Mama Mondays

  I welcome everything that comes to me in this moment because I trust it can be part of my healing. I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations, and conditions. I let go of my desire for approval. I let go of my desire for control. I let go of my desire for false security. I let go of my desire to change any situation, condition, person for myself. I open to the love and presence of God and the healing action and grace within. (Modified from original by Contemplative Outreach )

  and below are some wonderful words from beloved author Margaret Feinberg:  "As I prayed this morning, one thought swept through my heart:   Today is the day to start praying for how God will display His glory in you throughout the holiday season.   ...over the coming weeks, we'll celebrate... Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas. We’ll celebrate birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, and the arrival of new babies. Families, friends, neighbors, and coworkers will gather.   In each of these moments, the Spirit of the Living God awaits, ready to breathe His life, His joy, His goodness, and His presence in you and through you.   These are more than holidays or celebrations . . .  These are opportunities to love deeply, listen intently, and wrap our arms and hearts around those who are hurting.   These holidays aren’t about getting our preferences and desires met, but about pouring ourselves out into a lost, hurting, and broken world.   Rising up ...

a bronze mite pictured above...    Mark 12:38-44 New International Version 38  As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces,  39  and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.  40  They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.” 41  Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts.  42  But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. 43  Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.  44  They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put ...

In addition to  things that I posted yesterday , here are some poems that Catherine White shared with me today....  💙💗  CONTINUE -Maya Angelou  My wish for you Is that you continue          Continue To be who and how you are To astonish a mean world With your acts of kindness          Continue To allow humor to lighten the burden Of your tender heart          Continue In a society dark with cruelty To let the people hear the grandeur Of God in the peals of your laughter           Continue To let your eloquence Elevate the people to heights They had only imagined          Continue To remind the people that Each is as good as the other And that no one is beneath Nor above you         Continue To rememb...

  A Benediction for Election Season May you remember that all politics and all platforms and all borders and all leaders are temporary, are here one day and gone the next. All of these are passing away. May you resist the temptation to place ultimate trust in any person, policy, party, movement, or nation—even a beautiful idea that is embodied by a nation—because no nation-state is eternal. May you know that your kingdom is not of this world but of the world that is coming to this world. May you in the same moment grasp that  engagement with  the things of this world—not escape from its harsher, darker realities—is the sacrificial pattern of Jesus Christ. May you discover your role in the just and merciful governance of the world God made good and pursue your cosmos-converting vocation with love amid the world’s brokenness; may you see your work in the world—all of your callings and activities—as a participation in bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth. May you have str...