The disciplines of faith

I recently came across a quotation from Louis Pasteur: "Chance favors the prepared mind." He was able to make his world-changing discoveries about the role of microbes in illness not just because he was in the the right place at the right time, but because he had spent years studying and observing and crafting experiments. His mind was ready to see what the world had to show him.

God's grace appears in our lives unexpectedly, arriving at its own place and time. We can't predict or control it, but we can prepare for it, making ourselves ready to discover God's presence in our lives. Every time we say a prayer, or read Scripture or other spiritual writings, or show up for worship, or talk with someone about our faith, we open up more space in our minds for God to come in.

Help us to ask

Almighty God, to whom our needs are known before we ask: Help us to ask only what accords with your will; and those good things which we dare not, or in our blindness cannot ask, grant us for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Lately, I'm finding a lot of comfort in these words from our prayerbook, which I use to conclude the Prayers of the People.

We human beings seem to have a lot of trouble with asking for help. Many of us would rather compel or manipulate others into giving us what we need, or wear ourselves out doing it all ourselves, or just give up and go without.

God knows what we need and offers all blessings to us, whether we can figure out how to ask for them or not. We need to learn how to ask for the right things not for God's sake, but for our own, so that we can be at peace with our own desires.

This prayer calls on God to train our hearts, so that all we want is God's presence in our lives and in our communities. It offers up our voices to God, so that in God's grace we can discover our true voices and use them to speak out for God's love and God's justice.

Making the list

Monday is my day off, the day I spend at home with our two kids. I wake up and immediately think of everything that needs to be done today to keep our family organized for the week. Being absentminded by nature, I lose track of important tasks if I don't write them down. So Monday morning always starts with a list. I counted, and today's had eighteen things to do on it. Some of the jobs are quick, so it's a manageable agenda for a day. But still, eighteen tasks doesn't leave a lot of room for surprise adventures. Have I scheduled the Spirit right out of my day?

A friend who is a stay-at-home Mom has a sign on the fridge that says something like, "To achieve today: 1) Love my kids." There is no number 2 on the list. As a pastoral counselor, I've helped people make their own lists for the day, with "Relax" or "Remember that I am loved" right at the top. My thought for this Monday: I want to put God back at the top (and middle, and end) of my to-do lists.

Sweeping up the dirt

Do you ever feel like you lose track of yourself? Like anyone else, I have days when I'm cranky for no apparent reason. There's a line from Bruce Springsteen's "Streets of Philadelphia" that often comes to me in those moments: "I was bruised and battered - I couldn't tell what I felt - I was unrecognizable to myself." Over the years, I've found that the best cure for that mixed-up mood is a basic chore like sweeping the floor. It needs to be something that engages my body but doesn't require too much thought. By the time the bits of dust and trash are gathered into the dustpan, I'm usually able to see clearly whatever has been bothering me. Sometimes I'm even able to imagine a good solution for it. Just like counting out prayers on the beads of a rosary, the simple repetition of moving the broom creates a space for God to speak to my heart.

Good Pretending

C. S. Lewis offers very practical advice for the times when we don't really feel like praying or doing good works. In his Mere Christianity, he says to try pretending that you really do want to do what is right. "There are two kinds of pretending," he writes. "There is the bad kind, where the pretense is there instead of the real thing; as when a man pretends he is going to help you instead of really helping you. But there is also a good kind, where the pretense leads up to the real thing. When you are not feeling particularly friendly but know you ought to be, the best thing you do, very often, is to put on a friendly manner and behave as if you were a nicer person than you actually are. And in a few minutes, as we have all noticed, you will really be feeling friendlier than you were." This good pretending opens the door for God to turn our hearts. When you pretend that you want to be with God and sit down to pray anyway, Christ "is actually at your side and is already at that moment beginning to turn your pretense into reality."

Where your treasure is, your heart will be also

Our daughter likes to fill up little bags and boxes with her "treasures" - all those cheap give-away toys that Mom would rather just toss.

I just hope that we are also giving her the treasures to store up "in heaven, where neither most not rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal." (Matthew 6:19-21) As Jesus tells us, "Where your treasure is, your heart will be also."

One reason I try to take care of my spirit is so that I can be a model to our children. I can't drive myself crazy getting them everything they want, because I don't want to teach them to neglect their own connection to God and chase after approval and material things instead.

Greg Brown sings, "Children they don't need a lot of stuff/
Children sure do need a lot of love...
If they don't get it at home they're going to go looking."

Will our children's hearts be with God, full of joy and trust? Or will they be left searching for their treasure out in the world, where it can never be found?

Be still and know that I am God

In the gospel for Ash Wednesday, Jesus invites to go and pray in an inner room, alone with the God who sees us in secret.

Do you have a special place for prayer? Perhaps a journal or a favorite chair? For me it has never been the inner room, but the walk outdoors that draws me closer to God.

Today I walked down by the pond near my office - the one I rarely see between my busy schedule and the winter cold. The sun was on the water, and ducks were playing where the ice had melted. These are the moments when my heart grows quiet.

Here is my favorite invitation to prayer, from Dan Postena's book Catch Your Breath:

Be still and know that I am God.

Be still and know that I am.

Be still and know.

Be still.

Be.

Gas Pump Prayers

The yellow light lit up on my dashboard this morning. The car was almost out of gas. I hadn't even noticed it was low.

Sometimes it's hard to notice when our spirits are running low, too. We wait until the warning lights start coming on: headaches, flashes of temper, fatigue.

My friend, the Rev. Marya Decarlen, taught me a simple practice for renewing the spirit.

Breathe in. Imagine yourself filling with the presence of God.

Breathe out. Imagine love flowing through you out into the world.

That's it. Just breathe in God, breathe out love, and repeat. It only takes a moment, and it's amazing what a difference that few seconds of breath and prayer can make.

I usually sit at the gas pump planning worrying or planning or staring off into space. I'd like to try spending that time refueling my spirit instead.