Lord of Healing

Lord of my greatest fear:
Let in your peace.

Lord of my darkest shame:
Let in your grace.

Lord of my oldest grudge:
Let in your forgiveness.

Lord of my deepest anger:
Let in your love.

Lord of my loneliest moment:
Let in your presence.

Lord of my truest self- my all:
Let in your fullness.

~Adapted from a pryer by Alison Pepper, England.

In my most extreme experiences is often when I feel closest to or furthest away from God. When I'm really happy I feel God pouring through my veins. When I am really upset, I cry or yell to God- where are you? But when that happens, I always feel an answer come soon after. After my darkness, my fear, my loneliness, my grudges, my shame- after those times when my true self comes out in it's most vulnerable (and sometimes awful) form, I feel God coming in. I wake up at peace. I wake up and it's a gorgeous, bright sunny day. I feel forgiven. I feel loved. This is how I know God is real.

New Things!

Behold! I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up, do you not see it?
I am making a way in the desert
And streams in the wasteland.
~Isaiah 43:19

I've been preparing the last couple weeks for a new thing happening at Grace. Tonight is the first meeting of the Caring for Creation team. This is very exciting! How we care for our world is a reflection of our relationship with God. God entrusted us with the big and wonderful job of caring for the world. This is something I've thought a lot about and worked very hard at doing ever since I was a little kid. The first time I went to summer camp the theme was "What did Noah do about trash?" We talked about recycling, composting and spent all day outside in God's beautiful creation. We read the creation stories from Genesis and my heart was moved.

If you've been reading this blog, you've probably noticed that I write quite a bit about things like rain, seasons, and nature in general. I feel a great connection to God through these things. Martin Luther said that God not only wrote the good news in the Bible, but in the trees and the stars. The Bible often uses creation for metaphors and to do God's work- using water in baptism, bread and wine in communion. And there are lots of psalms and passages that talk about creation praising God, in their own way, along with humans.

I am really happy to be able to get this ministry going at Grace with so many willing participants. Of course, it will take the support of the whole congregation to work. But I look forward to growing together at Grace in how we care for God's beautiful world, and growing in our faith in our amazing Creator through this important work. God is doing new things among us every day. Thanks be to God for that!