Shoved by Grace

Prayer is a fraught topic. It's hard to talk about it in the church, and harder to talk about it outside of the church. Almost everyone has an experience with prayer - prayers answered, prayers not answered, prayer stage fright (or maybe that just happens to pastors!). Prayer is such a personal topic that I think sometimes we're afraid to talk about it in fear of offending someone or negating their experiences. But here I go. Prayer reveals our heart to God...and to ourselves. It is the act of opening ourselves us and sharing our intimate selves, that changes us. And it brings us closer to God, our neighbor and ourselves. When we pray whether it's unprepared or written, we are revealing what matters most to us. Our concerns, our wants and desires, our joys and triumphs, our failures and guilt. A prayer can often be surprising, even to ourselves. Even when we're not being entirely honest, well, that reveals something important about us too. Scripture says a lo

Some weeks, I try not to look at the news. Or, at least, try not to let myself get sucked in. But I have not succeeded recently in regards to the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination. Of course, appointing a new Supreme Court justice is always an important business. A justice is appointed for life and will be hearing cases that involve us all, trying to ensure what the title implies - justice for all of us. The mere fact that justices are appointed by the President and approved by the Senate makes the process political. But this year, the process has become about more than Republican versus Democrat. It, like much of the past two years, has become a touchpoint in the national conversation regarding the balance of power between men and women. Let me start by saying I don't know what happened between Kavanaugh and his accusers. I trust that a real investigation can uncover the truth. But, what concerns me more are the reactions to the allegations and what they say about our

Sometimes certain themes keep popping up in front of me so often that I can't keep thinking that it is random. Is that God trying to speak to me? Or is it just that I'm really pondering a subject so I notice it more. Like when you buy a new car and then keep seeing "your car" everywhere. So, for the last few days, the topic that keeps popping up in my sight line is Unity. This past Sunday, my pastor talked about unity in a sermon about corporate prayer. This morning I heard an extended rant about party unity on my TV news show. And now, reading my devotional for the day, I come across this, from Ignatius of Loyola, "The most wonderful thing is unity with Jesus and with the Father. In him we shall partake in God if we firmly resist and flee all the arrogant attacks of the prince of this world. Unity of prayer, unity of supplication, unity of mind, unity of expectancy in love and blameless joy: this is Jesus Christ and there is nothing greater than he. Flo

So last week was rather eventful around here. On Tuesday morning, after a lovely relaxing Labor Day weekend, I was woken up by an acrid smell and a haze of smoke rapidly filling up the house. I'm so thankful that my husband, rather than his usual "open a window, it will be fine" attitude, recognized the seriousness of the situation and got me out of bed and out of the house. I called the fire department and they soon located the source of the smoke - smoldering insulation in the attic caused by faulty wiring. We were lucky. We were home, we called the fire department immediately, they were able to locate the source and put it out before it caused much damage. Other than some charred insulation and wiring and a house that smells like a BBQ pit, we didn't suffer any lasting damage. But it was certainly scary! And, to my amazement, I was surprisingly calm through the whole thing. It brought to mind Philippians 4:7, " Then you will experience God’s peace, wh