A New Thing

Before I sat down to write, I knew it had been a long time since my last post in this blog. But I was surprised when I saw that my most recent post was nearly two years ago! Like the last post, I am writing today as temperatures drop and winter approaches. As I cut back some of our shrubs and flowering vines, the backyard is beginning to look barren. In fact, the past two years have seemed barren, with never-ending reports of COVID-19 lockdowns, surges and new strains. 

I turned 60 this year, which means I am considered “senior” in some circles. The occasional senior discount is always welcome! But I can’t help noticing the stereotypes that persist about people over 60. Even in some churches, it’s not unheard of to see a maximum cutoff age of 45 for ordained ministry. In many ways, the world tells us that after a “certain age,” we are barren — not just regarding our ability to bear children, but our ability to contribute and inspire. 

 

I beg to differ. I’ve lost count of the number of older people God uses in the Bible. There’s Noah, Moses, Sarah and Elizabeth. Hannah cried out to the Lord and gave birth to Samuel. Naomi lost her sons and Ruth lost her husband in an age when no husband or sons meant no future. But both women carried on with faith and grit and found new hope. Barrenness is not a life sentence in the Lord’s eyes.

“…the LORD remembered her plea, and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, ‘I asked the LORD for him.’” 1 Samuel

 1:19-20 (NLT)

“The LORD kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised.” Genesis 21:1 (NLT)

“Then the women of the town said to Naomi, “Praise the LORD, who has now provided a redeemer for your family! May this child be famous in Israel. May he restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you and has been better to you than seven sons!” Ruth 4:14-15 (NLT)

 

But barrenness doesn’t always refer to childlessness. We can experience many kinds of dry spells that make life seem like a wasteland. We long to conceive and give birth to something new. We cry out to God and wonder if our cries are heard. 

 

At times during the past two years, I felt adrift in a spiritual wasteland. I believed that something new was waiting to be born, and I rushed here and there trying to make it happen. I busied myself with church work, becoming a Deacon and eventually Deacon Moderator. The work blessed me richly, but I still felt depleted and sad. Then I immersed myself in Zen Buddhism, where I met lovely people but still felt spiritually and creatively exhausted.

 

Things began to turn around this summer and fall. I was intrigued by a sign announcing that a new church was holding worship services about a block from our house. “Love God. Love people,” the sign said. Then a couple of weeks ago, I was waiting for a city bus, heading home after doing errands. A young man sat next to me and began talking about Jesus and the Bible. 

 

“I hope you and your husband will open that book,” he said. We did. And I finally started attending the new church. It’s tiny — 30 people at most — but growing.

 

At my new church, we are studying the book of Ruth. I am reminded that God uses our circumstances to achieve His purpose for our lives. Like Ruth and Naomi, we can feel lost and even bitter. We work and wonder if we are still part of God’s plan. 

Image by ollis-picture via Pixabay

 

But God still has a purpose for me. I see hints of it with every “coincidence” and prompting. Where I once saw bewilderment and disappointment, I now sense a creative stirring. A quickening. A new story waiting to be born.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

“Forget the former things;

do not dwell on the past.

See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness

and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)

 

How about you? When have you experienced barrenness and cried out to God? What are the wombs that God has opened in your life? What new thing is waiting to be born?

The Whole of Creation

“God created us 

to praise, reverence, and serve God 

and in this way to save our souls. 

God created all of the rest of creation 

to help us achieve the purpose for which 

God created us.”

St. Ignatius of Loyola

 

I read this quotation this week in an online retreat offered by Creighton University. My spiritual director recommended the retreat a few weeks ago, after I mentioned that I couldn’t seem to find a spiritual practice that was a good fit for my life. I’m so glad she did!

This quotation sparked a sense of wonder and gratitude for my relationship with God’s creation. I was struck by the different ways we can interpret the statement that God created the rest of creation to help us achieve God’s purpose for our lives. I have always been uncomfortable with the idea that creation — animals, plants, natural resources — should be at humanity’s beck and call. 

“The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.“ Genesis 2:15

 

What if we recall our role as caretakers of the Garden? What if we read and take to heart the Bible verses that proclaim God’s love for all creation? 

 

“I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth.” Genesis 9:9-10

 

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you,

or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;

or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,

or let the fish in the sea inform you. 

Which of all these does not know

that the hand of the Lord has done this?” Job 12:7-9

 

“You will go out in joy

and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and hills

will burst into song before you,

and all the trees of the field

will clap their hands.” Isaiah 55:12

 

Perhaps, as St. Ignatius wrote, the rest of creation helps us when we see ourselves as part of the whole of creation. Maybe the earth, as the verse in Job tells us, really is waiting to teach us. For example, what if instead of exploiting natural resources, we learn to act as caretakers? 

 

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” Romans 1:20

 

If we are “without excuse,” then we are able — with God’s help — to use our resources to nourish and heal. Then we can indeed join every living creature, the mountains, hills and trees, in praise and joy. We will clearly see the ways in which the rest of creation can help us.

 

 

 

Five-Minute Friday: Perspective

Today’s Five-Minute Friday prompt is “perspective.” Write a post for five minutes — unedited — and post a link to your blog at The Gypsy Mama. Here goes:

When I was a kid, my artist parents would give me basic drawing lessons: light and shade, rendering, color, and perspective. I was impressed with the way a couple of lines would meet at the center of the page and make the scene look as though it were farther way. Just a couple of lines would change the entire perspective of the drawing.

I learned that I could see more if I backed up and gained a broader perspective. We would go to art museums and look through art books, where I learned about the Impressionists and their ability to place colors side-by-side to create something visible when seen from a distance.

Artists mimic the creative brush strokes of the Master Artist. No one else can see from His perspective, and no one else sees the broad picture that He sees. I must try to remember this more often, as I fret through a crisis or challenge!

__________

Could have said so much more…but since this is Five-Minute Friday, it’ll have to wait for another blog post. Have a blessed weekend!

 

5-Minute Friday: Real

Today’s prompt for 5-Minute Friday is REAL. Write for five minutes straight — no editing — from this prompt and join us at The Gypsy Mama!

Poets and artists know what’s real. My husband writes heartfelt poems about spirit and beauty and nature — the things that are the most “real” to us. Worry about our car is not as real as lyrical verses that come from the heart. These electrodes stuck on my chest for the next 24 hours? Not real compared with my God and His creation.

We poets are sometimes accused of having our heads in the clouds. But that is the only real place to be, as far as I’m concerned. Other things change and are not permanent, but our dreams, our inspiration, our faith…these things are beyond our physical grasp and therefore go on forever. That’s real.

So I’m being real today. I’m tired but full of inspiration and excitement for the days ahead. Really.

 

Word-Filled Wednesday: Isaiah 55:12

“For you shall go out with joy,

And be led out with peace;

The mountains and the hills

Shall break forth into singing before you,

And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands”

Isaiah 55:12 (NKJV)

Join us for more inspiration at Internet Cafe Devotions.

Word-Filled Wednesday: Job 12:7-10

“But now ask the beasts and they will teach you;

And the birds of the air, and they will tell you;

Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you.

Who among all these does not know

Thant the hand of the Lord has done this,

In whose hand is the life of every living thing,

And the breath of all mankind?” Job 12:7-10 (NKJV)

Join us for more Word-Filled Wednesday at Internet Cafe and Devotions.

Thankful Thursday: God’s Wisdom Reflected in His Creation

8745VC3RZMMW

Thank you to Iris from Grace Alone for hosting this month’s Thankful Thursday.

Each evening, I like to read the Proverbs chapter that corresponds to the day’s date. Last night, I was reading Proverbs 30, and this verse resonated with me:

“There are four things which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise: the ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer; the rock badgers are a feeble folk, yet they make their homes in the crags; the locusts have no king, yet they all advance in ranks; the spider skillfully grasps with its hands, and it is in kings’ palaces.” Proverbs 30:24-28 (NKJV)

I am thankful that God’s wisdom permeates His creation. Each aspect of His creation holds a unique beauty, as well as valuable lessons. Even the smallest among us have a place and a purpose. From the diligence of ants to the quiet intricacy of a spider’s web, the Master’s hand is evident all around us. We are also reminded of His provision:

“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all His glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass in the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” Matthew 6:28-30 (NKJV)

We are surrounded by reminders of God’s presence. I am grateful that He designed His creation as a daily testimony to His wisdom, power, and promises.