In retirement I have started a morning time of meditation. What a pleasure and blessing it is to have time in the morning to dedicate to this. My routine is totally online right now. The first thing I do is google "verse of the day".
The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with hs love, he will rejoice over you with singing.
Next I google the verse/images. I like to see a little art with the verse. Today I love how the "Delight in You" part of the verse jumps out at me. God actually takes delight in me!
I looked up (online) the word delight. It means to "please someone greatly". I also find myself focusing on the phrase "He will quiet you with His Love". My thoughts often need to be quieted. I will make that part of my prayer today, "quiet me with Your love, Lord". Then there is the singing part of the verse. God rejoices over me and it brings him/her to song. Wow, that is really love!
The next part of my meditation routine is reading several emails that I have signed up to receive. It is interesting how often they seem to relate to each other. For example one day every writing had to do with peace. Sometimes one particular email will resonate with me and my life right now. One of the people I follow is Richard Rohr:
I believe Jesus follows the same risky path, which has allowed him to be interpreted in so many different ways. Apparently, he was willing to take that risk, or he would have written down his teachings himself. Why do we think we have a right to certainty or complete clarity? This is the necessary and good poverty of all spiritual language. After all, Jesus never said, “You must be right!” or even that it was important to be right. That’s the genius of the biblical tradition. Jesus offers himself instead as “way, truth, and life” (John 14:6), and suddenly it all becomes about the sharing of our person instead of any fighting over ideas. Some people will meet that statement with resistance and criticism because we feel so much more in control when we are right than when we are in right relationship.
I never have thought about why didn't Jesus write scripture himself so we wouldn't have all those different interpretations? I grew up being taught a black and white way of following Jesus. This did not hold up to real life however. I believe now it is about loving others.
I follow a site called Daily OM. Although it is not specifically religious, it is spiritual in nature. Todays was about the benefits of taking a nap in the middle of day! A subject near and dear to my heart! That one just made me smile.
I then write out my prayer for the day. I write because I think I have praying ADD (attention Deficit Disorder). I get distracted so easily. Writing the prayer makes me think about my words more carefully and I have a record of what I prayed for. It helps me look for things to be grateful for.
Dear Lord,
My people pleasing heart is so happy to know that you take delight in me! You delight in me for who I am, who you created not in what I do or accomplish in a day. I thank you for sleep. I say this often but what a difference it makes to have a good night's rest. I thank you for a conversation with a girlfriend last night. A conversation where I could be honest about my challenges in this stage of life. A conversation that ended on a positive note, full of hope. Bless this girlfriend with answers to her difficult prayers this week.
What would you have me do today Lord? I am loving making the spaces we own full of color, light and evidence of our story. Today Lord help me to have vision of how to organize our space so it works for both my partner and I. If there is someone who needs a lift like I needed last night, help me to notice and respond. "Quiet me with Your Love". Help me to live in the present, not worry about the future or dwell on past hurts. May I appreciate the little things today like a good couch cat nap and windows that are finally open to let the breezes in after a long winter.. Use my talents and gifts today in any way you see fit. You called me to an adventure with you, help me to say YES to that adventure!
Your daughter,
Kathy
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