People see God every day, they just don’t recognize him. Pearl Bailey

Meditation: When we go through life, our everyday concerns easily take over. Home life demands, work life worries and then the daily news flooding into our cars, our homes, our brains and emotional lives. There is not much space to pause and reflect. We often don’t get the chance to stop and pray. Even though it is Lent season, it is hard to halt and ponder where God is in everything we experience. When challenges, bad news, disappointing developments hit our hearts, we easily feel abandoned by God. Where is God? God’s presence seems questionable and far away. Our everyday challenges make us too anxious, too busy to pause and see God in everything. God is paradox. God is the One far away and yet so very close. God is the paradox of being a loving universal presence that we easily experience as very far away and distant, and then God is this loving microscopic creator presence that wants to heal every small cut on our skin that we easily take for granted and don’t think about.

Prayer: Loving God, your absence is felt every day. We wonder where you are when people are being deported. When policies are being made that only serve companies and the already rich. We wish you would intervene. And yet, you are bigger than what is happening. You are seeing the larger picture. You are holding our future, while we are overwhelmed with the present. And then you are also interwoven intimately with every happening in the here and now. You are there in every immigration cell. You are present when a person loses health insurance. You are with us as we sort through the chaos of the day. You are the invisible life force that will restore justice in the end and that will heal our every wound. And we pause. And we are grateful. Amen

“Am I only a God nearby,” declares the Lord, “and not a God far away?” Jeremiah 23:23

“You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways”. Psalm 139:3

Change is not in the hands of government, not in the hands of a leader or guru, and not in the hands of the powerful or wealthy. It is in our hands: the hands of each and every one of us. Shari Arison

Meditation: So many changes are being made right now by new executive orders, by changed laws and by new radical ways of law enforcement. As citizens we feel like watching a train coming by at high speed. While seeing and feeling the impact of that train, we anticipate the train wreck to happen. The train is going too fast. Its conductor does not know the craft of steering a fast train. Passengers in the train are cheering, anticipating a wonderful ride. Bystanders are scattering, scared of the consequences, foreseeing the train going off the rails and causing much destruction. The train of change is going rampant. And yet, we as citizens in a democracy are empowered to even stop this train. We have means to hold the conductor accountable. We are able to hold up warning signs. We can assist with moving people out of the way and encourage the passengers to take a second look and admit their feelings of angst, and not just excitement. It is on our hands: the hands of each and every one of us.

Prayer: God of ages, we need You to be with us when we feel helpless and scared, anticipating a train wreck that will cost the lives of many bystanders and even passengers alike. We are scared of a mentally impaired train conductor and a crew that thinks speed means progress and not danger and destruction. The name of every Syrian refugee is tattooed into the palm of your hand. Every person’s name losing their health insurance is engraved in Your skin. You are paying attention to all. All lives matter to You. Let our hands work for justice. Engrave the images of people impacted by the injustice of the current changes into our hearts and minds. And then use us to slow down or stop the train. Amen

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Isaiah 49:16a

 

If you fall, fall on your back. If you can look up, you can get up. Les Brown

Meditation: Today I walked out of a nail place after a pedicure with those floppy little sandals. I was on the phone with one hand, holding my shoes in the other hand. And it was raining. So, within seconds I found myself flat on my back. I was perplexed. I did not expect to fall. I had not fallen down in a long time. I fell in a way that my right leg was wet and bruised and my right elbow had taken a hit, but I could move my arm. Thank God, nothing broken! I got in my car, grateful that I did not fall on my head. Yes, my thinking is clear. My elbow needs ice, and it will be swollen for a while. But I could get up. I even felt protected somehow. It could have been worse!

Many of us feel like we have taken a collective sudden fall. We did not expect it, but the conditions were right: We were preoccupied with life, took things for granted, got distracted, thought things were going just fine. And then, without warning, with the sudden rain kicking in, plus a misfit of footwear and no hands prepared to hold on, we fell flat on our backs. It hurts! This experience feels disorienting and humbling. And we feel bruised… Thank God, we are not broken. Maybe we are even more alive than before. Pain has a way of elevating awareness.

Prayer: Living God, suddenly we are not taking anything for granted anymore. We fell. We are in pain. And yet, we are looking up to you. We are able to get up. Disoriented some, perplexed. The politics around us feel oppressive. We feel the pain of those persecuted. We experience that just and fair policies are being struck down. We feel pressured by the daily news. We feel pain for those crushed and impacted by the new laws. We listen to your promise: “You won’t abandon us”. God, lift our Spirit, heal those who feel scared and broken, so we won’t despair. Amen

“We are pressured in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair, we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. “2. Corinthians 4:8-10

“In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.” Friedrich Nietzsche

Meditation: We are seeing insanity of the highest degree and on the highest level enfold in front of our eyes. For the past years, the reactive and insane parts of our nation had been counteracted by a very balanced and sane president. He was a very mature and non-reactive person, which concealed and covered up an underline growing stream of groups’ and parties’ insanity becoming stronger and louder. And now we experience the extreme reactivity of our nation breaking forth with might, embodied in a president that manipulates and uses the most reactive, angry and paranoid groups within society. Manipulation, chaos, irrationality combined with power, an explosive mix. Efforts to confuse the masses through media and daily tactics of distracting rational and sane persons will create enough of a sense of insanity even in usually very sane persons. How do we immune ourselves? How do we prevent from getting infected?

Prayer: God, as Christians we become aware how we need Your Spirit. We need it like never before. Your Spirit empowers us to remain grounded, even if around us insanity rages. You focus us on the question: “Where is the love in what is happening?” If there is no love, then what is happening is not of You, our God. Your Spirit gives us self-control and strengthens us not having to react emotionally to every “tweet” and every media spectacle. And most of all, Your Spirit has the power to free us from fear. We pray today: God, fill us anew with your Spirit. Every day, every night, every moment – as we face the insanity of our times. Amen

For God has given us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 2. Timothy 1:7

 

Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends? Abraham Lincoln

Meditation: Never before have we seen the lines between friend and enemy as distinctly drawn verbally and in action as today. Mexicans, Immigrants, China, the Press…they and many more have been announced and labeled as “the enemy” that the US needs to “erect a wall against”, “throw out”,  “put high taxes on” or defame as “liars”… In the recent US psychodrama the world is arbitrarily split into “good or bad”, “deserving or undeserving”, “right or wrong”… The world of borderline personalities functions that way. Or the world of paranoid persons and narcissists as well…How has this happened? How could a whole country fall for a psychodrama that splits reality and that creates a virtual reality where those categories rule? Even the idea of friendship has been perverted in “friendship” being defined only as loyalty and usefulness to one’s own purpose. If somebody is no longer loyal or useful, former “friends” are being “fired” from one minute to the next, and they become enemies as well.

Prayer: God, you do not split. You do not discriminate. You send sunshine and rain for all. Jesus’s goal was to overcome human divisions. He modeled a way of engaging “so called” enemies by showing genuine love and by practicing prayer to change and heal relationships that were broken or strained based on prejudice or hatred. God, we pray that you will heal our country and start in our church communities. Let us preach and live as Christians according to how Jesus lived and preached and not get infected by the falsely splitting psychodrama of our times. God have mercy. Amen

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Matthew 5:44f

 

The only things standing between you and the compassionate, wise, and creative person you want to be are matters of choice. Your choice. No one can occupy your generosity except you. Gary Zukav

Meditation: When we are afraid and angry about “not having or being enough”, we hold on for dear life. We start hoarding. We start being competitive. We compare. We envy. We develop a mentality of scarcity. We feel that the universe is hostile and that there is no “good will for all”.

When we allow the Spirit of generosity to heal our fear, we can open our hands. We start letting go. We start sharing and giving freely. We no longer need to compare and measure. We develop a stance of generosity. We believe that the universe will take care of us and through us also of others who are in need. We believe that there is a universal “good will for all.”

Prayer: Generous God, pour out your Spirit of generosity into our hearts. When we feel fear and anger coming on, speak to us. Whisper gentle words of love and affirmation into our hearts. Reassure us that we are Yours, and that you are abundance. Hold us in the palm of your large and generous hands, so that we will be refreshed and that we can open our hands and share the abundance you have given us with others. Amen

A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. Proverbs 11:25

Preparing for death is one of the most empowering things you can do. Thinking about death clarifies your life. Candy Chang

Meditation: “The last lecture” is a video of a professor in his late forties who has received a cancer diagnosis that leaves him only a few months to live. He is married with three young children. One could imagine that he and his wife are devastated . However, when you watch his “last lecture” you notice that he sums up the most important life  experiences he had and lessons he learned. There is an aura of gratitude and joy around him even though he is not an explicitly spiritual or religious person. Within one hour and a little bit, he passes onto his colleagues and students what mattered most to him in his life. And in the end, he celebrates the here and now by bringing in a large cake to celebrate his wife’s birthday that she had the day before. After that he playfully disillusions the audience by letting them know the talk was really for his kids and not for them. Watch the video and get inspired!

Prayer: God of fullness of life, I thank you for Randy Pausch and his wife and how they journeyed on their difficult path together. For laughter and tears, for meaning making and living in the moment, for passing on gratitude and memories, for documenting special moments and marveling about the sequence of events in life. God, you give us role models how to live and also role models how to prepare for death. Randy and his wife are a gift to us who wonder how we might cope would our life take a sudden turn. Thank you, Amen

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Psalm 90:12

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Melody Beattie

Meditation: Melody Beattie is the author of “Co-dependent no more”. She uses her own story to help others who grew up in families where addiction and abuse were part of the daily experience. Her recovery inspired thousands of others. Her descriptive and non-judgmental language educated many and normalized the consequences of having grown up in addicted family systems. Her liberating example and message is that in recovering and in letting go of trying to control one’s environment, co-dependent persons can be freed from their addiction to addicted and abusive persons and systems. Gratitude becomes one of the spiritual resources of being able to surrender control and fear. In relating with gratitude to one’s Higher Power that wants to save all of us from abuse, addiction and even from ourselves, we find freedom and the power to transform our life patterns.

Prayer: Healing God, when we come to you, depleted from the patterns we find ourselves stuck in, you want to open up new possibilities. You give us guides, role models, teachers who point us in new directions. Help us to embrace gratitude as the means of breaking out of our relationship cycles of hatred, abuse and addiction. You want to give us resources we never had available. You teach us new ways of relating, new ways of seeing and of drawing boundaries. You teach us gratitude and self-respect. You are the source of all healing. And we are grateful. Amen

Therefore with joy you shall draw water out of the wells of salvation. Isaiah 12:3

Don’t forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it. Hebrews 13:2

Meditation: What if the strangers living in our midst are messengers of God? What if being kind to strangers is a way to serve and host God? I remember when I was 23 years old I travelled for three months through India. A young woman – alone with a backpack and her guitar. I felt quite vulnerable at times sitting in hot trains that would transport me for a day or two from one area in South India to another. I experienced hospitality that still makes me tear up. Young Indian girls would get up at 5am to collect firewood so that I could have a warm bath. Vegetarian food was prepared for me, and tea boiled on open fires. I was forgiven that I was not wearing an adult saree at first but a Western skirt. Did I not know that skirts were only for small girls? When I finally caught on and started wearing a saree, the women brought me necklaces and bracelets for my ankles and wrists as I was not wearing any jewelry. They forgave me that I did not know that only prostitutes were not wearing jewelry. The kindness I experienced I will never forget. The women’s patience with my ignorance. The many accommodations and gentle explanations to make me feel at home in a strange land. This experience later gave me the courage at 29 to emigrate to the US, a country that welcomed me and became my second home. May this country continue to be kind to strangers.

Prayer: God of Ages, throughout the Jewish and Christian Scriptures you have called for kindness and hospitality towards strangers and foreigners. You ask for inclusion and generosity, for provision of needs and protection from harm for those strangers who are most vulnerable. God, this Christian nation is turning inward. It is forgetting the basic ethics of their ancestors. God, have mercy on those who are forgetting and on those who are being forgotten. Amen

 “You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child.” Exodus 22:21-22

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead

Meditation: Sometimes when the work we put in every day does not produce much visible fruit, and when laying infrastructures while envisioning possibilities seems so far removed from the impact one wants to have, and when one feels so small compared with the overwhelming task and needs at hand, then it helps to remember, that each small group of committed people all around the world is held by a much bigger plan at work. The belief that there is a benign power that wants to move all suffering towards healing, all destruction towards a place of rebuilding and all hate towards a place of forgiveness and redemption, this is the only comfort and encouragement we have. Not the numbers matter, not the current impact, but more so the amazing potential and the thoughtfulness and dedication that is put into one’s work. To know and hold onto the assurance that my small contribution is part of a much larger master plan at work, that is so comforting.

Prayer: Creative and powerful God, you love the small beginnings. You delight in the daily small work we do to co-create with you. You are excited, even when only two or three people show up or come together. As long as we acknowledge your Spirit at work, as long as we remain committed and do not give up but trust the process, you can create amazing things we never dreamed of. Thank you for your love for the small beginnings, for small groups and for the amazingly large plan you have for this earth and for humanity. Amen

“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20