Holding God's Presence

Today I invite you to reflect on the image of God dwelling within you. On this snowy morning I found myself needing a cup of coffee as I prayed, reflected as gazed out the window. As I sipped the warm comfort I read the words of Macrine Wiederkehr "You are a dwelling place for the Source of all life."

Just like our cups we are made to hold something wonderful, rich, comforting. We are designed to hold the very presence of the divine. Rupp writes “I like to think of myself as a mini Ark of the covenant. God goes with me wherever I go. Just as scripture says we abide in God and God abides in us.

As you go through your day today I invite you to consider this in every step you take, every person you encounter, every task you fulfill - be aware of how God is traveling with you each moment of your day.

Breathprayer:

Breath in I am...

Breath out a container of God’s love

Reflection:

Hold your cup in your hands

Notice the empty space in the cup.

Imagine it is filled with the presence of God

Imagine it is filled with love, grace, and peace

Imagine this divine presence filling the empty spaces within you

Allow the God presence to permeate your entire being

Rest in that comfort

Breath it in.

Scripture: Read - John 15

Abide in me as I abide in you - John 15:4

Journaling:

When I think of God dwelling within me .....

I notice God dwelling in me most when.....

I hope....

Prayer:

I thank you God for the divine presence that dwells within me.

The Cup of My Life

Today you are invited to pause and see yourself with awe and gratitude. Even if you are not compassionate with yourself ask God to help you see yourself as a cup full of blessings and goodness. See yourself as someone who brings life to others.

Take a moment to pray a breath prayer:

Breathing in - I am....

Breathing out - A blessing

Reflection:

"Hold the cup in your hands.

Notice the style, snap, colour, size.

Be conscious of yourself as a cup held in God's hands,

Accept your uniqueness and your goodness.

Thank God for creating you as you are."

Isaiah 43:1-7

I have called you by name, you are mine.

You are precious in my sight, and honoured, and I love you.

Journal:

"When I think about God loving me unconditionally I....."

"As I pray through these weeks of lent I desire......."

Take time to pray and thank God for making you who you are.

Blessing of the Cup

Once you have thoughtfully chosen a cup you will use for your lenten practice I encourage you to Bless the cup. I also encourage you to set aside an appropriate place to have time to pray and meditate for this season.

Feel free to use this blessing or one of your own.

Blessing of the Cup

Holy Abundant One,

Giver of Life, God of our Journey

Please guide me through this lenten season.

Bless this cup and this spiritual practice

May this become a sacred vessel

as I pray with it each day.

Allow this time of prayer to lead me closer to you.

Bless this cup as it teaches me

of wholeness, connectedness and oneness

That I may know more of you and of who

you have created me to be.

May this cup connect me with life

and create in me a generous heart

as I draw ever closer to you.

Amen.

Week One

Some Suggestion for Practice.

1. Intention - Begin each practice with focus. Spend a moment centering yourself and set your ‘intention.’ You may want to say a phrase such as “I hope this day to learn more about your love” or “I want to discover the clutter in my life” or “teach me...”
2. Breathprayer - Many spiritual traditions have found that being attentive to our breathing helps us center or focus. Breathing attentively, at an easy, regular pace, slows us down and calms our rushing mind and body. You may want to focus on a word or phrase that assists you in centering.
3. Reflection - Use your cup as a part of a daily or weekly practice. Place it in a specific place and allow it to become a sacred vessel that symbolizes something that holds your spiritual journey.
4. Scripture - You may want to read a daily scripture to assist you on this path.
5. Journaling - Even if you are not a ‘writer’ you may want to record your reflections by writing, drawing or painting in a journal. In the process of putting something down on paper we often find more clarity.
6. Connecting - Find ways to take your practice with you into your day. Add richness and vitality to this season by integrating your spiritual practice into your relationships and daily life.
7. Integrating - Take time at the end of a week to review and ponder how you have grown in your spiritual walk and life. What have you learned? What do you hope for?

Week i - The cup of life

This week reflect on your relationship with God, and celebrate the beauty of this presence within you. Be grateful for the marvelous life flowing through your spirit.

Hold the cup in your hands and notice all it’s features. Be conscious of yourself as a cup held in God’s hands. Accept your uniqueness and your goodness. Thank God for creating you as you are.

You are a dwelling place for the Source of all life - Marcrina Wiederkehr

Cup Of Blessing - Lenten Practice

This Lenten season we will be doing a series called “The Cup of Blessing.” This series has been inspired by the book “The Cup of Our Life” by Joyce Rupp.

Rupp wrote “The cup has taught me many valuable lessons for my spiritual growh. I have learned that my life holds stale things that need to be discarded and that sometimes my life feels as wounded as a broken cup. I have learned that I have flaws, chips, and stains, just as any well-used cup may have, but that these markings of a well-traveled life need not prevent me from being a valuable gift for others.”

As I looked at my cup I was impressed by this image of a spiritual journey for many reasons. Firstly, I appreciate the commonness of the cup. It is something we use every day without hardly a thought. And our spiritual lives can be like that. What if we took this everyday ‘thing’ and used it to help us examine our everyday spiritual lives. Secondly, I noticed the rim of the cup, it is a complete, never-ending circle a symbol of wholeness, like that of our Creator God. Next, I thought about the things that go into a cup. A cup can be filled with good things, or bad things, we can consider it half-full, or half-empty.

Lent is a season for discovering our wholeness, for repenting and addressing those things that keep us for our being completely connected with The Holy. This is a time when we are given an opportunity to journey with Christ to the cross of Good Friday through to the resurrection of Easter.

Before you begin this Lenten Journey choose a cup that you will use for your daily spiritual practice. (You may want to begin with a blessing prayer for the cup - I will offer this blessing in the next post). If possible set aside a time and place for a daily or weekly time of prayer and reflection. I will attach the pamphlet that leads you through a weekly practice and feel free to come to this blog daily to receive daily practices.

Blessings on your Journey,

Karen

Don't Get Caught in the Lent Trap

http://www.thegodarticle.com/

I Thought this article was a good warm up for Lent. I really appreciated all it had to say. I have fought this battle myself and have come to the place of trying to give up things that get in the way of my relationship with God, self and others.

Enjoy!

Happy Lent!

Going Missional

http://vimeo.com/26642771

Alan Roxbourgh is a friend of mine. I watched this clip as I was prepping for worship this week and I wanted to share it with you.