Our Weekly Devotionals are created by our staff and members to inspire reflections and conversation.
Refocus
I’m forever trying to simplify. And that means different things at different times. But it usually is an attempt to decrease the number of choices. Fewer variables. Two pairs of work pants and work shoes. The shirts that I wear to work come from the same store and are the same style. Lunch is nearly always the same. It’s more than a habit. It’s an intention.
In Defense of Dreaming
I had a curious interaction with a student last week. While talking about the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights this student, likely frustrated that they had to sit through a whole hour with a sub, made the comment that good thoughts do nothing, only actions will change how things are. I understood where they were coming from, and when it comes to the ubiquitous “thoughts and prayers” we hear of on a regular basis I wholeheartedly agreed.
Reminders of Our Past
On the walls of INESIN, the site for our little Peace pilgrim group, bright tapestries hang on the wall. The colors and patterns are beautiful. Elena, our host, explained the history of these particular tapestries. They were made by Tseltal women from the village of Tenejapa not long ago, after they forgot and then remembered their patterns and colors.
HEAR OUR PRAYER
Is it okay to start a devotional with, “I have so much to say and nothing at all to share”? Everything is a big deal, and nothing matters. People I love are in crisis, and people halfway around the world are searching through rubble to find their loved ones. I wonder if my child is a distracted driver, while another mother worries that her child won’t survive a traffic stop. Please keep reading, though; we’re going to do this one together.
“There’s No ‘I’ in Team!”
This week I finished another year around our sun and celebrated my day of birth. The day before, I received an unexpected package in the mail from my oldest that was a complete surprise. For the last several years I’ve made clear to my progeny that although I’m a lifelong Chiefs fan, I’m not a fan of player’s jerseys.
Grace and Gratitude
This winter in Chicago has been gray—the sky permanently overcast, with feeble light, the color of weak tea filtering into my apartment. The sun sets as early at 4pm in mid-December, and even now, sunset is before 5pm. The effects of so little daylight vary person-to-person, but I am one of those who feels sluggish, loses motivation, and generally struggles to get things done.
Seeing Good in the World
The last few years have been tough for so many people, me included, that it becomes easy to fixate on all the negatives. But there are still good things happening every day. On Friday, I had the good fortune of seeing one of those good things first hand with some of my Peace friends.
If the Earth is a Nickel, Mars is a Raspberry
Brandon wrote last week about how he was searching for a temperate mindset for 2023. He wants to hold on “to earthly matters loosely.” I really appreciated that sentiment. For 2023, I want to cultivate joy in unexpected places.
It was all very informative, but then we took a deeper dive into NASA’s website and stumbled upon this quote, “With a radius of 2,106 miles (3,390 kilometers), Mars is about half the size of Earth.
Temperance
I may not be great at living in the present, but it’s not because I’m thinking about the past. 2022 is over and there were plenty of highs and lows and I did my fair share of reflection in December. But I’m ready to move forward. We all did our best last year, right?
Trust the Wait
We are through the Advent time of waiting, and the rush of Christmas Day. And now, we begin another week of waiting – this time between Christmas and New Year. It is the calm after the storm of preparation. The vacation day with no alarm set, and nowhere to be, except on the couch, with a movie on, and if you’re a part of my family, leftover apple pie for breakfast. A little bit of suspended animation before the rush back to reality after the holiday.
Lincoln’s Tomb
Last Monday, on my move back to Kansas City, I stopped in Springfield, Illinois to pay a visit at the Lincoln Tomb. It's one such monument that I've visited a handful of times before, but never before this time have I been alone with the Lincolns in the building. We are at a moment in our history when things seem to rhyme with Lincoln's day, when we Americans are divided against one another to such an extreme not seen in these last 160 years.
Take a Little Time
Madeira. It’s a little island in the Atlantic, minding its own business. During the pandemic lockdown on a dreary weekend, I was roaming the internet, looking for somewhere without much Covid, far away from American politics and cable news. I stumbled on pictures of Madeira, sitting alone in the ocean, to the west of Africa and a part of Portugal. It seemed like a flower-filled paradise, and did not disappoint when we went there in August.
Songbird
I don’t know why Christine McVie’s death last week hit me so hard. Obviously, I never met her, and I never had the chance to see her perform live with Fleetwood Mac. Given her age–she was 79 years old, a year older than my Mom was when we lost her–it was not shocking news, but sad and unexpected when I heard about it, standing with a group of other women of my generation.
Resolving to Wait
And so we wait. The Latin adventus means arrival. As in the ceremony of an arriving king. And adventus is similar to the Greek parousia which implies that something is very near. In advent we expectantly wait for something important, life-changing.
Can we do that?
“Take a Moment for Mindfulness”
My Apple Watch haptics function futilely reminds me each morning (and in times when my heart seems to be racing) to take a moment for myself.
Yeah right. I press “Ignore.”
I don’t have a minute for mindfulness. I don’t even have 2 seconds to breathe big belly breaths for a full minute while I watch the circle graphic on my watch expand and contract in sync with my breathing.
Beautiful. Sacred. Holy.
Beautiful. Sacred. Holy. The words popped up in my mind, and a moment later, I realized I was hearing a trumpet playing a gentle melody as I walked with my dog back from the park. At first the sound seemed unearthly, with no physical source. But as I walked past the edge of Chinatown Square, I could see the man playing the trumpet as he has many days this fall.
Interim Times
Fall is an interim time. I recently received for my birthday the book To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings by John O’Donohue. I’ve been feeling unsettled and thought this book might help. The unsettled feeling is coming from this season of our life, an interim time.
The Sacraments of Fall
We had just finished a three-mile trail walk in the Arboretum woods on a warm day, beautiful in its own way, even though it was already more brown than green. We should have turned the car north for home, but turned south instead, just a few more miles to the cider mill…. I thought of the many years I have made that trek, and as we wove our way through the crowd to get in line, I thought of how years ago we were almost the only ones there.
Happiness
I was at a point where I had every reason to be stressed and unhappy with my slower than expected progress towards my doctorate. Yet on that day I realized that I could choose how I approached the world. I could choose to be kind and generous to the people around me. I realized I didn't need to let my own inner troubles impact anyone else.
Family of the Heart
During our visit, we talked about what he called a “family of the heart”…describing the strong feelings we can have for people not biologically related but with whom we are connected by experience, common outlook, and deep affection.