May Twenty-Twenty

These quotes this month are shared in an effort to sit with the pain and suffering in the world all around us and to lament the devastation of COVID-19 and the systemic racism and broken systems that we live in and benefit from (or not).... along with words that remind us of the hope that God loves us and is with us as we look for change in and all around us. 

"Lord, help me unclutter my life, to organize myself in the direction of simplicity. Expose my biases and help me to see the world from other's perspectives.  Teach me to listen to my heart, to welcome change instead of fearing it. Lord, I give you these stirrings inside me. I give you my discontent with the way the world is. I give you my restlessness. I give you my doubts. I give you my despair. I give you all the longings I hold inside. Help me to listen to these signs of change, of growth; help me to listen seriously and follow where they lead through the breathtaking empty space of an open door." 

-adapted from Shane Claiborne, Common Prayer

"God, for centuries we have imagined that between us and you were distance and difference, silence and judgement, and ultimately, walls. But now we’re learning that wall-building is a uniquely human response to fear, to pain, to vulnerability, to a feeling of separation.  If we can forget the idea of separation, perhaps we can stop building walls on its behalf. Oh God, may we let love have free reign to build something more imaginative than walls. See, we think our separateness is a given, but you are constantly urging us toward a different perspective: that nothing can separate us from you-- nothing created, nothing imagined, nothing contrived – that you are, always and forever, for better and for worse, in every circumstance, in every situation together with us. You are God-With-Us. And that togetherness, that persistence, that in-it-for-the-long-haul relentless with-ness, is part of your personality, a characteristic of you; part of your everlasting love, that is always building new spaces and breaking down walls. Amen." 

-Fran Pratt

"Lord, open unto me.  Open unto me — light for my darkness. Open unto me — courage for my fear. Open unto me — hope for my despair. Open unto me — peace for my turmoil. Open unto me — joy for my sorrow.....

Open unto me — strength for my weakness. Open unto me — wisdom for my confusion. Open unto me — forgiveness for my sins. Open unto me — love for my hates. Open unto me — thy Self for my self. Lord, Lord, open unto me! Amen." 
 -Howard Thurman 

"Oh God, You created all people in your image. We thank you for the astonishing variety of races and cultures in this world. Enrich our lives by ever-widening circles of friendship, and show us your presence in those who differ most from us, until our knowledge of your love is made perfect in our love for all your children; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
-Lutheran Book of Worship

"Give us, O God, the vision which can see thy love in the world in spite of human failure. Give us the faith to trust the goodness in spite of our ignorance and weakness. Give us the knowledge that we may continue to pray with understanding hearts, and show us what each one of us can do to set forth the coming of the day of universal peace. Amen."

- Prayer by Apollo 8 astronaut Frank Borman, December 25, 1968 --- Day Four in the mission, 74 hours, 50 minutes, and 7 seconds

"Parenting is never about how your kids turn out. It’s always and only about how you keep turning toward your kids and their Maker." -Ann Voskamp 

"Parenting 101: No shock, no shame, no matter what they do. Only sharing the sheltering arms of the Shepherd. Parent or child, we are no different, we are all wandering sheep, easily lured, who all need the rescue of the Shepherd from the lostness of lesser loves into the embrace of the greatest Love, Love Himself. When a mother stops seeing herself as the shepherd who needs to be good enough get her child safely Home, but instead sees her and her child both in need of a Good Shepherd, this is how she always stays safe in the home of God." 

-Ann Voskamp 

"It’s okay: Motherhood is never about training your children to be good so they won’t ever fall — it’s about letting them see you fall in love every day with a good God." -Ann Voskamp 

"Did I tell you to laugh, to dance, to sing? There is a lot in life that is hard, but take it as it comes and find the good… and make time to dance......

Did I tell you to be creative to explore the seed within you? 

Find your creative spirit and let it grow.”

–Elizabeth Knapp, Did I Tell You?

"Each day is a battle to say 'yes' to what matters and say no to what doesn’t. 

Focus is a practice."

-James Clear 

"Maybe we’ve been slowed down for a reason. Maybe this is our time to rediscover what really matters. Children know how to savor life and take it all in. You’ve probably seen children step out of time, getting lost in play. It’s probably why Jesus said, “It’s the truth. Unless you become like little children, you can’t enter the kingdom of heaven.”

We get to choose to learn again, every day, to rest, to savor, and to soak in the presence of God. We are so busy with all our doing, performing and getting things done that we lose our springs of life. Notice that all of our becoming and all of our doing that lasts, flows from these headwaters of eternal life. So, Take time with eternity. Practice God’s presence.

It will do you an eternal world of good. Finally, Be kind to yourself and take care of each other." - Bob Holmes

"Do not read our times lightly for we are being called into our better natures, our higher natures, and they will not fail us, as God is faithful through us to all.

Heed the call of your heart of hearts, can you hear it? Can you taste the goodness?

Live wholeheartedly in the abundance of God to others who have not yet. Be the light in the darkness. Be the hope in the desert. Be the comfort in the storm. Be the salt of the earth. For this too will pass, but love remains. Love never fails."

-Bob Holmes