Author: Janice

Destination…Purpose! If only we had a GPS that could take us to our purpose!  The truth is, if we did have one, we would find it to be a very short trip.

At various times in our lives we think about our purpose and set out to try and find it.  We often look for large scale ideas that can make an impact, but we fail to look at the now and how we are already making a difference. I have three highly independent children who are out in the world doing three different things with their lives. They are each using their gifts to make their corner of the world better.  This is what parenting works towards.  That means that in the times that we are changing diapers, making dinners, helping with homework, getting them to sports practice and cleaning the house, we are fulfilling our purpose. We may not see it at the time, but we will see it in the future. This is not just the case for parents.  This is true for everyone.  Together with God we make a difference. 

The fulfillment of our purpose happens when we are fulfilling our purpose each day that is set before us. 

Parents may see only pots and pans.  Children may only see homework.  The to-do-list, in our limitations, can seem mundane and endless, but God sees the bigger picture and the differences we are making. 

My children are grown, but my purpose in life is not over. It is set before me just as it was when I was raising them.  Of course, some things take great discernment.  I am not referring to those bigger decisions.  You also cannot say yes to everything or you will burn out.  I am referring to the times we say yes in the simplicity of our daily lives.  These times form us and direct our path without us even thinking about it.  In most situations, among the pots and pans, so to speak, we often come to realize that all any of us have to do is say yes for today and each today that comes to make a difference. We say yes to those who we have the ability to help. We say yes to being good stewards of the gifts we have been given. We say yes to giving what we have and receiving what others may want to share with us.  By that sharing, we form commUNITY, which is always vital.  We say yes to new opportunities if they seem right and good and we say yes to learning. In the stillness of our hearts we follow what we become passionate about even if it seems silly. 

We say yes every day to the desires of the Father’s heart and we trust that with each step we are making a difference. Each step is taking us to the finish line whether we can see it or not. Each finish line is not the end, but the beginning of a new purpose.  By this we see that there is nothing ordinary about any day in our lives. 

While there are countless different things we say yes to, when we are striving to make a difference, they all have one thing in common.  They all entail sacrifice.  To make a difference,  we say yes to benefit someone else, not our self gain.  It is other oriented.  On our own we are incapable of sacrifice, but the greater we grow in our love for God, the greater is our ability to sacrifice with love…and not with grumbling.    Yes, God is love and and He has shown us that true love is in sacrifice. 

Being mindful of being united to Jesus in the sacrifice, helps us to be the unceasing prayer because on our own, we would never be able to make even the smallest other-oriented gesture.  That is why we are in great union with Him when we sacrifice and why everything we do becomes a powerful prayer. 

Even self-care is other oriented as in taking care of our physical, mental and spiritual selves, we can maintain our health and with a refreshed mind and spirit, we can more readily give with a heart of love. 

During Covid, my routine changed. In these months I have used the time to create the life I would want when I retired. Having my son with me in the beginning was a big help as it is in his nature to be a supportive coach. When he stepped out of the car at the airport, I thought that my support had gone and without my cheerleader, I wouldn’t be able to continue on the road I had begun to travel on at the start of Covid. Then I realized that was not true. The roles had been reversed. Over the last two months he was raising me so I could be independent on this new purpose-filled road.  His returning home was a fulfillment of his purpose at that time. When he got on the plane, a new purpose for him had begun just as mine had. All the steps I needed to begin my retirement journey were prepared before the road would be traveled on because each day, step-by-step for the past several years, I was fulfilling my purpose for the day until the time came for me to have a support system to pull it all together.  

In fulfilling my daily purpose, God was gently getting me ready for a new purpose, a purpose that could not be met without first daily preparing for it with my yes.

Then, when it was all set, He sent me the encouragement I would need to hit go.

Each day that we say yes, we are fulfilling our purpose. It is met with all that we are given. God doesn’t make it hard. We do. Our gifts, talents, circumstances and heart lead us day by day. When we fail to realize it, we fail to enjoy the spectacular gift of today. We fail to see the loving hand of God preparing us ahead of time for what we will need down the line. 

It is that very hand that loves us that assures us we don’t need to worry about tomorrow. We only need to do what we need to do today. 

To procrastinate and put off things will cause problems as that is our free-will no. It is a way of blocking the very thing we want…purpose.  The things we put off way heavy on us, making it difficult to move forward.  But with our yes, we can soar because we are carried safely in the wings of God. Psalm 91:4

For Prayerful Reflection with God

Are you aware that when you do things while being mindful of God’s presence, by your very life, you become a prayer?  If it’s hard to be mindful constantly that is understandable.  Try starting and ending each thing you do being mindful of God.  If possible to remember, take a small pause while doing the job to remember you are doing your responsibility with God.

When doing for others, do you have a selfish motive or an other-oriented motive?

Are you grumbling in your sacrifices?  Perhaps you need some self-care so that you may be more loving when you do for others.

Reflect on how many things you said yes to in the simplicity of your day and how that made a difference for others.

Are you giving time to explore your gifts and grow in the things that interest you?  Are you mindful that by your growth, God may be preparing you for the future?  At the very least, these may be a cause of refreshment to you and when you use your gifts, you always glorify God because on your own, you cannot do them.

When you think about your past, can you now see how God was preparing you for what you are doing today? 

Help me Obie One Kenobi. You’re our only hope. 

LESSON 1

As I said in the previous blog, pride and fear played a big part in the Star Wars sagas, but humility and hope were also strong and, in the end, won.  The times when hope played a part began with humility. The humility led to peace, not anger. The peace gave way to love and in this scenario, when the door to fear was opened, it was firmly shut tight. The focus would not be on fear. Instead it would be focused on a righteous hope that was anchored in love. It would not be an I, I, I or  me, me, me mentality. It was a mentality of we.  The individual was never alone, not even when they were the only one physically present.  They just understood this just as we understand being one in Jesus and in the Communion of Saints.  They never thought of themselves as the bravest or most supreme. They were humble. They were part of something bigger. The odds against them were not dwelled on.  The loss they could incur was not about themselves and how they would feel if they suffered the loss. It was completely other oriented. 

Being mindful that they were never alone and part of something bigger, for the sake of those they loved, they would risk their lives while holding onto a hope anchored in love.  As Saint Paul tells us in Romans 5:5, hope never disappoints when it is centered on God.  

LESSON 2

When someone was trying to win someone over from the dark side, reason never worked. Force never made them change their ways either. While mercy and compassion were always present when winning someone over, it was also grounded in hope. The one filled with hope could see the conflict within the one who was in the dark and with love, they showed them hope that they would return to the side of good. With great love, they set up the hope.  Perhaps deep down we never want to disappoint someone who melts our hearts with the hope they have in us…and hope never looks like the manipulation of a guilt trip. 

It may have taken time, and hope may have even diminished a bit, but it always won because it never died. God-centered hope is that powerful.

LESSON 3

Nobody in the movie was perfect and neither are we. In one instance there was one who was grounded in humility, but fell and entered the door to fear. Just as in the person who leads with pride, actions based on fear of the humble person still cause devastating effects because we are one. 

Our words and actions never only affect us.  We are one in the Body of Christ and by our very lives, we are the prayer. 

The difference between entering the door of fear when one was filled with pride and one was filled with humility was repentance. 

With the strength of repentance, the humble one willingly receives help from God.  Though they may fall, they are able to rise again, continue to grow and say yes when the door is open to help and make a difference.  They are able to reject fear and act on hope. They can right their wrongs.

So much can be overcome with hope. While fear and despair are closely tied, so are courage and hope.  Both bring about action, but only one truly has victory.  We don’t have to be battling major battles in an actual battlefield to see how fear versus hope dictates our lives. We only have to become aware of the first inkling of a reaction to any loss or possible loss we may find surfacing in us. 

With each of these 11 movies, the idea of fear versus hope grew stronger within me. The idea that love conquers all and hope never disappoints also became stronger. While I know that to be true, the question is, do I live that?   I am excited to learn where I am in respect to hope so I can grow.   I invite you to pray on it as well.

PRAYERFULLY PONDER THESE QUESTIONS 

Meditate on Rom 5:1-5.

Do you ACT as the prayer of love and hope knowing how powerful they are? 

Are you afraid of losing something?  Do you exercise hope in the situation?

If you are afraid of loss, are you looking at self or being other-oriented?  Can you be honest about it? 

If you are in a situation that is the result of you acting out of fear, have you embraced the power of repentance?

Is there someone you have been trying to pull out of darkness?  Are you using a combination of reason and anger or reason and love? Have you tried using hope and love? Do you think it’s worth at least trying?

Pray on these and talk to God about them.

“May the force be with you.”

Recently I was able to spend 11 nights watching every movie in the Star Wars saga with my son.  By watching one nightly in a short period of time, I was better able to make sense of all the stories on a whole. I also was able to see the underlying theme that played throughout the movies.  We can all see that the sagas are a battle between good and evil. We can understand the inference of faith each time someone says, “May the force be with you”.  What wasn’t so obvious, at least to me until I saw them all played out together, was that they were also a battle of pride vs. humility and fear vs. hope. We all know the line, “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re our only hope,” but there was so much more.  I was filled with the presence of God as He taught me so much about fear and hope through these science fiction movies.  Without giving away any movie spoilers, I’d like to explain what I mean in this post and the post next week.

THE MOVIES

The times when fear played a major part began with pride.   While it can be manifested in many different ways, pride basically gives one the attitude of entitlement. With entitlement comes a sense of the need to control the circumstances in order to hang on to what one feels they are entitled to have, what they are unhealthily attached to.  Fear of loss begins when the entitlement is threatened.  In the movie, as the entitlement and, therefore, fear grew, anger grew as well.  It easily followed.  

With all this, the ground then becomes fertile for the threat of some sort of loss to be perceived as great and the door for battle to be opened.  Armed with the interior destructive weapon of fear that was built on a foundation of pride, anger seemed justified, drastic actions were engaged and hate followed closely behind.  Nothing short of a recipe for disaster.  The only way the characters in the movie could protect themselves from losing what they loved was to enter the door and fight. In addition to the interior battle tools of pride, fear, anger, and hate being used, they employed secrecy.  They never explained the truth of their greatest fears to those who loved them and had always been there for them.  With nobody to help eliminate their fears, they only saw battling as the answer.  Having put themselves on the pedestal of power, they believed that they could fix everything through their skills and power.  Anybody who stood in their way would be eliminated.  While they insisted they were acting for the good of others, their fear of loss exposed the truth.  All their actions were to ensure that they did not have to suffer the loss they so greatly feared, a loss that was easily exaggerated in their imagination because it began with pride that was so tightly connected to all the fears that had developed and then kept a secret.

With fear causing the initial action, destruction became the fruit and instead of saving what they did not want to lose, they lost it and so much more. Jesus told us the only way to save our lives is to lose them (Luke 9:24), but fear has trouble seeing this and we become totally blind and increase the destruction once we hate.

LESSON

Anger, in whatever form it takes, reveals much.  It never starts independently.  It is rooted in other causes and can show us things such as how closely connected pride and fear are. 

Anger, including things like passive aggressive anger or stubbornness, often reveals what we are afraid of losing.  In short, they expose what lies in the heart. 

That can be true even if we don’t recognize fear and only see pride being revealed.  Pride  has a measure of entitlement and attachment connected to it and when those are threatened, one can fear suffering their loss.   Pride/fear can be in one area or in many that have  built upon each other.  Pride/fear can turn to hate slowly or quickly, but in general, if we don’t address it sooner than later and a door of something greatly feared is opened that allows the anger to manifest into hate, we are going to find ourselves on the losing side.  The sooner we recognize where the fear lies, the sooner we can address it and protect ourselves from the devastation and blindness hate causes.  We should never be afraid of revealing the fear we hold within to those we love.  It loses its power when we have the support of someone who can identify when fear is unfounded and instead helps us to embrace humility, truth and hope.  

What happens when fear is warranted and the threat of loss is real and righteous?  I will cover that in my next blog when I discuss humility and hope.  For now, I will reflect on these points so that I may grow in my relationship with God by growing in trust and fearing not.  I invite you to join me. 

REFLECTIONS TO PRAYERFULLY PONDER

Scripture can help us on this journey.  The problem is that often times we say we believe what our faith teaches us, but then when we are asked to actually live it, we forget what we have learned.  

Do you just repeat scripture or do you live it? 

Do you believe pride comes before the fall?  

Do you do a daily examine to see if pride crept into your day?  If it does, do you address it immediately? 

Do you recognize fear or anger in our lives?  What are you afraid of losing? 

Do you say scripture tells us not to be afraid 365 times and then become fearful?  

Do you say that perfect love casts out all fear, but fail to practice it? 

Do you say love conquers all and not mean it? 

Do you have a trusted friend who can pull you out of pride and fear before it becomes overwhelming?

Do you talk to God about your fears and why you act like you believe or do not believe in His teachings about not being afraid?  Do not be upset with yourself.  Wounds take time to heal and God is patient with us. 

Pray and reflect on all of this with God.

Playing is another form of refreshing prayer just as creativity is.  It can be “played out” in many ways.  We can play alone or with others.  It can involve the physical activity of sports or the sedentary activity of playing cards.  It can be dinner and a movie alone or with friends.  One of my favorite forms of play is what Julia Cameron of the ARTISTS WAY, refers to as the Artist Date.  The Artist Date is when we set aside at least 30 minutes a week to experience something different, doing something we have done before but in a different way or maybe it is something we have done before, but we haven’t done it in a while.  

Artist Dates are times when our play is not done with anyone else except our Creator. I call them Jesus Dates.

Because you do it alone with God, it is a special way of being the prayer.  Being conscience of the presence of God helps you to see things in ways that you haven’t seen them before.  It is no longer a flea market item.  Who created it? Who used it?  Was it a gift?  For what occasion? What can I do with it?  You can find yourself praying for the former owners.  Every Artist Date can be reflective.  It can be a journey of imagination and wonder.  

God’s ways are infinite and the possible reflections that come from these dates bring about a union with God that can be both prayerful and refreshing.  

The best way to experience an Artist Date is to go out, but that is not always possible.  It requires some creativity to figure out something to do in the house, but it can be done.  The cup of tea is done thoughtfully as it turns into a tea party.  The basement or attic can become the garage sale with new items to discover.  The effort to leave the house or use your imagination within your home can, at times, seem daunting, but the results are worth it.  

As we grow up and the stresses of the world weigh heavy upon us, we often neglect the use of our imagination.  It seems childish, but it is not.  

God used His imagination to create the world.  Allow Him to continue to use it through you.

As you are filled with God, you will be helping others if you offer the date up as a prayer.  It is you being the prayer.  A means of praying without ceasing.  It is not just an afternoon of bicycling, taking a walk or going to a museum.  You will be refreshed and that will help you to willingly be there for your neighbor in need.  You will come out of your playful time with a greater infilling of God and that is just what the world needs.  While I am focusing on playing alone and calling them Artist Dates, this is also true when we are with friends.  People hold God, the Creator, within them.  When we are with others and mindful of that, we are in union with God as we experience His love and imagination being expressed through them.  With your very life, it is a beautiful prayer to offer up.   Either way, if we are mindful of God’s presence, play can be a time of refreshment, a fruitful  prayer and preparation for giving our neighbors what we have been filled up with…God.

Questions to Prayerfully Reflect On 

Pray and reflect on Peter being a part of the imagination of Jesus in order to be obedient  from Matt 17:24-27.

Pray and reflect on the servants being a part of the imagination of Jesus in order to help the newly married couple while, at the same time, starting His mission.  John 2:1-12.

When was the last time you were open to being imaginative?  Talk to God about it.

What are some ways you might play alone or with friends in order to be refreshed, closer to God and be the prayer?  Talk to God about them