meditation

CBG: Reciprocity

May 16, 2020 — Leave a comment

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peacefully with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:9-21

Here are the guidelines for living. You don’t need to do everything at once, and you probably should not and cannot. What part of this passage makes you angry because it feels too hard and too unfair? Never avenge yourselves? Be patient in tribulation? Overcome evil with good? A lot of this passage goes against my body when I’m gripping hard to my ego and my comforts. These encouragements are uncomfortable, are unfair. They require you to give up your status and ego. This is not giving up your power. It’s giving up your need to prove your power.

If there is a part of this passage that really irks — right now for me it’s live in harmony with one another – acknowledge the feelings. They are valid. What is that feeling trying to protect? What is this feeling afraid of losing if you actually abide by this verse? Do you need to hold onto this thing that you might lose? If you lose this thing, what do you need God to do to fill in the gap? What feeling emerges in the surrender?

Prayer: God I pray to love more, care more, rejoice and weep more, than I am resistant. God I pray for a greater capacity to surrender and give up present status for the sake of long-term health. God I pray for grace and patience with people who irk me to my core.

Character: Where am I gripping more than making room and loosening up?

Grace: What helps you take a breath and a moment before reacting?

CBG: Body

April 21, 2020 — Leave a comment

You have kept count of my tossings, put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?

Psalm 56:8

This is a needed reminder that God cares about our pain, our losses and our sorrows. While we are encouraged to surrender our pain to God and not keep a record of wrongs, we can trust that there is always someone who knows.

Can this also not apply to the Holy Spirit that is in our body? That the Holy Spirit in our body is also holding our tears and our pains? On the bright side of things, this can mean the deepest intimacy of holding space. The Holy Spirit that is not separated from us, but working through and in us is immediately available to hold our tears and pains. With that nearness, redemption and relief can also be immediate. Do you recall those moments when in an instance something’s lifted, you feel lighter, you feel transformed? On the tougher end of things, which always exists on this side of heaven, it also means our bodies remember trauma. Our bodies hold sadness. Our bodies have memories of hurts and losses. Even after Jesus was resurrected, his hands and feet still carried the traces of his trauma. Where can we fit hope into this? Your body is a temple, a holy place, your friend, your sanctuary. Honor the feelings and memories it gives you access to. How can awareness lead to gentle comfort and patient expansion or realignment? How can you be grateful for your body’s wisdom and history, yet know its true purpose is to point to a redemptive future? For all the talk in the Bible about the body, for the greatest act of God in human form, we must honor our holy selves that are marked by this human body.

Prayer: God, where do I hold my sadness? Where do I hold my anger? Where do I feel your Spirit? Where can I let you expand my heart?

Creative: Give yourself 5 minutes to take an inventory of your body. Thank it.

Brave: Wonderful Fear Setting exercise by Tim Ferris

Generous: Who needs you to “hold” them today?

CBG: Reflection

April 19, 2020 — 1 Comment

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
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Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous ways in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139: 1-5, 23-24

Self-reflection and quiet meditation to hear God’s voice are courageous acts. It requires surrender. It acknowledges that you don’t have the full picture. It allows another to reflect who you are. When we have the right God — one who is kind, compassionate and ever-for-our-good — we learn to trust being seen. And if we are in consistent practice with God, it will overflow to our trust in being seen by humans. Take some time. Sit with the questions. And whatever form responses come is perfect.

  1. How have you been brave?
  2. Where has fear dictated how you acted?
  3. Who are you when you are quiet?
  4. Who do you want to become?
  5. What questions do you have for God?
  6. How do you want God to respond?

CBG: #11

March 31, 2020 — Leave a comment

Give me an eagerness for your laws rather than a love for money! Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word. Reassure me of your promise, made to those who fear you. Help me abandon my shameful ways; for your regulations are good. I long to obey your commandments! Renew my life with your goodness.

Psalm 119: 36-40

Prayer: God give me an eagerness for you even when so many things are trying to pull my focus away. Make you feel relevant because sometimes you don’t seem too close. Help me to trust that the silence and alone-ness still holds your presence. You are very near. You are close, even when I don’t feel it and even when quieting scares me. Turn my eyes from the worthless things of fear and scarcity. Turn my eyes from the worthless things of building security in this world in things that will wash away again. Remove the need to be okay. Reassure me of your promises that you complete your work. Restore the joy of having a purpose beyond the circumstances of today.

Where are your thoughts? Where is your focus? Where are we sheltering in for comfort and security, and do you feel safe and hopeful there? Are you outward focused on others and their actions that impact you? Are you looking in at your hurt, scared, cradled heart? Are you too tired or reluctant to turn to God?

When was the last time God beckoned you back? What was whispered into your soul? What was felt in your body? What did you recall?

What were you once so sure about because you had God, and now feels unsteady or blurred? What drew you in at the beginning? What would you need for that first attraction to come full bloom right now?

Creative: Share your heart.

Brave: Come back to your body. Enjoy your body.

Generous: What non-profit needs a sprinkle of your heart?