Tag Archives: Faith

Soul & Solace: Confessions

Creativity/Spirituality, , , , , ,

Some Austinites delight in outdoor summer exercise. Well-earned sweat glistens on their tanned and toned bodies and anoints their beatific smiles. I confess, my summer walks feel like toiling up Mount Doom to cast the ring of power into the sweltering flames that forged it.

Some people welcome chores as a time to pray for those the task benefits: for the partner/spouse whose laundry they’re doing, for the child whose room they’re dusting. I confess that even the thought of chores makes me cranky. And my chief and fervent chore prayer is that it will be DONE.

There are those whose faith life is joyful, comforting, unquestioning. I confess that mine is more adolescent and angsty. I stomp around, troubled by torments both personal and global, wondering why God doesn’t DO SOMETHING and what is taking SO LONG?

Why am I sharing these personal vignettes? Mainly because, if someone is going through an adolescent faith phase, I hope they’ll feel a bit less alone and bit more encouraged. Also, because whether or not a reader relates to my angst just now, they may do someday, or someone they love may as well. And last, because, should a practice feel like drudgery or delight, it’s motives and actions that form our faith.

So. Whether we relish chores or not, we do them to provide a clean, welcoming space for those who dwell in or visit our home. We exercise, whether it’s a delight of a discipline, to give our body its best chance for a healthy, abundant life. We keep praying, reading Scripture, worshiping, and living the tenets of our faith because, no matter how confused and frustrated we are, God is the deepest love and allegiance of our lives.

We don’t have to pretend. Our lives, our faith can be as real and as individual as we are.

As we move into May and spring cleaning, and look toward summer and sweltering temps, we can do so with a faith that allows us to question, to anguish, and to grow.

How do you feel about Texas heat and outdoor exercise? About chores? About a lived faith? Share your thoughts at contact@aspaciousplace.com.

Soul & Solace: Reframing Faith

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I don’t know about you, but I get worn down praying. I’m maxed out on prayers for pandemic relief, for the people (especially women and children) of Afghanistan, for equal voting rights for all citizens, for Ukraine to be free from violent assault. Add to that a lengthy list of personal requests
 
            …followed by the three blinking dots of a God text message.
 
I’m worn with waiting and with continued, determined hoping. We’ve entered the Christian Lenten season: a time of introspection and asceticism in hopes of deepening our relationship with God. This season, I’m struck by the number of Scriptures begging God to remember, to help. I think we need to beg God to save the people of Ukraine, to help us vote in leaders who serve the public good rather than themselves, to empower those fighting in word and action for the God values of justice, equality, freedom, and love.
 
I once read a thinker who suggested the only purpose of prayer was to align our minds with decisions God already made. Okay, sometimes, yes. To that, I also offer the example of Abraham praying for Sodom, Moses praying for the Israelites, and the psalmists turning all their creative powers to snag God’s attention and beg for help.
 
We may not have considered prayer, or God, in this way. I think it’s worth a look, even if it discomforts. Lent is an uncomfortable season, because faith grows when challenged. And we sorely need a growing faith now.
 
Join us at A Spacious Place in praying that God, by whatever name you choose, attend to the pain and violence in the world, and then to act as only God can. We may feel maxed out, but let’s keep on trying. It’s what we can do in a world of hurt.
 
What are your beliefs on prayer, on God, on faith? We would love to hear from you. Share your Soul & Solace thoughts with us at contact@aspaciousplace.com

Soul & Solace April 2018

Creativity/Spirituality, , , ,

Wax On…

Sometimes faith is like the Karate Kid. We’re trapped in the middle—wax on wax off, paint the fence—without any sense of purpose or outcome. Are we being played? Used? What’s the point of all this, anyway?

When we’re sweating in the dark, a faith of cute baby angels and “smile, God loves you” just won’t cut it. In these seasons I find myself resentful, confused, fear filled. What is faith in such times? How do we keep on waxing and painting?

  1. We clarify. Painful as they are, paint-the-fence times provide a chance to get clear. What really matters to me? Really matters enough to risk my safety and security? Dr. Martin Luther King did not intend to preach his “Mountaintop Sermon.” With his life was in danger, and he had no plans to attend the gathering in which he uttered those potent words. But when invited, he came. As he speaks, we see him gain courage and clarity. Dr. King was killed shortly after preaching his Mountaintop Sermon. What he died for lives on.
  2. We act. In attending to those tasks which relate to our highest value we apply wax where it is needed. We act in faith, no matter how we feel. And in the acting, we gain soul muscle. A caution: we can over-function during waxing times, believing we’ve somehow fallen short of expectations and more effort will fix things. And that’s where Point Three comes in.
  3. We care for ourselves. Imagine a child enduring a painful season. Would we berate the child with “should haves” or heap on extra chores? Instead, we’d say “whatever you are feeling is okay; I’m here for you.” Enduring these seasons is grueling. Let’s be good to ourselves.
  4. We remember Miyagi. Why does God allow some things that happen—or not happen? It seems to unjust. Uncaring. Recalling God’s daily gifts of creation beauty, love of family and friends, good food, and cleansing water helps us give God the benefit of the doubt. Mr. Miyagi, it turned out, had a good purpose in all those chores.

How do you hang on during trying times? What, for you, is faith? We’d love to read your thoughts.

February 2012 Soul and Solace

Creativity/Spirituality, , , , , , , ,

Ramah Faith

       “A voice was heard in Ramah,
              wailing and loud lamentation,
                      Rachel weeping for her children;
                             she refused to be consoled, 
                                   because they are no more.” 
                                             (Matthew 2:18 NRSV)

The above passage, drawn from the book of Jeremiah by the writer of Matthew’s Gospel, takes us to the bone. Transported to Ramah, we feel Rachel’s loss and suffering. We stand with her in the timelessness of her grief.

Perhaps you, too, know inconsolable loss
              of loved ones,
                     of health,
                            of relationships,
                                   of childhood,
                                          of dreams,
                                                 of innocence,
                                                        of job,
                                                               of....

Standing in the truth of loss and choosing faith is a hard thing. A Ramah Faith is one baptized in tears—and in fire. It is a gritty, hard-edged faith that has moved beyond politeness and into fierce-eyed determination. It is a faith that asks questions that may never, in this lifetime, meet their answers. It’s a faith that gets us out of bed in the morning when we want only to curl our knees into our chest, close our eyes, and sink into unknowing. It’s feeling that…and getting up anyway.

A Ramah faith lives with its scars.

Do you stand alongside Rachel? Have you have survived or are you dwelling this moment in Ramah? Then please consider joining our online community. Beginning next week, visit our site at www.RamahFaith.com, where you can express the truth of your loss in a variety of creative forms. Also, you can suggest ways we can serve as your supportive community in your Ramah season. Have questions?