Hope and Soar

Ephesians 6:13-18 The Message

13-18Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

Prayer is essential. I invite you to join me in specifically covering MCI for Hope - a work & learn experience  in Kenya this week, and SOAR Heartland, a week-long mission in downtown Winnipeg happening right now.  We can stay connected to what they're doing by following their blogs listed below.

MCI for Hope Blog

SOAR Heartland Blog

be still

I have had a lot of opportunity to be still lately. The circumstances are not necessarily what I would have chosen, but the gift in it has been being able to gaze into the face of Jesus regularly.

I'm wired to pursue routine and discipline and so for the past number of weeks, as soon as I am alone in the mornings, I have given myself over to several minutes of centering prayer. Sitting in silence, agreeing to the presence of the Holy Spirit, and letting go of thought, even releasing any other type of prayer, intercession or petition. It is a discipline that I am still learning and I'm not going to evaluate it or measure it, just experience and enjoy it.

This morning, for some reason, I did not go to my "prayer chair" first for that time of quiet. I'm not particularly busy these days, and there is no work I must do, but somehow my morning slipped away in trivial ways. And I had a sense of restlessness. I started to do a few things, always abandoning them after a few moments. I found myself looking for some way to satisfy my restless feelings. It didn't take long for me to wonder if missing that still, quiet time at the beginning of my day was what had me derailed. The good thing is, I have the luxury right now of declaring a "do-over" on my day. I sat. I was still. I am still.

-Candice

is it true

Something I read a few days ago started me thinking along certain lines, only to have the whole thing reframed as I processed it further. The reading had to do with discerning what is true. The challenge was to ask "Is it true? ... is it objectively true?" No matter who said it, or whether or not I like it or any other nuances of context or meaning, but simply "is it true?"

My ego, that part of me that is judgmental and strives to be in control and be superior, and to protect myself from possible hurt, does not want to strip everything else away and simply ask "is it true". I want to react to everything else that surrounds the truth - the source, the context and my own needs. I want the "easy" way.

But that is not at all what I am being asked to do. I sense I am being asked to allow myself to be led down a path of surrender - again! And what would come of that?? I know what has come of surrender work in the past. Light. And I do long for the light.

This meditation came to my inbox this morning and it looks as good a starting place for surrender work as any. Join me?

-Candice