Thanksgiving and the theme of this blog are about Gratitude and Thanksgiving. Looking for the just the right content I had to go no further then Sunday morning church at St. Matthews. Rev. Trevor Walters has the seasoned gift of being able to drop a lot of quality content into a brief amount of time and I welcome you to listen with me his Thanksgiving Sunday message on the
Four Marks of the Healthy Christian Life one of them which is a deep awareness and awakening to the blessings around us. It is into this awakening of our many blessings that this blog journey started from and few say it as well as this ...http://vimeo.com/15722484 . Sit back and enjoy.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Lectio Divina
There is a lot of buzz out there on the New Contemplatives or New Monastics folk about
Lectio Divina. The best place to learn about Lectio is from the folks who have been practising it for the last 1500 years. One of the best links for this, in fact a whole mini course in itself is on the OSB link...http://www.osb.org/lectio/about.html . This page is amazing and it will keep you busy for a long time. Blessings on your Listening .
Lectio Divina. The best place to learn about Lectio is from the folks who have been practising it for the last 1500 years. One of the best links for this, in fact a whole mini course in itself is on the OSB link...http://www.osb.org/lectio/about.html . This page is amazing and it will keep you busy for a long time. Blessings on your Listening .
The Bent Over Woman / Dedicated to My Mother
Meditation
Luke 13;10 -Crippled Woman Healed on the Sabbath
Psalm 9 ending
Images :
large dandelions
other dandelions bent over and closed
Field of them
Garden sunbathed open bright
Lectio on Ora Labora Prayer and Work in the Yard
Bent Over Woman
It has been 18 years
Since I lifted my face
Full , faced into the sun
And felt the its rays touching me
Warm,Welcome, Healing
But I have toiled , in it's heat
Broken as I am
On a little wheel of pots
Where brokeness is all around me
As my bentness fits the trade
The work of my brother's shop
Kerush, I spit his name
Husband that he was
Beat me till I could not stand
Then beat me some more
Beat me for amuzement
So he could call me names
Ugly , cripple, useless,
No man will ever love you ! Again !.
Slam !
Beat me so often , I broke
And could barely work around the house.
The neighbours heard the sounds but they closed their ears.
Poor Maraush, they would say at the well
What could they do, but pray
So we prayed.
.
Prayed for release
However it came
He continued to taunt me like a toy
Or an abused pet, chained to the house
Like a cage.
Not many women would think
Another woman was a blessing
But he found her, Clapped his shoes
Three times in my face
For my ugliness, brokeness, useless body
And threw me with the few rags
I had for clothes out into the street
Screaming : An Unclean Spirit has done this too her
Evil Woman that she is. I divorce you, I divorce you
I divorce you. Slam
A Spirit had done this to me
The Evil thing inside Kerush
Shamed to live , hidden now
In the rooms behind my brothers shop
Praying , Hopeless Prayers
Forgotten, Broken, Outcast.
Voices , The street was full of excited Voices
The said He was coming , the Healer
The Blind See, The Lame Walk,
The Dead come back to Life,
The Dead come back to Life.
Something drove me to the street
Like an unseen hand pushing
Almost stumbling forward
To the Door of the Synogogue
I halted at the door
The crowd pressing all around
Afraid I would be cast out
Divorced , beaten , broken , woman in rags
He saw me- Me
The crowd parted
“Come Here”Mara!
He knew my name !
His hands warm on my head
“ Woman you are set free from your infirmity “
His touch.
Like hot oil , flowing through my whole body
Filling every empty, broken place.
Overwhelming Joy
He lifted my head , slowly
His fingers gently on my chin
To look into my eyes
Eyes that knew the darkness in my soul
Eyes full of Light, Life and Promise
Love I had never known.
I lifted my head
My arms , my voice
And I praised the God
He had heard my prayers
He had not forsaken me
Behind me mens voices mumbled ,
Grumbled, frowned , annoyed
Healing on the Sabbath
Be set free , He whispered in my ear
Free,As He turned me towards the door
Be Set Free.
Like a bird from the cage of my body
I could almost fly
My neighbours welcomed into their arms
Laughing, touching me in awe and wonder
You are healed, You are free.You are whole
Even my brother smiled.
“It has been a long time since I have seen your smile Mara”
“ I has been a long time since I have seen yours”
Laughter, a sound I had not heard for a long time
Delighted , joyful, free
We went home to break bread and make Pots
The warmth of the sunlight on my face as
I turn it up to God ,and say Thank You
Praise Be Your Holy Name . I am free.
Psalm 9
I will praise you, Oh Lord with all my heart
I will tell of all your wonders, I will be glad and rejoice in you
I will sing praises to You , Oh Most high........... Lorna Tatomir July14/10.
Luke 13;10 -Crippled Woman Healed on the Sabbath
Psalm 9 ending
Images :
large dandelions
other dandelions bent over and closed
Field of them
Garden sunbathed open bright
Lectio on Ora Labora Prayer and Work in the Yard
Bent Over Woman
It has been 18 years
Since I lifted my face
Full , faced into the sun
And felt the its rays touching me
Warm,Welcome, Healing
But I have toiled , in it's heat
Broken as I am
On a little wheel of pots
Where brokeness is all around me
As my bentness fits the trade
The work of my brother's shop
Kerush, I spit his name
Husband that he was
Beat me till I could not stand
Then beat me some more
Beat me for amuzement
So he could call me names
Ugly , cripple, useless,
No man will ever love you ! Again !.
Slam !
Beat me so often , I broke
And could barely work around the house.
The neighbours heard the sounds but they closed their ears.
Poor Maraush, they would say at the well
What could they do, but pray
So we prayed.
.
Prayed for release
However it came
He continued to taunt me like a toy
Or an abused pet, chained to the house
Like a cage.
Not many women would think
Another woman was a blessing
But he found her, Clapped his shoes
Three times in my face
For my ugliness, brokeness, useless body
And threw me with the few rags
I had for clothes out into the street
Screaming : An Unclean Spirit has done this too her
Evil Woman that she is. I divorce you, I divorce you
I divorce you. Slam
A Spirit had done this to me
The Evil thing inside Kerush
Shamed to live , hidden now
In the rooms behind my brothers shop
Praying , Hopeless Prayers
Forgotten, Broken, Outcast.
Voices , The street was full of excited Voices
The said He was coming , the Healer
The Blind See, The Lame Walk,
The Dead come back to Life,
The Dead come back to Life.
Something drove me to the street
Like an unseen hand pushing
Almost stumbling forward
To the Door of the Synogogue
I halted at the door
The crowd pressing all around
Afraid I would be cast out
Divorced , beaten , broken , woman in rags
He saw me- Me
The crowd parted
“Come Here”Mara!
He knew my name !
His hands warm on my head
“ Woman you are set free from your infirmity “
His touch.
Like hot oil , flowing through my whole body
Filling every empty, broken place.
Overwhelming Joy
He lifted my head , slowly
His fingers gently on my chin
To look into my eyes
Eyes that knew the darkness in my soul
Eyes full of Light, Life and Promise
Love I had never known.
I lifted my head
My arms , my voice
And I praised the God
He had heard my prayers
He had not forsaken me
Behind me mens voices mumbled ,
Grumbled, frowned , annoyed
Healing on the Sabbath
Be set free , He whispered in my ear
Free,As He turned me towards the door
Be Set Free.
Like a bird from the cage of my body
I could almost fly
My neighbours welcomed into their arms
Laughing, touching me in awe and wonder
You are healed, You are free.You are whole
Even my brother smiled.
“It has been a long time since I have seen your smile Mara”
“ I has been a long time since I have seen yours”
Laughter, a sound I had not heard for a long time
Delighted , joyful, free
We went home to break bread and make Pots
The warmth of the sunlight on my face as
I turn it up to God ,and say Thank You
Praise Be Your Holy Name . I am free.
Psalm 9
I will praise you, Oh Lord with all my heart
I will tell of all your wonders, I will be glad and rejoice in you
I will sing praises to You , Oh Most high........... Lorna Tatomir July14/10.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Dedicated to the Women of the Warm Zone
This is a reflection of Luke 7 : 36-50 .
Dedicated to the Women of the Warm Zone
She came to Him
Heart in her hands
Her perfume, hair and tears
The only things she owned
That she could give away .
He knew her
Like no other man
Knew her
His eyes
Looked into her very Soul
Saw a little girl in her
Innocence
Long before it had been ripped away
Stolen , Taken, Lost
Where Love was Pure
Still and Holy.
He loved her there
Totally , Completely, Fully
In the deepest core of her being.
He Loved Her.
She had never known
Love like that
Never known Love
Without Strings,
Conditions
Betrayal
Simply Love
It broke her.
Its essence ,brought
Tears , hot ,torrential , heartsore
Poured across his feet like
Rain on a dusty street
Wiping away the dirt of the day
Her hair gently drying
Her lips , kissing the soles of His feet
For Love, Its perfume filling the room
The gentle healing warmth of his hand on her head
Lifting her face, To meet His eyes
His Touch, Eternal depths of Knowing Grace
Flowing Waters ,
Washing her soul clean
" Your sins are forgiven
Your faith has saved you,
Go in Peace."
She left in Peace
The murmur of mens voices
Left behind
The dark memories of men
Washed from her body
Your faith has saved you
Go in Peace
A New Day, A New Life
Go in Peace.
Lorna Tatomir June 25,2010
Dedicated to the Women of the Warm Zone
She came to Him
Heart in her hands
Her perfume, hair and tears
The only things she owned
That she could give away .
He knew her
Like no other man
Knew her
His eyes
Looked into her very Soul
Saw a little girl in her
Innocence
Long before it had been ripped away
Stolen , Taken, Lost
Where Love was Pure
Still and Holy.
He loved her there
Totally , Completely, Fully
In the deepest core of her being.
He Loved Her.
She had never known
Love like that
Never known Love
Without Strings,
Conditions
Betrayal
Simply Love
It broke her.
Its essence ,brought
Tears , hot ,torrential , heartsore
Poured across his feet like
Rain on a dusty street
Wiping away the dirt of the day
Her hair gently drying
Her lips , kissing the soles of His feet
For Love, Its perfume filling the room
The gentle healing warmth of his hand on her head
Lifting her face, To meet His eyes
His Touch, Eternal depths of Knowing Grace
Flowing Waters ,
Washing her soul clean
" Your sins are forgiven
Your faith has saved you,
Go in Peace."
She left in Peace
The murmur of mens voices
Left behind
The dark memories of men
Washed from her body
Your faith has saved you
Go in Peace
A New Day, A New Life
Go in Peace.
Lorna Tatomir June 25,2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Worship and Worship
Over this Christmas the theme that seemed to come through again and again was the word Wonder. If there is something that has re- lit my spiritual life over these last ten years it is Mystery and Wonder. There is no better time to visit the theme of Wonder and the Child then Christmas. It is the quintessential of Christmas. Living in a town where snow capped mountains are standard scenic fare the fact that a peek out my back porch or short walk to the end of the street brings me a breathtaking view of snow capped mountains . Ho hum there is Golden Ears, Mount Cheam, Mount Baker . No, that is not really our reaction we simply lift our eyes go" How Beautiful" and continue our day. They have become wonderfully commonplace. The same with the night sky, the tummy of a pregnant woman, flowers in yard, healing tea, the wings of hummingbird. All these are wonders. They are there for us to drink in. To marvel, to renew our remembrance of the Creative Presence of God. They are gifts. Like miniature love token remembrances from the Beloved. If Love centres our life then these love tokens. God speaks love to us in whispered moments of wonder. Perhaps you are thinking,"' Well its a long time since God spoke to me." Have you looked at the constellations in the night sky, have you stopped to look at the heart centre of a flower, have you seen a newborn baby, walked in the woods, stepped into the room of a sleeping child , sat quietly in a church after everyone else was gone. The great saints Bonaventure for one speak about this as one of the first steps to our awareness and connection with God. I had come upon his bookIteranium in the abbey library and was reading it one Sunday morning on a stroll through our local lake centred park. His whole work spoke of how one of our early steps towards the mystery of God is in these kinds of moments. The park took on a life of its own. A spiders web in a bush caught dew in the form of little droplets of diamonds lit by the sun. The waterlilies sat like hosts on green pattens. The geese processed down to the lake the rings around their necks looking more like clerical collars. The whole park paid homage to the mystery of Sunday morning. I was caught up in one great moment of mystery. It was just Mill Lake Park. The most familiar public park in town , where we had walked hundreds of times on summer days or cool springs when the ice still made little crusts on the lake. Yet in one God infuses moment it became what it really was all the time , covered in a veil the beauty of the the Creation of God , designed for his pleasure and mine. Much more so for mine. Much so me for Him, created with this great need to worship vacum would be satisfied with anything less then the Mystery of God. The proof of this lays strangely not just in the beauty , but in a wholesale effort to replace beauty and wonder with the marketable "other". We cut down forests and block of our views of the mountains development. We can't see the night time sky with the lights from the city covered twice over by pollution. We close the drapes so the light from a sunset doesn't interfere with the evening news. Make a mental note for a moment of how many things you can think of that block your awareness of wonder. Then think of where you want to go on vacation. If you first answer is Vegas we might not be on the same page, but it's not to late for you yet.
Re-lighting your wonder requires a desire to be open to the Presence of God in your day. It may require a simple invitation of heartfelt desire to reunite with the spiritual child inside of you who has lost wonder in the rush to grow up. Like Peter Pan and Tinkerbell if your a Disney person or St.Theresa and St. Francis & Bonaventure if your into saints , we like children need to press our noses to the glass fronts of our inner needs and say Ask for them to be met. We can crawl up on the lap of the Father and find once again the love he has for us. We can wait like little children with a highly attuned awareness of the mystical to his gifts for us sent daily in breathtaking moments of beauty in the little things of life. Hidden in the routine moment of the day. He will lift the veil and we like children waiting for the moment the presents we dream for to be opened under the tree will find His Presents/Presence in hidden moments , love caught corners of our day. They were there all the time. We had not been looking or expecting or aware . Dulled by other our eyes had become closed to beauty. We have fallen asleep like Sleeping Beauty under a bad fairy spell. It feels like for a hundred years. It takes one moment , with our Prince , one kiss , to awaken us. Every Day we wake and wait now for that kiss in our day.
Over this Christmas the theme that seemed to come through again and again was the word Wonder. If there is something that has re- lit my spiritual life over these last ten years it is Mystery and Wonder. There is no better time to visit the theme of Wonder and the Child then Christmas. It is the quintessential of Christmas. Living in a town where snow capped mountains are standard scenic fare the fact that a peek out my back porch or short walk to the end of the street brings me a breathtaking view of snow capped mountains . Ho hum there is Golden Ears, Mount Cheam, Mount Baker . No, that is not really our reaction we simply lift our eyes go" How Beautiful" and continue our day. They have become wonderfully commonplace. The same with the night sky, the tummy of a pregnant woman, flowers in yard, healing tea, the wings of hummingbird. All these are wonders. They are there for us to drink in. To marvel, to renew our remembrance of the Creative Presence of God. They are gifts. Like miniature love token remembrances from the Beloved. If Love centres our life then these love tokens. God speaks love to us in whispered moments of wonder. Perhaps you are thinking,"' Well its a long time since God spoke to me." Have you looked at the constellations in the night sky, have you stopped to look at the heart centre of a flower, have you seen a newborn baby, walked in the woods, stepped into the room of a sleeping child , sat quietly in a church after everyone else was gone. The great saints Bonaventure for one speak about this as one of the first steps to our awareness and connection with God. I had come upon his bookIteranium in the abbey library and was reading it one Sunday morning on a stroll through our local lake centred park. His whole work spoke of how one of our early steps towards the mystery of God is in these kinds of moments. The park took on a life of its own. A spiders web in a bush caught dew in the form of little droplets of diamonds lit by the sun. The waterlilies sat like hosts on green pattens. The geese processed down to the lake the rings around their necks looking more like clerical collars. The whole park paid homage to the mystery of Sunday morning. I was caught up in one great moment of mystery. It was just Mill Lake Park. The most familiar public park in town , where we had walked hundreds of times on summer days or cool springs when the ice still made little crusts on the lake. Yet in one God infuses moment it became what it really was all the time , covered in a veil the beauty of the the Creation of God , designed for his pleasure and mine. Much more so for mine. Much so me for Him, created with this great need to worship vacum would be satisfied with anything less then the Mystery of God. The proof of this lays strangely not just in the beauty , but in a wholesale effort to replace beauty and wonder with the marketable "other". We cut down forests and block of our views of the mountains development. We can't see the night time sky with the lights from the city covered twice over by pollution. We close the drapes so the light from a sunset doesn't interfere with the evening news. Make a mental note for a moment of how many things you can think of that block your awareness of wonder. Then think of where you want to go on vacation. If you first answer is Vegas we might not be on the same page, but it's not to late for you yet.
Re-lighting your wonder requires a desire to be open to the Presence of God in your day. It may require a simple invitation of heartfelt desire to reunite with the spiritual child inside of you who has lost wonder in the rush to grow up. Like Peter Pan and Tinkerbell if your a Disney person or St.Theresa and St. Francis & Bonaventure if your into saints , we like children need to press our noses to the glass fronts of our inner needs and say Ask for them to be met. We can crawl up on the lap of the Father and find once again the love he has for us. We can wait like little children with a highly attuned awareness of the mystical to his gifts for us sent daily in breathtaking moments of beauty in the little things of life. Hidden in the routine moment of the day. He will lift the veil and we like children waiting for the moment the presents we dream for to be opened under the tree will find His Presents/Presence in hidden moments , love caught corners of our day. They were there all the time. We had not been looking or expecting or aware . Dulled by other our eyes had become closed to beauty. We have fallen asleep like Sleeping Beauty under a bad fairy spell. It feels like for a hundred years. It takes one moment , with our Prince , one kiss , to awaken us. Every Day we wake and wait now for that kiss in our day.
Prayer:
Awaken my soul oh Prince of my Life, to the love letters you send me today, to moments of beauty, to moments of mystery and wonder, created by your hand for my delight. Awake in meo Oh Lover of My Soul the joy of Wonder. Prepare my heart , clear away the cobwebs, the empty distractions, the clutter of other false packing filler we use to stuff the empty wholes in our life and make us ready to be filled the beauty of your love for us....We wait for the moment of your gift for our day. We wait for that first hint of the Divine.
( more thoughts like this in Song of Songs or St. Bernard's commentaries on the Song of Songs)
if you think Saints are tame reading you missed this one. Positively sizzling . Passion.
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