Mama Mondays

At the Home of Martha and Mary 38  As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.   39  She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.   40  But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” 41  “Martha, Martha,”  the Lord answered,  “you are worried and upset about many things,   42  but few things are needed—or indeed only one. [ a ]  Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Here's how the Chosen interprets this:  https://youtu.be/u_PWn83zJ68?si=PIpLTw8ky6yUzYbq Lectio Reflections on Luke 10:38-42 This is the story of Mary and Martha. Two sisters. One house. One significant moment captured in time. We’ve long called this ...

Good words from a favorite writer:  For Those Who Struggle With Prayer I grew up hearing stories of “travailing prayer,” moving accounts of rigorous prayer warriors who spent hours in their prayer closets (figurative and literal) laboring over the sick, the heartbroken, the cataclysmic state of the world. The travailing image is potent and beautiful, emerging from the prophet Isaiah describing prayer as “a pregnant woman about to give birth, writhing and crying in her pain.” One man fasted and prayed 40 days and nights, nothing but water and juice and persistence, and the stories of his experience were moving. A missionary couple, serving orphans a meal with the last scraps of food in the cabinet, pleaded with God as they did every day—and within the hour a delivery truck pulled up with a full load of donated goods. Grandmothers spent hours on their knees every morning beseeching God to help their grandchildren who were struggling and their litany of friends in the ho...

Help us to embrace possibility,   respond graciously to disappointment   and hold tenderly those we encounter.  Help us to be fully present to this day. -Padraig O'Tuama,  Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community 

Last week at church, Renee preached on the midwives (Shiphrah and Puah) in Exodus.   She pointed out their courage in how they listened to a deeper, truer voice than Pharoah’s. They also promoted wholeness and connection through the work they were doing as midwives. She invited us to consider what it means to come alongside others with the gifts we have and to consider who God is calling us to accompany along the way.   She asked me to offer a prayer after the sermon, and below what I shared: Midwives are people who come alongside women in labor, and one of the things they do is to help them to breathe through it all.   In the same vein, before we begin, let’s take a few moments to breathe.   Close your eyes, relax your body starting with your facial muscles working all the way down to your feet. Choose one of the phrases below as your prayer. Then, take in a slow, steady breath and say the first part of the scripture. As you breathe out, say the latter part of t...