the ordinary. I wish for myself that I will always keep the ability to try something new. I hope I will not shy away from the uncomfortable risk of changing my habits, even if it is only slightly at times. We humans create rituals for a reason. They comfort us. However, they can also “box us in” and “make our brains fall asleep”. I see God’s creative and life giving Spirit as the energy that is eager to try and create something new, while honoring the inherent patterns and rituals of nature.

Prayer: Spirit of the living God, breathe afresh on us. You are ever creating. Help us take the risk experimenting, and even “failing” at times. All amazing inventions were created with thousands of failed experiments. Being alive means trying something new and thinking and acting “outside the box”. Creator God, You breathe Your fresh air of life within us and create “light” in and through us. And we are grateful. Amen

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. Genesis 1: 3+31

“Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.” Malcolm S. Forbes

Meditation: There is a place for admitting sins and for revealing one’s shortcomings. However, when we become fixated on those, we have not fully understood the Go(o)d News that Jesus embodied: “We are forgiven”. So, we can stop staring at what we are not. We are invited to celebrate and value what we are because of whose we are. We are blessed and set free. We no longer have to fixate on our mistakes, short-comings and “lack of”. Those no longer count against us. “God is for us. Who could be against us?” So, we need to stop being against us by fixating on what we are not.

Prayer: God, Your forgiveness is more than an act towards us, it is an attitude towards us. Thank you that You graciously cover our short-comings, and you do not hold our mistakes against us. Help us stop being judgmental with ourselves by uncovering again and again what we have done wrong in the past. Free us from ourselves when we cannot let go of negative thoughts and harsh self-talk towards ourselves. You bless us. Help us accept Your blessing. And we are grateful. Amen

Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them. Romans 4:7  

I know what it feels like to struggle to get the education that you need. Michelle Obama

Meditation: A few days ago I saw on Facebook a video of an African American girl who was about 11 years old. The video was supposed to be funny. But to me it was not. The girl was caught on camera crying in the arms of her grandmother, while exclaiming intensely over and over again toward her mother that she “needed her education.” Apparently her mother was taking her out of school for a day, which did not seem to be a big deal for the mother (and I wondered if and how often it had happened before). However, for the young daughter it was a big deal. She said over and over: “I need my education!” The mother filmed her, apparently thinking the exchange was funny. The girl pointed towards her grandmother who was holding her during the exchange, saying that the grandmother had gotten an education, and so she needed to get the same. Both mother and daughter seemed to have been of working class background. The video pained me. I did not laugh.

Prayer: God, thank you for this girl’s tenacity and for her outspoken ways. Thank you for the grandmother’s support and for role models like her and Michelle Obama. In our society that currently makes a good education more and more difficult to get and a privilege reserved for the middle and upper class, hear this girl’s cry. Hear her prayer. Strengthen her resolve and seriousness. Wake her mother up. Let politicians fight for her. Open doors and good schools for her, so her need will be met. Amen

Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is your life. Proverbs 4:13

Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone and solitude expresses the glory of being alone. Paul Tillich

Meditation: Babies need to learn to fall asleep on their own. Initially that can feel distressing and terrifying to them. However, as parents are a “good enough” and loving presence during the day time, the baby internalizes their presence and learns to self-sooth and fall asleep by herself at night.  Being spiritually content and at peace when being alone means “learning solitude”. Practicing solitude and not experiencing utter aloneness is a learning process even for us adults that we need to practice over and over again. While we offer God our feelings of stress, pain and fear in prayer, we remember God’s loving words and reassurances. It is with the help of this spiritual practice that we experience being alone without being lonely. Even though we can’t see or feel God, God’s Spirit wants to reassure us that we are not alone. And our experience of pain and loneliness gives way to the experience of solitude and peace.

Prayer: God of peace and comfort, help us to cherish these moments of solitude. Help us lose the fear of being alone. Help us remember Your words even when You seem absent. Thank you for being a God who cares deeply about us. And we are grateful. Amen

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1. Peter 5:7

The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them. Thomas Merton

Meditation: It is tempting to make others into images or into ideals we have of them, or into images of ourselves. At times I see fathers expect their sons to be exactly like them. Or I see mothers wanting their daughter to live out the dream that they were never able to fulfill. I see a spouse battle the other over many years, as he is not living up to the expectations of how she wants to be loved by him. Often this self-seeking behavior has to do with short-comings and wounding caused by former experiences of misguided or “not good enough” ways of “loving”.  Jesus embodied a model of love that makes the “object” of love into a “subject”. Instead of love being based on self-seeking control, Jesus modeled a love that fundamentally and deeply respects the other. Jesus challenges our human love to raise up to greater heights based on God’s ways of loving us.

Prayer: God of Love, You teach us in Jesus that love does not hurt, does not control and does not oppress. As we should not make an image of You, we should also not try to change another person into an image we have of him or her. Thank you for challenging our self-seeking ways of loving others. Humble us first, and then also empower us to distinguish between truly loving others and trying to control them. Amen

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 1. Corinthians 13: 4-5

 

The greatest mark of a father is how he treats his children when no one is looking. Dan Pearce

Meditation: My father has been one of the most influential persons in my life. He would have liked to live a life more in the background, yet due to his calling to be a pastor he lived for many years as a public figure in a small German town. What I appreciate and love about my Dad is that he was congruent. His preaching and how he lived his life and related to us four children did not contradict each other. Sure, he was not perfect. However, he embodied patience, Grace and acceptance. Although he was a rather anxious person, he allowed his children to be different from him. When no one was looking, he still embodied the values he held dear as a preacher. This made it easy for me to trust in a God who is patient, Grace filled and accepting. Thank you, Papa.

Prayer: Gracious God, I thank you for the Spirit of my Dad that is still present with me today. I thank you for the many times he preached Your word, and then lived his life in sync with his preaching. Thank You that he was a father who did not hinder me from finding You, but who made it easy. Thank You for his legacy, his kindness, his gentle Spirit and his humble strength. And I am grateful. Amen

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!  1 John 3:1

Comparison is an act of violence against the self. Iyanla Vanzant

Meditation: Raising twin daughters has been a spiritual journey for us as parents. My husband and I are both people who do not compare ourselves with others. We do not envy or strive for something because somebody else has it. We do strive for growth, and we have dreams and goals. But we do not compare. Raising twins took this value and principle to a new level of relevance for us. Since they were small we never compared them with each other, even when others tended to do so. We told our daughters: “Do not compare yourself. Not with each other nor with others around you. You are each special. You are each uniquely made. Comparing makes you miserable.” At times my teen girls struggle with this principle. However, most of the time it gives them freedom and permission to celebrate their uniqueness. They are growing to be content with who they are and what their strengths and limitations are.

Prayer: Spirit of God, breathe in us. Free us from comparing ourselves. Free us from self-violence, from envy or self-doubt. Free us from all external distractions and pressures that keep us from embracing who You have created us to be. Breathe in us and through us. Nurture us, so we fully embrace the person You meant for us to be. And we are grateful. Amen

God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 1. Peter 4:10