We’ve waited through Advent and rejoiced on Christmas. Now is the season of Epiphany, which reminds us that the birth of Jesus Christ is so much more life-changing and universe-altering than just a baby born in a manger. Epiphany means “show forth” and during this season, Jesus’ identity shows forth. This is a season of light – the light of the world dawning in our lives.

Let me invite you into a fun prayer practice that we enjoy every Epiphany Sunday at CPC. Fun isn’t usually a word that comes to mind when thinking of prayer practices. They’re usually meaningful, enriching, or encouraging. But fun? Star Words are a fun practice indeed, as well as meaningful, enriching, and encouraging. 

A star word is an intention word, or guiding word, to use throughout the year. I have words on cards and folks will pick one from a face down pile and that will be their intention word for the year to come. There are no repeated words so everyone’s star word is unique for them. 

The Road to: Wonder (the verb)

I wonder, do you wonder about things?  Or do you just wander without wondering?  The other day I was taking a walk.  Distracted by a thought, I reached for my phone and typed in a search for an answer. It led me to scroll down. I had wondered about something and I wandered right past my turnoff to home!!  Have you ever wondered as you have wandered?? 

Since we’ve just experienced our Christmas celebrations, remembrances, et al, do you wonder? What was Mary thinking at the time of the birth of Jesus – we have scriptural reference in Matthew and Luke, but these refer to her thoughts earlier when she learns what is going to happen. Put yourself in her place on that birth day. What would you wonder? What do you wonder about her?

The season of Advent invites us into a place of hope and vulnerability. It's a time of waiting, of anticipation, of acknowledging our deepest needs even when—especially when—we feel least prepared to receive grace.

Prayer, at its most authentic, isn't about perfection. It's about presence. It's about showing up exactly as we are—broken, weary, uncertain—and simply being willing to turn our hearts toward something greater than ourselves.

Well, we’ve just celebrated Thanksgiving.  Looking back a year ago, I posted the story of the origins of Thanksgiving celebrations and focused on gratitude. Wow, what an interesting re-reflection a year makes! Our Prayer Blog is now a year old and we have posted 28 individual prayer devotionals on many different items. I am thankful for this opportunity to focus on different topics and especially on gratitude – we don’t do that often enough. . . .

What do you think we (as a nation and as individuals) are thankful for this year (2024)? Are we thankful? How does thankfulness show?  By parades? By shopping (e.g., Black Friday)? By the long weekend?  Read on and share your thoughts, please.

My friends, perhaps you share my feeling of woe? I feel a deep sadness about the world in which we find ourselves these days. The discord among us is to a level I’ve never experienced.  Some of you are a few years ahead of me or from different places and might remember other seasons of strife. This is a first for me, and I am disquieted.

I have a few places I go for words of comfort, scripture first and foremost. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid” from John’s gospel is one that is on repeat in my mind. 

And breathing. Focusing on my breath helps. It helps me be present to something so basic to my existence. The in and out of my breath brings my mind to the present and not to the unknown but darkly imagined future. 

On the road to relationships. You will have heard Pastor Leanne say in recent Sunday Services, “Community Presbyterian Church welcomes all people into God’s way of life and community.”  That is our Vision of what we are, with God’s help, doing. And this is based on our Mission to glorify God and make disciples by living into authentic relationships with God and each other. So, this is why relationships come into our focus today, and questions about how this relates to prayer.

Prayer does not change God, 

but changes him who prays.

Soren Kierkegaard

My role as pastor allows me to walk with people in some very sacred moments. In these tender moments, I am reminded that life is fragile and nothing is promised to us. We may have a measure of control over some things, but in the larger picture, life is full of both hope and hurt. No amount of trying to wrest control over our days will in any way affect the rain or the rainbows of our lives. 

On the Road to: Multiplication

Multiplication?  What does this have to do with a devotional, or a blog about prayer?  Well, have you ever asked God to help you extend your resources to achieve something?  Resources can be lots of things, e.g., money sure, but also your time or your energy. This is the season of Stewardship, of course, and multiplication is a factor (no pun intended 😉).  But let’s dig deeper as we consider multiplication. 

Consider prayer as a multiplier.  Our prayers for others multiply the benefit to the subject of the prayer. That person benefits by God hearing and responding, plus they know they are cared for by others like you and me.  And, don’t we sometimes feel better having prayed for someone else?

In the 1978 movie The Wiz, the iconic Diana Ross sings, “When I think of home, I think of a place where there’s love overflowing.” [1] 

What comes to mind when you think of home? Is it a warm memory? Is it a current safe space? Is home a place to which you long to go?

Often, when we think of home, we have a fixed place in our mind’s eye. A place where we grew up and made memories. It is a place we leave when we come of age. And then we create a new home.

Having just experienced this milestone in my own family, the passage into adulthood was enormous, even though the move wasn’t far. It seemed like we had each crossed a threshold into a new phase of life. The places thought of as home expanded.

As we move through our life of faith, I wonder if home is not just an external dwelling but an internal place as well.

Home is love… that lives in each of us. That love is one of the true things about us, maybe the truest. That we are each created in the image of God and born from the love of God right from our very beginning. 

From that foundation of God’s unconditional love, we find a home outside of ourselves as well as in. A place where we are accepted and welcomed.

The Road to: Wisdom

What is wisdom? Consider the difference between wisdom and knowledge. Wisdom brings the application of perspective to bear on a question or challenge where knowledge is just knowing, which is important too.  But perspective causes us to think things through with both our head and heart.

The Prayer of Examen is a spiritual exercise attributed to Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) who taught this way to become more aware of God’s presence and more responsive to the moving of the Holy Spirit. I first became acquainted with the practice through the little book, Sleeping with Bread: Holding What Gives You Life by Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn, and Matthew Linn.1

The Road to: Answers

Continuing with our metaphor of a Road, is prayer a “road?” Is it the yes/no answers or is it the process? Prayers can change us, change our destination, change how we “drive,” change the destination we expect. Do your prayers change you?

Our Little Lives, Our Big Problems

I was at the 101st birthday party of a beloved church member this past Saturday. One hundred and one trips around the sun! Can you just imagine all she’s seen and experienced? Talk about taking the long view. There is something to be said for the wisdom of years and the perspective that comes from a long life.

Yet while we were celebrating this joyous occasion, news came to us of the political violence unfolding in Butler County, Pennsylvania. Folks were shocked and appalled. A strong sentiment felt by those with whom I was chatting was, “What is going on in the United States? This is not who we are. What has happened to our country? This just has to change.”

Do you feel this way? In an election year, it all just seems so much more heightened. On all sides, folks are tired of the rancor and division. Yet, what can we do? This meditation by Howard Thurman from Mediations of Heart (1953) found its way to me this morning. It spoke to me right where I am at this moment. I hope it will speak to you as it reminds us of God’s grace, hope, and steadfast love.

The Road to Friendship

“The only way to have a friend is to be one.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Friendship is like a road. It’s a road that runs many ways. A friendship is built on many things and can lead to strong relationships. What about curves, yields, merges? Are friendships like a road?

Longing and Loving

I am always eager for the new season. I rejoice when the new arrives and then quickly grow impatient for whatever is next. That’s why Gray May and June Gloom are seasons of longing for me. I’m ready to be done with the chill of winter and can’t wait to feel the warmth of the summer sun. It doesn’t take much before I’m done with being hot and longing for the crisp snap of autumn.

The beatitude “Blessed are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted” conveys a sense of longing. Mourning is “lawile” in Green but in Aramaic, which Jesus most likely spoke, it also has the meaning of those who long deeply for something to occur. “Netbayun” can mean comforted but also connotes being returned from wandering, united inside by love, feeling an inner continuity, or seeing the arrival of (literally, the face of) what one longs for. [1]

The Road:  Pentecost as a Pivot Point

Is it our way or is it The Highway? Pentecost was a turning point, a Pivot Point if you will, for the disciples. Given gifts, the disciples launched the Church on the Road. 

Yes, it is almost Pentecost Sunday! One of the special Sundays when I wear my favorite red dress with the twirly skirt! ☺

In all my years in ministry, I’ve gathered quite a few books. But it’s my collection of children’s books that I treasure the most. I have a lovely book with Bible stories retold by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Here is a little bit of his retelling of the Pentecost story from Acts 2:

Peter spoke to the crowd. “What was prophesied has come true,” he said.  “God has made Jesus both our Savior and our Friend. Through him, God’s wonderful dream is coming true.”

“What can we do to realize God’s dream?” the people cried.

Peter said, “Return to God and be baptized so your sins will be forgiven. You will be given a new life, and you too will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” [1]

What are your expectations? Do you have expectations of God – or is that called faith? What happens when something is unexpected? Surprise? Concern? Fear? Joy? Praise? Love? The unexpected can be either positive or negative – or even just unexpected with no judgment or major emotion applied.

On the first Sunday of Lent, we handed out planting pots with a bulb and some dirt. Having spent much of my ministry career teaching children’s and youth Sunday School, I learned that bulbs and seeds are wonderful symbols of resurrection for young folk. (Adults too ☺) Something that appears to be dead and with no possibility of life, after being buried, will burst open with new life and offer something beautiful.

Did your bulb sprout up? Mine did not. I think I forgot to water it. Doh!

Did my resurrection illustration fail? If I look at it as something that happens after we die, then it sort of did. But what if resurrection is something we experience now?

Lent – Patience and Forgiveness

As we approach this next week of Lent – Maundy Thursday (Washing of Feet and Last Supper) – Good Friday (The Crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ) – and Easter Sunday (Jesus’ Resurrection) – Can you imagine what was going through the heads and in the hearts of the disciples?  I wrestle with this every Lent.  The music of Lent (“Were you There When . . .”) causes me to imagine.  This is the practice of Imaginative Prayer.  Can you place yourself as one of the disciples? What was Peter thinking . . . Matthew thinking . . . Thomas thinking . . . Judas thinking?  What are you thinking? (Comments below?)

Early Christian experience was preceded in Old Testament times by a long period where the need for patience was paramount. The Messiah was foretold and people waited, and waited. They were still waiting when Jesus began his ministry.

Lent is a hard season to love, isn’t it? I much prefer an expectant and joyful Advent. Six weeks of no alleluias and either giving something up or taking something on and I’m just not very good at that. Plus the whole “spring forward” daylight savings time thing is always thrown in the mix and that really messes me up!

But what Lent reminds me of is the circle of life, and I’m not just saying that because I saw The Lion King last month. (Which was wonderful, by the way. Thanks, mom!) No, what I mean is that we are never just one thing in life. Everything has its ebbs and flows. We move into and out of light and dark, joy and sorrow, ups and downs, peaks and valleys. To expect that life is always light or good or easy is just fooling ourselves. Lent is the shadowy and hushed time that falls into every life.

The Jesus Prayer…

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.

We’ve now passed both Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday. Pastor Leanne, in her February 9th blog post wrote of the similarities and differences in the two days. One thing not highlighted is the role of music as a significant factor in love, praise and prayer.

Music has always played an influential role in my life, and clearly, music has done and continues to do that in the life of the church. Many classic hymns are built on biblical references and biblical stories. But music goes beyond hymns to praise songs, to even pop songs, in all of which we see praise and love expressed. So, since this is a blog about prayer, the question is, can music be a prayer? Biblically, we know many of the Psalms were used as songs as well as prayers.

That’s a weird thing to say, isn’t it? The last time we had this holy day/holiday mash-up was in 2018. Before that, it was 1923, 1934 and 1945! It will occur again in 2029 and then not again in this century.

So it’s a rare occasion that we get to consider love in a fuller sense on this Ash Valentine’s Wednesday. It would seem that the two days have very little in common with each other. Valentine’s Day is pink candy, red hearts, and cupids. Ash Wednesday is ashes, dust, and purple. The whole overall tone of the days is quite different. Valentine’s Day is warm and sweet. Ash Wednesday is pensive and serious. The two days have nothing in common.

Or do they?

What does Epiphany mean to you? An epiphany is often defined as a sudden realization of the meaning of something. Pastor Leanne, in her January 8th post to this blog, introduced a new prayer practice called Imaginative Prayer as a way to enhance prayer practices and your epiphanies. Have you tried it? Do you think this practice could help generate epiphanies?

Our Epiphany sermon series is called New Beginnings and we’ll be walking with Jesus as we study the stories collected in Mark’s gospel. The light of our theme graphic is prompting us to attune ourselves to what the Spirit is illuminating in our lives in what we learn and take away from these stories.

I’m inviting you to a practice of imaginative prayer as you encounter these stories with Jesus.

We are only two days away from Christmas Eve, and three days from our celebration of the birth of Jesus. This has been a time of waiting and preparation. During Advent we have worshipped using a theme of being present through Hope, Peace, Joy, Love and Light. Are you present? Are you prepared?

Advent is a season of waiting. We all know that. Sometimes we slowly move the figures in our nativity scenes closer to the manger in the inn as the days move forward to Christmas. (And the Magi don’t arrive until 12 days after Christmas!) It’s a lovely thing to imagine waiting for the birth of Jesus. After all, folks for generations before his birth were waiting for the Child of Humanity, the Messiah. “For unto us a child is born,” said Isaiah.

Gratitude expression affects us both cognitively and how we feel about what we’ve been blessed with. Let’s end this month on a “note” of gratitude, which brings to mind a song/hymn verse: 

Rejoice, the Lord is King! Your Lord and King adore; 

Rejoice, give thanks and sing, and triumph evermore . . . . 

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

What I like about Thanksgiving is that it’s all about giving thanks and that’s important. Gratitude is a virtue but it’s also much more than that.

some thoughts/questions – about not being afraid (It is the time of Halloween), who you pray for and “community.”