Lenten Journey through the Spiritual Alphabet
Psalm 119, Sustainable Love
Beth, (part 2)
With my lips I recite all the edicts you have spoken.
I find joy in the way of your decrees more than in all riches.
I will ponder your precepts and consider your paths.
In your laws I take delight; I will never forget your word.
***
When Your Word kisses my lips
and my lips shape the sounds You bring forth,
Your Spirit bursts forth in my heart!
I try hold it there in cautious wonder,
yet I have no choice but to follow its path!
The gift of the Word/Jesus is my vital elan, and yours.
It is free for all of us!
The Word can be taken from me, but cannot be taken out of me.
2.28.2009
2.27.2009
Lent 2009: Day 3
Lenten Journey through the Spiritual Alphabet
Psalm 119, Sustainable Love
Beth, (part 1)
How can the young walk without fault?
Only by keeping your words.
With all my heart I seek you;
do not let me stray from your commands.
In my heart I treasure your promise,
that I may not sin against you.
Blessed are you, O LORD;
teach me your laws.
*****
What did the Purest of Pure bring with him into desert?
How did He respond to his first temptation without fault?
Your Divine Word: "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God!"
I cherish Your Word, Your promise to Love me forever,
Teach me to bring Your Word/Your Love with me wherever I go,
and to whomever or whatever I encounter.
Psalm 119, Sustainable Love
Beth, (part 1)
How can the young walk without fault?
Only by keeping your words.
With all my heart I seek you;
do not let me stray from your commands.
In my heart I treasure your promise,
that I may not sin against you.
Blessed are you, O LORD;
teach me your laws.
*****
What did the Purest of Pure bring with him into desert?
How did He respond to his first temptation without fault?
Your Divine Word: "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God!"
I cherish Your Word, Your promise to Love me forever,
Teach me to bring Your Word/Your Love with me wherever I go,
and to whomever or whatever I encounter.
2.26.2009
Lent 2009: Day 2
Lenten Journey through the Spiritual Alphabet
Psalm 119, Sustainable Love
Aleph, (part two)
May my ways be firm in the observance of Your laws!
Then I will not be ashamed to ponder all Yur commands.
I will praise You with sincere heart as I study Your just edicts.
I will keep Your laws; do not leave me all alone.
*****
Would it please be Your will
that Your Love inside me should so increase,
that without shame,
I may admit all I am by Your virtue?
My delight will be pure, as will my heart!
I will closely study Your appearance
and bear Your ways of Loving
Oh, and…
Would it also please be Your will to never leave me all alone and to not put me to the test?
Psalm 119, Sustainable Love
Aleph, (part two)
May my ways be firm in the observance of Your laws!
Then I will not be ashamed to ponder all Yur commands.
I will praise You with sincere heart as I study Your just edicts.
I will keep Your laws; do not leave me all alone.
*****
Would it please be Your will
that Your Love inside me should so increase,
that without shame,
I may admit all I am by Your virtue?
My delight will be pure, as will my heart!
I will closely study Your appearance
and bear Your ways of Loving
Oh, and…
Would it also please be Your will to never leave me all alone and to not put me to the test?
2.25.2009
Lent 2009: Sustainable Love
Lenten Journey through the Spiritual Alphabet
Psalm 119
Aleph
Happy those whose way is perfect,
who walk by the teaching of the LORD.
Happy those who observe God's decrees,
who seek the LORD with all their heart.
They do no wrong;
they walk in God's ways.
You have given them the command
to keep your precepts with care.
*********
His Spirit drives you and me into the experiences we need to walk in His perfect way.
His teaching, His Word, is "Love".
His Decrees: Love God, Love Neighbor
Seek Him using your heart as your guide, and you will walk in Him.
Indeed, he has given you and me the ability to bear His Love tenderly in our hearts.
Psalm 119
Aleph
Happy those whose way is perfect,
who walk by the teaching of the LORD.
Happy those who observe God's decrees,
who seek the LORD with all their heart.
They do no wrong;
they walk in God's ways.
You have given them the command
to keep your precepts with care.
*********
His Spirit drives you and me into the experiences we need to walk in His perfect way.
His teaching, His Word, is "Love".
His Decrees: Love God, Love Neighbor
Seek Him using your heart as your guide, and you will walk in Him.
Indeed, he has given you and me the ability to bear His Love tenderly in our hearts.
2.23.2009
I love my Mom
I had a wonderful visit with my mother this weekend
She was in town for a seminar and spent the night
with us on Saturday and went to church with me on Sunday.
She loves going to my church, she has been with me 3-4 times now over the last few years.
She, like many people, had a lot of misconceptions (misunderstandings) of the Catholic Church. For example, our veneration of the blessed Mother.
Mom was inspired by the Mass, the prayers, and the music, but mainly by the love our parishioners have for each other.
You dont have to have to belong to a particular church or have a certain belief to recognise God/Love.
Churches do not have a lock on Love, but some, like mine, while certainly not perfect, seem to at least have a key :o)
Happy monday (bleccch)
Keren
She was in town for a seminar and spent the night
with us on Saturday and went to church with me on Sunday.
She loves going to my church, she has been with me 3-4 times now over the last few years.
She, like many people, had a lot of misconceptions (misunderstandings) of the Catholic Church. For example, our veneration of the blessed Mother.
Mom was inspired by the Mass, the prayers, and the music, but mainly by the love our parishioners have for each other.
You dont have to have to belong to a particular church or have a certain belief to recognise God/Love.
Churches do not have a lock on Love, but some, like mine, while certainly not perfect, seem to at least have a key :o)
Happy monday (bleccch)
Keren
2.20.2009
Promise: Love will not destroy
Love will endure. Even if you cannot see touch or hold it. It is always there. Sometimes it takes a few storms to realize the promise.
***
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken...
excerpt from William Shakespeare's Sonnet 116
2.18.2009
His precious treasure: Us
[…With one arm gently wrapped around her, he reads from an oversized storybook propped up in her lap. Slumped over against his shoulder, she is turned toward him with the top of her precious head resting against the side of his face. She can't walk or sit up straight, and offers only an occasional groan. She's just sitting there unresponsive, seemingly oblivious, as dad dutifully reads her a story, alternating his voice to impersonate the different characters.
[…she sits spellbound gazing into his face with her mouth slightly open with a smile. He's glued to the book; she's glued to him. What does she see? What does she feel? She seems so content and peaceful, at home really, resting her head against daddy's face, receiving his love. Then again, that's all she can do. She's not even capable of reciprocating her father's love, and yet I can see she is his most precious treasure…]
...excerpts from the book Divine Nobodies by Jim Palmer.
It seems I hear God's word clearer when I have been in an extended slump...when I cant seem to do anything right, have let people down, acted like a prima dona, cant keep my dishes washed or laundry off the floor.. flopping on the couch and hiding undercover from the world...I somehow still feel the warmth of His cheek and the sound of His voice telling me stories, and the comforting beat of His heart.
I pray and wish this for you too.
We have a God who just wants to Love us, and if anything, what He wants from us is to take comfort from and trust in Him.
Peace
Keren
[…she sits spellbound gazing into his face with her mouth slightly open with a smile. He's glued to the book; she's glued to him. What does she see? What does she feel? She seems so content and peaceful, at home really, resting her head against daddy's face, receiving his love. Then again, that's all she can do. She's not even capable of reciprocating her father's love, and yet I can see she is his most precious treasure…]
...excerpts from the book Divine Nobodies by Jim Palmer.
It seems I hear God's word clearer when I have been in an extended slump...when I cant seem to do anything right, have let people down, acted like a prima dona, cant keep my dishes washed or laundry off the floor.. flopping on the couch and hiding undercover from the world...I somehow still feel the warmth of His cheek and the sound of His voice telling me stories, and the comforting beat of His heart.
I pray and wish this for you too.
We have a God who just wants to Love us, and if anything, what He wants from us is to take comfort from and trust in Him.
Peace
Keren
2.17.2009
Feeling the Prayers of Friends: Feeling the Love
I worked at little a housecleaning this weekendLate Saturday afternoon I took a nap
I heard a few words and Love (God) filled in the rest
Prayers washing me "clean" with the living water,
and you holding me in your hearts.
On Monday I read the words
another friend wanted me to hear, "I love you".
I am loved.
So are you and all of us.
Let's keep feeling it.
Happy Tuesday
Peace
Keren
2.14.2009
True Love: I am in you and you are in me and that is forever, so it may take awhile.
This morning, I heard a wonderful homily regarding Adam and Eve..at one point the homiliest said something like "God never forgave Adam and Eve" they were kicked out - he added, with some clothes God sewed for them to make sure they were warm while banished (love that image too). This is totally out of context and it was an absolutely wonderful homily about separation - Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil vs. Tree of Eternal Life - independence vs. neediness.
However...It made me remember an ancient homily I recently read.
It was about..Jesus/God/Love does not want any one of his sheep to be lost, not a one - especially not Adam and Eve.
the forgiveness of Adam and Eve (His creation)
was Jesus purpose, forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation for mankind.
In becoming Jesus, God not only was Adam and Eve's Creator, he then also became their Son.
Son of Man (Adam's son), Son of the mother of the Living - (Eve's son).
How more intimate can you get?
God loved Adam and Eve (his creation) so much,
so so very much, and maybe he missed them.
His relationship with his chosen people was good but perhaps
He wanted a close, intimate relationship again with his creation
so so very much that he literally became His creation (man) Himself.
In the form of Jesus, God lived, died,
even descended into Hell with the dead to bring them (Adam and Eve aka his creation) back - those who had died before His act of eternal redemption/salvation.
Maybe you have, but I had never looked at it that way.
Here... this is the ancient homily regarding Holy Saturday (the time after Jesus's death on the cross (Good Friday), prior to rising again - (Easter) - it still gives me goosebumps....
***
Today a great silence reigns on earth, a great silence and a great stillness. A great silence because the King is asleep.
The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. . .
He has gone to search for Adam, our first father, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow Adam in his bonds and Eve, captive with him -
He who is both their God and the son of Eve. . . "I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. . . I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead."488 (Ancient Homily for Holy Saturday)
Biblical musings...
Peace
Keren
2.13.2009
Being in Love
http://www.relevantmagazine.com/features-reviews/god/16013-being-in-qloveq-love
This is from Jim Palmer, one of the founders of this site. It is a wonderful article. I tried to post a link to it, but I dont know how. To read it, please hightlight the url address and cut and paste it in your browser.
Peace
Keren
This is from Jim Palmer, one of the founders of this site. It is a wonderful article. I tried to post a link to it, but I dont know how. To read it, please hightlight the url address and cut and paste it in your browser.
Peace
Keren
Updated: Valentine Message For The Forgotten, Ignored, Meek, Poor and Empty
"Hello Broken-hearted one" says God,
I Need You
I Want You
and
I Love You
Don't listen to anyone who may tell you different."
"I fill you with My Spirit and you shine in the
hearts of those people and places who need you
and receive you in My Name"
2.11.2009
2.08.2009
Love is Supreme: Through with and in the Seasons, corners of the earth, chambers of the heart and beyond.
I slept alot this weekend
A personal retreat, yes, and yet
My heart heard the word
Where...in a dream state of course
Having to come through layers of existence to
Awaken understanding, even in cold or heat
Throughout all, love is supreme
As such, "us against them" is meaningless
Me against you does not exist
peace
keren
A personal retreat, yes, and yet
My heart heard the word
Where...in a dream state of course
Having to come through layers of existence to
Awaken understanding, even in cold or heat
Throughout all, love is supreme
As such, "us against them" is meaningless
Me against you does not exist
peace
keren
2.06.2009
Faith: A gift
How exciting
A new life has been created
a baby
between us, through with and in us!
It was a long and difficult labor
let's hold it up and show it to the world!
It will need nurturing
Hold on to it tenderly but firmly
Play with it, delight in everything about it
expect tears and shouts from time to time,
smile at it alot
let it grow,
then eventually buy it some shoes and let it go
so it can do things on its own
*****
Peace
Keren
A new life has been created
a baby
between us, through with and in us!
It was a long and difficult labor
let's hold it up and show it to the world!
It will need nurturing
Hold on to it tenderly but firmly
Play with it, delight in everything about it
expect tears and shouts from time to time,
smile at it alot
let it grow,
then eventually buy it some shoes and let it go
so it can do things on its own
*****
Peace
Keren
2.03.2009
2.02.2009
But the fruit of the Spirit is love
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (Galatians 5:22)
I want to hear about a Saint who meditates continuously on the fruits of the Holy Spirit. In good times and bad, he/she is immersed in the Spirit, so much that he/she becomes the Spirit of Love in his/her heart. Miracles happen, people are healed and enlightened.
I understand the dark night of the soul teachings of St. John of the Cross and others who live in communities of like minded people, who have confessors to actually talk to and share with, and an ability to be immersed in the Catholic Christian world of Mass, Eucharist, praying the hours, etc.
What about a Saint that doenst have the opportunity for that type of community?
Instead of an extended dark night of the soul focusing on the Passion and the cross, what about one focused on the Spirit given to us by the risen Christ?
I'm not doubting that pain and suffering is a way to spiritual growth, I don't doubt it at all. To me however, it seems the Spirit - the third person of the Trinity has that power too, no matter a person's circumstances just based on the person's heart?
***
I sat on the floor and cried yesterday morning when I couldn't get on this site. One day Jim and Anne are probably just going to shut it off for lack of interest. I suppose I will then find another place or another way to communicate...I was miraculously given this when I was (temporarily) shut out of another place...so I have hope! God provides.
***
Oh and..
I won $50 on the office football pool yesterday. The first half, after the miraculous 100 yard touchdown, the longest run for a touchdown in superbowl history...and with no time left on the clock!!!
Don't you love it? The player was my hero for a while, then I saw him slug someone who was already down...o well, the touchdown was miraculous for me nonetheless. Two years in a row I have won on the pool. Not bad for someone who does not even like football.
Peace,
Happy Monday
Keren
I want to hear about a Saint who meditates continuously on the fruits of the Holy Spirit. In good times and bad, he/she is immersed in the Spirit, so much that he/she becomes the Spirit of Love in his/her heart. Miracles happen, people are healed and enlightened.
I understand the dark night of the soul teachings of St. John of the Cross and others who live in communities of like minded people, who have confessors to actually talk to and share with, and an ability to be immersed in the Catholic Christian world of Mass, Eucharist, praying the hours, etc.
What about a Saint that doenst have the opportunity for that type of community?
Instead of an extended dark night of the soul focusing on the Passion and the cross, what about one focused on the Spirit given to us by the risen Christ?
I'm not doubting that pain and suffering is a way to spiritual growth, I don't doubt it at all. To me however, it seems the Spirit - the third person of the Trinity has that power too, no matter a person's circumstances just based on the person's heart?
***
I sat on the floor and cried yesterday morning when I couldn't get on this site. One day Jim and Anne are probably just going to shut it off for lack of interest. I suppose I will then find another place or another way to communicate...I was miraculously given this when I was (temporarily) shut out of another place...so I have hope! God provides.
***
Oh and..
I won $50 on the office football pool yesterday. The first half, after the miraculous 100 yard touchdown, the longest run for a touchdown in superbowl history...and with no time left on the clock!!!
Don't you love it? The player was my hero for a while, then I saw him slug someone who was already down...o well, the touchdown was miraculous for me nonetheless. Two years in a row I have won on the pool. Not bad for someone who does not even like football.
Peace,
Happy Monday
Keren
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