Loss of Part-time Prison Chaplains

For Immediate Release
Monday, October 15, 2012

Loss of Part-Time Prison Chaplains Not Just, Not Right, says United Church Moderator

Toronto: In a letter to the Minister of Public Safety, Vic Toews, the Moderator of The United Church of Canada has asked the minister to rescind the decision to eliminate part-time chaplaincy positions in Canada's prisons.

"Your decision to not renew part-time contracts with faith communities for the provision of chaplaincy services with Correctional Service Canada (CSC) will essentially eliminate chaplaincy services for non-Christians," writes the Right Rev. Gary Paterson in his letter to Toews. "This is not just; this is not right."

Paterson's letter notes that while it is true that volunteers are an essential part of chaplaincy services in CSC, the spiritual care and guidance provided by trained and dedicated chaplains is work that cannot simply be handed over to "volunteers." He explains that chaplains' activities include providing a "visible presence" to those within the institution, including times of crisis intervention; leading worship services and officiating at sacraments; offering religious education and pastoral care; developing community involvement; and facilitating the activities offered by volunteers. 

"Spiritual care is a basic human need and can be an important part of the healing and rehabilitation process for offenders-this is true for Christians, and for those of other faiths," writes Paterson.

The full text of the Moderator's letter is available on The United Church of Canada's website:
http://www.united-church.ca/files/communications/news/releases/121015_letter.pdf

United Church Moderator takes up challenge of sharing the Good News

United Church Moderator takes up challenge of sharing the Good News

the Not So Social Gospel

http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?o=1000&blog_id=2&entry_id=5312

UCC Youth Flash Mob

http://www.gc41.ca/news/flashmob-hill?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GC41News+%28GC41+News%29&utm_content=FaceBook

Mardi Tindal's Response to Wente

I received an email this week that claimed Wente's article as helpful and truthful.  I was saddened by this.  Here is Mardi Tindal's response.
http://united-church.ca/communications/news/moderator/120730

This Year's Journeying

Something about the weather, the flowers blooming, and new life experiences has been making me think of journeying in a new way this month.  I found this prayer helpful this week and so I thought I would share it with you.

This Year’s Journeying

Lord - I consecrate myself to You in this year’s journeying:

Take my feet from the safety of the shallows out into the challenge of unexplored depths.

Take my heart from the sterility of selfish preoccupations to the fruitfulness of wounded love.

Take my mind from the narrowness of human thought to the expansiveness of divine insight.

Take my hands from the poverty of having and keeping to the riches of giving and sharing.

Take my voice from the blandness of safe religion to the proclamation of Your radical kindom.

Lord - I consecrate myself to You in this year’s journeying:

Take my life

from safety to risk

from coldness to love

from darkness to light

from selfishness to sharing

from silence to proclamation.

Take my life for You kindom!

Amen. 

From “Fire and Bread” pg. 232

Vulnerability

http://www.davidlose.net/2012/04/the-power-of-vulnerability/

I read this article and listened to this Ted Talk this week and I thought it was worth sharing.
Blessings,
Karen

The Earth Breathing - For Earth Day

Memory cup

The gift of memory is something we rarely think about when we are younger. As we get older we learn to appreciate it more. This season in the Christian church holds the gift of memory. Every time we gather at the eucharist we are blessed with a memory. The story remains with us because of the power of the memory of those who experienced it and carried it’s memory. The cup of wine has become a memory cup holding a sacred story. The cup becomes a cup of sacrifice, love, unity, courage, strength, and restoration.

We all have memories to sift through. Some are beautiful and precious, some need to be let go of, learned from, or healed from. How do we move to the memories that strengthen us and bring us to fullness of life?

Breathprayer:

Breathe in:I remember...

Breathe out:...your love for me.

Reflection:

Hold the blessing cup in your hands

let it be filled with memories

choose one memory of love and happiness.

Let this memory pervade your spirit.

Receive the inner strength it offers

thank God for the memory

Scripture: Deuteronomy 4:9-20

But take care...so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children.

Journal:

Write down thoughts and feelings about some of your memories...

How do some memories bless you?

Prayer:

Dear God strengthen me through the good memories. On this day we celebrate the last supper we are reminded of your great love and the call for us to love the same.

The Blessing Cup

“To bless is to put a bit of yourself into something. It is to make holy, to change something or someone because of your presence.” - Macrina Wiederkehr

“Each of us can offer blessings. Each of us can be a blessing, too. When we bless, it is God’s deep and vast goodness, or God-ness, in us that blesses another. When we bless we touch another with the touch of this God-ness. In Christian scriptures, Jesus does not bestow or offer many blessings. Rather, he becomes a blessing. His presence, his goodness, engenders life, strength, healing, courage, and vitality.”

Breathprayer:

Breathe in: Blessings given...

Breathe out:...Blessings received

Reflection:

Wrap your hands around your cup.

See God’s goodness dwelling within you

Consider ways in which you have been blessed

Consider people who are a blessing to you

How have you been a blessings?

Give thanks for the God-ness in you and others

Give thanks for the ability to bless and be blessed

Scripture: 1 Peter3:8-12

It is for this that you were called -that you might inherit a blessing (1 Pt. 3:9)

Journaling:

The people that have been a blessing to me are....

I know I am and can be a blessing when....

Prayer:

Holy One, may your goodness radiate from me and bring blessings to others in my life.

Pouring the cup of compassion

“Anyone who gives anything to the Divine will find that it comes back to them turned to gold” - Rumi

“Our lives are such that our deepest compassion and generosity often get masked by our frustration with schedules, calendars, and clocks. When this happens to me, I find myself becoming closed and selfish. Sometimes it takes a challenging or humbling moment to shake loose my tenacious hold on trying to get everything done on my carefully crafted timetable....Jesus encouraged his disciples toward generous loving and assured them that if they were generous in their giving that this same generosity would be the measure of the gifts returned. Their giving would be turned to gold. Compassion is like that. When we let compassion pour forth generously from us instead of holding back with meager giving, it can be a powerful experience. We often receive more than we give.” - Joyce Rupp

Breathprayer:

Breathing in: I will offer...

Breathing out:....Compassion this day

Reflection:

Hold the cup in your hands

Imagine God pouring love into you

Picture yourself overflowing with love and compassion

Now think of someone who is struggling

Let the love within you flow to this person.

Picture your love filling this person’s whole being

Allow that peace and generosity to settle

Scripture:

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back. (Luke 6:38)

Journal:

A time that someone compassionate to me that changed me was....

Where in my life could I show more compassion?

Prayer:

Holy One help me to notice when compassion is given and when I can offer it more freely.....

Giving of the Cup of Compassion

“Too many of us consent, or are forced, to spend time doing things for which we have no heartfelt reason. If we were asked, “Why are you doing this” we would not know how to answer.”

- Parker Palmer

“When Joseph Campbell described the journey of transformation, he wrote of coming through the dark cave into a new sprintime of life. The important dimension he included is that when people come out of pain into newness of life, they always bring an ‘elixir’ or gift with them. This gift is meant not just for themselves, but for the transformation of the world. So, too, with us. God is always extending compassion toward us, loving us through the many ups and downs of our journey. We, in turn, are meant to offer this compassion to others. Life is a constant cycle of giving and receiving. The divine gift of love that we receive is meant to be shared.” - Joyce Rupp

One must learn to be compassionate to self and to others. We need to learn not to be compassionate out of guilt or want but simply because we understand the needs of others and just as important as our own. Gifts are meant to be offered and received freely. How do we offer the gift of compassion?

Breathprayer:

Breathe in: I receive....

Breathe out:...I give

Reflection:

Hold your cup in your hands and imagine it overflowing with compassion. Compassion for you, compassion for others.

Thank God for the gift of compassion

Ask God to help you offer this overflowing cup to others in your life.

Scripture: Matthew 25:31-45

For I was hungry and you gave me food.

I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.

I was naked and you gave me clothing.

I was a stranger and you welcomed me.

I was sick and you took care of me.

I was in prison and you visited me (Matt 25:35-36)

Journal:

I usually extend compassion because...

Thank you God for....

Prayer:

Compassionate God help me offer your abundant compassion wherever I see it needed today.

Connecting Compassion

“...there now flows a constant stream of tenderness, a stream in which all petty desires seem to have been extinguished. All that matters now is to be kind to each other with all the goodness that is in us.” - Etty Hillisum

The image of the body of Christ is an image of compassion “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it” (I Cor. 12:26) Each and every part of the whole has significance and worth.

We are all connected with all of creation, the divine presence dwells within each of us. “When I offer the cup of compassion to someone, it is God in me reaching to God in the other. There is a oneness of Love bonding us to all of life.”

Breathprayer:

Breathe in: Divine compassion....

Breathe out:...Connects us

Reflection:

Hold your cup and think of people within your life that you find it hard to have compassion for.

Imagine them within your cup

Notice your connectedness

Let your heart extend compassion to them.

Thank God for your connectedness with all creation.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body so it is with Christ...Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it (1 Cor. 12:27)

Journal:

I hesitate, or refuse to offer the cup of compassion to...because...

Prayer:

God help me to spread your love and live your compassion even with those I struggle with.

Living Compassion

“What can we do? We can become a sign. Whatever happen, become a sign of joy and a fountain of divine love.” - Bede Griffiths, OSB

Compassionate people are inspiring. “I feel this way whenever I meditate on the life of Jesus. I marvel at how Jesus was so consistently compassionate when he met the ill, the grieving, the hungry, the oppressed. He is often described as being ‘deeply moved in spirit’ or feeling compassion for the people. Jesus touched torn and tattered people with an amazing awareness of their woundedness. The vastness of his ability to love and be loved is phenomenal.”

People of compassion throughout history often boggle our minds Mother Teresa, Ghandi, Albert Schweitzer, Dorothy Day.... Still one thing that is often common about the lives of people of compassion is they have had a hard journey themselves. It is often painful life events that have brought them to the place of understanding another’s pain. It gives them a generous heart, a non-blaming and non-juding mind, a passionate spirit, a willingness to sacrifice their life, a keen empathy, and a love that is overwhelming.

Breathprayer:

Breathe in: Divine Compassion....

Breathe out:....teach me

Reflection:

Think about compassionate people you have known

Look into your cup and imagine compassion filling you

Think about how compassion changes your life and the life of others.

Lift your cup up to be filled with compassion

Hold it to your heart and pray for it to heal you in a way that you might be more compassionate yourself.

Scripture: Matthew 10:40-42

...and whoever gives even a cup of water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple - truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward (Mt. 10:42)

Journal:

My experience of compassion...

God of compassion....

Prayer:

God of compassion, thank you for the people of love you have brought into my life, who give me comfort and strength in weary times. Thank you for my teachers of compassion, help me to learn from them. Revive compassion and love in my life.

Cup of Compassion

my cup of compassion holds tears of the world;

it overflows with sorrow, struggles, and sadness.

my cup of compassion hold the cries of children,

unfed, unloved, unsheltered, uneducated, unwanted.

my cup of compassion holds the screams of war,

the tortured, slain, imprisoned, the raped, the disabled.

my cup of compassion holds the bruised and battered,

victims of incest and abuse, gang wars, violent crimes.

my cup of compassion holds the voice of silent ones,

the mentally ill, illegal immigrants, the unborn, the homeless.

my cup of compassion holds the emptiness of the poor,

the searing pain of racism, the impotency of injustice

my cup of compassion holds the heartache of loss,

the sigh of the dying, the sting of the divorced.

my cup of compassion holds the agony of the earth,

species terminated, air polluted, land destroyed, rivers with refuse.

my cup of compassion I hold it to my heart

where the Divine dwells, where love is stronger than death and disaster.

- Joyce Rupp

The mended cup

Waiting is endless...I wait because I am powerless to do anything else. I wait because what I most treasure is what is deepest within and protected by silence. Out of waiting come patience. Out of accepting my powerlessness comes strength and love and the courage to dare. - Christin Lore Weber

Healing takes time but sometimes we don’t even notice when it happens. We wait and wait for something miraculous, and then don't even recognize the healing that happens over time. Healing is often slow and steady.

Besides believing that we can be healed, our mending also requires:

• naming and working with our unwanted emotions,
• extending compassion towards others and ourselves
• letting go of resistances,
• trusting and yielding to God,
• receiving support from others,
• extending and receiving forgiveness,
• taking good care of our body and our spirit.

Today remember that healing is a process, not a one time event.

Breathprayer:

Breathe in: Holy God...

Breathe out:...mend my wounds

Reflection:

“Turn the cup sideways in your hands.

Picture your old wounds and hurts in it.

Mentally take them out, one by one.

Give them into the Divine Healer’s hands.

Now hold the cup upright in your hands.

Think about the broken pieces that have been mended.

Thank God for these mending times.

Ask for patience and hope.”

(Joyce Rupp)

Scripture: Ezekiel 34:11-16

I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the stayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak. (Ez. 34:16)

Journal:

Write your own life version of “Amazing Grace”

Dialogue with one of the mended parts of your life, or with a part that is in the process of healing.

Prayer:

God of healing, help me mend the broken places of my life.

Cup of Resistance

Joyce Rupp wrote “One of the most powerful teaching stories I have ver read is told in Jack Kornfield’s book. A Path With Heart. A father is away from home when robbers come, set fire to the house, and take his young son away with them. The father returns to ashes of his house and believes his son has died there. He grieves uncontrollably for many months. The son manages to get free from his abductors and find his way home. He knocks on the door and cries “Papa, Papa” but the father refuses to open the door, thinking it is one of the neighboorhood children taunting him. Eventually the son goes away, never to return.

In this story, the father resists the truth that can bring him joy and freedom from his loss because he clings so much to what he thinks is the truth. When we are in pain, we can easily live with illusions. We may think such things as “no one loves me. No one cares. I will never feel happy again. It was all my fault. I can’t do that. I don’t know enough yet” etc. The beginning of healing may be there, but we refuse to let it in because of our resistance.

Breathprayer:

Breathe in: Help me...

Breathe out:...let go

Reflection:

Hold your cup in your hands

Place one hand over the top of the cup.

Reflect on the pain or beliefs you hold onto

Recognize where they are resistances or refusals

to believe you are more

How do they help you from growing

and/or moving forward in life?

Picture yourself in God’s hands.

Loosen your grip on your worries and insecurities

Open your heart to trust

Take your hand off the top of the cup

and notice how it is open to receive

Scripture: John 11:1-44

Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jn. 11:39

Journal:

One excuse I live with for not living more fully is...

Prayer:

Holy One, uncover my fears. Reveal the thoughts and beliefs I need to let go of so that I might grow. Give me strength to work on those.

The unmendable cup

“Both my parents died without any reconciliation between us. I, their only child, did not live up to their expectations. Nor did they to mine. I wish it had not been so, and they must have felt the same way. The ritual of reunion never happened. The distance between us was so great that I didn’t even attend their funerals.” - Robert Fulghum

Sometimes there are things in our lives that we cannot change, that will always be unmendable. It was too late for Rboert Fulghum to mend the relationship with his parents because they had died, but not too late for him to mend his own heart and to come to some inner reconciliation. So too for us. Although we may not be able to put the old pieces of a situation, event, or experience back together again, we can still mend our spirits.

Breathprayer:

Breathe in: O God...

Breathe out:...Help me let go

Scripture: Isaiah 43:14-21

Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? (Is. 43:18-19)

Journal:

Journal about some life pain you cannot fix

Write a prayer to help you let it go.

Prayer:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

- The Serenity Prayer

The Cup of Tears

“How large a cup of tears must I drink O God?

How much is enough?” - Ann Weems

I used to think I could only go to God when I was happy and good and healthy, in praise and adoration. I now go to God with everything, my joy, my pain, sorrow, devastation, hopes and dreams. Like the psalmist I believe God knows anyway and so I will take everything to the Holy. I even on occasion give God a piece of my mind on behalf of myself and others. I believe every part of my life deserves God’s attention and so I do my best to allow God to attend to them.

breathprayer:

Breathing in:O God...

Breathing out: ...Hold me in your love

Reflection:

Hold your cup and look into it as if it is a cup holding all your tears. Let the cup hold your pain and tears and if you feel necessary the pain and tears of another.

Envision God holding your hands, holding the cup of your tears.

Allow God’s presence to hold you in compassion, caring for your pain or the pain of the one you are holding.

Scripture: Revelation 7:13-17

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes (Rev. 7:17

Journal:

Draw the cup of your tears with teardrops falling out - write words that represent your pain on each drop.

Prayer:

Comforting God come and catch my tears in your Holy presence of compassionate love.

The Cup of Tears

“How large a cup of tears must I drink O God?

How much is enough?” - Ann Weems

I used to think I could only go to God when I was happy and good and healthy, in praise and adoration. I now go to God with everything, my joy, my pain, sorrow, devastation, hopes and dreams. Like the psalmist I believe God knows anyway and so I will take everything to the Holy. I even on occasion give God a piece of my mind on behalf of myself and others. I believe every part of my life deserves God’s attention and so I do my best to allow God to attend to them.

breathprayer:

Breathing in:O God...

Breathing out: ...Hold me in your love

Reflection:

Hold your cup and look into it as if it is a cup holding all your tears. Let the cup hold your pain and tears and if you feel necessary the pain and tears of another.

Envision God holding your hands, holding the cup of your tears.

Allow God’s presence to hold you in compassion, caring for your pain or the pain of the one you are holding.

Scripture: Revelation 7:13-17

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes (Rev. 7:17

Journal:

Draw the cup of your tears with teardrops falling out - write words that represent your pain on each drop.

Prayer:

Comforting God come and catch my tears in your Holy presence of compassionate love.

Love Pours Out

Love pours out

but the broken cup cannot receive

too pained

too discouraged

too shamed

too broken hearted

too burned out

too lonely

too disenchanted

Love waits to strengthen

Love waits to nourish

Love waits to be received

Love waits to heal

in time the cup will be mended

in time the cup will be raised

in time the cup will receive again

in time

in time

- Joyce Rupp

Cup of Consequence

When the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus and asked for special places in heaven Jesus responded “There is a consequence if you make a choice to be with me. If you want the glory of being with me, you’ll have to take the suffering, to..” Jesus never claimed the life of a disciple would be easy. And we all know that life is not easy in general. Every decision and action we take will have consequences. Sometimes they will be good and sometimes they will be bad, and we do not always know ahead of time how things will turn out.

Just as joy’s and sorrows are mixed together so are love, joy, glory and consequence. Joyce Rupp speaks about the love of writing but with it comes the consequence of loneliness, deadlines, and pressure to look and do better every time. What about love and relationships, accepting to deeply love someone also means accepting the fact that they will disappoint you from time to time, there will be things in your life that you will miss as you commit to that person.

Even Jesus had consequences in ministry and longed for the cup to be taken from him in the garden of Gethsemane.

Breathprayer:

Breathe in: O God...

Breathe out: ...give me strength

Reflection:

Hold you cup sideways and consider some of your biggest life choices and commitments

Ponder how they are held intermingled in your cup.

What are the consequences of your choices that you find the hardest to accept?

hold the pain of those consequences close to your heart

Ask God to strengthen your inner being to accept those consequences and move forward in strength and courage

Scripture: Mark 8:34-38

“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me. (Mk. 8:34)

Journal:

One of the joys about my life-choices is...

One of the sorrows about my life-choices is...

Prayer:

“Jesus, happiness and struggle were constantly woven through your life. Why is it that I want the joy, the glory, the good stuff, but I don’t want the sorrow, the pain, the struggle? Strengthen me and guide me when crosses such as anxiety, struggle, heartache, loneliness, sadness, time-crunches, and frustrations pervade my days. Deepen my desire to be your disciple.”

-Joyce Rupp

The cup of sorrow and joy

“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work, and you don’t give up.” Anne Lamott

“The most helpful discovery of today has been that right in the midst of my sorrows there is always room for joy. Joy and sorrow are sisters; they live in the same house.” Macrina Wiederkehr

Today pause and look at the history of your inner seasons. Is it possible for you to accept the difficult seasons along with the joyful, ones, to see each as an essential part of your spiritual growth.

Breathprayer:

Breathing in: Joy and sorrow...

Breathing out:....living together

Reflection:

Pick up your cup and look inside.

Imagine the greatest joy of your life in the cup, spend a moment with that joy

Now imagine your sorrow in the cup

Imagine them melting together, filling the cup of your life.

Hold the cup to your heart as if holding both your joy and sorrow together in your heart, accepting their presence in your life.

Scripture: John 12:20-26

“Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (Jn 12:24)

Journal:

Joy and sorrow together have taught me....

Prayer:

God help me accept both the joy and the sorrow in my life, help me know how they both strengthen and complete me.

Wisdom Cup

Is the busyness of life I was unable to blog for a few days. I am now back and will do some catching up.

The Cup of Wisdom.

We have mentioned the need for accepting our less-than-perfect selves in the last week. Joyce Rupp wrote “It is easy to deceive ourselves as we walk on our spiritual path. Because we are flawed human creatures, we can get side-tracked. We can lose our focus and get caught in huge self-improvement programs of our own making that have little to do with God’s desires for us. We can become absorbed in trying to be someone other than our own true selves. We can forget that we are never without access to a Loving Being who regards us with great tenderness and is always walking with us.

We need wisdom so that we will know when to embrace our imperfect selves with compassion and when to give our imperfect selves a swift kink in the right direction. Divine guidance is a source of wisdom for us that helps us know when to embrace ourselves and when to not give in to ourselves. Guidance implies that someone knows the way, a Wise One who is willing to walk with us. Guidance give us the opportunity to listen to someone who has much more wisdom than we do.”

Breathprayer:

Breathe in: Send your light...

Breathe out:.... Holy Wisdom

Reflection:

Hold your cup and consider how you are held in Holy Wisdom

Hold up your cup and ask God to fill it with wisdom and truth.

Say this prayer as you seek to be filled. “Holy Wisdom send our your light and truth and let them lead me.”

Scripture: Psalm 16

I bless God who gives me counsel, in the night, also, my heart instructs me. I keep God always before me. Psalm 16:7-8

Journal:

The area in which I sense the need for God’s guidance the most is...

Prayer:

Holy Wisdom, as I walk the spiritual path with my chipped and flawed condition, guide and direct my life. May I make good choices that are reflective of the loving goodness of you, my God.

The comparison cup

“Inside the Great Mystery that is, we don’t really own anything. What is this competition we feel then, before we go, one at a time, through the same gate?”

Each of us are created gifts of God. Individual blessings and gifts. Why is it then that we often find ourselves comparing ourselves with one another? “In her book, On the Wings of Self Esteem, Louise Hart warns: ‘comparison sets us up for unhealthy competition. It drives wedges between people, creates separation, and enforces conformity.’ When we consistently compare ourselves with others we can end up rejecting our self - one of God’s beloved creatures - and we follow someone else’s dream instead of our own.”

Breathprayer:

Breathe in: I am...

Breathe out:...A gift of God

Reflection:

Find another cup and set it alongside of yours.

Sit quietly, looking at the two cups.

Enjoy the uniqueness of each cup.

Reflect on your own originality.

Think of yourself with others.

Bring any comparison and competition to God.

Listen to God’s message to you.

Offer gratitude to God for who you are.

Scripture: Romans 9:19-26

But who indeed are you, a human being, to argue with God? Will what is molded say to the one who molds it, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one object for special use and another for ordinary use?”

Journal:

How do I fall into the trap of comparison?

What do I need to let go of and grow from?

Prayer;
Thank God for who you are....

Cup of Mercy

“The dialogue with God which begins with the confession of one’s own failures is not depressing; it is liberating. At last perhaps even for the first time, we have been honest with ourselves about what we are; and we have been honest with the one Person before whom there is no deception.” - Emilie Griffin

Each of us has imperfections, and failures and often it is those things that bring us to God. God is not afraid of our failures and is willing to meet with us and them. Jesus most commonly was in the presence of those who knew they were flawed. In fact it was those who thought they were perfect that he criticized and challenged the most. God does not expect us to be perfect God desires for us to strive for more and better for ourselves and others.

Breathprayer:

Breathe in: Held in your mercy...

Breathe out:...cradled in your love

Reflection:

Is there something in your life that you consider a failing?

Can you describe it in one or two words?

Write these down on a piece of paper and place it in your cup.

Hold the cup in your hands and imagine it is you.

Meet face to face with that failure

Allow your emotions to be present for as long as you are able

Take that failure and your emotions to God

Ask for grace and mercy from God and yourself

Take out the peace of paper and tear it up or even burn it as a symbol of letting go of this failure and giving it to God.

Scripture: Psalm 25

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

O my God, in you I trust;

do not let me be put to shame (Ps. 25:1-2)

Journal:

One failure I still need to forgive myself for is...

God of mercy....

Prayer:

“Wellspring of Mercy, you welcome me home.

You understand my human failings.

You embrace me in my incompleteness.

You help me move on from failures and defeat.

How good and gracious is your kindness to me.”

(Joyce Rupp prayer)